AZTECS NOTEBOOK : Rainbows See Trouble in Pink

San Diego State, it turns out, is not the only team in the Western Athletic Conference with problems. Take a look at Hawaii, SDSU’s opponent Saturday.

The Rainbows arrived in Iowa Sept. 7, walked into the visitor’s locker room . . . and discovered the walls were pink. Since studies have shown that pink is a passive color, Iowa Coach Hayden Fry had the Hawkeyes’ visiting locker room re-painted with the passive color a few years ago.

Iowa whipped Hawaii, 53-10.

Then the Rainbows traveled to Colorado State Saturday, walked into the visitor’s locker room and . . . yep. Pink walls again. Rams Coach Earle Bruce had the visitor’s locker room painted in 1989, just after Hawaii’s last visit there.

Call Hawaii Coach Bob Wagner superstitious. Call him savvy. Whatever, he lost it when he discovered that, for the second time in a month, his team would be dressing in an atmosphere more suited to a beauty salon.

Wagner immediately had a graduate assistant coach try to cover the walls by taping up newspapers. Either the coach couldn’t find enough newspapers or he couldn’t find a ladder (the ceiling in the CSU visiting locker room is high), because the pink walls still were visible by the time the assistant finished.

Hawaii (3-2) lost again, 28-16.

“(The pink walls) are not why we lost,” Wagner told the Honolulu Advertiser after the CSU game. “I don’t say it is cheating, but it is a concern that people are doing that (painting the walls pink) based upon the research that you read about.

“If you look at the color pink and do some strength tests, your strength is supposed to be reduced. How that translates 10 minutes after the fact might be a whole different thing, though.”

Still, Wagner is not fully convinced. Someone asked him if a pink locker room bothers him as much as when a team attempts to gain an advantage by letting its grass grow long.

“If you listen to the scientists, it is a lot worse than grass,” Wagner said.

So maybe the key to SDSU’s trip to Hawaii Saturday has nothing to do with who will play quarterback for the Aztecs.

Maybe the key is whether the Aztecs can obtain pink uniforms.

Because SDSU only scored two touchdowns Thursday against UCLA, and because the Aztecs were so far behind that they went for two-point conversions after each touchdown, the conversion-kick-holder mystery never was solved.

The answer: Larry Maxey will hold for kicker Andy Trakas, replacing Scott Oatsvall.

Trakas already has missed four extra-point kicks this season. SDSU coaches think part of the reason is because Oatsvall hasn’t been holding the ball in the same spot each time. So enter Maxey.

“We think we’ve got it worked out, but you never know until you’re under pressure,” SDSU Coach Al Luginbill said.

Running back Curtis Butts returned to practice Monday after missing Sunday. Luginbill said Butts’ reason was that he didn’t know about practice. The coach also said disciplinary action has been taken against Butts. Luginbill wouldn’t divulge what the disciplinary action was.

By the numbers: Marshall Faulk continues to lead the nation in scoring (17 points a game average) and is fourth in rushing (154 1/2). He is ninth in all purpose running (166 3/4).

Maybe the SDSU basketball team could use Faulk--its leading scorer last year, Marty Dow, also averaged 17 points a game.

Add numbers: Freshman Darnay Scott is 11th in the nation in kickoff returns with an average of 27 yards a return. SDSU is 15th in scoring offense (34 points a game) and 19th in total offense (439 yards). The Aztec defense is in familiar territory in total defense: 95th (435 1/2 yards).