Sidelines
Hawaii should stick
with fairy-tale endingWHY?
That's the question. First of all, it's pretty doubtful that the "Dobelle Bowl" will even happen. Yes, there's a chance. Anything's possible. My friends on the North Shore can tell you that I've been wrong before. But realistically, I can't see the NCAA opening that Pandora's Box. Everybody in the nation would love an extra home game. You think they're going to make an exception for UH? There's no reason to think that the NCAA would change such a major policy, on such short notice, set that kind of precedent, just for some 9-3 school that thinks it's been snubbed.
ESPN has said that it would televise the game, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen. It just means that ESPN said, IF you guys get the game, SURE we'll put it on TV.
This whole thing sounds like a bunch of people trying real hard so that they can tell us that they tried real hard.
But if we get past that, if by some miracle it does happen, and Dobelle Bowl I springs to life, here's the next question:
Why?
It does the University of Hawaii absolutely no good.
Yes, "10" is better than "9," if for no other reason than guys like me won't keep holding June Jones up to Dick Tomey.
And yes, you don't want the UH season to end. Nobody does, not after a breathtaking stretch run, not the way that the offense is running and shooting, and especially not after the way Hawaii k-tooshed bitter rival BYU. (Did you see that game? It looked like the Robert DeNiro baseball bat scene in "The Untouchables.")
But that's as good as it gets -- and there's nothing wrong with that. Not that they wouldn't win again, but it's all downhill from that kind of high. Hawaii will never look better, never feel better, couldn't be more highly regarded nationally this year than they are right now. So why ruin the moment?
Hawaii-UCLA was intriguing. That would have meant something, if for no other reason than those are some pretty good initials. But the Bruins have nothing to gain, can only lose by playing a WAC team, and know it probably won't happen anyway.
That should tell you something. That's how UH should feel. Let's look at a few of the names being thrown around:
Alabama-Birmingham?
Wake Forest?
Bowling Green?
(Bowling Green?!)
Why?
Beating any of those teams does nothing for you, beyond a few more overcelebrations. UAB? Nothing. Wake Forest? Nothing. Bowling Green? Nothing. And (brace yourself), not that they would on this kind of roll, but what if they lose? A season comes crumbling down.
Another TV game would be nice, but better to leave the BYU game's impression on recruits and poll voters. They won't forget. Better to leave the BYU game's impression on Hawaii players and fans.
UH deserves a bowl, but this wouldn't be a bowl. It's not going to happen, and if it does, it shouldn't.
Nobody wants the season to end. But it has. And it ended on a dream come true. Asking for anything more than that is asking too much. Know when to walk away, know when to run.
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com