9/12/96

I really wonder whether or not we're supposed to take Fred VonAppen, the new UH Football Coach seriously.

He came on like such a lion yet, now and for the past few weeks the guy seems to be real quick to unleash his frustrations in the media. Today, the paper reports he said he wouldn't go to the Wyoming game unless the UH administrators took care of a sixty dollar per diem charge of some kind.

Isn't the guy supposed to be making somewhere around 90 to 100 grand a year?

Don't ya think that someone making that kind of money might try a little harder to fit in before he starts blasting away?

Don't ya think a guy makin that kind of dough and professing to be a real players' coach might just sit tight over sixty bucks and be supportive of his team first?

He might indeed have some legit gripes but, among other things, I was blown away by his comment that former Coach Wagner was doing all the right things...Fred now wonders why UH fired Wags...shouldn't this have come to light before he took the job?

Something doesn't jive here. I can't quite put my finger on it.

It doesn't seem like communication is very good within the department.

Why aren't those high paid admin folks and the coaches talking to each other? Why all the public salvos?

Sheesh, only two games so far this season and already VonAppen is posturing himself to take a hike?

Will he last the season? Or will he grumble himself intentionally out of the job?

Does Fred wanna be fired already?

Where is Coach Wagner and what is he doing? Maybe Fred should split and Wags should come back and pick up the pieces.

It just seems so very very strange to this casual outside observer. Fred talks about lousy facilities, lack of a training table for the players, and all kinds of other problems...why are we in the public hearing about all this and why now? Wouldn't ya think that the UH Sports Administration and the coaches and players would be talking amongst themselves and trying to solve their problems away from public scrutiny - especially since it's so early in the season?

I feel real bad for the players. They obviously are all working hard, learning new offense and defense tactics, trying to prove themselves to a new coach and all us fans and yet they are being talked about as if they were nothing more than ping pong balls.

Plus they are all students and supposedly working hard on their educations.

Personally, I wanna read less about the UH infighting in the paper. I wanna see our team play the very best football they can. I want the new coach to quit griping and help our boys win a few games. I want Hugh Yoshida and Fred VonAppen to work out their problems in the back office like they're supposed to. I want them to publically show every kind of support they can for the players and I want the players to know that win or lose, we, the public, love em for their efforts....after all they are following the leads and instructions of their coaches and losses are due just as much to bad coaching as anything.

I want each of the Rainbows to get straight A's so they can get good jobs when they need to.

Go Bows!!!...kick some cowboy okole!