Press Box
Boise dilemma could
Football notebook
be in Hawaii’s futureIF you ask Boise State coach Dan Hawkins (which we did yesterday) there never was much to all that talk about the Broncos going to the Seattle Bowl instead of remaining at home for the Humanitarian Bowl.
"I wouldn't really say it was an option," Hawkins said during yesterday's Western Athletic Conference bowl teams conference call.
"We were not a primary pick for that game. A lot of things would have had to happen to make it a possibility. We would have had to wait, there were so many variables."
One of those question marks has nothing to do with conference tie-ins and the like. It's about money. Up until two weeks ago, there was no guarantee that the Seattle Bowl (the game that used to be the Oahu Bowl) would even be played. But the organizers were able to prove they have enough financial backing to meet expenses, including the payouts for the teams.
So the Broncos made the safe move and stayed home for the holidays. While they are in a lower-profile game than the shaky but visible Seattle Bowl, at least their fans, not just the ones who can afford to travel, get to see the game in person. They won't have to buy souvenir tickets they won't use -- as Tulane is asking of its fans who don't have a few thousand bucks lying around to come to Hawaii -- to feel like they're a part of the action.
The downside is that the No. 15 team in the nation doesn't get as much exposure -- and even if BSU puts a whuppin' on Iowa State, the cynics will cite the Broncos' big homefield advantage. A road bowl game win would beef up the Broncos' credibility, along with that of the WAC. But it also would jeopardize the future of the Humanitarian Bowl.
At first glance, the Humanitarian and Hawaii bowls have about as much in common as a baked potato and two scoop rice.
But Hawaii could find itself in a similar predicament to Boise State in the coming years.
What happens if UH loses one or two games and gets invited to some fancy mainland bowl with a bigger payout (and you dreamers out there feel free to think BCS if you want, I'll speculate on something like the Las Vegas Bowl for now) than the Hawaii Bowl?
If this happened next year, UH is committed contractually to the Hawaii Bowl unless the Warriors get into a BCS game (the only way this could happen is if Hawaii goes unbeaten -- and then it's still a big maybe).
It gets more interesting down the line. Let's say the Warriors go 11-1 in 2004, Tim Chang's (fanatics may add "Heisman Trophy winner" before his name) senior year, and they get invited to a mainland bowl game. Should the Warriors pack their bags and spurn the game that was designed with UH in mind?
It's one of those things you deal with if it comes about ... it's hard to think of the Hawaii Bowl as the good old reliable Hawaii Bowl when this is its first year. And another big if is if a bowl game committee would take a chance on Hawaii as an at-large team with its geographically-challenged fan base.
Would the players rather perform one last time at home in front of family and friends or play tourist on the mainland for a week? Is it more about making money or rewarding the team?
"We always love to travel and we would have loved to go to Seattle," Hawkins said. "But we had to look at the practical matters of it."
UH could face a similar dilemma in coming years. Sometimes winning leads to more tough questions and decisions than does losing.
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail Dave: dreardon@starbulletin.com