Arnold-UH spat is making both sides look like losers

The only sure thing right now is that there will be no winners in the University of Hawaii basketball scandal.

I don’t throw that word, scandal, around very often, I think it is over-used. But, by any definition, that is what the fallout from this NCAA investigation has become.

Blame poor damage control and poorly written contracts by UH. Blame fired basketball coach Gib Arnold’s willingness to take others down with him.

This makes me think of the doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction. It was why World War III never occurred. When both sides have enough bombs to destroy the other, a hot war is less likely to be ignited. You try to get along with your enemy, because once the gloves come off each side has enough on the other to blow it to pieces.

Apparently no one thought of that as a possibility here, or no one cared.

With every salvo fired back and forth Arnold and UH make themselves look as bad or worse as they do each other.

Is Arnold now to be considered a noble whistle-blower trying to help clean up the athletic department? That’s what he’d like us to think. He comes across more like a bratty tattle-tale.

But what exactly does Arnold have on other UH programs? Sources have been telling us it’s the women’s basketball and maybe both volleyball teams that he’s going after. Illegal tryouts and academic irregularities have been cited, according to people who have seen the document outlining Arnold’s allegations.

Laura Beeman and Dave Shoji are UH’s two most popular coaches, and Charlie Wade’s not very far behind with his men’s volleyball team coming off a fine season.

Even if he does have some serious dirt on them — which I doubt — by going down this path Gib Arnold is going to look like Benedict Arnold when all is said and done.

Some of this will get cleared up next month in Indianapolis, when the NCAA’s committee on infractions meets to determine UH’s and Arnold’s fates.

And there’s the union grievance, and there’s the poorly written contract that could cost UH $1.4 million more. There’s the questionable decision to fire him without cause.

With every defiant statement by Arnold or a supporter, like former player Davis Rozitis, UH takes another public image hit … whether the allegations against the school hold any merit or not.

Early on during the NCAA forays, UH officials were told its other programs would not be investigated, that they were considered clean enough. 

Even most of the men’s basketball violations are not heinous crimes, but for months it’s been looking like some kind of cover-up was attempted. UH’s compliance office and players and others the NCAA interviewed didn’t go along with it, and it took a long time to get things straight.

Arnold is hoping to prove everyone else is lying or exaggerating and he and his few remaining loyalists are telling the truth.

Even if he can’t do that, there won’t be any real vindication for UH in the end. Too much blood will have been spilled in lost credibility, too much money wasted on legal fees.

Gib Arnold and the University of Hawaii engaged in a full-fledged war — one that neither can win.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.