Scheduling Woes, Wallace, Lelie

Who will UH end up playing? Options are disappearing and the WAC may move ahead without us. Ferd Lewis writes:

The Western Athletic Conference is preparing to move ahead with its 2007 football schedule without waiting for the University of Hawai'i, if necessary.

...

The Warriors had four possible dates — two in September, one each in October and November — in which to accommodate teams. The WAC has held them "open" for the past month waiting for UH, Benson said.

But increasingly the conference, its members and cable partner want to complete their schedules. Some schools have gone so far as to announce their non-conference schedules.

...

A potential top 10 team was lost as a possibility last week when Wisconsin announced an Oct. 20 game with Northern Illinois. UH also has an Oct. 20 opening and had talked to the Badgers concerning a game — home or away.

In previous weeks, UH had been involved in discussions with Michigan and Nebraska about possible games, but both have filled their schedules.

Too bad Michigan State had to wuss out. They would rather break their contract and pay UH $250,000 than play a football game. As the months drag on, it's sounding like a lot of teams would rather do that. Colt and the Hawaii offense is back to break even more records, and the defense is geared up to be hard-hitting once again. So yeah, I'd be scared to play UH too.

And I'm sure it's not helping Hawaii that the NCAA is now allowing teams to play 12 games rather than 11. An extra "Hawaii exemption" game doesn't sound so attractive anymore. Just ask Purdue coach Joe Tiller, who whined about playing soooo many games (!!!) (among numerous other things) in the days leading up to their matchup with UH.

Time to go to Plan B, or C, or D, or... X? Y? Z? Just hope those plans don't have multiple Division I-AA teams in them.

Onto happier, or at least bittersweet news, here are some recaps of Matt Lojeski, Ahmet Gueye and Riley Wallace's final home game and post-game ceremonies, from Michael Tsai, Ferd Lewis, Jason Kaneshiro, Dave Reardon, and Kalani Simpson. Here's an excerpt from Ferd's article:

Somewhere under a pile of lei that almost hid the tears in his eyes but could do nothing to disguise the emotion occasionally choking his voice, Wallace thanked them for coming. Thanked them from the scrapbook of his memory and the depths of a seemingly bottomless heart. For last night and for the decades. Even finding words of appreciation and respect for Frazier, who had handed him the final, fateful "no renewal" contract.

"If I cry tonight it is because I love you all," Wallace told the faithful over the public address system as his wife, Joan, sat nearby and his son, Rob, a Marine Corps pilot just back from Iraq, sat at courtside.

Somewhere you had to think that the late Stan Sheriff, who hired Wallace to revive the program and liked a good party, was smiling, too. His wife, Jane, and sons were.

There would be on-going choruses of "Ghee ... Ghee" in tribute to senior center Ahmet Gueye, who had 17 points and nine rebounds. The well-wishers and autograph-seekers surrounded Lojeski, bringing the senior guard to a standstill for the first time on an otherwise seemingly unstoppable night when he had a career-high 35 points on 11-of-14 (7-of-7 from 3-point range) shooting.

And finally, happy news for former Warrior receiver Ashley Lelie.

Former University of Hawai'i wideout Ashley Lelie has signed a free-agent deal with the San Francisco 49ers, according to NFL Analyst Adam Schefter.

Lelie, who played for the Atlanta Falcons last season, signed a two-year deal with the 49ers worth $4.3 million, including a $2 million signing bonus, according to Schefter on NFL.com

That along with Mat McBriar's giant contract the other day, and it's been a pretty good week for the ex-Warriors. Okay guys, time to bust out those checkbooks and remember where you came from!