At halftime of Sunday’s University of Hawaii-Maryland NCAA Tournament basketball game, Turner Sports analyst Kenny Smith said he felt the need to see more of UH in the future.
His employers at TNT, Smith suggested none-to-subtly, ought to send him to Honolulu — for about seven games a year.
It was one of the dozens of endorsements, tongue-in-cheek and otherwise, for travel to Hawaii served up on national media during the euphoric March Madness run of the Rainbow Warriors and Rainbow Wahine.
For years UH officials have been touted the visibility of their teams — dubbed “ambassadors of Aloha” in one bill currently before the legislature — as a pillar of their case for increased state funding.
These last couple of weekends UH teams, often with ti leaf-waving fans in the background, have given more standing to the argument. With the exploits of the Rainbow Wahine and ’Bows displayed across TNT, ESPN, Fox, etc., smack dab in the middle of the national obsession with March Madness if UH is going to shake any money loose at the capitol anytime soon, this would seem to the legislative session to do it.
UH’s basketball success, coming on the heels of the Rainbow Wahine’s return to the Elite Eight in volleyball, has engendered a spirited lift locally and there has been a noticeable difference in the warmth of the welcome UH’s emissaries have enjoyed this past week compared to January.
As the session was starting, UH’s $3 million “ask” for its athletic teams at Manoa and Hilo was received with little enthusiasm and much skepticism.
A few weeks ago UH officials had cheered just the “opportunity to tell our story” and the perception that the narrative surrounding the athletic program might be changing.
More recently, as the Rainbow Wahine and Rainbow Warriors won Big West Conference championships and moved on to the NCAA Tournament with more than decade-long breakthroughs, more ice was broken as well.
You sensed that on-the-court success was chipping away at the perception of an institution that struggled to win because it wasted money on bad hires, flawed contracts and outlandish buyouts.
These triumphant days even people testifying against measures that would support UH do so with kid gloves. Many have gone out of their way to say they are fans of its teams and programs. Some giddily reciting how long — or how many — seasons tickets they have held over the years.
Before a House Committee on Tourism hearing got underway last week on the often contentious issue of dividing up the transient accommodations tax revenue with the counties, Maui Council member Michael Victorino paused to offer a rousing testimonial to UH teams “bringing great pride to the State of Hawaii.”
When Smith made his pitch for a clause in his TNT contract giving him the seven trips to watch UH, an on-set colleague quipped, “Good luck with that.”
Now, we wait to see if the March euphoria will last long enough to give UH any better luck at the legislature.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
