Tuesday, January 1, 2002
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Lee, Jones may be Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson once wrote, "For I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see, saw the visions of the world and all the wonders that would be."
top ’02 stories
It's anybody's guess what Cal
does, and June is likely to continue
working on building up UH sportsBy Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comToo bad we can't dip into the future ourselves to see what 2002 brings to the local sporting community. If we could, we'd already know who the next football coach at St. Louis School will be or whether June Jones will actually sign a contract with the University of Hawaii that will keep him content for years to come.
We would also know whether the Aloha Bowl will be brought back from the dead, or whether the Pro Bowl will be moved to Monday nights to better serve ABC-TV. Is classification in high school sports a pending resolution, or will the old guard that keeps the ILH and the OIA at odds continue to rule the day?
These are just a few of the pending stories that could have a profound effect for sports fans living in the island chain. How they unfold remains to be seen. But here are some of the possible scenarios that await us all in 2002.
CAL LEE said last summer that it would be his final season as St. Louis School head football coach. After leading the Crusaders to more Prep Bowl and state football titles than even he can count, Lee said he was ready to do something else.
Just what that is, is anyone's guess. He could remain as the St. Louis athletic director and weigh his options in the coaching world. Reports surfaced last summer that Jones asked Lee to join his staff after special teams coach Dennis McKnight decided not to return.
Lee didn't want to abandon his post without a farewell tour, so he decided to take a rain check. These days, Jones won't even discuss Lee joining his staff, meaning an opening might not exist come spring.
That leaves Lee in limbo. He hinted before the state final with Kahuku that he might not retire after all. He left open the possibility of returning to the sidelines, even saying that Michael Jordan came out of retirement after several years away from the game.
That may explain why no one has stepped forward to claim Lee's coveted position as head football coach. If Lee does stick to his decision, his first choice to replace him has always been defensive coordinator Delbert Tengan. St. Louis officials have kept quiet about possible replacements. They will let Lee make a recommendation as athletic director and then act on that choice.
HAD UH NOT had such a solid season, Lee might know more about the possibilities of catching a ride on the Jones Express. At this point, there are no openings. But things could change in a hurry over the next couple of months.
The likely scenario is Jones will sign on the dotted line as early as next week and retain members of his staff who want to stay and see this through. Unless one or more of the assistants leave for new horizons, it's unlikely there will be any changes at UH this spring.
But UH could become an altered state should Jones decide Oahu is no longer his home. There will probably be some real temptations -- unlike Georgia Tech -- that could force Jones to up and move. He could return to the National Football League as a quarterback assistant, offensive coordinator, or even head coach should that catch his fancy.
Job openings at the highest level are pending at Carolina and San Diego, which means Jones' name could come up as a possible candidate. That gives him leverage here on the local front. Jones wants more money and autonomy to run the department the way he sees fit. After two nine-win seasons -- including a bowl victory -- in three years, it's likely Jones will get what he needs.
But whether that's enough to keep him from hitting the road will be determined in the coming months.
ONE THING JONES wants to address is the possibility of bringing a bowl game back here on Christmas Day. UH has expressed an interest in that ever since the Christmas Day doubleheader split for the mainland.
Formal papers have been filed to the NCAA certification committee by Motor City Bowl CEO Ken Hoffman, who could make a case to bring back the Aloha Bowl to the NCAA this spring. UH could either help in this campaign or make its own formal inquiry.
At this point, there is a moratorium on adding any more bowl games. But because the Aloha Bowl received certification last spring to move to the mainland -- something that eventually fell through -- the game could be brought back as early as December of 2003.
WHETHER THE PRO BOWL moves to Monday nights is another matter being addressed by local and national officials. Already packaged with the Hula Bowl as something of an island doubleheader, the NFL is considering moving the game to Monday.
ABC-TV is looking into it as being the final Monday Night Football broadcast of the year. The prime-time slot could help bolster sagging TV ratings that have plagued the game since the network took it over from ESPN nearly five years ago. The downside is obvious. The local kickoff time would be 3 p.m., which could translate into traffic tie-ups.
AS FOR HIGH SCHOOL classification, well, that's even more uncertain than the current Pro Bowl move to Monday. Damien High School helped make classification a possibility after it refused to play St. Louis in football twice in the same season.
It forced ILH officials to split its tiny configuration in two, meaning the power schools of the league play their lesser counterparts only once in football, instead of twice. The compromise cleared the way for classification to be considered at all levels.
Imagine St. Louis, Kamehameha and Punahou joining OIA football powers Kahuku, Waianae, Castle and Kailua. Throw in an at-large team from a neighbor island and you have a conference worth watching.
Now, if we only had Lord Tennyson with us, we'd be set.
