Wednesday, August 29, 2001
[ UH FOOTBALL ]
UH-Air Force If ESPN chooses to televise the Air Force-Hawaii football game at Aloha Stadium now scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 24, the game will be moved to the night before, Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson said last night.
game to Friday if
ESPN televises
It remains on Saturday if
ESPN shows Fresno State-
San Jose State insteadBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com"We've come to a decision, a compromise, I guess," Benson said after an hour-long face-to-face meeting in Honolulu with UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida.
Yoshida declined to comment last night, other than to say he is pleased the game's starting time will remain 6:05 p.m.
Benson said another key point is that UH will get four-weeks' notice instead of the normal two-weeks on whether ESPN will televise the game or not.
Benson said financial compensation for potential lost gate receipts is not part of the deal.
ESPN is also considering televising the San Jose State-Fresno State game that weekend, in which case the Hawaii-Air Force game won't be moved.
"Hawaii has agreed to move the game (if ESPN decides to televise it)," Benson said. "There are still some details to be worked out if the decision is made by ESPN to televise the (Hawaii) game."
Earlier this summer, the Fresno State at Hawaii game, originally scheduled for a 6:05 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27 start, was moved to 3:05 p.m., Friday, Oct. 26 to accommodate an ESPN telecast.
Yoshida agreed reluctantly to that move; he feared it would inconvenience fans. Yoshida estimated UH could lose around $250,000 in gate revenue by moving the Fresno State game to Friday afternoon. The WAC agreed to compensate UH for some of the lost revenue.
Hawaii coach June Jones was unhappy with the moving of the Hawaii-Fresno State game, but said yesterday he had no opinion on the possibility of the Air Force game's date being changed.
"I don't really have a thought right now about it," Jones said after yesterday morning's practice. "That decision's really not mine. I don't have to worry about it -- just go play whenever they tell me."
UH Athletics
Ka Leo O Hawaii
