Hula Bowl's new owner has big plans

Logan is working on returning the game to its status as the best college all-star football event

If anyone deserves the title of Mr. Hula Bowl, it is John Johnson. He was the MVP of the first game in 1947, and keeps coming back to Hawaii every year. He's the liaison for NFL scouts here, and one of the most positive people you could ever meet.

But even Johnson is skeptical that the Hula Bowl can regain its ranking as the premier college football all-star game.

"The Senior Bowl is an NFL convention because they don't have one," he said at Aloha Stadium yesterday. "Every coach and everyone from the front office of every team is there."

And, therefore, so are the top prospects coming out of college -- the guys who used to play in the Hula Bowl.

Now, most of the participants here are either late-round NFL Draft choices or free agents. It's because of the glut of college football all-star games and the dominance of the Senior Bowl.

Nick Logan, introduced as the Hula Bowl's new owner yesterday, said his goal is to return the game to its previous prominence.

"Our goal is not to be one of the bowls, but the bowl," Logan said. "You'll see a lot of marketing around it, a lot of family-friendly events around the bowl."

This year's game -- the 60th Hula Bowl -- is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Aloha Stadium, after an eight-year run on Maui.

Logan is the founder and president of Cornerstone Bancard, an Atlanta-based credit card processing company that is the presenting sponsor of the Hula Bowl. Logan bought the game from Overtime Sports Pacific, which had it for the past two games.

Financial terms were not released yesterday, but Hula Bowl director Rick Beggs said in November that Cornerstone is willing to invest six figures and looks at the game as a long-term investment and does not plan on moving it out of Hawaii.

Logan said Oahu's larger population base than Maui will alleviate attendance and financial problems of recent years. But the main reason the game was moved to the Valley Isle was dwindling attendance here.

A crowd of 15,000 to 20,000 Saturday would be a good start, Logan said.

The game still enjoys a healthy relationship with the American Football Coaches Association and the facilitators of the Heisman Trophy. Although organizers were not able to get 2004 Heisman winner Matt Leinart to play or even appear this week, other past winners are here to make appearances and help promote the Hula Bowl. (The Hula Bowl hasn't had the Heisman Trophy winner play in the game since 2001 recipient Eric Crouch played in 2002.)

Although most of the Hula Bowl players this year are unknown to casual fans, AFCA spokesman Todd Bell said it is a worthy group.

"There's a very high talent level here. We hope they have a great experience and go back and talk about their experience," Bell said.

He also expressed confidence in the new ownership.

"Cornerstone has given us every indication they can get the game back to what it was, and they've done a lot in just three months," he said.

Logan said the Hula Bowl will have a year-round office on Oahu.

"Our game is January 21st and work on next year's game begins January 22nd," he said. "We're going to establish a presence here and have community involvement."

He said a percentage of money from program sales will be donated to local charities.

Logan also said he is happy with the Hula Bowl's current TV contract with ESPN.