There’s nothing worse than trying to mask self-interest with pretending to care about someone else’s extreme misfortune. It’s downright shameful.

That’s why I find the blog comments I’ve read saying that Norm Chow should resign from his position as University of Hawaii football coach due to his wife’s sudden illness disgusting.

It would be different if the comments in question projected any real sympathy or concern for Chow and his wife’s health. But they’re easy to see through, and they don’t.

These cretins only care about their own childish over-investment of emotion in a college football team and they see what they think is an easy opportunity to get rid of a coach they don’t like.

That’s warped.

Should Chow be on the hot seat with a record of 5-24 in his third season at UH? Absolutely. Should his wife’s illness somehow factor in forcing him out? Absolutely not.

If Chow wants to resign because his wife needs him, that should be up to him and no one else. Only he knows if that is the right decision.

If Hawaii were 4-1 and not 1-4 right now, would anyone be calling for Chow to permanently step aside? Of course not. We’d be hearing things like, "Coach, take all the time you need but hurry back, we need you, too."

There may come a time — and it could be soon — when Chow will no longer be the UH football coach. Many UH fans feel he should’ve been gone after last season, or never have even been hired.

We’re in the third year under Chow and if the losing continues, it will be time to find a new coach — buyout or no buyout. Simple as that, that’s how it works.

Saturday’s 28-14 loss at Rice doesn’t help Chow’s case. But while he surely had to be distracted by his wife’s condition, does anyone really think it affected the outcome?

Hawaii lost because, once again, the offense rarely got anything going. The defense and special teams handed the offense golden opportunities and the offense failed to capitalize. Inevitably, the defense broke down.

As things stand now, the Hawaii offense not only doesn’t make touchdowns, it doesn’t make sense. Why run a hurry-up offense when the strategy is ball-control and field position? A longer game with more plays is not to UH’s advantage when it has so few effective offensive weapons. The UH offense doesn’t tire out the opposing defense, it puts its own defense at risk.

That’s the kind of thing for which you can criticize Chow … and the fake field goal, a short pass to a guy who normally plays linebacker and expecting to gain 13 yards.

With all that being said, I still want to see how UH does against some Mountain West opponents, starting Saturday against Wyoming. Winning and losing those games should determine if Norm Chow remains the UH coach — not his wife’s health, unless he makes that choice himself.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/quickreads.