Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Sports Watch

By Bill Kwon

Thursday, February 8, 2001

Contracts: Just
pieces of paper

WORDS to live by: Never say never. Contracts, like records, are meant to be broken. Beat BYU. Home team? What home team?

And you thought the football season was over.

College recruiting dominated the sports news this week and it's heartening to know that Hawaii got its fair share of talent. Now, coach June Jones hopes that his new recruits can qualify academically.

The big news, though, is that UH and Brigham Young -- the school that most Hawaii fans love to hate -- are renewing their football rivalry.

Apparently, there is peace in our time.

Remember when university president Kenneth Mortimer said UH would never have anything to do with the Breakaway Eight that rendered the old WAC asunder.

Well, guess what? Big, bad BYU is back on the schedule this fall, replacing Iowa State. Now, that's yet another story.

Actually, for Hawaii fans --and, more important, the Aloha Stadium box office -- it's a great trade-off. BYU is a familiar face and a big draw.

Iowa State? Who cares?

And you know what's ironic about the upcoming UH-BYU game? Hawaii will probably throw the ball more than BYU.

It's one case where never say never led to a real positive.

The Cyclones pulled a University of Texas in wanting out of the Sept. 1 game, which would have opened the 2001 season at Aloha Stadium.

It's just as well for athletic director Hugh Yoshida, who got on the horn with BYU as a replacement, the same scenario as last year when the Longhorns begged out and Nevada-Las Vegas came aboard.

UH, however, hasn't made an issue of Iowa State pulling out as it did with Texas. Jones, especially, isn't going around saying that the Cyclones are scaredy cats.

It's not so much that BYU is more beatable than Iowa State. It's just that Jones knows BYU is a better box office attraction.

Still, you'd think that Yoshida should have raised more of a fuss about Iowa State ignoring its contractual obligation. Letting schools out of a game that readily sets a bad precedent that could harm future scheduling for UH, which has had enough difficulties lining up opponents. Like I said, contracts are made to be broken.

One contract that hasn't been broken is Hawaii's Nov. 24 game with Air Force, enduring the acrimonious breakup of the old WAC three years ago. It's reassuring to know that signing on the dotted line still means something.

WITH Air Force and BYU closing the season, the 2001 schedule has an old-WAC, new Mountain West Conference tinge to it. Will it mean a further thawing of relations with the Mountain West, possibly leading to a future membership with the Breakaway Eight?

The biggest minus in the WAC right now is its far-flung geographic distance, making travel costs, especially in the non-income sports, a huge financial burden.

There are obviously some pluses in leaving the WAC, especially with the three Texas schools -- SMU, Rice and UTEP -- and Tulsa staying put. Solidarity, for one thing. And Fresno State and San Jose State are schools Hawaii should continue to keep on its schedule.

The Mountain West Conference has both minuses and pluses.

Playing Air Force, BYU, Utah and San Diego State would cut travel costs, so that's a big plus. The biggest minus? Having to go to Wyoming. It's easier going to Dallas than Laramie.

Yoshida should seriously consider moving the Sept. 8 Montana game -- now the season opener -- back to Aloha Stadium instead of playing it on Maui. If the game remains on Maui, the significant majority of UH fans won't be seeing their home team at Aloha Stadium until the end of September.

There's a contract to play the game on Maui, you say?

Hey, contracts are made to be broken, right?