Marketing is all about packaging.
It is why the Chinese restaurant in Kailua still seems refreshing even though it has been 30 years since it was renamed from “Chinese Garden” to “New Chinese Garden.”
It is why nostalgia overshadows the litter at Old Stadium Park. It does not matter that Honolulu Stadium was never referred to as “Old Stadium” during its 49-year existence.
And it is why it will be possible for the University of Hawaii to successfully serve as host to indoor sports at 5% of seating capacity.
For Saturday’s football game at the 9,000-seat Ching Complex, UH provided an atmosphere of entertainment and emotion for the 1,000 spectators, the maximum allowed under state-mandated protocols. If fans did not get three-Kleenex weepy watching the jersey-retirement ceremony for Colt Brennan, who died in May, or the video tribute set to “One Love,” his favorite song, then they must have Freon in their veins.
For this weekend’s volleyball matches in 10,300-seat SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center, the ticket-distribution limit is 500. Here are ways to enhance the experience:
>> While the videos at Saturday’s football game were impactful, Ching’s video screen was not. With location and the complex’s size, Ching’s video screen appears to pale in comparison to any of SimpliFi’s screens on the four-sided video scoreboard. For Rainbow Wahine volleyball matches, UH could run video messages on the SimpliFi screens to add participation without increasing in-person attendance.
For basketball and men’s volleyball senior nights, players’ parents submitted congratulatory videos that were shown on the scoreboard. Why wait until the final home events? Why not have fans or parents lead virtual cheers? Or have the at-home fans announce the starting lineups through videos?
>> UH took some heat for celebrating Brennan in a stadium that was 88.9% empty instead of a larger audience. But the presentation was detailed and chicken-skin inducing. It also was a chance to honor an important figure in the athletic program’s history.
A similar theme would work for the coming volleyball matches. It would be a wonderful tribute to retire former Rainbow Wahine middle blocker Deitre Collins-Parker’s No. 12 jersey this weekend. She was a three-time All-American who won the Broderick Cup as the nation’s top female collegiate athlete in 1983-84.
>> Like Diet Coke to a diabetic, the UH Rainbow Marching Band is a loophole to attendance limits. The band is granted a waiver because membership requires registration in Music 419-E, a course that meets for 90-minute sessions three times a week. Live performances are part of the course’s curriculum, and, thus, make the members essential attendees. And if UH is allowed to admit the band, then the cheer squad and Rainbow Dancers also should be allowed to perform in SimpliFi without counting against the attendance cap. Both groups performed at Ching.
>> With spectators required to wear masks for indoor events, kiss the Kiss Cam goodbye. And with social distancing, Paddle Cam participants would look like kayakers. Pantomime paddling is best as an ensemble act. But dance contests are protocol-friendly. And UH could offer bingo, a popular interaction at softball games.
The greatest challenge would be simulating the postmatch lei presentations from the volleyball “Aunties.” The full aloha spirit, it appears, has been a collateral sacrifice of the pandemic.
