Coach Mack was in Salt Lake City for the WAC Football Media Preview, where the football coaches from schools within the Western Athletic Conferences talk to a group of reporters about the upcoming football season.
Coach Mack was asked about last year's Hawaii Bowl in which Hawaii lost to Notre Dame.
Coach Mack talked about the banquet a few days before the Hawaii Bowl. The Hawaii guys did the ha'a chant. Then Notre Dame guys did their own chant.
Coach Mack referred to the Notre Dame's chant as a "faggot dance".
Things went downhill from there!
Coach Mack tried to persuade the reporters there to not report what he just said!
But being that the press conference included reporters covering the rival schools, that just wasn't going to happen!
The next day, Coach Mack came back to Hawaii and met with UH officials! He was suspended for 30 days (though in this case, the suspension meant he could coach in those days, but just not get paid for it), and ordered to make public service announcements on tolerance!
He had a 7% pay cut, but that was because a few days before his controversial remark, he already publicly stated that he was willing to take a pay cut to help the UH athletic department get through the financial crisis.
http://www.starbulletin.com/sports/20090729_McMackins_OK_with_salary_cut.html (notice this was printed THE DAY BEFORE his controversial remark)
Coach Mack publicly and tearfully apologized for his controversial taunt.
http://www.starbulletin.com/sports/20090801_Mack_apologizes_accepts_punishment.html
"I'm very pained and disappointed in myself and I hope to make up for some of the pain," McMackin said between ragged breaths and after wiping away tears. "I made a mistake. Now I have to show the leadership in dealing with both the football program and building respect for all people in our community."
Now for the commentary
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1) This situation was a surprise to most of us in Hawaii!
Coach Mack had an image of being a nice guy who would never hurt anyone! He had an easy-going personality, liked to greet people, and is known to care about his players!
Sure, he could get mad if his players are slacking off, but he was NOTHING like Bobby Knight!
Nobody really expected Coach Mack to even use the words "faggot dance".
2) Now, Coach Mack was just joking when referring to Notre Dame's chant as a "faggot dance". It wasn't Coach Mack's intention to insult or offend!
However, as Coach Mack himself would agree, that was totally unprofessional.
Here's what David Shapiro said on this issue!
http://volcanicash.honadvblogs.com/2009/08/05/a-bumpy-path-to-tolerance/
The furor over prejudiced gaffes such as those made by Greg McMackin and Rex Johnson inevitably cause hand-wringing in some quarters that we've become overly sensitive, too politically correct and unable to take a joke anymore.
I'm not going to get into an argument about things people say in their personal communications that reveal their intolerance, ignorance and poor manners.
But expressions of bigotry by state officials in their official capacity are never acceptable, and the punishment must be as harsh as necessary to get the point across.
3) As Mr Shapiro mentioned, anytime someones negative things about a racial group or homosexuals, some losers will say stuff like "it's just words", "they're overly sensitive", "can't you take a joke", blah, blah, blah!
Would any of you call your boss a "faggot"? You'll probably join the unemployment lines if you done that!
Would any of you call your mom a "whore"? She'll probably slap you, or at least yell at you!
Words either mean something or mean nothing!
Those who say stuff like "it's just words", "you're overly sensitive", "can't take a joke", etc. are bullies who can't handle having their victims stand up for themselves! They're like the guy who punches his victim, then immediately runs away like a coward!
Then there are those losers who say "my parents taught me not to get upset when someone calls me names!" Those parents are either abusive (ie. use insults on their children, yet don't like it when they react to those insults) over overly permissive ( ie. allowing their children to say and do whatever without punishing them).
Those are the most dangerous parents of all!
Parents are supposed to tell their kids "Stand up for yourself, take no crap from others!" Or as my former boss, Mr. Vince of Palama Settlement used to tell me "handle it on your level 1st, then, if it still doesn't get resolved, talk to me". Mr Vince also taught me to be stern, but also stay calm at the same time!
I wish my parents taught me that earlier in life!
4) Then off course, another argument that pops up when a public figure makes insulting remarks about a racial group or homosexuals is "how dare you criticize that guy, you ain't perfect, you probably said stuff like that before!"
One of the lamest arguments ever!
I used to make homophobic comments when I was younger! (which I totally regret now) Does this mean, if my future children or my future students or my future employees make those same homophobic remarks, I should just let them get away with it?
Your parents probably scolded you for mistakes they used to make! Your teachers probably scolded you for the mistakes they used to make! Your bosses probably scolded you for the mistakes they used to make! They do it because they now know better and they want to know better faster than they did!
What's the point of being a parent/teacher/boss if you're going to let your subordinates get away with the same mistakes you used to make?
We all made mistakes! But mature people do 2 things
NUMBER ONE) stop making those same mistakes
NUMBER TWO) correct others who make the same mistakes you used to make!
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If you don't do Number ONE, but criticize those who make the mistakes you continue to make, then that's hypocrisy! So it's important to do STOP making those mistakes!
5) This brings up another issue that happened in 2000!
In the summer of 2000 (between my 1st & 2nd year @ UH), the UH Athletic Department changed the logo from the Rainbow to the tiki-styled H-symbol.
The name of the football teams went from Rainbows to Warriors.
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2000/07/27/sports/story1.html
UH officially unveiled the not-so-secret secret design yesterday before about 500 invited guests at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The distinctive logo is the flagship of the athletic department's unified direction mandated by former university president Kenneth Mortimer. But, a Rainbow selection of familiar team nicknames remain.
While the football team is now officially the Warriors, the other sports' coaches are free to choose from Rainbow Warriors, Warriors, Rainbows, Rainbow Wahine and Wahine.
The change of the name and the logo was June Jone's idea, but it had support of then-Athletic Director Hugh Yoshida!
While the name Warriors sound more tougher than Rainbows, that's not the only reason for the change.
The real reason was expressed by Yoshida, and gotten controversy!
http://media.www.kaleo.org/media/storage/paper872/news/2003/12/11/Sports/Whats.In.A.Nickname.At.UhManoa-2801080.shtml
During the unveiling of the new "H" logo three years ago, then-athletic director Hugh Yoshida said: "That (rainbow) logo really put a stigma on our program at times, in regards to its part of the gay community, their flags and so forth. Some of the student athletes had some feelings in regards to that."
Associate women's volleyball coach Charlie Wade was quoted in an article published by OutSports.com as saying, "I can't be certain, but I think that the rainbow had something to do with a flight attendant giving me his phone number one time."
(skipped paragraphs)
Four years ago, when they were the "Rainbows," football players complained that they were sometimes taunted by opponents for having a "gay" nickname. The stereotypical male athlete is supposed to be someone who is rugged, tough and strong. I guess "Rainbows" just didn't do it for them.-------
Personally, I never had a problem with either the UH Rainbow symbol or the tiki-style H-symbol!
However, the logo change happened unannounced and without public input, that it caught many Hawaii people off guard!
This led to the feud between local news anchor Joe Moore and former UH football coach June Jones!
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Oct/31/op/FP610310313.html (scroll down to the 7th letter, which is titled "JONES BEARS BLAME FOR DISCONNECT WITH FANS")
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So why were the UH sports teams called the "Rainbows" in the first place.
The name came in the 1920's, DECADES before the gay-liberation movement decided it was a good idea to adapt their own rainbow symbol!
http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/07/17/sports/simpson.html
It happened long ago, in 1923 to be exact. Hawaii's Fighting Deans staged an epic 7-0 upset of Oregon State, and a rainbow appeared over the field. It must have looked, it must have felt, much the way it did that December day last year when a brilliant arc, a perfect rainbow materialized in the Aloha Stadium sky after Hawaii had punted BYU.
And in those early days, every time there was a rainbow, the team won. Every time there was a rainbow in the valley, the team won.
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The rainbow was a good luck symbol for the UH teams, it had NOTHING to do with the gay-liberation movement!
In fact, even after the name change, having a rainbow appear over Aloha Stadium was a sign UH was going to win.
I remember in 2004 (4 years after the logo change) I saw a rainbow over Aloha Stadium when UH played Michigan State. UH won!
The following year (2005) , I saw no rainbow over Aloha Stadium when UH played Fresno State. UH lost.
Coincidence?
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Now back to "Rainbows being gay". The local guys on the team KNOW that Rainbows had NOTHING to do with the gay-liberation movement.
However, on the continental USA, people are indoctrinated to associate the rainbow with "gays".
So UH teams were taunted about being "rainbows" by their opponent's players and fans!
And it made it harder to UH to recruit players from the mainland. After all, why be a "rainbow" when you can go to Fresno State and be a bulldog, or go to Nevada to be a part of the wolfpack or go to Boise State and be a bronco!
But now that UH is now Warriors and does the ha'a chant, there's less stigma about being recruited by UH!
Meanwhile, other UH teams still have Rainbows in their names. The men's basketball team calls themselves Rainbow Warriors and the women's teams call themselves Rainbow Wahine!
6) Whatever the UH teams are called, I wish them all luck this coming school year, and hopefully, we all learned a lesson about respect for others!
