Friday, August 3, 2001

Aloha to Aloha
Bowl? Not so fast

A Detroit group wants to bring
the game back to Hawaii
on Christmas day

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By Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.com

Should the proposed deal with Anaheim, Calif., fall through, a group in the Detroit area is willing to buy the license from Aloha Sports Inc. and hold a bowl game here this Christmas.

Motor City Bowl chief executive officer Ken Hoffman told the Star-Bulletin last night that he wants to keep the postseason game here and call it the Aloha Bowl.

"We believe it's time to be proactive in this thing," said Hoffman, who also is involved with the GMAC Bowl and the preseason college basketball tournament held in Auburn Hills, Mich. "Our group believes we can take over that game and make it a success in Hawaii. But time is becoming a factor."

Aloha Sports Inc. chief executive officer Fritz Rohlfing announced on Wednesday that the proposed San Francisco Bowl is dead because organizers at Pacific Bell Park didn't want to hold the game on Christmas Day.

ABC-TV told Rohlfing the network wouldn't broadcast the game unless it was on Christmas. Rohlfing tentatively had the postseason event slated for Dec. 30.

Without a television contract, Rohlfing pulled the plug on San Francisco and moved down the coast to Anaheim where he is trying to work out a deal where the game would be played on Christmas at Edison International Field (home of the Anaheim Angels).

Rohlfing said in a press release that he hoped to have the deal in place in time to present it to the Pac-10 next week. The current contract has the fourth or fifth pick from the Pac-10 playing the fourth choice from the Big East.

Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen is reportedly not happy playing the game in Anaheim and has expressed several times that he wished one of the two Christmas Day doubleheader games would be played in Hawaii.

Earlier this spring, Rohlfing received permission at the NCAA certification meetings to move the games to the mainland. In his proposal, he had one game (the former Oahu Bowl) targeted for Seattle and the other San Francisco.

"He also listed Honolulu as a possibility, which would help us if the Anaheim deal falls through," Hoffman said. "And by all accounts, the game being played in Anaheim is a real long shot.

"I'm going to call Fritz (today) to see if he would be interested in our proposal. We think a game in Hawaii would be just great, especially that time of year.

"All the people back East are sitting at home looking at the beautiful shots of Hawaii and wishing they were there. We feel like we can capitalize on that market and make the game a success once again."

Hoffman was in Hawaii earlier this year for the Hula Bowl. He and former Aloha Bowl director Lenny Klompus are close friends.

"Lenny helped get me started in the bowl business," Hoffman said. "We'd love to save a game we know is still very close to his heart."