Stephen Tsai: Hawaii’s recent success didn’t happen by accident
Soon after the University of Hawaii baseball team fell a game short of winning the 1980 College World Series, coach Les Murakami stood on the top dugout step at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium and vowed the Rainbows would return to Omaha, Neb. Forty-six years later, the Rainbows still are waiting for a CWS sequel. In 2013, Rosenblatt Stadium was demolished, with the site now owned by Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.
The NCAA and CWS of Omaha Inc. had planned to celebrate the 1980 Rainbows’ 40th anniversary at the 2020 CWS. But those plans were canceled because of the pandemic.
Maybe a Golden Anniversary in 2030 is the next option? On Christmas Eve in 2019, a crowd of 19,539 saw junior Cole McDonald throw the decisive touchdown pass to Nick Mardner in the UH football team’s 38-34 victory over BYU in the Hawaii Bowl. It would be McDonald’s last game in a Rainbow Warrior uniform.
The next month, McDonald applied for the NFL Draft. It also would be the final time fans attended an event in Aloha Stadium. The pandemic prohibited spectators in 2020.
Citing safety concerns in December 2020, officials essentially shuttered Aloha Stadium for good. A new Halawa facility is expected to be ready in 2029, maybe, probably, a skosh later. During an Aloha Basketball Classic practice at the Blaisdell Arena in 1986, Marty Blake, the self-styled NBA director of personnel, walked around with a tape measure and a tall story.
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