Shan Tsutsui is a couple months removed from being Hawaii’s lieutenant governor, but it seems he might be carrying some of the unfinished business from that job with him.

Specifically the long talked about but yet-to-be-realized vision of a coordinated statewide approach to sports in Hawaii.

We bring this up because Tsutsui came out on Tuesday endorsing Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa for the job currently held by his former boss, Gov. David Ige.

Word is that in discussions leading up to his endorsement of Hanabusa, Tsutsui shared a number of thoughts with her, apparently including his pet vision for a wide-ranging sports initiative for the state. Tsutsui did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

What could become of it — or if Tsutsui might have an active or advisory role in a new administration, should Hanabusa prevail in the election — remains to be seen.

But a sports initiative has apparently been close to Tsutsui’s heart for years and not being able to get one off the ground when he was lieutenant governor, associates say, was part of his frustration with Ige that led to his January resignation to take a post in private business.

In the waning days of 2012, when then-state Senate President Tsutsui was tabbed to replace Brian Schatz as lieutenant governor, one of the first tasks handed him by Gov. Neil Abercrombie was spearheading a state sports development initiative.

Abercrombie, in his first state of the state speech, listed making a determination about the future of aging Aloha Stadium as one of the priorities of his administration. He came in for criticism in 2011 for an outburst questioning the state’s $4 million annual support of the Pro Bowl but later made a public appearance welcoming the annual NFL all-star game back to Honolulu.

Wider ranging was the idea of developing a synergy between the state, Aloha Stadium, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the University of Hawaii system and private sports enterprises such as the NFL, PGA, LPGA and surfing tours to attract and enhance opportunities.

When Abercrombie lost his reelection bid to Ige, Tsutsui sought to carve out a role in the new administration and taking point on sports was envisioned as a big part of it.

With Ige’s early blessing, Tsutsui waded in, even empanelling an unpaid 16-member group of sport and business leaders to advise him on recommendations for what participants said included, “charting a course for the future of sports and sports marketing in Hawaii.”

At the time, a spokesman said, Hawaii was, “one of the few major cities or states without some type of a sports commission or authority…”

But as Ige and Tsutsui became estranged, Tsutsui’s wings were clipped and the panel never got beyond a couple of meetings. Plans from the top for determining the future of Aloha Stadium slowed.

To this point Hanabusa has shown little public interest in sports. Her participation in the 2012 Women’s Congressional Softball game in Washington D.C. being perhaps her most visible appearance.

Coordination of sports in the state has been hit and miss through the tenures of various governors since John Burns (1962-74), who was a visionary for upgrading UH athletics to the Division I level and a force behind the building of Aloha Stadium, which opened in 1975.

How much that might change in the near future remains to be seen, but looking at the pictures of Tsutsui endorsing Hanabusa makes you think he’s determined to press on with the vision.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.