A supporter of the Warrior nickname on a UH fan site asked me to do an article in the paper about rumors of pressure exerted upon athletic director Ben Jay to change his decision on the nickname from "Warrior" to "Rainbow Warrior." My response follows.

Here's why I won't do that kind of article: After two days of asking around I've discovered zero evidence of any big money donor throwing his weight around to force the AD to change his decision, or any kind of conspiracy. One source did tell me he heard a rumor that the governor placed a call in support of Rainbow. Could there have been a plot? Sure, but if there was it was extremely well camouflaged. Did some powerful people express their preference to the AD? Yes, as did a lot of not-so-powerful people. But four or five sources who deal closely with boosters (and one who is a booster) continued to tell me the nickname is not an issue with big money donations. Could they all be lying? Possibly, but I doubt it. I'll say the same thing I said to the Rainbow supporters ... if this is really that important to you you should've made your feelings known to the AD with an organized effort including petitions, rallies, etc. ... the difference is the Rainbow dudes actually did it. There were no pro-Warrior counter Rainbow demonstrators at Bachman Hall two weeks ago. No Warrior supporters made their voices heard at the Thursday night town hall. I'm not saying the high-profile Stephen Chinen and Mark Takai were the game-changers, but this much is clear: The pro-Rainbow people wanted it more, and they convinced Jay that their perspective of UH's tradition was worth saving despite lack of a consensus either way.

UH athletic director Ben Jay sent this email to Rally4Rainbows organizer Stephen Chinen.

Mr. Chinen,

Mahalo for your e-mail.

As my assistant Jeannie Lee previously informed you, I am currently attending meetings on the mainland and will not be available for the rally. However, I'm glad we were able to meet in order to share views and opinions.

When the decision was made in 2000 to change the nickname of the football, men's volleyball, golf, and tennis teams to Warriors, I'm sure there were individuals that were against the decision because of their strong affinity for Rainbows.

Now, 13 years later, the Warrior nickname has been embraced by many and I am not aware of any past organized campaigns to change the nicknames of these four men's teams back to either Rainbow Warriors or Rainbows.

After arriving at UH, it soon became clear that a decision had to be made to unite the remaining three men's teams (men's basketball, baseball, and swimming & diving) with the other four under a common nickname in order to end a branding situation that has caused confusion both locally and nationally and hampered marketing, licensing, and merchandising initiatives.

Based on numerous conversations with UH fans, I did not hear a consensus on what the men's nickname should be but individuals were clearly in agreement that a decision had to be made and was long overdue. One of the key factors in the decision was that Warriors is the nickname of the majority of our men's teams, including the one with the largest fan following (football).

We are changing the nickname of three of our seven men's programs and not "all" of them. As I mentioned, four have been Warriors since 2000. In essence, we are not "making" a decision to adopt the Warrior nickname for our men's sports, we are basically "finishing" the decision made 13 years ago, so that our brand identity is clear and unified.

Your efforts have not gone unnoticed and we appreciate the feedback and passion that has been expressed. We've also received feedback from many who are in support of the Warriors and Rainbow Wahine nicknames.  We know we will not be able to please everyone but we are moving forward.

Please understand that we are not removing Rainbow entirely, since our women's team's will remain Rainbow Wahine and the "Let's Go Bows" cheer will always be a part of the cheerleaders and fans' repertoire. Also, there are plans to continue to honor the Rainbow tradition, including a "Retro Night" during the upcoming football season and a line of retro merchandise that is currently being sold. Other initiatives will also be planned.

Mahalo for your support of our men's and women's student-athletes and I hope to see you at many UH sporting events.

Aloha,

Ben

Here is the email from Chinen:

Dear  Mr. Ben Jay, Mr. Tom Apple, Ms. M.R.C. Greenwood, Mr. Eric Martinson, Mr. Carl Carlson Jr., Mr. James Lee, Mr. Jeffrey Acido, Mr. Artemio Baxa, Mr. John Dean, Mr. Chuck Gee, Mr. John Holzman, Mr. Benjamin Kudo, Ms. Coralie Matayoshi, Mr. Barry Mizuno, Ms. Saedene Ota, Mr. Tom Shigemoto, Ms. Jan Sullivan and Mr. Vince Baldemor:

On April 7, I sent an email to Mr. Jay inviting him to attend the May 3rd rally (please see email below).  I sent similar emails to the rest of you and, with the exception of Mr. Baldemor (thank you!), NO ONE took the time to extend to me the common courtesy of a reply.  Although I did not ask Mr. Jay to respond by April 29, that is the date I asked the rest of you to reply by.

To Mr. Jay, Mr. Apple, and Ms. Greenwood, why do you treat local people like me this way?  Yes, I know you are very busy.  I also know you are paid very handsomely to compensate for your long hours, including the time and effort it would have taken to respond to me.  I have not disrespected you ... yes, I have been firm in my opinion because of my passion for the Rainbows name, but I have not disrespected you.  Why, then, do you not grant me the courtesy of a reply?  Why do you disrespect local people like myself and think we are not as good as you?

To the Board of Regents, you are local people, why have you not responded?  I am aware that you serve without compensation, except for a healthy (I hope) stipend, so does that mean you only check your email when you are officially in an "on duty" capacity?  My email to you was sent on April 7, as well.  Assuming this is the case, please "catch up" and go to my website at

www.RainbowsInMe.com  and please at least read the home page and the FAQ page.

Also, please contemplate the following three questions:

1. We ALWAYS hear about students being the MOST IMPORTANT part of the University.  So why weren't they surveyed about their name preference?  One ASUH Senator told me Mr. Jay assured him/her that he would do such a survey, but no, he didn't do this.

2.  We often hear about alumni being a very important part of the University community.  So why weren't we surveyed?

3.   I received an email not too long ago from Ahahui Koa Anuenue,  saying we members are -- here we go again -- the MOST important part of the organization. So why weren't we surveyed?

Lastly, one more thought:  Appearing in the heading of the University System website, and thus the very first thing one reads is, "The University of Hawai'i System -- Like No Place Else On Earth."  Ironic, isn't it, that Mr. Jay seeks to abolish "Rainbows" from the men's teams, a name and symbol that substantially contributes to making Hawaii Nei like no place else on earth.

Furthermore, our "local lifestyle" aka "local culture," "rainbow culture," "melting pot culture," and "salad bowl culture" promotes respect and harmony among its people.  Why does Mr. Jay, Mr. Apple, and Ms. Greenwood -- and perhaps, members of the Board of Regents -- disrespect local people like myself and think we are not as good as them?

Respectfully and with aloha,

steve chinen

If you're my Facebook friend, or encountered me in person in the past couple of weeks, you may have already seen, read or heard some of my thoughts about Joe Francis, my P.E. teacher at Pearl City High School and — little did I know at the time 35 years ago — a Hawaii sports legend. So I apologize if I'm repeating myself, but there's some new stuff here, too.

Mr. Francis passed away from prostate cancer on April 15, and I wrote a story obit. This was overshadowed by other stories that day, especially the Boston Marathon bombing. But to many of his former students and football players from Pearl City High and his large 'ohana this was of course the biggest news of the day, even for those of us who knew it was coming soon because he had been seriously ill for a long time.

His memorial services were Tuesday at St. Ann's Church in Kaneohe, and hundreds of loved ones and former players and students attended. It was a beautiful setting. Many smiles and tears were shared as stories were exchanged about the strength, humility, wisdom and humor of Joe Francis. Too many Hawaii sports luminaries to mention attended.

Those of us at Pearl City in the '70s and '80s actually had three big-time local sports legends teaching and counseling us and most of us didn't even realize it because they were so humble. Bino Neves, the jolly athletic director who the stadium is now named after, had been a star player at Purdue. Counselor Dick "Kaipo" Kenney was famous as Michigan State's barefoot kicker and was in the Game of the Century between the Spartans and Notre Dame in 1966, which was the first mainland sports event televised in the islands by satellite. I credit Mr. Kenney with providing me with great career advice because he made the correct decision to cut me from the JV baseball team, and that's when my delusions of being a pro athlete disappeared and I started to focus on becoming a sports writer.

And Joe Francis, who was a star at Oregon State and went on to the NFL and CFL, has now joined his friends and colleagues Neves and Kenney in the hereafter.

Barry Villamil, a 1977 PCHS graduate who covers the Pearl City community like a blanket on his web site, shared one of the funniest stories. As a P.E. teacher, Coach Francis often participated in games with us. Barry recalls a sham battle game where both teams conspired to nail Francis with throws all at one time. He laughed along with the students but got his revenge: For the next two weeks, that P.E. class did actual book work instead of fun and games.

His P.E. classes were sometimes more like recess than schoolwork (especially during football season when Coach Francis would often be in his office working on his game plan), but that doesn't mean he ignored us and we didn't learn things. He inspired many of us. I wasn't a football player, but he often asked how I was doing in track and even once something about the school paper. Lots of students wanted to be his teacher's assistant, so I was surprised and honored when he chose me for one of the coveted spots (yeah, I admit, it was an easy 'A').

Everybody knew Mr. Francis was a tough, strong guy who was in great shape. I don't think he was ever challenged by a student. But he also had a quirky sense of humor, and that helped him get his message across as a teacher. Keone Kuniyoshi remember Francis saying this, "The three worst things in life is one, if you lie, two, if you hate Jesus, and three, your feet stink."

Brian Derby, who might be the best football player to ever come out of PCHS, said Coach Francis quoted Vince Lombardi to inspire his players.

But during those high school years, I never really knew about Coach Francis' history as a college football star and a player for the Green Bay Packers, under Vince Lombardi. He was just my super cool P.E. teacher who played tag football with us on the red dirt field and dropped witty one-liners and pearls of wisdom.

What does your team need? Are you happy with who it picked?

Does the lack of top-level quarterbacks take the luster out of this draft?

Where and when do you think Manti Te'o gets picked?

Address these topics and whatever else regarding the draft here.

It's been nearly 40 years since Rick Pitino was an assistant basketball coach at the University of Hawaii. But some UH fans still have a bad feeling about Pitino, who was recently inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame and leads Louisville into the Final Four today.

When the NCAA put UH on probation for two years in 1977, Pitino was implicated in eight of the 64 violations cited.

When I met him at the 2001 NCAA Tournament, Pitino was cordial and made a gracious, if innocuous comment about his time in Hawaii. Others have noted that he rarely mentions or acknowledges that he started his career in Hawaii.

Hawaii has another connection to Louisville; point guard Peyton Siva is of Samoan ethnicity and has family here.