Sidelines
Zips give Frazier
chance to look goodAKRON. Akron! This is who is turning down Hawaii for a dance now, not Texas, not Virginia, not BYU, no, not even Iowa State.
Akron!
Of course, this was no surprise, not this time. For weeks, all we've been waiting for was the official word. For Akron to release its 2003 football schedule, one without UH anywhere to be found. For UH to tell us that yes, it had been dropped once again.
This has happened before, but somehow, this one is most galling, even with all the advance warning. Somehow, this one, no matter how polite things may have been behind the scenes, feels like a slap.
Akron!
Are you kidding?
It's one thing when football's powers have something better to do. It's another when you're dropped by a team that plays in the "Rubber Palace" and has a nickname straight out of a Dr. Evil monologue. ("Subtitle: 'Zip it.'") A team from the ... from the ... OK, I don't even know which conference Akron belongs to. I'm not even going to bother to look it up.
That's exactly the point.
There is one reason to schedule an Akron.
The prestige? No, though it is monumental, to be sure.
The name recognition at the gate? No, though no doubt there were several thousand UH fans who were whipped into a season ticket-buying frenzy when they heard the Zips were on the way.
The boost toward strength of schedule? (Ahem) ... uh, no.
As a season-opening warm-up, which some would even go so far as to refer to as a penciled-in win?
Bingo.
This past year it was Eastern Illinois. Before that, Montana.
Yeah, those games never get your blood pumping, no matter how much Lou Holtz hypes them up. But they have to be played. It makes sense. Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil in college football today. It is, as they say, only good business.
And so, seemingly random opponents are plucked annually from a sea of faceless mid-majors and I-AAs. Many of whom would feel lucky to take a trip to Hawaii for a game.
After dropping UH at the last minute, Akron said it plans to play at Aloha Stadium in years to come instead.
Uh, yeah. I would wait by the phone for that invitation.
BUT NOW COMES Plan B. Now, at the last minute, we'll see what Herman Frazier has up his sleeve. After all of the handshakes and honeymoons, this is roll-up-your-sleeves work. This is why he came to Hawaii, this is what ADs do. This is the new athletic director's first public test.
(Yes, signing June Jones is his most public test. But a) I think this one will happen first, and b) I think the other one has to happen, the only question is how long it takes. Can anyone imagine UH letting Jones get away? Can anyone imagine -- despite the false alarms that have gone from annual rite to running joke -- Jones actually going somewhere else? The rest is just details.)
Now it's time, with the clock ticking, for Frazier to come up with an opponent that not only fits the above criteria (beatable, wants to be here), but also picks up the fans' collective pulse. Time to save the day, tapping some of those connections we're always hearing about to come up with a name that at least makes you think, "Interesting."
Time to see what kind of wheeler-dealer UH picked up.
This is an enormous opportunity for Frazier to look good.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com