Questions for Oct 13th (if you can't be here at 11 am)

[BigWave96744]

Please post your questions here if you can't make it at 11am

PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CHANGE FOR THE OCTOBER CHAT

[BigWave96744]

I was hoping that UH could return the Saturday evening baseball games to the schedule.

Friday afternoon/evening times are too hectic to get the kids from school to sports practice and then to the game. Saturday afternoon start times are also bad with day activities like little league games/practices & family functions. Saturday evenings allow for a comfortable pace getting a family with young kids to Rainbow Stadium. Its also cool and comfortable.

With the double headers on Saturdays, you can still hold the afternoon game, but please give back at least that one night game. I'm sure attendance would be better also.

[BigWave96744]

I have a question/suggestion for Mr. Donovan.

The field quality of the Rainbow Classic has dropped significantly over the past decade. The reasons are numerous (proliferation of preseason tourneys, scheduling conflicts, loss of national television coverage, etc). How has the Maui Invitational become the preeminent preseason college basketball tourney while the Classic has faded into obscurity? Are there any steps currently being taken to by the UHAD to reestablish the Classic to its former stature?

One thing that will undoubtedly bring back the perennial powerhouses is national TV coverage. I understand that this is easier said than done and the competition is stiff. UH was recently chosen to play on ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon. If this event turns out to be a ratings winner (and I'm sure it will be), why not try to lobby ESPN to have a similar event in December? Say around the time of the Rainbow Classic. Hawaii will have that late night time slot all to itself and be able to showcase the Championship, if not ALL of the final games.

I mentioned this in another thread, but has Hawaii ever pitched the idea to a network of having Hawaii's very late night games shown live on the mainland. Why wouldn't networks want to show live sports coverage (maybe a shared kfve feed, blacked out in Hawaii) rather than show reruns or poker tourneys? I'm not sure if Hawaii, as a member of the WAC, is precluded from making separate television deals for any games not shown in the wac tv package.

Promote the tournament with its own website similar to that of a bowl game. Have it linked in with the UHAD website/sponsors and promote it to teams as a once in a lifetime deal.

Most programs would give anything to have Hawaii's location and weather in December. It will just take a little bit of creativity, elbow grease and maybe a little bit of luck to get the Rainbow Classic back to its former glory. Thanks.

[goBows15]

Question for Jim Donovan:

Hi Jim, thanks for answering questions. I was at the Sugar Bowl in January and the pageantry of a BCS game was awesome. I loved the fact that we had the Rainbow Dancers, the Band and all the cheerleaders showcasing or whole program on a par with the Georgia program. Georgia came out with the biggest flag I've ever seen that was all Black with a huge Georgia "G" on it. Our cheerleaders came out with a white flag with the hawaii logo that was not only not new, it was filthy! The cheerleaders are still using this old flag that is white and mostly dirty brown now.

Any chance we can find the funds to get a classier looking flag? How bout a black one that wouldn't show the dirt as much? Or at least throw the flag in the washing machine with some clorox!

Thanks for you hard work at bettering the Hawaii program. We're 100% behind you!

Aloha!

[wayoutwest]

I have a question/suggestion for Mr. Donovan.

The field quality of the Rainbow Classic has dropped significantly over the past decade. The reasons are numerous (proliferation of preseason tourneys, scheduling conflicts, loss of national television coverage, etc). How has the Maui Invitational become the preeminent preseason college basketball tourney while the Classic has faded into obscurity? Are there any steps currently being taken to by the UHAD to reestablish the Classic to its former stature?

One thing that will undoubtedly bring back the perennial powerhouses is national TV coverage. I understand that this is easier said than done and the competition is stiff. UH was recently chosen to play on ESPN's Tip-Off Marathon. If this event turns out to be a ratings winner (and I'm sure it will be), why not try to lobby ESPN to have a similar event in December? Say around the time of the Rainbow Classic. Hawaii will have that late night time slot all to itself and be able to showcase the Championship, if not ALL of the final games.

I mentioned this in another thread, but has Hawaii ever pitched the idea to a network of having Hawaii's very late night games shown live on the mainland. Why wouldn't networks want to show live sports coverage (maybe a shared kfve feed, blacked out in Hawaii) rather than show reruns or poker tourneys? I'm not sure if Hawaii, as a member of the WAC, is precluded from making separate television deals for any games not shown in the wac tv package.

Promote the tournament with its own website similar to that of a bowl game. Have it linked in with the UHAD website/sponsors and promote it to teams as a once in a lifetime deal.

Most programs would give anything to have Hawaii's location and weather in December. It will just take a little bit of creativity, elbow grease and maybe a little bit of luck to get the Rainbow Classic back to its former glory. Thanks.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/artic ... portsfront

Whoa... I guess great minds think alike. Can't wait to read about the details after the official announcement. Top programs would be keen to jump at the opportunity of playing in this tourney. Congrats, Mr. Donovan.

[Scott]

I wanted to give a huge shout out to Mr. Bolte for his generous contribution this past Saturday. Can you tell us a little more about who he is and what he does? Thank you.

[wyokie]

Not a question but a comment to you, Mr. Donovan.

Since you have become the AD at UH, I have been extremely impressed with the way you do business regarding scheduling games for the football program and getting things done now. The thing that has impressed me the most has been the recent news of a home amd home series being renewed with the warriors biggest long-time rival, Brigham Young University based out of Provo. I never thought that series would ever get renewed after BYU said they would never come back to Honolulu after their loss to the Warriors at the end of the 2001 season and making up excuses regarding to the playing field at Aloha Stadium.

your diligence in getting a series renewed with BYU gives me hope for the renewal of the Paniolo Trophy series between Hawai'i and Wyoming.

[RedZone]

Someone please tell Donovan that Oceanic is screwing up. People were complaining because they could not get the online feed to watch the Wahine vs New Mexico St game. It is sad because they follow the link from the UH website. These people were from the mainland and it is how they watch games live. Oceanic is developing a reputation for being unreliable.

[goodfaith]

Aloha Jim,

Any update of status on the Smith suit against UH for the prior regime's football scholarship "offer"? Has the JJ contract dispute been resolved?

Thanks again,

[Jim Donovan]

I wanted to give a huge shout out to Mr. Bolte for his generous contribution this past Saturday. Can you tell us a little more about who he is and what he does? Thank you.

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

Scott –

Ditto! We are very honored and grateful that Mr. James Bolte has chosen UH Athletics for his very generous contribution. He is a Heritage Society and Founders Club member. He was born in California to parents from Hawaii. He received a B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley in Business Administration and worked in the insurance business for many years in Hawaii before retiring to Nevada to play golf.

I'd also like to give a big shout out to Tom Mui, a "Tsaiko", who handled all the legal aspects of this gift on behalf of Mr. Bolte. In fact, he was the one that suggested Mr. Bolte make a donation to UH football instead of the University of Nevada-Reno because Mr. Bolte had made most of his money in Hawaii (and not Nevada). The last person I'd like to thank is Kelvin Shoji, our Director of Planned Giving, who worked very closely with Mr. Mui and the Bolte Family to make the donation and last Saturday's presentation a reality.

[ubercow]

Comment from RedZone

Someone please tell Donovan that Oceanic is screwing up. People were complaining because they could not get the online feed to watch the Wahine vs New Mexico St game. It is sad because they follow the link from the UH website. These people were from the mainland and it is how they watch games live. Oceanic is developing a reputation for being unreliable.

edit: woops posted in wrong thread, my bad