Hawaii loses a sports legend
Today, we lost an important man who chronicled Hawaii sports for decades and opened the path for countless sports journalists.
We’ll miss Bill Kwon.
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Question: How much did the bye week help before last Saturday’s game against Nevada?
Answer: “I think it came at a wonderful time,” said UH coach Nick Rolovich, noting it gave the players three days to focus fully on studies “before they had to worry (about) any football.” He also said it enabled ailing players to heal.”
He said the players also used the extra time to view videos helpful in preparing for Nevada. The players are able to access clips of specific situations with their tablets, cell phones and laptops. The coaches also are able to track the players’ viewership.
“I’m very grateful for that program,” Rolovich said. “I don’t know if it’s a Na Koa thing or a department thing. It really allows these guys to study when they have time, whether they’re in the bathroom — they can’t do it in the shower unless they have water-proof phones — or in bed. I tell them, ‘Give me 20 minutes off Snapchat, or whatever you give, and look at one cut-up a night.’ It shows investment.”
Q: Will UH change any travel strategies for this week’s road game against San Jose State?
A: The Rainbow Warriors will practice on campus on Thursday morning, then depart in the afternoon on a direct flight to San Jose. They will practice Friday in the Bay Area.
“I’m not over-thinking this one,” Rolovich said. “We’re going with the same routine we always go with when we’re on the road.”
Q: How is running back Mel Davis?
A: Davis, who was hospitalized for a few weeks because of a non-football condition, is back in school and trying to catch up on missed assignments. He is not expected to play this season.
Q: Given that Hawaii has been penalized in the past for performing the haka on the field, what is the criterion officials use in penalizing (or not penalizing) a team for a ha‘a or haka performance?
A: The haka was restricted under Western Athletic Conference guidelines. It does not appear the Mountain West Conference, which the Warriors joined as a football-only member in 2012, has any restrictions.
Q: What is the status of Daniel Lewis?
A: Rolovich said Lewis is “getting better.”
Q: What is the status of linebacker Ikem Okeke, and safeties Scheyenne Sanitoa and Kalen Hicks?
A: Okeke played in the Arizona and Nevada games. Sanitoa is expected to redshirt this season. It has not been determined if Hicks, who has not played in a game this season, will redshirt.
Q: Did the Warriors lose intensity in the fourth quarter when Nevada scored two touchdowns to close to 38-17?
A: Rolovich said he would have liked for the Warriors to add two more touchdowns while still holding Nevada to three points. “If that were a complete game, it could have ended 52-3,” Rolovich said.
But Rolovich emphasized Nevada is a good team that also played hard throughout.
“That wasn’t our best football that night in the fourth quarter,” Rolovich said.
Q: How have defensive lineman Viane Moala and Samiuela Akoteu improved this season?
A: Rolovich said both have developed under defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa’s guidance. “I think they feel they get better when they’re around Coach Legi,” Rolovich said. “I think Viane is going to be a really good player around here. And Sam is getting better every day since spring.”
Q: What’s the status of wideout Devan Stubblefield?
A: No final decision has been made, but the assumption is Stubblefield will not play this season because of a leg issue.
Q: What’s the status of wideout Isaiah Bernard?
A: Bernard, who has not played this season, is likely to redshirt.
Q: What is Coach Rolovich’s scheduling philosophy?
A: Rolovich has said his nonconference preference would be a game against a power-five team, one against an FCS opponent, and the rest against teams with comparable budgets and talent. But Rolovich noted the Warriors are scheduled so far in advance “there’s not a whole lot that can be done” in the near future.
“There’s a lot to be said about scheduling where you can win,” Rolovich said. “San Jose was in that position with Coach (Dick) Tomey at the end (of his tenure when they) were taking any money game they could get. I don’t know if that helped the program or not. They have to answer to that.”
Condolences
RIP Bill Kwon… Enjoyed his yearly name play with unique sur names from high school football rosters that also signalled that football was upon us. Read many of his clippings in family scrap books from sports articles written back in the day…
On a going forward basis, I feel UH Athletics has done a good job in scheduling a mix of Pac 12 schools, military academy schools, familiar foes such as BYU and Wisconsin, along with the FCS opponents.
Condolences to the Bill Kwon family on his passing.
One of Rolo’s question was how to get more fans in the stadium. Other than winning, scheduling p5 schools will have the biggest impact on turnstile count.
Aloha Mr. Bill Kwan.
Truly a legendary pioneer in sports journalism.
Kwon.
On another note…
#4…lets start filling the seats by getting DPK in the Aloha Stadium.
When fans filled the stadium, it was an event and tailgate experience why people went to the games. Even with delayed broadcasting, families wanted to be there cooking and tailgating. Every school that have tradition and large following have large tailgating experience (ie.Alabamas,Tenn.) and all have to deal with security and alcohol issues. Its just that they know the importance what college footall $$$ brings to the school and state. Todays generation maybe different from the past. They won’t deal will issues like traffic, parking, being kicked out of the parking lot after games. To bring college age fans, you have to create an atmosphere like those Bacardi pool parties, which have DJs and bikinis. Someones idea with having beer (call it cocktail) garden and music is an example. Just make it attractive to women and the guys will show up.
form time to time, someone will say UH is a “commuter school” and therefore difficult to attract students to athletic events — and this may be true
however, name a college or university that is NOT a commuter school as all campus may have “frat/Sori” houses, but that holds an insignificant number of students – yes, some have campus housing, but 3-4,000 in a total population of over 25,000 students? where do they live? distance to campus? mode of transportation?
I remember going to Rice stadium and we passed many apartment buildings specifically catering to students, but they were privately owned — the military academies do house all their students on campus and they may be the only college/university to do so,but what is their total student body population?
this begs the question: what are the characteristics of a non- commuter school?
which school has the capacity to “house” thousands upon thousands of students “on-campus”?
at Ohio State “horseshoe” and Michigan’s “big house” — over 108,000 at each game and the student body section may have had 7-8,000 students based on the number of sections occupied – where did the other 100,000 people come from?
leaving the “big house” we passed people who had walked nearly 1 1/2 – 2 miles to their parked vehicles — fans drive in from hundreds of miles away to attend a game — one lady in our tour group who was born in Michigan and never had a chance to enter the “big house” was able to do so only because she moved to Hawaii 30 years ago and was part of our group and she wore Hawaii clothing!!!
it’s the desire – loyalty that makes such people fill the stadium — unfortunately, Hawaii residents grumble about paying $5 for parking where other schools charge over $30 for a space/stall on campus.
no, it’s the culture of Hawaii that will NEVER fill any stadium built – on campus or away — it don’t matter because they don’t care!!! “if you build it they will come” does not and will never be true in Hawaii — yes, there were f few games that were “officially” sold out
therefore, the person who can create an idea or ideas to make people WANT to be there will be a true “marketer”!!! heck, even our elected officials “hedge” on supporting UH athletics
yet, there is hope on the horizon with the State looking into resurrecting a ferry system which may be a great way of bringing outer island fans to Oahu for games – create a “tailgate” on the ferry and let Hawaiian Air stew in their misery for over charging air fare.
yes, I miss those days/nights where 45-48,000 of us fans packed Aloha Stadium and created “noise”, watching an exciting offense and tough defense — just happy that the players played with their hearts and never gave up — it’s how you play that matters!!!
Am kinda shocked by the passing of Bill Kwon. I met him through golf on Maui. He was a very special reporter knew more than he wrote on paper. It was always special to see him at the Cal in Vegas. Most know that he was one of Coach Riley’s close associate. The one thing that I will remember is Coach Riley’s yelling to Bill on the golf course, Hey Bill, stand up when you hit the ball. If you know Bill you will understand. Also Bill being in sports was a good guy in sharing his knowledge on sport betting for football. Will miss you Mr Kwon
Colonel, “stew in their misery ” will happen if Southwest or Alaska enters the interisland market.
GOOD AFTERNOON, HAWAII!
I am sorry to hear about the passing of Bill Kwon.
I knew Billy when we were working in Ka Leo back in the days! Not only knowledgable in sports, he was also a great classical music buff.
Rest in peace.
Can somebody please put the UH vs Nevada game on Youtube for all the poor buggas on da Mainland. We would love to see UH kickin some Okole!
My generation grew up reading Bill Kwon and his insights on the sports world…I always respected his informed views and articles. My sympathies to the Kwon family…May he rest in peace.
I hope UH Athletics will consider expanding the student section so that they have better seats. UH is far from alone in doing this, but it should be changed back. The students today are the season ticket holders of tomorrow, and when they enjoys going to games as students, they are more likely to buy tickets as alumni.
Prayers and positive thoughts for the Kwon family and friends.
sorry 1 day late
1. I wan to dance more often, how about jump up and down like the high school kids do with the band after every score to get the defense riled up and ready.
2. Ha is awesome but should be short and sweet to not exert too much energy needed for the game.
3. turn end zones into general admission and no beer in orange.
all yellow, red should be general admission pricing. Lets worry about pricing when we fill the place up a couple of times. People who pay alot for their seat will always pay alot for their seats, we need the rest of the seats to be filled like the Tomey days. Oh yeah and keep winnig.
How come my comments almost always say pending moderator approval and after a little while it disappears and doesn’t show anymore?
RIP Bill K. I grew up reading Bill when high school sports overshadowed anything going on at UH. He was like the Stephen Tsai of his day. He covered high school football with insight and wit. I think he was the one who once dubbed Bill Apisa as the Samoan strongboy, a man playing among boys. And how he once described a senior laden Punahou football team as on par with a college freshmen team(when there were such as thing as freshmen football teams) because of the school’s policy to make incoming financial aid(scholarshiped) athletes repeat 9th grade.
should be Bob Apisa, Farrington ’64.
Missed you at the tailgate last Saturday, al. Maybe we’ll see you a week from Saturday.
RIL Bill Kwon. Aloha and prayers for his ohana.
I think this bears repeating. Rolo’s call the coach show should be extended another 30 to sixty minutes. Rolo is so genuine in how he relates to each caller. In my opinion the longer the show the more interests he garners for the program. I tried to call in but the lines were always busy.
I feel if the team keeps performing a longer show will be added momentum to get and keep the UH football band wagon rolling.
A-House: when you talk about “commuter campus” you aren’t just talking about the distance between student housing and the actual commute itself. It speaks to the on-campus experience and the lifestyle of the student. When I was a student at UH I would hear from my from my friends who went away for school about all the cool things they did “on campus”. I would hear about all of the events they would attend or all of the amenities they had that we just didn’t have at UH because of the “commuter campus” nature of the place, partially because of the fact that none of my friends dormed but also because the campus is just small when compared to its mainland counterparts. While my friends would go “hang out at the quad” or go bowling at the on-campus bowling center on the weekend, we would go to the beach or do some other activity that wasn’t on campus. school was a place we went to more than a place we stayed at and lived at. We’d see the athletes walking around but we rarely felt like they were our peers because they were just people that we saw in passing as we were going to and from class. Could the university do more to address this and make the student experience at UH a little less commuter-ish? probably, but it isn’t going to change on its own.
As for the attendance at UH football games. If we averaged 35,000 per game, we would lead the MWC in attendance. We don’t need to be Michigan to be successful. we just need to be closer to what we were between 2001 and 2007.
23.
Exactly. The UH campus is a ghost town after around 2:00pm already. For most of the students it’s pretty much go to classes and pretty much leave once they are done. They did improve the campus by adding the new recreation center by campus center though(unfortunately I was gone by the time they were finished with that). Also, it doesn’t help that many of the students also work so after classes they have other obligations.
There can be a campus town feel in 10 years. Relocate the UH Lab School/College of Ed and develop this underutilized land into a mixed use campus town with housing. You want a bowling alley, you got it. I know people will grumble, but there is a way. This is something I’m personally very interested in helping. I grad from UH, live on the mainland, and work in this field. This is an idea that’s needs traction, political courage, and vision. For the sake of UH and Hawaii.
Also, need streaming of games to mainland. That’s mission critical.
#17 hwnstyll: another great side effect of general admission would be that those fans will want to arrive early to get good seats so might help with traffic and parking congestion, not to mention the long lines to get into the stadium just before kickoff.
28.
With that idea, I hope the Athletic Director will be ready to deal with the angry long time fans that have their specific seats that they have had for decades. That will never happen
With PPV and also the economics for the fans, it’s harder to get more fans to come out above a certain level. In Mack’s good year,2010, attendance averaged 37,311 (could be tickets issued) .
Make UH great again…Rolo 🙂
whitey #11:
i would be sooooooooooo HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!
RIP Bill Kwon
Aaron #24:
you are correct — i was not thinking of only computing distances, but there is no college/university on the mainland that “houses” a majority of its students
student activities apart from classes may be centered “on campus” because there may be no better place to go — if they had a choice of bowling on campus or going to Waikiki or Sandys, where would they go???
at Atherton YMCA, we had nearly all the mainland football and basketball players and we would spend hours in the “lobby” chatting — also, many Micronesians [sp] who became good friends — one became President of his nation; another Chief of their Supreme Court; another a Delegate to the US Congress
so, how does one truly characterize a ‘non-commuter’ school?? by what you do on campus at night? only time we went to campus at night was to “beef” with a ‘frat’
as far as attendance at football games — my point was the ‘student body’ was a very small part of the total attendance — it’s the fans support which drives the program.
I asked Ben Jay if he would consider lowering the ticket prices in the “yellow” section and received a stern NO WAY!
others have suggested giving tickets to youth groups and others say what about the long time season ticket holders – let them keep their seats for $10 per seat per game
there was NO premium seat charge of $100 per seat back in the days of 45-48,000 fans – as soon as the Olympic flash raised it I let go of our 4 seats in the Mauka blue section.
we had season tickets at “termite palace” on the 40 yard line – when they announced the move to Aloha Stadium, we were assured by UH that our seats would be nearer the 50 yard line – that went down the drain when they decided to allow companies purchasing blocks of tickets first “divs” – so we had ticket at the 15 yard line
it’s no wonder fans get pissed off at UH athletic dept and that feeling lasts a very long time – now, how to change that attitude? damn if I know — not my job Mr. Matlin!!!
RIP Bill Kwon.
Aloha & Mahalo Bill Kwon
I would…
Have a Pop Warner night.
All kids and coaches free. One adult companion per player at special $15 ticket.
Not to exclude the flag football leagues.
Seats in the unsold yellow sections. Pre-reserved.
(It would be such a great way to instill Warrior spirit from an early age.)
In retrospect do it every Saturday.
I like that idea al.
Read a lot of good comments yesterday and today about how to boost attendance. I put in my usual tirade about tailgates and game start time, but the comments about what i what like in the past (with huge attendance) reinforced my own… BUT, it also made me realize the problem of TODAY.
Problem is bureaucracy and greed/money. How it wrecked the past and impedes a fan base restart for stadium attendance.
1) UH students (like me) had or could, ahem, get 50 yard line seats in the student section. Then seats were moved to the end zone, and after some recent outcry, students offered section GG orange sideline seats off the end zone. What moved the student section into the end zone? Greed/money. Why give non-paying students premium sideline seats? Well, becauseI had good seats in my earlier years, I am willing to pay now.
2) As UH became more successful and the stadium used to fill up (1980’s) after massive tailgates and 7:30 pm night starts… The prices of all seats steadily increased. Greed/money grab.
3) Stadium officials decided that the tailgates were staying too long and people weren’t all going into the stadium. New rules: Gates open later, NO charcoal fires, go home immediately after game end. People stopped coming and the stadium was no longer the place to be on Saturday night. Bureaucracy disguised as public safety.
4) Swap meet $$$ made the gates and parking open up later and later–or caused jams and delays when the swap meet vendors and customers were late leaving. But hey, swap meet vendors pay rent and the stadium concessions sell well. Bureaucracy disguised as good fiscal management.
5) Premium Seating Charge. This raises the price of most seats 2-3 times the box office price (approximately). OK, those who will pay, will pay. This is not greed since it finances ‘Ahahui Koa Anuenue (AKA)… just the price of being a fan who wants better seats.
6) Stadium reserved parking. Again going to AKA, but adds $300-500 per season for parking…that is, if you are a large enough donor to get the opportunity to buy the parking in the first place. This is a far cry from the tailgate days of first-come-first served on game day for $2 parking. Again, merely a modern expense of supporting UH athletics.
5) Day games and the 5:00 pm start. The 5:00 pm game start did more to kill attendance in half the satdium than any team problems. Mac got a bum rap or that. Our AD was a nice guy and probably never sat in the makai sideline seats at 4:30 pm on a August/September day….or worse at 1:00 pm (but TV money is TV money). I sat in the makai yellow seats on the 50 yard line in those years and saw most of the section go to PPV heaven. This caused the greatest drop in attendance and effectively cheapened most of the makai seats.
As you may recall the start time was changed to 5:00 pm so that the visiting teams could better catch their commercial airline flight on Saturday night. UH saw the bleeding and moved the games to 6:00 pm to stem the bleeding. NOW, since we pay for the charter jets for MWC teams why don’t we move the game to 7:00 or later? Magic to create a carnival atmosphere does not happen in the sun.
6) Stadium vendor food and drink prices… ’nuff said… protected by contract/bureaucracy.
End of tirade.
Things happened and devolved at Aloha Stadium to decrease fan attendance and desire to attend. Looking at the history…and avoiding it…might give some solutions or increase feasibility of suggestions. Cannot blame it all on team win-loss record. People (without deep pockets) are involved…and they are the ones that will have to want to go to Aloha Stadium.
A-House:
Here’s an example of my take on a commuter school vs a non-commuter school, both in the same state…
Portland State University – located in Downtown Portland, has football team but the perception is that it lacks the “college experience” of the more well-known in-state universities. Commuter school.
University of Oregon – located in Eugene and is the most well-known thing about Eugene and the primary reason people travel to Eugene. U of O has what is considered a traditional college experience, and if you attend U of O, it’s likely that you live in Eugene. Not a commuter school.
And here’s an example of a commuter school with similarities to University of Hawaii…
University of Nevada-Las Vegas – Located in a city full of “other reasons to be there” with a football stadium that is several miles from the main campus. On-campus activities have to compete with a myriad of off-campus activities that take away from the traditional “college life”. The basketball team was incredibly popular when they were winning, but less so when not competing at a top-10 level. The football team only draws large crowds when playing big-name opponents, otherwise they struggle to fill half of the stadium.
I did a Google search and found that the average on-campus housing rate for public universities is 40%. UH is at 25% and UNLV is at 6%. Hawaii is lower than average, but at least 4 times less of a commuter campus than UNLV. Only 20% of students live on campus at University of Oregon, but that is offset by Eugene being known as a college town. A lot of the “commuter school” thing is a matter of perception, but there are some solid data points that can tell the story, particularly the amount of students living on campus, the distance from campus for students who don’t live on campus, and other things like distance from campus to major metropolitan areas and population centers. When defined properly, the term “commuter school” does not apply to all schools.
Boya_jr:
I like your post about how UH can be more than a commuter school with the right effort and 10 years of work because it acknowledges that it can be done, but also that the challenges are real. I really don’t think it is productive for people to just blame people for just “not being better” and not cheering loud enough or not caring enough because it is much more complicated than that.
From yesterday if it got missed…
We need a more football-educated crowd (i.e. being quiet when we have the ball, making noise when the other team is on 3rd or 4th down, etc.). This starts with a competent video board operator who knows when to put up graphics or videos encouraging the crowd in crucial situations.
Back in the day, when the scoreboard was just black and white, there were well-timed graphics showing when to make noise and when to be quiet, or even when to yell, “first down!”, and it seemed the operator at the time knew when each was appropriate.
At the last game I noticed a graphic to make noise, but that hasn’t been consistent the past few years. To improve this, I suggest we record players telling the crowd what to do and play it when needed. For inspiration watch the Uptown Funk dance video in the locker room from last year starring RJ Hollis. Maybe there could be two versions of each video, a longer and shorter one. Play the first one the first time it’s needed during the game with the player explaining something like, “We have the ball on offense, shhhhhhhhh.” Later in the game the shorter version could be played with just that player saying, “Shhhhhhhhh.” Of course you could substitute coaches or local celebrities instead of the players if you wanted, or even just animation with sound.
I like the idea to sell half-priced tickets after halftime. There are people drinking in the parking lot all game, and if it’s a close game and the crowd is getting loud it might get those guys in the stadium. Even though we ultimately want a full stadium for the entire game, having these guys contribute to the noise level in critical situations might be enough to put the boys over the top to pull out the win.
Homefield advantage is a reciprocal thing…the more fans cheering, the more we pump up the players, the team wins. The team wins, and more of us show up to cheer. And the circle continues…
I’m not a fan of PPV as it has seriously killed the crowd over the years (as have other things), but a lot of people like it so I guess it’s here to stay. For those who want to do away with it completely, maybe UH could run a pilot program for one season where there is PPV for games where the crowd is expected to be large, but no PPV for games where the crowd is expected to be smaller, or vice versa. That way we could find out if PPV really diminishes the in-stadium crowd without alienating the PPV fans, and maybe more people would show up to the stadium if they couldn’t watch it any other way. As others have said, the best way to make more money for the program is to WIN, and having a larger crowd in the stadium impacts the win/loss record much more than how many people bought the Oceanic PPV package.
Another idea could be to simply increase the price of PPV so much that it would be equally or more financially prudent to buy tickets for a whole family to watch the game in person. This way we don’t eliminate PPV for those who cannot attend but encourage those who can to show up to support.
If the Warriors duplicate the effort they gave last week and clean up just a few things they win this weekend by 10. Schedule has been tougher and and the losses to Tulsa Iowa State and Utah were much worse than score indicated. NM has an offense but no defense. The Warriors are moving and developing more guys into the defense ultimately to improve- Moala, Butler, Santiago etc all. The key is energy effort and ball security. Against Iowa State they did not handle the blitz rage the Cyclones put on them with almost all LB sized guys! Sound familiar. I must admit I did watch most or all of these games 3X…….the Warriors have more than a good chance so now it’s on them to show up with a game face on-Go Warriors!!!!!
There is more than one reason for the drop in attendance. Winning is a big part of it. But factors like getting to the game– commute times have grown and they are a nightmare when there is roadwork or and accident (solution: steps to speed traffic to and from the stadium– lanes for stadium traffic, police directing traffic, syncing lights to favor stadium commute– better yet is busing to the game which worked back in the day– catch a bus at Noelani school or at Kalani high school and so on). The cost of tickets is also a big factor– but tickets go unused every game– create a way to donate tickets or an exchange for giving or selling tickets at a discount. Companies that buy blocks of tickets can give some away. There are many other ways to try to improve the game experience. I offer a few.
Had to post this-Georgia Southern who lost to Arkansas State last night has a MLB listed in program as “Ironhead Gallon”.
KWarrior, You are absolutely right on in attracting more people to games and in any venue as a matter of fact. Make it attractive for females and the guys will follow……Its a known behavior instinct 🙂
GOOD MORNING, HAWAII!
You know why I don’t go to the football games anymore?
I attended all the games when I was at UH (1950-54). After the Army and Grad School, I faithfully went to every game up to the Jones era.
Three back operations (and age) made it difficult to walk more than 50 or s0 yards at best!
I still contribute in a small way to UH and the Athletic Department. I sitll wear a Na Koa or even my old Tsaiko shirts with pride.
There are quite a few of UH fans like me.
Stop suggesting doing away with PPV – we need it! We depend on it! Just as we depend on the HandiVan or Disability placards.
New post: http://hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=39566