Rest doesn't come often these days for David Matlin.

Not with a bowl game and the requisite accompanying events to plan, coordinate and execute over the next week and a half.

In a typical day, the executive director of the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl is immersed in conference calls by the time most folks are sitting down to breakfast and the to-do list takes him through midnight.

The days have gotten longer since the Christmas Eve matchup between Hawaii and Notre Dame was finalized a week ago. So the 5 hours he allowed himself one night last week represented a luxury to be savored.

“;The first few nights your mind is racing so it's hard to get a good night's sleep,”; Matlin said. “;But that night was nice.”;

In his first year as head of the bowl game, Matlin helped attract the Fighting Irish to the islands when the Pac-10 wasn't able to fill its commitment—a move that has accelerated ticket sales over the last week and heightened the game's national profile.

He's now drawing on experience that extends well beyond his six years as the Hawaii Bowl's director of operations in overseeing the myriad minutiae inherent in running a bowl game.

“;It's like you're running a sprint, but you're running a sprint for 20 days,”; Matlin said.

Matlin was practically born into sports management and took a step to the forefront after former executive director Jim Donovan was hired as athletic director at Hawaii last spring.

Donovan ranks high among the mentors Matlin credits in a varied career, a list that begins with his father. Matlin was born in Honolulu while Lewis Matlin was the general manager of the Hawaii Islanders in 1963-64. The family followed Lewis' career in baseball in making stops in Vancouver, Seattle, Milwaukee and Detroit.

Tagging along to the office with dad meant days at the ballpark and learning the inner workings of a professional sports organization.

“;To go to work with my dad was a great thing,”; Matlin said. “;The biggest thing I learned from him was at the end of the day it's all about relationships and people.”;

Matlin, a Michigan graduate, worked his way into a job with the Houston Astros and became their director of sales at 26, before returning to Hawaii six years later in 1993.

“;Baseball was my passion and my dream,”; Matlin said. “;But it's the best move I've ever made, across the board.”;

In need of a job here, Matlin “;semi-stalked”; Donovan, then the associate athletic director at UH, and met with him a few days after having an emergency appendectomy.

“;I could barely walk. I think he felt sorry for me,”; Matlin recalled.

With the university in the midst of a hiring freeze, Donovan could only offer an hourly wage with no benefits, although Matlin was, “;as qualified for my job as I was,”; Donovan said.

Matlin's first duty was to coordinate the UH basketball team's Midnight Ohana. He eventually was hired to work in the ticket office, where he was instrumental in implementing a computerized ticketing system, a task he calls “;probably one of the most valuable experiences I've had.”;

Matlin went into financial planning for a while when he got a call from Donovan again in 2002, this time asking for his help in running the fledgling Hawaii Bowl.

“;We wanted to create an event that would really give Hawaii exposure and would be an opportunity for Hawaii to shine across the country and help the tourism industry and local businesses,”; Matlin said.

They had 90 days to pull their first bowl game together after being hired by ESPN Regional Television, the game's owner. But they got it done in time to host Hawaii and Tulane in the inaugural event and continually streamlined the process over the next five games.

“;When I played on the offensive line (at UH in the early 1980s), we played so much together you knew what the guy next to you was going to do before he did,”; Donovan said. “;That's how it is with me and Dave.”;

Sheraton stepped forward as title sponsor starting in 2003 and the combination of Matlin, Donovan and David Uchiyama—formerly the director of marketing for Sheraton and now with the Hawaii Tourism Authority—nurtured the game while adding facets to the operation, including the Hawaii Bowl Foundation, which has distributed about $275,000 to local charities.

Matlin's winter will be even more hectic a year from now when he and new director of operations Daryl Garvin add the Diamond Head Classic to the agenda.

“;Right now I'm just focused on the task at hand,”; Matlin said.