Vision.
Legacy.
The arc that connects the two is visible on the H-1 drive when approaching the University Avenue off-ramps, going either Ewa or Diamond Head.
It is manifested in the can’t-miss-that dome of the arena, which bears the name of the kamaaina son of the islands who passed before his dream came to life.
The Stan Sheriff Center.
Bruce Stanley Sheriff died 643 days before what was then known as the Special Events Arena opened to much fanfare — emphasis on fan — on Oct. 21, 1994. The first of what would be 48 sold-out crowds in the four arena sports saw the University of Hawaii’s most successful athletic program, four-time national champion Rainbow Wahine volleyball, have its old banners paraded onto the court and its new ones raised.
The night included what was then a women’s volleyball national attendance record of 10,031 watching No. 6 Hawaii (16-2, 10-1) defeat San Jose State, 15-4, 12-15, 15-2, 15-6, in a Big West volleyball match
Today, 9,130 days later, the No. 22-ranked Wahine (15-3, 5-2) host UC Davis (12-7, 4-2) in a Big West match.
Arena manager Rich Sheriff will still be hands-on when it comes to his game-management duties, but the youngest of Stan Sheriff’s three sons also will be able to enjoy today’s 25th anniversary celebration more than he did its opening night. The only manager the arena has ever known had little sleep in the nights leading up to the first event, wanting to make sure everything was perfect. No detail too small. Just like his dad wanted it.
“I think it’s the work ethic he instilled in us from a young age,” Rich Sheriff said, alluding to his late brothers, Mike and Paul. “The ‘if you’re going to do anything, do it right.’ That’s part of it.
“A majority of it is … what our family sacrificed with him working so hard to get this (arena). I know what my dad put in to have this become a reality, inevitably suffering health-wise and at a way-too-young age.”
Stan Sheriff was 60 years old when he suffered a fatal heart attack on Jan. 16, 1993 at Honolulu International Airport after returning from the NCAA Convention in Dallas. He had planned to be at the 20th anniversary celebration of Hawaii’s Fab Five men’s basketball team, the first squad to make the postseason (NIT 1971, NCAA 1972), but never made it, the news of his death slowly circulating around Blaisdell Arena before it was announced at the end of the game.
Some have speculated that the stress of the job he held since replacing Ray Nagel in 1983 played a role. The versatile former NFL player (center, guard and linebacker) and All-American at Cal Poly was overseeing the rapidly changing college athletic landscape, one where his battles included the “Hawaii Exemption,” which allowed the Rainbows to have a 13th football game; keeping the Rainbow Classic basketball tournament as one of the preeminent preseason events; possibly getting UH’s teams into what was then the Pac-10; and the growing push for gender equity and the accompanying costs of women’s sports.
Sheriff fought for days, weeks, months and years at the state legislature for funding for an on-campus arena and then for its size.
Some wanted 4,000. Sheriff wanted 12,000.
The compromise of 10,000-plus stands as an homage to what some called his stubbornness and others called his tenacity.
“Dad was a visionary, he understood the landscape of what would take Hawaii athletics to the next level,” Rich Sheriff said. “People ask me, ‘What if they hadn’t built the Stan Sheriff Center?’
“I can’t imagine our teams still playing in Klum (Gym) or still having to go to Blaisdell. Women’s volleyball wouldn’t have been able to grow the way it has without it being 10,000. I think he was a remarkable man who had vision for what he believed to be best for the University of Hawaii and for the state of Hawaii. It was like what he did for Northern Iowa, transforming the Panthers.”
Stan Sheriff coached football at Northern Iowa from 1958 until 1982, all but the first two seasons as the Panthers’ head coach. Inside the UNI-Dome is Stan Sheriff Field.
Rich Sheriff feels his father’s spirit in the arena that was renamed in his honor in 1998. Rich often walks past his father’s bust on the main concourse and gives the forehead a rub.
When it came time for the name change, it was Sheriff’s sons, Rich and Mike, up on the lift drilling the holes and replacing the letters. There had been money for the signage but not the installation; the brothers made sure it got done.
(Brother Paul, who died in 2017, was wheelchair-bound for decades following an accident. The disabled-rights advocate helped ensure the ADA compliance of the arena).
Rich Sheriff said that “it almost feels like yesterday” and not 25 years since opening night. Then he thinks of all the memories that have filled the 9,130 days since.
The preseason NBA games with the Los Angeles Lakers. USA Volleyball and USA Gymnastics events. NCAA regionals and championships in women’s and men’s volleyball. Hawaii beating Kansas in men’s basketball. The Warriors defeating Long Beach State for the Big West men’s volleyball championship last spring.
Mostly he thinks about the athletes with whom he has developed relationships, such as men’s basketball players Alika Smith and Anthony Carter, and Wahine volleyball players Robyn Ah Mow and Angelica Ljungqvist.
“There’s been some great games in here, but my takeaway is the relationships with the players after their careers, when they come back and say how much they appreciated their experiences,” Sheriff said. “It would be hard to pick favorite players, but one of the all-time ones is (current Wahine head coach) Robyn Ah Mow. She’s such a great person. I got to watch her play at the Olympics in Greece (2004). I’m so proud of her turning the program back around.”
Although mom Jane no longer attends games, watching from home, Rich Sheriff will be there tonight to watch another ranked Wahine volleyball team play another conference match. He’ll feel the pride of his family’s legacy and, as always, his father’s presence.
“I really feel he is looking down every day, that little grin on his face saying, ‘Yeah, maybe 12 (thousand) would have been good, but we at least we got 10,’ ” Sheriff said. “And he’s saying ‘We did it right.’ ”
BIG WEST WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Today, 5 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
UC Davis (12-7, 4-2) at No. 22 Hawaii (15-3, 5-2)
>> TV: Spectrum (Ch. 16/1016)
>> Radio: 1420-AM, 92.7 FM
>> Series: Hawaii leads, 13-1
>> Promotion: Sheriff Center 25th anniversary includes free mini cupcakes to fans upon exiting after completion of the match.
