At some point, maybe as early as this week’s Board of Regents committee meetings, the University of Hawaii will decide on a new athletic director.
Or not.
And at some point, maybe this month or one of the months within our lifetime, a signed agreement will be finalized on a developer to raze Aloha Stadium and then raise a new stadium in Halawa.
But at no point will you, or you, or me, or you over there, have any input into the hiring of a new athletic director or the construction of a new stadium. And that’s perfectly fine.
Maybe it’s fantasy football. Maybe it’s being labeled a top contributor on message boards. Or it could be the amount spent on tickets, parking, food and shaka-shaped foam hands that empower fans to believe they are shareholders in decisions involving UH and stadium projects. Clearly, they are not.
It is an age-old discussion on ownership. Does an establishment — or sports team — belong to the deed holder or the community that supports the business? History has sided with the owners.
After the 1957 baseball season, the Dodgers and Giants left New York for the West Coast. That year, Bob Short bought the Minneapolis Lakers. Needing $7,000 per home game to break even, the Lakers were making less than $5,000. They moved to Los Angeles.
It was reported the Maryland Senate passed legislation giving the city of Baltimore the right to seize ownership of the Colts through eminent domain. Instead, Robert Irsay, then owner of the Colts, decided to move his NFL team to Indianapolis. He did so in the middle of a March night in 1984.
In 1995, Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell, deciding “what’s mine is mine” and not the Dawg Pound’s, relocated his franchise to Baltimore, where they became the Ravens.
Despite a die-hard fan base, the Oakland Raiders moved to Southern California in 1982, played there for 12 seasons, returned to Oakland and, in 2020, moved to Las Vegas.
There was an inference that after a search firm, search committee, advisory group and people who know about seeking leaders go through their vetting, the public would be able to offer its two cents on the next UH athletic director. That was the process in choosing a successor to David Lassner, who retired as UH president at the end of 2024. There were meet-and-greets with the two finalists before Wendy Hensel was selected.
The difference, of course, is the UH president’s hiring has a great impact on the state’s quality of higher public education; research programs; and state, national and international economics. Public input is important. In the bubble of the sports world, an athletic director’s hiring is important, but not enough for universal debate. While the AD has numerous duties in an ever-evolving college landscape, not even balancing the budget is a no-excuse requirement. Except for COVID-19 subsidies and penny-pinching helping then-AD David Matlin balance the books two fiscal years ago, the athletic department has finished in the red the past two decades. That’s the norm for nearly every NCAA Division I program in the country, even from conferences earning mega millions in TV deals.
No doubt, Hensel will make the right choice. There has not been a total lemon in that position in the five decades of NCAA Division I membership.
Sports fans also will not have a say in the seating capacity or time table for the new stadium. Just like there was no public rebuttal during a State of the State address in January 2011, when Gov. Neil Abercrombie said “other than maintenance related to health and safety, I will divert all other capital improvement dollars for Aloha Stadium to other projects.” There also was no protest when Aloha Stadium was shuttered for spectator-attended events in December 2020.
Fans could argue “it’s our tax money” in wanting involvement. But that’s like telling a police officer holding a traffic-ticket book that you pay his salary. Maybe that comes out to fractions of a penny. In turn, the officer, like every other resident, pays for paving our streets and maintaining our parks and …
So, celebrate the pick for AD. Or boo it.
Enjoy the new stadium. Or complain about the number of bathroom stalls or the sun’s glare at kickoff.
Just remember that whatever happens was because of the decisions by our leaders.
And also remember that if anything goes wrong, its not our fault, either.
