University of Hawaii football coach Fred vonAppen said Tuesday he has no plans to resign, even though the Rainbows are winless in nine games this season and have the longest losing streak in NCAA Division I at 15 games.
VonAppen said he has a contract and a job to do and that it would send the wrong message to the players, because the coaching staff is asking them not to cave in and quit at a difficult time when nobody believes in them."Why should I resign? If I were to pack up and leave quietly because of the discomfort of the job is too great, that's the wrong kind of message," vonAppen said. "That's not me and I'm not going to do that."
VonAppen said he doesn't concern himself about the criticism because he has better things to spend his time on.
"Losing is painful for all concerned players and coaches and I suppose for the fans too," he said. "We failed thus far, this year. I don't think we failed across the board, but criticism abounds."
He said if anyone wants to make a coaching change, there is a mechanism they can go through if they feel it is in the best interest of the program, then chided those who only look at the won-loss record.
"No one cares what kind of grades our guys get . . . many don't care whether they go to class or not," vonAppen said. "They only care about one thing . . . which is to win. We haven't won and that's the issue at hand."
GREAT PLAINS BATTLE: Until a few years ago, even daydreaming about a Kansas State victory over Nebraska was largely frowned upon in polite Midwestern circles. Before K-State coach Bill Snyder arrived in 1989, the Wildcats barely averaged one victory a year (4-40-1 from 1985-88). During that period, Nebraska outscored K-State, 183-9.
But in just three years, Snyder led the Wildcats to a winning record. Beginning in 1993, they've appeared in five straight bowls. This year's team - ranked No. 2 by the AP, co-No. 1 by the coaches - could be his best yet - if it can defeat 7-2 Nebraska and end more than a generation of frustration.
K-State (9-0) has lost the last 29 in a row to the Huskers and 37 of the last 38. K-State last beat Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb., 12-0, in 1968. And the most recent Wildcat victory over the Huskers in Manhattan, Kansas: 29-14 in 1959.
SOUND BITES FROM KNOXVILLE: Another reason why mixed company can be hazardous for college football fans: Tennessee fan Jeff McCarty is accusing Gators fan Robert L. Shaw of biting off his left ear while they were watching the Florida-Tennessee game in a Knoxville bar Sept. 19.
McCarty's celebratory taunting - jabbing his fingers in Shaw's direction - triggered the eerie fracas. Shaw is charged with aggravated assault. After hearing testimony about the fracas, Knox County General Sessions Court Judge Geoff Emery bound the case over to a grand jury earlier this week.
Boxing promoters are said to be groveling at the possibilities of a Shaw-Mike Tyson matchup on pay per chew.
PICKY, PICKY: Rutgers coach Terry Shea was reminded earlier this week Sports Illustrated picked the Scarlet Knights No. 112 among the 112 Division I-A teams in a preseason poll.
Rutgers, now 5-4 after beating Temple last week, was 0-11 a year ago.
"If Sports Illustrated were so sharp, why can't they pick the No. 1 team every year, and they consistently don't," Shea said. "So, what makes them think they can pick the last team?"
EARLY RETURNS: Who wants a recount?: The Omaha (Neb.) World Herald polled 1,018 Nebraskans last month, asking whether they supported Cornhuskers coach Frank Solich. Result: 82 percent were behind him. The poll, however, was taken before Texas defeated Nebraska 20-16, snapping the Huskers' home winning streak at 47.
SPARTAN EFFORT: If Ohio State and Notre Dame win their remaining games, each team would have only one loss: to Michigan State, which lost at home to Colorado State and still might not qualify for a bowl game. Now that's an upset.
"I wonder how in the world (5-4 Michigan State) lost as many games as they've lost," Ohio State coach John Cooper said.
EXTRA POINTS: During coach Steve Spurrier's tenure, Florida is 61-0 against unranked teams . . . . Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer, the 1997 Butkus Award winner, didn't get his first sack of the '98 season until Halloween Day against Indiana . . . . What's the state of South Carolina football? Clemson and South Carolina are a combined 3-15 . . . . Despite its thrilling near-upset of undefeated UCLA last weekend, Oregon State notched its 28th consecutive losing season with the loss . . . . Tennessee, the new top-ranked team in the latest Associated Press poll, is in the AP's No. 1 spot for the first time since Nov. 3, 1956.
TWO-MINUTE WAC DRILL: Both BYU and Wyoming could clinch their divisions this week. If they do, it serves up a rematch of the 1996 inaugural WAC Championship game, won by BYU 28-25 in overtime . . . . Saturday's game between No. 23 Air Force and No. 25 Wyoming is the first between ranked WAC teams since No. 6 BYU and No. 20 Wyoming met in the aforementioned 1996 WAC title contest . . . . With its win last week over Army, Air Force completed its sweep of the service academies and won its 12th Commander-In-Chief's Trophy.