Unannouncement (#9?) Wrap-Up

Stephen Tsai and Ferd Lewis write:

As one deadline clicked past, the University of Hawai'i set a new one — next Monday — to have at least one of its two remaining football games on the 2007 schedule filled.

...

"For the two contests we are talking to three different schools," Frazier said. He declined to say which schools — or conferences — he is talking to but said at least one of them is a Division I-A member.

So one of them isn't? Gaaaah!

Ferd elaborates in his column.

Would you want a Division I-AA team in the opener when you have three road games and another I-AA team filling the month behind it? Would you be thrilled about playing a non-conference road game — a sixth away game as it would turn out — heading into the teeth of the Western Athletic Conference schedule: Fresno State, Nevada, and Boise State?

Hardly. Yet, either — or both — remain distinct possibilities. Clearly things have long since moved past what is ideal and have gone all the way to desperate. All the way, a Charleston, S.C., newspaper reported, to the point where UH was sending "out mass e-mails to programs all across America" and garnered I-AA Charleston Southern.

Kalani Simpson pretty much sums up the fans' feelings.

I've had a few people tell me that all this waiting is overrated, that this whole schedule scenario has been blown out of proportion, we shouldn't be this worked up about it. OK, valid point.

But it's been Frazier that's made it a big story by the way he's handled it.

For months, he told us he had it all under control. He told us it was all wrapped up, any minute now. He could sign four opponents tomorrow if he wanted. He talked about getting BCS conference teams. By putting it off he could get even better matchups for UH. He told us just trust him, even as time kept passing by and it seemed the evidence was mounting to the contrary.

With every bold assurance (which would eventually fall through, again, and again, and again) he was turning a footnote into 25-point type.

And through all of this, Dave Reardon writes that Frazier may have learned a hard lesson, though maybe a little too late.

Frazier was also asked if he could guarantee a 13-game schedule.

"I ain't guaranteeing anything, based on how people react," he said.

It's a tough job, with everyone looking over your shoulder, and I'm sure it's been very tough for Frazier, trying to reign in all these moving parts, but he's also been guaranteeing and promising things that haven't really been there, hoping everything falls into place by the time the deadline rolls around. Over and over and over again.