3 groups vie to
stage bowl
games on Oahu

The NCAA will hear their
proposals at a meeting next week

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By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com

It's beginning to look like at least one post-season college football game will be played on Oahu this December -- and if its team is deserving, the University of Hawaii won't have to worry about being iced out of the bowl action again.

The NCAA board of directors lifted a moratorium on new bowl games at its meeting in Indianapolis yesterday. Three groups have expressed interest in staging a game here, and will make their cases for certification next week in San Antonio. The NCAA could decide that any number are qualified.

The groups are:

>> ESPN, the Western Athletic Conference and Conference USA, with UH in a supporting role.

>> Global Event Management, led by Ken Hoffman of the Motor City Bowl.

>> Fritz Rohlfing and Terry Daw, owners of the Aloha and Seattle (formerly Oahu) bowls, which left Hawaii last year.

A post-season game in Hawaii means UH likely would not face a situation like last year, when the Warriors finished the season 9-3 but were not invited to a bowl game.

"This should provide us an opportunity to showcase our football team, if we qualify," UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida said. "This is what we worked for since we were left with no option after last year."

"It sounds like if we win, we'll be in," football coach June Jones said.

The ESPN group's proposal guarantees that Hawaii plays in the game -- to be called the Hawaii Bowl and played on Christmas Day -- if it is bowl-eligible (meaning the Warriors go at least 7-6). UH or another WAC team would play a team from Conference USA.

"It will be excellent exposure for the state of Hawaii and the football program if we're in the game," UH associate athletic director Jim Donovan said. "The Christmas Day games traditionally get great ratings."

Though TV ratings were good, attendance fell off the last few years of the Aloha and Oahu bowls and drawing brand-name teams became difficult as the number of bowl games increased nationwide.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson said the conference's involvement will be similar to what it is for the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise and the Silicon Valley Bowl in San Jose. He said the group is ready for its certification hearing.

"The presentation and lining up the required documents has been going on for the past three months or so," he said.

Donovan said it is conceivable all three groups could get certification.

"That's going to be up to the committee," Hoffman said. "It's good news, in particular for Hawaii and Oahu. All of the applications that are in for new games in 2002 will be heard."

Last year the Oahu Bowl moved and became the Seattle Bowl. The owners tried to move the Aloha Bowl to San Francisco, but were unsuccessful. For the Aloha Bowl to return to Hawaii, it needs to be re-certified.

The NCAA board of directors approved several other proposals, including:

>> High school students can enter the NBA draft and be drafted without forfeiting college eligibility as long as they do not sign with an agent.

>> A professional team now will be considered any that provides any player with money above actual expenses. This clarifies a vague rule that affected the eligibility of several UH basketball players who competed in foreign leagues among players who received pay.

"Before, the rule read if you knew or should have known you were playing among pros, you were accountable for it," Donovan said. "The NCAA has tightened it up considerably."

>> To be eligible for Division I-A football, schools must meet new requirements, including actual average attendance of 15,000 for home games. In the WAC, San Jose State averaged a little bit above 10,000 for its four home games last year.

"They're reasonable standards and I'm confident all our member institutions can and will meet them," Benson said. "I don't expect any fallout."

>> An academic-reform agenda was introduced. It includes the possibility of more stringent eligibility requirements for incoming freshman student-athletes, with incentives for teams that exceed the standards and penalties for those that fail them.

>> Strength and conditioning coaches will be allowed to conduct voluntary summer workouts. Last year, players died at such workouts at Northwestern University and the University of Florida.