Sports make people crazy. So does pressure.

Sprinkle in an unhealthy lack of fiscal responsibility and you get the dysfunction junction of University and Dole.

M.R.C. Greenwood didn’t come off very well Monday while being fileted by state senators. But if you can move past the University of Hawaii president’s attitude, you see she got at least one thing right. People in power can’t keep their meddling hands off UH sports (herself included). Everybody wants a piece of it, or feels they need to grab a chunk because it’s so big.

The loudest laugh during the six hours of grilling Monday at the Capitol came when Sen. Donna Kim asked Bruce Coppa if his boss, Gov. Neil Abercrombie, "pressured" Greenwood into keeping UH athletic director Jim Donovan employed after Donovan’s department (with some help from upper campus) lost $200,000 the easy way: wire transferring it to someone no one knew, despite all kinds of red flags.

It’s one of those questions that can be answered "no" and not technically be a lie when everyone knows it is really "yes."

Pressure takes many different forms — the governor "advising" or "suggesting" a course of action is clearly among them.

Another is trying to save your job.

It was probably too late, but Donovan tried to hit a grand slam with the bases empty and make some money for his department, which was soon to be swimming in travel-subsidy debt. He said that’s why the Stevie Wonder concert idea looked so attractive.

We know sports are disproportionately important on big college campuses. Greenwood said she learned that recently, and that’s her reasoning for stepping in and also having then vice president and now acting athletic director Rockne Freitas do things that would normally fall under the athletic director’s purview.

Many of us applauded the moves that got UH out of the sinking Western Athletic Conference that were orchestrated largely by upper campus. Yesterday Kim and the other sharpshooters turned that on its head; it’s so easy for what looks like decisive executive action one day to be viewed as clumsy interloping on another.

Donovan said he worked on the transition to the Mountain West and Big West, too. But he was already on the outs with the Board of Regents and the president, and his contributions were minimal or minimized, depending on who tells the story.

Everyone wants to do someone else’s job. Regents and boosters want to fire coaches. Athletic directors and arena managers want to stage concerts.

Also, we now see that the initial lost $200,000 wasn’t the biggest mistake. UH does damage control like replacement refs do NFL games. When Donovan and arena manager Rich Sheriff were put on leave, Greenwood’s implication that there may have been criminal activity was what really got the toxic snowball rolling.

We confirmed what we suspected: Donovan was given a new job to avoid the lawsuit. And I think Kim is still slapping BOR chair Eric Martinson around for that one.

I did learn this: I want Slammin’ Sammy Slom in my lineup. He called out Dobelle, Frazier and McMackin like Bluto did the Omegas in "Animal House." Slom said UH specializes in paying big buyouts. Greenwood would join that list of no-show check-cashers if UH were to let her go without finding cause.

Thought someone might fall on their own sword? Haha. There weren’t enough tires under the bus for all the blame being deflected.

Greenwood did apologize repeatedly, and once toward the end it sounded pretty genuine.

If you wanted blood Monday, you got it … sort of.

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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or follow him on Twitter at @dave_reardon.