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Sidelines
Kalani Simpson
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Super Bowl here has long, long odds
LLOYD: What are the chances of a guy like you and a girl like me ... ending up together?
MARY: Well, that's pretty difficult to say.
LLOYD: Hit me with it! I've come a long way to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
MARY: Not Good.
LLOYD: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
MARY: I'd say more like one out of a million.
LLOYD: So you're telling me there's a chance!
WHEN I hear talk (and read it, in our Dave Reardon's excellent story earlier this week) about the possibility of Hawaii hosting a future Super Bowl, I can't help but think of that "Dumb and Dumber" quote.
Yes, it's at least as long a shot as Jim Carrey's harebrained bowl-cut character walking off with the hot chick. But it is, in some strange, million-to-one way, possible. Kind of. Maybe. Could be.
It could happen.
Oh, there's no way it ever will.
But it COULD.
When we're talking about out-there local-sports-talk fantasy, this one is light years ahead of, say, UH joining the Pac-10 Conference. That could not and never will happen.
But this one does have "Dumb and Dumber" odds. It does make some sense on a million-to-one level.
So if you want to dream the dream, I'd say those are odds enough. Go ahead. Talk. Dream. Let's have a little fun.
I'd love to see it happen. On this one, why not dream.
Mostly, I would think a lot of this speculation is a lot about leverage. This is the kind of carrot that could get the state and other Hawaii entities to work on stadium refurbishing in the $150 million range when we otherwise might not.
And this is the kind of stick that might make NFL cities and owners be equally free with the purse strings: Want to host a Super Bowl? You'd better be first class or we'll have other options.
It's a competitive business. And the NFL always has options.
Lately, the Super Bowl has been given as a gift to NFL franchises in exchange for stadium upgrades. Can I imagine the game coming here to play in a non-brand-new stadium? No. Can I imagine the state building a brand-new stadium? No.
Dave asked -- is UH AD Herman Frazier saying there's a chance? "No."
But the Super Bowl has played in a non-NFL town, Stanford Stadium in 1985.
And there is the super-secret source (not super-secret sauce) "close to the NFL" who said if Hawaii steps up "it will happen."
(If I said something like that I'd request anonymity, too.)
No word on if the guy was wearing a bowl cut, driving a van that looked like a dog.
