Kickin Ass / 2008 Update / Sun God

Thank you, Matt Hayes of Rivals.com (and/or The Sporting News). He writes an article entitled Hawaii's weak schedule is not it's fault, and he's not even being snarky or sarcastic about it. As June Jones puts it, regarding teams that don't want to travel to play UH:

"Teams don't want to make the trip anymore," says Hawaii coach June Jones. "They come here, we kick their ass, they go home."

Hehehe. And Matt follows up on that comment, not with smug condescension we're so used to hearing from out-of-touch national "reporters," but with THE FACTS!

That's not bravado, folks. That's fact. In the past five seasons, Jones' teams have beaten Michigan State, Alabama, Purdue and Arizona State -- an impressive BCS foursome. No wonder no one wanted in when the Warriors were looking for a game to complete this fall's schedule.

No wonder Michigan State tried for a year to get out of a game -- the same one Hawaii now can't replace -- before finally paying $250,000 to do so. No wonder when Florida -- big, bad Florida -- agreed to play the Warriors in Gainesville for the 2008 season opener, there was no offer to return a home game to Hawaii.

Remember all these things when you're whining about Hawaii's cupcake schedule later this year. When the Warriors' unbeaten regular season includes wins over I-AA Northern Colorado and Charleston Southern. When snooty major conference teams are politicking for a spot in a BCS game ahead of Hawaii because, really, who did the Warriors play?

Hawaii's administration officially called it quits last month. No more begging, no more pleading, no more $750,000 guaranteed payout offers. One BCS athletic director told me it costs "no more than $350,000" for a team to travel to Hawaii and play. You do the math. A BCS school could have walked away with $400,000 of cold, hard profit -- for a road game.

So Matt Hayes goes in the "Good" folder, and we'll be saving this article in case we need it to combat the hate later in this season. Of course, we also have the whole AD fiasco with lots of articles we can pull up as we go along as well.

Speaking of the whole AD fiasco, Herman Frazier, a.k.a. Lessons Learned, has a bang-up schedule lined up for 2008. Or he will have, soon, we hope.

Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier said there might be no Division I-AA teams on the 2008 UH football schedule.

"As you know, we're looking at one I-AA. I might change that," Frazier said yesterday. "There might be a I-A team we can put in that spot, the week between Florida and Oregon State. However, it's still my intent to have '08 (the schedule) done by the end of August."

The Warriors open '08 at Florida on Aug. 30 and have another road game, at Oregon State on Sept. 13. Frazier had planned for UH to host a I-AA team Sept. 6. He said that might be a I-A team instead.

He added that another deal may be completed soon with a BCS conference team. That would complete the five-game nonconference schedule when added to the above games and a Nov. 29 home date with Washington State.

You heard him, end of August. His word is golden. Seriously though, Tyler Graunke and the 30+ seniors are gonna have a hell of a season in '08, and I mean that in a good way. Already looking forward to it! We might even be playing in... the Insight Bowl??

"Obviously, we love the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl first, but there is always a chance (of another bowl), depending on where you are ranked and what kind of payouts," Frazier added. "I think whenever the time comes, we need to be ready."

ESPN Regional Television, which owns and operates the Hawai'i Bowl, also includes the Las Vegas Bowl among its five bowls. Frazier said he believes, under the right circumstances, UH could be a candidate "for any bowl in Northern or Southern California," as well as the Insight Bowl in Phoenix. "And that's what we are trying to prove."

I think someone meant "Fiesta Bowl" right? BCS bowl, Hawaii Bowl or bust! Anyway, that article is mainly about how well the tickets for the UH-UNLV game are selling and that the Warrior Nation travels well. Of course, we're talking about traveling to the 9th island, but still.

Luckily, our inclusion in a BCS bowl should (theoretically) never come down to how well Hawaii fans can or can't travel. NCAA committees don't select BCS bowl participants. Voters and robots do.

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And Coach Jeff Reinebold, who coached in the CFL all those years ago, talks to the Winnipeg Sun about his memories coaching the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and how much he likes it at UH.

After being "banished from the kingdom," Reinebold went off to coach in NFL Europe before landing in 2005 at the University of Hawaii, where he works today as the defensive line/defensive ends/special teams coach alongside former Atlanta Falcons boss June Jones.

"I've enjoyed it here," Reinebold said from his office in Honolulu. "It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. This is such a unique and special place."