April 1st and 10 w/JD will be held on Aril 11th at 10:00AM

[Scott]

Jim will be out of town on April 4th so we will move the 1st and 10 with JD to the 11th. You can start posting your questions below, thank you!

[Hawkpeter]

If there is an NFL lockout (and I dont think there will be) would UH have the flexibility with its tv contracts and status in the conference to shift a home game from saturday to a sunday?

Would you consider investigating if this is feasible should the NFL lockout drag on into the summer? The question would be whether it would positively effect crowds and whether there is a TV market for the game that could be targeted.

[Scott]

Aloha Jim, In a few months it will make three years since our first 1st and 10 chat. I just wanted to pass along the appreciation that we receive from the Sports Hawaii Ohana all over the world. Once again please take this opportunity to share any updates, events and/or activities that you would like to share with the Ohana! Thank you!

[al]

hi jim,
how realistic are our chances in sending the men's basketball team to the orient this summer?

i read that we would need to fund approximately $75k to cover expenses, that figure appears to be somewhat understated considering the traveling contingent would be about 25 players, coaches, and support staff.

have we started any financing efforts and if so where do we stand as a percentage to what our financial goals are?

[al]

on another note...word is that gib arnold's contract has not yet been executed.

is there a possibility that it is being totally restructed including a pay increase and an additional year or two added on?

are the assistant coaches' pay also being reconsidered in lieu of the team's success on the court as well as the significant increase in revenues this past year?

[Scott]

Summer is just around the corner, what is your biggest challenge this summer in preparation for the upcoming 2011-2012 sports season at UH?

[uhwarriors]

Jim,

How much money was raised at the AKA Scholarship Dinner last week? What will it be used for?

[wilderstreet]

The independent study on the athletic department recommended that the accumulated debt be forgiven. It will be much easier to operate effectively without trying to pay off the debt. Will you be asking upper campus for relief?

[al]

What are the current recruiting budgets for some of more high profile sports?

football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, men's and women's volleyball for example and how do they compare with the Mountain West and Big West conferences?

[al]

delay of game?????????

[Jim Donovan]

Good morning! Let's get started...

[Jim Donovan]

If there is an NFL lockout (and I dont think there will be) would UH have the flexibility with its tv contracts and status in the conference to shift a home game from saturday to a sunday?

Would you consider investigating if this is feasible should the NFL lockout drag on into the summer? The question would be whether it would positively effect crowds and whether there is a TV market for the game that could be targeted.

--------------------------------------------

Hawkpeter -

Interesting concept that you bring up... The reality is the NFL will likely continue negotiations through summer -- at least that's what I've been reading after the players' association and owners' attorneys met with the federal judge last week. Because there's always a possiblity of settlement, NCAA football programs might have to wait all the way until sometime in August before your idea could be implemented.

Here's the major hurdles that I think would likely make your concept not doable:

1. We're in the process of purchasing and booking flights and hotels for our mainland football trips. In almost every case, we plan to come back late Saturday night. If this concept was implemented, we would have to try and change our return trips to late Sunday night, which would incur at a minimum airline change fees, another night of hotel (and based on our current contracts, we may still have to pay for the hotel nights we've already reserved) and worst case scenario, the price of the airline tickets would have increased from when we originally booked them -- and we'll have to pay the price difference too.

2. All of the teams flying into Hawaii have made or are in the process of finalizing their airline and hotel reservations, so they would be facing similar additional costs as us.

3. Probably the most difficult hurdle to get over would be the fact that all of our fans that have purchased tickets to attend the Washington, UNLV or Reno football games may not have the ability to change their flight and hotel reservations to accommodate a Sunday football game – which means by changing to a Sunday game, we could be upsetting a substantial number of UH fans. Of course, this same issue would apply to the fans of the teams coming to play us in Hawaii.

4. There’s always the possibility we would have to refund UH season ticket holders that did not want or could not attend Sunday football games.

5. Another serious concern would be that typically our football student-athletes miss one Tuesday/Thursday class day and one Monday/Wednesday/Friday class day, which is already a major concern of ours. If we move the road games to Sunday, our student-athletes will likely miss two Monday/Wednesday/Friday class days, which would make it even more difficult for them to be successful in a Monday/Wednesday/Friday class.

That said, I’ll mention this idea at the WAC meetings in early May, but because of these logistical, cost and educational issues, we probably won’t be able to make the adjustment to a Sunday football game.

[Jim Donovan]

hi jim,
how realistic are our chances in sending the men's basketball team to the orient this summer?

i read that we would need to fund approximately $75k to cover expenses, that figure appears to be somewhat understated considering the traveling contingent would be about 25 players, coaches, and support staff.

have we started any financing efforts and if so where do we stand as a percentage to what our financial goals are?

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al -

I haven't really gotten a chance to discuss this Asia trip with Gib in detail -- he just mentioned to me a little more than a week ago that he'd like to take a trip like this and that he believes he can find the donors and corporate sponsors to underwrite the cost of a trip like this. Gib's been out recruiting quite a bit, but I should be meeting with him soon to do a season evaluation, to discuss this Asia trip, and to see what things we need to work on for next season and beyond.

I’m certainly supportive of the concept of “reaching” out to Asia with our sports teams, we’ll just have to make sure that it works inside of our well-documented budget issues.

[Jim Donovan]

on another note...word is that gib arnold's contract has not yet been executed.

is there a possibility that it is being totally restructed including a pay increase and an additional year or two added on?

are the assistant coaches' pay also being reconsidered in lieu of the team's success on the court as well as the significant increase in revenues this past year?

-------------------------------------

al -

As I’ve mentioned before, the past 35 months that I’ve been on the job as Athletic Director, I don’t discuss personnel issues in a public forum. Wish I could add more, but I can’t. Now each individual coach is allowed to discuss their personal situation, if they wish, but as the Athletic Director, I can’t comment on an individual’s situation.

I can say in general that I try to meet with certain head coaches after their season’s complete to do season evaluation, possibly to discuss their contract situation, and to see what their thoughts are on the things we need to work on for the next season and beyond. Gib’s been out hitting the recruiting trail pretty hard, and I expect we’ll have an opportunity to have a meeting sometime soon.

[al]

thanks jim. i knew about your policy regarding contract negotiations. i was more curious to see if the original contract was executed.