Field Delayed? / Big Man's Camp / Media Preview / CN

Oh crap.

The much-needed revitalization of UH's Cooke Field is mired by accusations of unethical conduct at the state level
A contractor's allegation of unethical conduct by a member of a state licensing board who is also a competitor might keep the University of Hawaii football team from taking practice on a renovated Cooke Field this season.

The field was first slated to reopen before the start of the Warriors' season next month, but the reopening was later pushed back to October.

Now a contractor who would like to bid for the field-resurfacing contract has complained to the state Contractors License Board over a rule change that aces him out of the work. The change, he contends, was recommended by a board member who is also in the field turf business.

A UH official says the school will go ahead with the bid process but has expressed concern that the dispute could push back the field's reopening to December.

Brian McInnis has a report from the first day of the Big Man's Camp.

Kapolei coach Darren Hernandez helped the UH coaches for the second straight season. A handful of his Hurricanes linemen took part in the drills yesterday.

"During the individual breakout sessions, there's a lot of teaching and a lot of basic fundamentals but it's teaching them about life lessons, about being a good person, about working hard, being committed," Hernandez said. "I would encourage all kids to come out here, just the camaraderie, the coaching is great. Summer is almost over so for a lot of these kids, it's their chance to live it up one last time."

Dave Reardon is in Utah for the WAC Football Media Preview being held later this week. He writes that Kailua offensive lineman Chauncey Makainai was offered a scholie by UH. He also talks to incoming offensive lineman Kainoa LaCount.

He said he has one more summer school class to complete in order to earn his associate’s degree at College of the Canyons (Calif.).

“I hope to be able to be ready to jump into camp Aug. 7,” he said.

Fall camp starts Aug. 4.

Although he has prototype size and talent, LaCount may end up redshirting this season. Especially on the offensive line, it can be difficult to quickly become a productive player without plenty of repetition and bonding with teammates in the offseason.

Stephen Tsai has a bunch of photos from offseason workouts, along with a pic of the new UH football media guide, which Adam Leonard is taking to the WAC preview in his luggage.

And Corey Nielsen talks to the Long Beach Press-Telegram about committing to Hawaii.

The fact that McMackin has no plans to scrap Hawaii's pass-happy offense - former coach June Jones left to take over at Southern Methodist in January - didn't hurt, either.

"(The run-and-shoot) is really similar to our offense at Gahr," Nielsen said.

UPDATE: AM 1500 has an audio interview with Corey from the Rob & Russ Show up on their front page.