With the official end of the Rainbow, a new round of complaints ensued. That was expected. Negative feedback would have arisen from whatever athletic director Ben Jay decided regarding University of Hawaii team nicknames.

But as I listened to and read all the impassioned pleas for saving tradition and pounding the new guy for trampling on history, I wondered: Where were all these people when they might have actually been able to save the team nickname they say they love so much?

It’s a lot easier to grouse than it used to be, what with email and social media. But actually doing something still requires effort.

Remember, this is not a new issue. The anti-change factions had more than a decade to build a Rainbow Coalition, but no one picked up the ball.

I’m lukewarm on the choices, but not enough to bother me. I am very glad action has been taken toward naming all the teams the same, finally.

I say "toward" because men’s and women’s teams with different names is less than ideal. This is 2013, and the government is allowing women to be full-on warriors in the military. But they can’t be Hawaii Warriors. Those who say it’s sexist not to name them all the same — regardless of gender — are correct.

But I get it. Good luck deleting the history-rich moniker "Wahine" from UH women’s sports while also removing the final traces of a 90-year-old name from the men.

As for dropping "Rainbows" equaling homophobia? That’s a tricky one. I always felt a recruit deciding on college based on a nickname would be too weak-minded for my school.

ALL THIS itching and moaning sounded oddly similar to the outcry in 2000, when a coach coming off the biggest win-loss turnaround in college football history had amassed enough juice to change the team’s name AND the entire department’s logo. (But not enough to kill off "Rainbows" completely … Riley Wallace and Les Murakami were still on duty.)

Yes, if you don’t like this, your beef isn’t really with Ben Jay, who inherited a mess. It’s with June Jones.

Like me, you might disagree with Jay’s choices, but is there any doubt the kalakoa house needed a single-color paint job? (This is just an analogy; discussions on team colors are for another day.)

"Rainbow Warriors" perfectly describes the Hawaii spirit. It embodies our cultural values of good-naturedness and diversity along with those of strength and toughness. You know, don’t misinterpret kindness for weakness.

But unfortunately it’s not just about how we view ourselves and our past. We live in a world where college athletic programs have to make money and everything else is negotiable toward that aim, including history and tradition.

Marketing people tell me it’s a lot easier to brand and sell a sports program with a clear identity. We will see if this theory holds up as well as Jones’ and Leigh Steinberg’s correct assertions about how strong the "H" logo would become over time.

Meanwhile, many will cherish the past. As former UH football player Brian Derby says, "I don’t care what any UH athletic director, coach, administrator, wannabe, whatever says. We are the Rainbow Warriors."

That will be true in many hearts. Just not on paper.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783.