[ WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Houston and Hawaii players engaged in a brawl that lasted nearly 10 minutes following Thursday's Hawaii Bowl at Aloha Stadium. Hawaii officials are investigating the incident.
UH plans to review
postgame brawlA.D. Herman Frazier says,
'We will leave no stone left unturned'
in investigating the fight
Herman Frazier wants to make it clear Melee Kalikimaka is not the thing to do on a bright Hawaiian Christmas Day.
The Hawaii athletic director released a statement yesterday saying he began collecting information about the brawl at the end of Thursday's Sheraton Hawaii Bowl game, in which the Warriors beat Houston 54-48 in triple-overtime at Aloha Stadium.
Frazier did not announce if any players will be suspended or otherwise punished for their participation in the fight, which lasted around 10 minutes and was shown on national cable television since the game was on ESPN. Several players from both teams were seen using their helmets as weapons, and dozens of punches and kicks were thrown. No major injuries were reported.
"I have talked with our head football coach June Jones and Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson," Frazier said. "Karl had conversations with Conference USA commissioner Britton Banowsky and we all agree this has no place in collegiate athletics, especially the sport of football.
"It is disappointing this had to happen after such an exciting game. We will review the video tapes individually and get together to make appropriate disciplinary action."
RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii defensive tackle Lui Fuga pounced on Houston linebacker Damien West during the postgame fighting.
Benson and Banowsky were at the game.
"It's too early to speculate on the results," Benson said. "Hawaii is obligated to review the unsportsmanlike actions and report back to me with whatever conclusions UH comes up with. The first process is investigation. I'm confident Herman will evaluate and analyze and take proper action."
Frazier said he will take as much time as necessary to determine who did what.
"We are going to take our time and review all the angles and video we have access to," Frazier said. "There is no real timeline and we will leave no stone left unturned."
Benson backed up Frazier's assessment, saying that if something like this happens during the season they try to process it within 48 hours because there are other games coming up.
Houston coach Art Briles said yesterday that his program plans to do the same thing.
This is the third incident of postgame fighting in three seasons after close games at Aloha Stadium.
>> In 2001, several opposing players squared off and were involved in pushing and shoving after Hawaii beat Miami (Ohio).
>> Last season, fighting went on for several minutes after Hawaii beat Cincinnati. Several players were injured badly enough to require medical attention, and police maced unruly fans.
Jones addressed the latest postgame fighting during Thursday's postgame news conference.
"I'm disappointed obviously, like everybody. I don't know what started it," he said.
Jones -- who after the Cincinnati brawl expressed interest in playing the Bearcats in the 2002 Hawaii Bowl -- said he still respects the Houston program.
"I told Art afterward I'm really proud of our kids but I'm more proud of your kids, coming from where you came. They've done a great job with their school, their program," Jones said. "They're headed in the right direction. They are a tough team to defend and as they get better and better ... they're going to be able to compete with the schools in the Southeast."
