RAISE the roof! Sportsmania hits the roof at the arena
It's more than just an incitement to up the crowd noise during a game. It's a possibility the University of Hawaii should consider.
Volleyball - and now basketball - has shown that the late UH athletic director Stan Sheriff was right - 10,300 seats simply aren't enough.
The original plans for the Special Events Arena include an optional 6,000-seat third level with sponsor boxes and cantilevered seating. It would require the roof to be raised, but the infrastructure is there for the addition.
"It's something we've talked about and something we might want to look at down the road," UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida said. "Right now, though, the priorities are elsewhere."
Those priorities went elsewhere today with work beginning on the $5-million completion of the lower arena facilities.
When completed, the arena will have home locker rooms for each of UH's four arena teams (men's and women's basketball and volleyball) and three visitors' locker rooms. There also will be a sports medicine center with an X-ray machine, a student weight room to compliment that of the athletic department's, a teaching lab and three classrooms for health and physical education classes, an expanded hospitality room and an academic center.
"What I'm happy about is the academic center and that each of our (arena) teams will have a locker room to call home," Yoshida said. "What's happening is it's giving us a showcase that should pay dividends in recruiting."
WHAT'S also happening is the 312-year-old arena is gaining a reputation for its rocking fan support. Ten years ago, who would have thought "big-time college atmosphere" and "Hawaii" would be used in the same sentence?
The ESPN commentators raved about it. Kansas coach Roy Williams felt it. Nebraska coach Danny Nee likened the arena to the Jayhawks' revered Allen Fieldhouse, with its James Naismith Court.
Who would have thought that, following a great but exhausting four-day Rainbow Classic, the arena would sell out for a non-conference game against a 3-9 Norfolk State team that was competing in Division II last season?
"This has been the best game in terms of what college basketball is all about," said Norfolk State coach Mike Bernard, whose team was on the road for all but one of its first 13 games. "This is a great environment to play in, with the arena, the fans, the hype surrounding the program. For us moving into Division I, this was a big step to see what it's all about."
The next phase for the arena - outside of renaming it for Sheriff - is to extend the plaza over the loading dock area. A two-story annex will be built with offices for the basketball coaches and arena support management.
SPEAKING of renaming the arena, it's on the agenda for this month's UH Board of Regents meeting. It would be a fitting tribute to Sheriff, who passed away Jan. 16, 1993, after returning from the NCAA Convention.
"My dad saw the possibilities of having this arena," said Sheriff's youngest son, Rich, the arena manager. "He had a vision of what it could be and we've seen it for volleyball and basketball.
"I don't know if it's financially feasible to raise the roof. It would be nice, but we're pretty happy with the size right now. The one thing I've heard from people is they don't care where their ticket is. With the size of the facility, its shape and angles, there isn't a bad seat in the house."
The regents should do the right thing this month. It's been five years. It's time.
If they need a reminder, they can go down to the arena today. The company chosen to do the completion? Stan's Contracting.
Cindy Luis is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter.
Her column appears weekly.