Quotes about UH wanting to keep their series with UNLV going

HA Note: "It is listed as a University of Nevada-Las Vegas home football game but good luck on trying to find a replica jersey of any of the Rebels' quarterbacks around Las Vegas. Want a No. 15 University of Hawai'i quarterback Colt Brennan jersey in green and black? Well, that's a different story entirely. Outlet malls have 'em in the window.

Want to tailgate with family and friends from Hawai'i? No problem, you can do it Saturday afternoon and catch special buses to the game. So, exactly who's home game is Saturday's non-conference meeting between UH and UNLV again, anyway?"

HA Note: "The Boyd Gaming Corp. is one of UH's largest corporate sponsors, a platinum level donor that gives in excess of $100,000 a year to UH. And who UH is trying to hit up for a few million bucks in capital improvements to Cooke Field."

HA Note: "Early estimates expect 10,000 to 12,000 Hawai'i fans — those journeying from the Islands and those transplanted to Nevada — to be in attendance. They could make up from 30 to 50 percent of a crowd expected to reach 20,000 to 30,000."


Happy with all the Hawaii fans coming to their game, even welcoming the haka, UNLV coach Mike Sanford said:
And, to hear UNLV coach Mike Sanford tell it, that's just hunky and dory. "We love that; we think that's just awesome." (HA)


A UNLV spokesman said that they would:
"rather have a stadium half full of (Hawai'i) fans than play in a stadium that's half empty." (HA)

HA Note: "Of course, it isn't only Boyd Stadium that will be filling up with UH faithful. A Boyd spokesman said several of the group's nine Las Vegas properties are already sold out for the weekend. Probably not for the last time, either. Athletic director Herman Frazier, under fire for lollygagging on the 2007 schedule, has had UNLV signed — home and away — through 2012 for quite a while."


About how he likes to play road games in Vegas, JJ said:
"Vegas is almost a home game for us. It feels like one." (HA)


About how they want to continue the series with UNLV, HF said:
"No question, it would be crazy for us not to (expand). We will talk about it. We definitely need to play them." (HA)

"If we could, we'd play them every year." (HA)


About playing UH, UNLV senior associate AD Jerry Koloskie said:
"It is a win-win for everybody." (HA)

"Financially, it is a very good game for us." (HA)

HA Note: "Saturday's game will be the 18th meeting in a series the Warriors lead 11-6. The schools are contracted to play in 2009 (in Las Vegas), 2010 (at UH), 2011 (in Las Vegas) and 2012 (at UH). Though UH has an opening for 2008, UNLV said at present its non-conference schedule is full through 2012."


About playing UH, Sanford said:
"We think this is a great rivalry." (HA)


About how they might change from home-and-home with UNLV to more games in Vegas, HF said:
"it may be even more there than here." (HA)

HA Note: "An estimated 10,000 to 12,000 UH fans — including those coming in for the game and Hawai'i transplants in Nevada — are expected to attend Saturday's game. Koloskie said UNLV usually takes in approximately $250,000 to $300,000 from an average home game but the UH game could produce $500,000 to $600,000. UH is contracted to receive $200,000 for Saturday's game, the same amount UNLV got for the 2006 meeting at Aloha Stadium.

Nevada-based Boyd Gaming Corp. is a platinum ($100,000 or more annual contribution) UH corporate partner and a major sponsor of UNLV athletics, but Frazier said there is nothing in UH's agreement that means the Warriors must play UNLV."