Full-Court Press
THERE was a time when it appeared the Hula Bowl was heading down dinosaur lane. Hula Bowl comeback
rivals greatestAfter Kodak decided there would be no more moments at Aloha Stadium and ESPN balked at the idea of extending its contract, the University of Hawaii Foundation decided the risks outweighed the gains.
Foundation president Donna Howard and Department of Business Economic Development & Tourism leader Jeannie Schultz first approached Lenny and Marcia Klompus about taking over the dying college all-star game in September of 1994.
"But we told them we weren't interested," Lenny Klompus said yesterday. "They called us back a month later to ask us again. I remember Marcia didn't even go to the meeting.
"And I'll never forget this. After we went around and around the table, Jeannie said she'd had enough. We had five minutes to decide. If we said no, the game was done."
Lenny called Marcia and told her he wanted to keep Mackay Yanagisawa's dream alive. She said OK and the rest is history.
"We went down to take a look at the books and all we had was 200 annual season-ticket holders," Lenny Klompus said.
"Over the next 100 days, we got a title sponsor (Hooters), a TV deal (with ESPN), Lee Corso and Mike Gottfried as coaches and Mel Kiper Jr. picking the teams. To tell you the truth, sometimes I still can't believe we pulled it off."
A crowd of 19,046 attended the 49th annual game, enough to convince the Bowl Games of Hawaii officials to plan a 50th anniversary event.
Among the viewers was American Football Coaches Association president Grant Teaff. Like Marcia and Lenny, the former Baylor Bears head coach believed in the dream.
"That next year, we went over to Maui and sat down on the 50-yard-line at War Memorial Stadium," Klompus said. "He shared the same vision we had that Maui was the place to take this game."
Yesterday morning in Wailuku, that vision became crystal clear after it was announced that Rivals.com would be the title sponsor and the NCAA would call the Hula Bowl its official all-star game.
Anyone who has been around college football for more than five minutes realizes how amazing it is for the NCAA, the AFCA, the National Association of Athletic Directors and the Collegiate Commissioners Association to agree on anything.
But they concurred that the Hula Bowl is the place to be.
"A lot of people thought we were crazy to take over this game," Klompus said. "Heck, I even thought it myself a few times. But give a lot of credit to Grant. He firmly believed that this could work."
SO did key members of the Downtown Athletic Club, who first joined in the Hula Bowl festivities in 1996. Their involvement almost guarantees an appearance from the Heisman Trophy winner.
Who can forget what Texas running back Ricky Williams did in a driving rain storm last January? His 22 carries for 114 yards and two touchdowns still bring a smile to Teaff's face. As Teaff put it, "He set the standard for all Heisman Trophy winners."
That he did. And he plans to return to this year's game if New Orleans isn't in the playoffs. Having former Heisman winners involved in the week-long event has made the game that much more attractive.
"We're very pleased with how the game has grown," Klompus said. "If you had told me in 1995 that I would be standing in a room full of people on Maui announcing a new title sponsor and a partnership with the NCAA, I wouldn't have believed it."
But believe it now. The dinosaurs will have to wait.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.