Odds and Ends

Here's are a few stories from this past week you may have missed:

======

Looks like the message board/blog campaign to get UH to play Mississippi State this year is all for naught.

No dice. MSU hasn't had any contact with Hawaii and doesn't intend to, according to that same spokesman that Tsai quotes.

It looks like Mississippi State feels content to replace Jacksonville State with a similar opponent — a I-AA school or perhaps a low-level I-A. Of course, the official line from the MSU people is that it's still expecting to play Jax State, but at this point I'd be surprised if the Gamecocks come to town Sept. 22 (or Nov. 3).

Trading for Hawaii wouldn't make much sense if you want to find a similar team to Jax State, as the Warriors have a pretty good football team.

It was a really good try, and who knows, it may not be dead. Good job by Sportsbow and the rest for getting this out into the open. If anything, maybe my shameless begging in the comments of the Kyle Veazey post will turn the Mississippi State AD's head. Hey if pity works, I'm all for it. I'm sure I've said that before, but in a different context. Hmmmm.

======

Ikaika Alama-Francis and Samson Satele are looking pretty good in the mock drafts and rankings.

=======

Speaking of Ikaika, he visited the Pittsburgh Steelers for pre-draft interviews with front office personnel and coaches.

Francis fits the Steelers' prototype of a college defensive end with the potential to play linebacker in the NFL.

Originally recruited to play basketball at Hawaii, Francis did not play football in high school, where he received All-State honors in basketball and volleyball and lettered in baseball. He played on Hawaii's basketball team in 2002 but didn't play football until 2003.

Francis recorded 39 tackles and four sacks in 2006.

Although he didn't post big numbers in college, Francis' athleticism and upside project him as a second or third-round draft pick.

Let's hope draft day gives the Ikaika Alama-Francis Fan Club a lot of good things to talk about.

======

Stephen Tsai has a preliminary first team defense up on The Warrior Beat, which I then proceed to bite:

Defensive ends—Amani Purcell, Karl Noa.
Defensive tackles — Michael Lafaele, Keala Watson.
Outside linebackers — Blaze Soares, Adam Leonard.
Middle linebacker — Solomon Elimimian.
Cornerbacks — Myron Newberry, Gerard Lewis.
Safeties — Jake Patek, Dane Porlas.

Glad to see Amani Purcell up there. It looks like a great first-team, but don't forget, we still got John Fonoti, Brashton Satele, Tyson Kafentzis, David Veikune, a bunch of other great players, plus the new JC and high school recruits coming in the fall. It's gonna be an awesome McMackin Attackin Defense!

======

Speaking of biting, I'm gonna bite more of Chawan Cut's videos. He's posted even more newscasts about spring practice and other such things on Youtube. Chawan, you are a king among men. So anyway, in the spirit of sharing, here are the videos from Day 3, which are mostly about the hiring of Greg McMackin:

From KHNL:



From KHON:



From KITV:



From KGMB:



And now here are some videos from Day 2, mostly about University of Northern Colorado being on the schedule:

From KGMB (long segment, Brooks Baehr being extra sarcastic, Steve Uyehara reporting on the O-line):



From KHNL:



From KITV:



Chawan, once again, you are awesome. Thanks for doing this for the UH fans.

======

And finally, Darrell Moody of The Nevada Appeal writes about ESPN flexing its muscle in shaping the WAC TV schedule.

Let's talk about the Hawai'i game first. Can you imagine what the weather will be like on Nov. 16 between 8 and 11:30 p.m.?

Heck, with the way the way Hawai'i throws the ball, that could be more than a 3 1/2-hour game.

Trust me on this, I already feel sorry for the fans who will be sitting outside. I've sat in Mackay Stadium during the day for November games, and that wind can be brutal. Imagine what it will be like when the sun goes down?

If the game is that big of a deal, why couldn't ESPN2 show it at 5 or 6 p.m. so people on the East Coast can see it? After all, that's where the WAC needs the exposure. That's where a lot of poll voters are. Teams like Boise State, Nevada, Hawai'i and Fresno State are well known on the West Coast. It's the other parts of the country that need to see that the WAC plays some pretty good football, and making them stay up past midnight to watch a game isn't the way to do it.

"It's not ideal," admitted Nevada athletic director Cary Groth Friday morning. "It's not the best time or day, but we'll make the best of it. We're already talking about things we can do. We're looking at things optimistically."

...

All told, a total of 10 games are being televised this year by ESPN this season, two on Sunday, one on Thursday, five on Friday and just two on Saturday.

In my opinion, and I've been wrong a few times, I think the WAC is doing whatever is needed for more exposure. Not because it is that happy with the football time slots that were doled out, but because of what happened last year when the WAC refused to move a San Jose State game. ESPN then retaliated and took the WAC off any Monday night basketball games which meant much less basketball exposure for the WAC, which is already one of the most underexposed conferences in the country.

Quite frankly, I'm tired of networks like ESPN flexing their muscles. The fact that only two of the 10 broadcasts are on Saturday tells me that ESPN doesn't think enough of the WAC, and that's dead wrong.

Those are some good points. But what can the WAC do? The WAC needs ESPN more than vice versa. And it's better than being blackballed by them again. Let's just hope UH and the rest of the WAC play great on ESPN this year. The WAC will only gain future leverage if the teams... Play UP!