Quotes from Thursday morning

About how UH decided to take 4000 less tickets, Sugar Bowl spokesman Duane Lewis said:
"They chose not to take their full allotment. That was Hawaii's decision. We definitely didn't tell them not to take it, it was their choice." (AP)


About how they were concerned about scalping, which was a reason that UH took less tickets, Karl Benson said:
"No one in this business wants to see tickets dumped in the secondary market." (AP)

Note: This is simply spin. If UH was concerned about scalpers, they would have placed a limit on how many tickets people could buy. Those people buying 100+ tickets from UH are probably the source of the Craigslist and eBay adds for the game!


About how UH was concerned about losing bowl payout money, UH associate AD John McNamara said:
"Georgia has been to multiple BCS games. They know what they're capable of doing. We had no frame of reference or history to fall back on." (AP)

About how they are trying to get more tickets for their season-ticket holders, McNamara said:
"We are trying to do everything we can to accommodate as many season-ticket holders as possible." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Loui said UH's decision might force fans to turn to scalpers. Some Sugar Bowl tickets offered on the Internet were listed at four times the original ticket price of $125 to $145. Some tickets offered on eBay.com were posted at between $175 and $569 each. The Louisiana Superdome has sold out its Sugar Bowl tickets but referred fans to a Ticketmaster Web site where tickets were available in the $256-to-$881 range. Loui, who has been a season-ticket holder since the 1970s, said he planned to purchase tickets through a Koa Anuenue booster club member because they are given top priority for tickets. But he found out late Tuesday there were sold out. "It made me sick. I was just devastated," he said."


About how the UH Athletic Department Administration showed a lack of faith into their fans season-ticket holder David Loui said:
"This is the first time. This is our first outright championship. There are so many firsts for this team. And to not have faith, not only to season-ticket holders, but to fans abroad, to make efforts to make it to the game upsets me greatly." (HSB)


About how schools trade ticket allocation all the time, HF said:
"There is always horse trading (of) tickets among schools for the bowls." (HSB)


About how it is not unusual for schools to trade ticket allocations, Karl Benson said:
"So that's what happened." (HSB)


About how they are trying to help UH get more tickets, Lewis said:
"We're looking to help them get more tickets. We understand there's great demand and we'll do everything we can." (AP)


Not surprised by the bad decision to not take the full ticket allocation, Colt said:
"Why did they do that?" You know what, it's no surprise to me." (AP)

"Why'd we do that? ... It's no surprise to me." (HSB)

Riverside Press-Enterprise Note: "By the way, for his senior thesis Brennan is said to be working on a video presentation detailing the differences in facilities and support between his school's program and other top-25 schools. That should be fun."


After being told by USA Today reporter Christine Brennan that she voted him #1 on her Heisman ballot, Colt said:
"I appreciate the vote. I've met a lot of Brennans over the past few years. It's a name people take a lot of pride in. I know I do." (USA)

Asked if he wished there were more voters named Brennan voting for the Heisman this year, Colt laughed and said:
"That would be nice." (USA)

USA Note: "If in fact my vote goes against the grain this year, it won't be the first time. Four years ago, hardly impressed by the choices in the 2003 voting, I gave my first-place vote to a quarterback from Miami of Ohio. I was in a distinct minority, one of only five out of 750 voters to choose Ben Roethlisberger first. Oklahoma quarterback Jason White won, followed by Pittsburgh wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Roethlisberger finished ninth. At the time, a few vociferous readers let me know how ridiculous they thought my selection was. In hindsight, it doesn't look quite so bad."


About how the big TV games late in the season helped his Heisman candidacy, Colt said:
"I think (having two late TV games) helped; there's no doubt it helped." (HA)


Not surprised that their games got good ratings for ESPN, Colt said:
"We're a unique story. We were trying to break into the BCS and be the only team to go undefeated. I'm not surprised a lot of people tuned in." (HA)

HA Note: "The Warriors' Bowl Championship Series-clinching 35-28 victory over Washington Saturday had a 2.0 rating and was seen in 1.96 million households despite the 11:30 p.m. (Eastern) and 8:30 p.m. (Pacific) kickoff, an ESPN spokesman said. The week before, UH's 39-27 Western Athletic Conference championship-clinching win over Boise State was seen by 2.65 million households and had a 2.8 share, making it the biggest audience of any ESPN2 game and the largest of 14 Friday night games on the various ESPN properties. It had a 9 p.m. (Eastern) and 6 p.m. (Pacific) kickoff."

About having a Heisman Finalist is good for UH, Colt said:
"It gives credit to the school. It seems like all the players (in New York for the Heisman) come from the top football teams in the nation. For once, Hawai'i is up there with the best. And that is a great feeling." (HA)

About missing the final day of classes tomorrow to fly to New York for the Heisman ceremony, Colt said about his professors:
"I think they'll understand." (HA)


About Colt missing that day of classes, Terry Brennan said:
"We'll let him go to New York, but he'd better graduate. If he doesn't, he's going to be in a lot of trouble with me." (HA)

Proud of Colt's Heisman Finalist recognition, Terry said:
"We're very proud of him. This is a great and wonderful thing for Colt, and his teammates and coaches, and the state." (HA)

Feeling like his recognition is recognition for their team, Colt said:
"Considering the games I missed with my (sprained) ankle, and me getting knocked out of the (Fresno) game with a concussion, and watching the team get those victories, it just feels like it's cool because it feels like the team and everybody is part of this. It's not just me. It's a great feeling. And it's not like I'm the only one getting rewarded here. It feels like everybody who played with me this year is getting rewarded." (HA)

HA Note: "He led the Warriors to Division I-A's only unbeaten regular season despite playing on an injured right ankle that, he says, is as fat "as a tennis ball." "

About not being invited to New York last year was fine with him because they didn't beat Oregon State, Colt said:
"Being the prestigious award it is, you have to go up and beyond, and I was all right with not going last year." (HA)

Colt said that his Heisman chances with their weak schedule meant that:
"if we had one loss on our record, there's no way I'd be going to New York." (HA)

About how Matt Leinart called him twice after hearing the Heisman news, Colt said:
"I got two calls from (Leinart yesterday). He's all fired up. He said he's really disappointed, but he can't make it out to the festivities. But he said, 'Soak it up. They'll take care of you. Enjoy everything.'" (HSB)

About the importance of playing well at the end of their season Colt said:
"I said I was going to be a winner this year. When I looked at this year I understood what was in front of us really well. I understood I needed to play my best football at the end of the year. At the end of the year was when they were going to need me." (HSB)

About how his best games this season came in their biggest games, Colt said:
"I got injured, fought through injuries. If you take a look at my ankle (sprained Sept. 14) it still looks like a tennis ball. It looks bad, I fought through that all year, continued to make victories, got hurt again (a concussion Nov. 10 against Fresno State). But I bounced back from that (after playing two snaps at Nevada) and the biggest two games of the year were my best games." (HSB)

About his huge games against BSU and UW, Colt said:
"That's my biggest selling point as the Heisman." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Brennan completed 82 of 103 passes for 937 yards and 10 touchdowns against the Broncos and Huskies."


Declining to say anything about Tebow, Colt said:
"I could stir it up, I could have fun with it. I don't have to say anything. I could say stuff, but I think I'm gonna help (Tyler) Graunke out right now and keep my mouth shut and talk about that another time." (HSB)

About how UH opens the season at Florida next season, Colt said:
"It's not like I'm going to The Swamp next year." (HSB)


About how Colt deserves individual awards, but how he deflects the praise, Desmond Thomas said:
"Personally, he deserves (awards). For one, you play harder for that guy, unconsciously, and for each other, and it becomes a team kind of thing. Not 'Let's win for Colt,' but, 'Let's win for all of us, the school, the community, for God.' " (HSB)


Colt's first coach (when he was 9) Mike Harp said:
"I always thought he was something special. Even at that age, he was always a little better than everybody else. He had a little swagger. We always called him 'Hollywood.' He looked like a surfer. But he was always an accurate passer. What he did best was put the ball on people. He still does that." (HA)


Asked about Colt's Heisman chances, Karl Benson said:
"The chances of Colt Brennan winning the Heisman, I'd say, are better than the chances were of Hawai'i coming back against Nevada." ( HA)


About how Mel Kiper said that 25-30 teams could have gone undefeated with UH's schedule, Blaze said after the UW win:
“Mel Kiper has been dogging us all season. I just want to get a team that he can’t call a ’cupcake’ in the Sugar Bowl so we can prove to the nation that we are for real.’’ (Maui News)


About JJ's comments about Tim Tebow, Tebow's high school coach Craig Howard said:
"I know June. We knew each other in Oregon when we were there. He said something about Timmy being a system quarterback. If Tim Tebow was in Hawaii, June Jones would love him and think he's the greatest quarterback he's ever had. Hawaii quarterbacks have always been called system guys. I understand he's sticking up for his guy [quarterback Colt Brennan, a Heisman candidate himself]. Put him [Tebow] in any system. Tom Brady's a system guy. He does pretty well. ... Plug Timmy into Hawaii's system or the New England Patriots' system or Florida's system, he'll have that special ingredient like Tom Brady has. ... I chuckled a little when June Jones said that. That [a version of Hawaii's run-and-shoot offense] is what we've been running at Nease." (Florida Times-Union)