Tickets Update, Heisman, Signings, Etc

Rosemarie Bernardo writes that UH got 500 tickets back from the abyss and is hoping for more.

The University of Hawaii is expected to receive 500 more tickets today from the Allstate Sugar Bowl to help quell the appetite of season ticket holders with sights set on New Orleans.

But the figure does not come close to the 1,500 tickets requested by 352 die-hard fans placed on a waiting list after UH sold out its reduced supply Tuesday.

While Sugar Bowl tickets remain available on the Internet at inflated prices, the original tickets assigned to UH had the advantage of being in the Warriors' cheering zone.

UH is expected to hear from the Sugar Bowl early next week whether additional tickets will become available. The Sugar Bowl will review the ticket issue over the weekend, said John McNamara, associate athletic director for external affairs.

Lots more details from that article. And Ferd Lewis writes that the Sugar Bowl may have pressured UH into releasing the tickets early.

That would belong to the 74-year-old Sugar Bowl which, for reasons that have yet to be explained, couldn't give UH four days to gauge how it ticket sales would go. UH was on the hook for 17,500 tickets and a nervous Sugar Bowl gave the school a now-or-never ultimatum of turning back 4,000 tickets or risking having to eat the unsold ones at $125 a pop.

Never mind that UH could have given it an answer in 48 hours. The Sugar Bowl, with a month before kickoff, still couldn't — or wouldn't — wait. Forget, too, that Georgia, which sold 22,000 tickets right off the bat said, "We could have sold upwards of 30,000," according to a school spokesman.

From the comments to yesterday's post:

What I don't understand is why UH didn't just sell the tickets themselves to those 5,000 Georgia fans over the internet AFTER offering the tickets to season ticket holders and general fans thru the UH box office.

The Sugar Bowl SELLS OUT EVERY YEAR regardless of the teams!!!!

There was NO CHANCE that UH would have been stuck with any unsold Sugar Bowl tickets!!

Sigh. Moving onto Heisman news, Stephen Tsai talks to current and former coaches, teammates and family about Colt Brennan as he was. Here's an excerpt:

Dave Money knew.

As Mater Dei's offensive coordinator, Money knew of Brennan's defiant spirit. Money watched the telecast of the Warriors' victory over Washington in which they rallied from a 21-0 deficit.

"I was really impressed with his demeanor and body language through adversity," Money said. "They were down 21-0, and you would have never known that. That's one thing Colt's always had. We had a game where we played Fallbrook. We were down, 17-0, in the first half. He came back in the second half and led us to victory. It kind of reminded me of that watching him play the other night. No matter what the situation is, it won't affect him. He's always wanting to be positive."

Dave Reardon writes about some of the people Colt is taking with him to the Heisman ceremony. Among those are Fran and Christian Allen:

Fran and Christian Allen are part of the Colt Brennan story that is often forgotten. But Brennan will always remember the Allens, and vice versa.

Before Hawaii, before Colorado, there was Worcester Academy in Massachusetts.

He was matched with outside linebacker Christian Allen as a roommate. Allen lived near Worcester, so Brennan spent most weekends at Allen's home.

"He was 3,000 miles away from home. We indoctrinated him to the ways of life in Boston much like he's been indoctrinated to the ways in Hawaii. We kept in touch, good times and bad," said Fran Allen, Christian's father, in a phone interview yesterday. "You could tell he had talent. The team was OK, and it was a tough league. He didn't have a great line, but he had some really good receivers."

Tsai has a full list of Colt's NY supporters.

Reardon, who will be reporting from New York on the Heisman festivities, is on his way there and checks in from Atlanta. He also notes:

Jason Rivers and Ryan Grice-Mullins will sign autographs Saturday at the Honolulu Marathon Expo at the Hawaii Convention Center.

They will appear from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the back of the expo hall.

And here's June Jones' book signing schedule this weekend. It was on, then off, and now on again:

Jones is appearing in support of J. David Miller's "Hawaii Warrior Football: A Story of Faith, Hope, and Redemption." The book features a foreword written by Jones.

The schedule is:

Saturday: at Borders, Ward Center from noon to 1 p.m.

Sunday: at Borders in Lihue from noon to 1 p.m.

Sunday: at Pictures Plus in Lihue from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m.

Sunday: at JJ's Broiler in Lihue from 3 to 4 p.m.

If you haven't read J. David Miller's excellent book yet, or met June yet, or visited Kauai yet, now's your chance to do all three.

Speaking of June, some business and boosters are trying to raise funds to give June and the football program a bonus.

A group of prominent Hawai'i businessmen and University of Hawai'i supporters is well on the way to raising $100,000 to demonstrate support of football coach June Jones and encourage him to remain at the school.

The group has circulated an "Enhance the Pride of UH Football!" e-mail request to approximately 100 others seeking 50 donors to each contribute $2,000 toward "furthering the team and coaching staff's efforts."

The e-mail mentions the milestone accomplishments of this year's team — Heisman Trophy finalist, unbeaten season, Sugar Bowl berth — and notes, "what the football team's success has brought to light is the fact that all of this was done with a bare bones recruiting budget, outdated office furnishings and equipment and without the flexibility to reward assistant coaches and other key support staff with discretionary bonuses or incentives."

Big bonuses for the assistant coaches would be awesome.