Sidelines
A bowl now would
only be anticlimacticFOR the University of Hawaii, it's been a very good year. A very good year. Let's come out and say it. Nine wins. Last-second heroics. Beating BYU. A feel-good ending. It had it all.
Bowls? Bowls? A bowl would only be a come-down from this.
"I still feel like the BYU game was bigger than any bowl we could have played in," June Jones said.
(Would you like to be in Idaho in the middle of winter? Would a trip to San Jose mean much after this?)
Now, if only Hawaii fans will root really hard for BYU and Fresno State (hahahahahaha!), a Top 25 finish is even possible in the final polls.
June Jones is king again.
Jones doesn't want to speak publicly about his contract talks. What contract talks? He'll probably walk into President Dobelle's office, lock the door and pull out a copy of Saturday's game tape (fourth quarter included). Discussion over. A man who hangs 70 on BYU can write his own ticket in this town.
"It's been unbelievable," he said. "Even ESPN's postgame coverage, you can't pay enough money for that. I've been on every talk show all over America, Chicago, Atlanta, L.A., I've been on everything. In fact, I just was on two when I came down here. That has a value on it that you can't put a number on."
That's what I'm talking about.
He's done it. Give him credit. He's turned it around. Nine wins, smoking BYU, the fabled run-and-shoot turning out to be real, a system and a program falling into place.
It's working now, and there were times when we weren't sure if it would. Remember? UH almost collapsed under the weight of its own hype -- the offense was hot and cold, the defense was dissolving, all those so-called surefire future "play on Sundays" were fading like a mirage. At 1-2, this was not a good football team. Things could have gone the other way. It was close. So, so close.
The defense carried Hawaii for a few games, and then the offense caught up, and the streak struck. There were classic comebacks, and then Rolo caught fire, and then Hawaii dropped an anvil on BYU just to put an exclamation point on it all.
"Those people that didn't come (all year)," Jones said, "it's their loss."
THESE ARE golden times, friends. This season doesn't surpass 1992, and no, it's not better than 1981, but then, maybe we need time to savor it, to digest it to decide that. But it elbows toward the top 5, with endless thrills, a nice bottom line and a triumphant, emphatic, all-important finish.
You could expect some 0-12 aftershocks following Jones' first comeback season, and got them. But now it looks like his corner has turned, and there is promise of even better days.
"I was kinda like really drained after the (BYU) game," Jones said. "I did try to go to bed, but I got up real early on Sunday and came in and watched a little tape and did some things around here."
UH football is looking good. Very, very good.
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com