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Star-Bulletin Sports


Friday, January 19, 2001


H U L A _ B O W L




By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Doug Sims is one of five Warriors
playing in the Hula Bowl.



Hula Bowl
‘should really
be fun’

The 97 all-stars turn their
attention from the drills and
meetings to the game

HULA BOWL NOTEBOOK


By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

WAILUKU, Maui -- The practices for the 55th annual Hula Bowl are for the National Football League scouts, tomorrow's game is for the players.

After a week of on-the-job training, drills after workouts and meetings with every kind of official imaginable, the 97 athletes are looking forward to finally keeping score in the college football all-star game.

"I think the game will be the fun part,'' Purdue University quarterback Drew Brees said. He is the top player in this week's field and has caught the eye of nearly every scout out here as he prepares for the final college game of his career.

Hula Bowl


HULA BOWL

Bullet What: 55th annual Hula Bowl
Bullet Who: 97 college football all-stars.
Bullet When: Tomorrow, 3 p.m.
Bullet Where: War Memorial Stadium, Maui.
Bullet TV: ESPN.


"I probably wouldn't even be here if it weren't for (Purdue head coach Joe Tiller). But to get to be around him one last time is one of the reasons I came to Hawaii. The practices have been good, learning a new system and just competing with the game's best. But the game should really be fun.''

Brees is a first-round projection in April's NFL Draft. He is a shade under 6-feet, but believes there are plenty of quarterbacks his size who have made it in the NFL. If he gets a clear passing lane, Brees usually finds his target.

Ohio State wideout Reggie Germany figures to be one man Brees will be looking for in tomorrow's game. While he didn't have a spectacular senior season because of injuries, the Buckeyes receiver still possesses plenty of skills. In his career, he caught 80 passes for 1,268 yards and six touchdowns.

Top running back R.J. Bowers is also playing for the Kai team. Built along the lines of former San Francisco 49ers fullback Tom Rathman, the Grove City player is college football's all-time leading rusher with 7,353 yards. He was a finalist for the Melberger Award, the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy in Division III football.

"There aren't too many games where you will see a player like Bowers and Brees on the same football team,'' said Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer, who will square off with Florida State's Bobby Bowden, coach of the Aina squad.

"This is what makes this college all-star game special. It isn't just about trying to make it at the next level. It's a reward for a job well done.''

It would appear the Kai team is the one to beat. In addition to Brees, Houston's Jason McKinley and Idaho State's Shane Griggs are the men under center.

Griggs is considered by the scouts to be this year's Charlie Batch. Not as well known as his counterparts, Griggs still threw for 5,023 yards and 40 touchdowns during his Big Sky career.

McKinley, who, like Brees, is from Austin, Texas, managed 8,694 yards and 46 touchdowns in his career. The passers are definitely on this side of the ball.

The Aina quarterbacks are Jonathan Beasley from Kansas State, Darnell Arceneaux of Utah and Arizona's Ortege Jenkins.

"Coach, I think we should trade sides of the ball with the other coaches,'' Hula Bowl assistant LaVell Edwards said to Bowden during Monday's opening practice. "Their guys can throw and our guys can run. I'm not sure how much option football I know.''

Most of the players with Hawaii ties will play for the Aina team, including Maui product Robert Kemfort. He said several of the UH players were coming over tomorrow just for the game, including Chris Brown and Joe Correia.

"I've looked forward to playing in this game all year,'' Kemfort said.

"To be able to finish out my career before my family and friends, and in the same stadium I played in high school, well, it's very special for me.''

Fellow Warriors Dee Miller, Rinda Brooks, James Fenderson and Doug Sims want to help Kemfort go out on a winning note. So do Utah's Arceneaux and linebacker Kautai Olevao, who played their high school ball on Oahu.

"It's been a lot of work this week,'' Olevao said. "Now, we can go out and have fun in the game, and show people across the country how well we play football in Hawaii.''



Rivals.com


HULA BOWL NOTEBOOK

Tapa

Teaff, Bowden like BCS

WAILUKU, Maui -- If you're looking for a playoff system in college football, don't bring it up to American Football Coaches Association executive director Grant Teaff or Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden. They like things just the way they are, thank you.

Teaff conceded the Bowl Championship Series is still evolving, but it has worked well for all concerned, producing a true national champion each season. Oklahoma made sure of it this year by beating Bowden's Seminoles to finish first in the BCS and Associated Press polls.

But had Oklahoma stumbled, Florida State would have won the BCS and Miami of Florida, which beat the Seminoles during the regular season, would have been the AP winner, producing a split national championship. But according to Teaff, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"We've always had the possibility of four or five undefeated teams or four or five teams with one defeat," Teaff said. "I had a vision of all of my friends in the media erasing that top name of Miami off there and replacing it with Oklahoma.

"It certainly could have happened this year and my thoughts of a split championship was great. The more the merrier. The reason we give our (BCS) national championship trophy at the game is this is the system that's set up and this is what we're all playing for. Every coach out there wants to be in the BCS. And we made this decision, once it was decided that the AP poll and the coaches poll would be a part of the selection process of one and two."

Does the system need tweaking? Should there be a limit on point differential? And how much stock should there be in head-to-head competition? This year, Miami beat Florida State, and had a good case at being the second choice.

"But Washington beat Miami and I didn't hear a whole lot of talk about that," Bowden said. "I like the BCS because we've been in it every year. I don't think head-to-head should be that big of a factor because there's a difference if that game is home or away.

"I think it should be how you play during the course of an 11-game season. It's great and all if there's only one national champion. But let me tell you this: We all play for that Sears Trophy given by the BCS. That's the one you want hanging in your trophy case.''

Teaff said he wants to make sure the computer boys are all on the same page. But for the most part, the BCS has worked very well the last three seasons.

"After our Division I meeting last year, we were concerned about the differential," Teaff said. "We don't like the differential. We don't want a coach to ever be put in the position of having to run up the score to get X computer votes.

"We went to the commissioner's meeting last year and it was agreed there would be a cap of 21 points. The thing we're trying to find out right now, and in a very short frame of time, was it in effect this year or was it not?

"I kept reading reports that it was not in effect. I don't know if they got it from the computer people or what, and maybe that word didn't get passed down, but I've been told it was put in and that the commissioners are 100 percent for it."

Head-to-head is another matter.

"There should be some value in it," Teaff said. "But if you say Miami should be ahead of Florida State because they won, then what do you say about Washington, who beat Miami? Sometimes, the coaches don't think the computer is unbiased. But we're getting there."

Beamer says goodbye

If Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer harbors any resentment toward Michael Vick after announcing last week he wouldn't return for his junior and senior seasons, the Hula Bowl head coach doesn't show it.

Granted, he was under the assumption that Vick would be back this year for the Hokies. Not only would Virginia Tech have a chance for a national championship, but Vick would be the leading contender for the Heisman Trophy as well.

"What I would ask Michael Vick to do is get accurate information with NFL people to see where he stood and what was best for him," Beamer said. "When he made that decision, I'm totally behind him. I might not agree with him, but I'm still behind him and will always pull for him. I will be his biggest fan."

Not that Beamer believes Vick is ready for the rigors of professional football. He does not, but that doesn't change his mind about the potential Vick has once he has time to learn the system.

"I think there is a lot of money involved," Beamer said. "But the only thing guaranteed in a pro contract is the signing bonus. If you got hurt playing pro football, you would need to get the disability insurance there, too, something he could have got in the college game.

"Personally, I think Michael Vick needs some more time. He's the most talented guy I've ever seen, but he needs another year of college football. He was hurt a lot this year and another year of experience would have been good for him. Still, there's so much money involved, it was hard for him to turn away from that."

Tickets going fast

If you go into the Hula Bowl office, be prepared to stand in line.

Folks are coming fast and heavy for the few remaining Hula Bowl tickets. As of last night, Hula Bowl executive director Lenny Klompus had about 1,000 tickets remaining. He said it would most likely be a sellout.

"Things are going very well," Klompus said. "There's been a big demand. We'd like to get this thing sold out before game day. It's going to be close."


Paul Arnett, Star-Bulletin



Rivals.com



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