Quotes from John McNamara

Confident that UH's attendance will grow this season, UH associate AD John McNamara said:
"I feel good about the fact that the fans are going to be there in one way, shape or form. Maybe we do have a percentage of (fans) that are, maybe, a little wait-and-see, in terms of how the season goes, but I think once they see the product on the field and, I think, as the season goes along, it is gonna build to a crescendo and we're going to have the type of following that we had the end of last year. Hopefully, that type of excitement will (be) reached a lot earlier than it (was) last season." (HA)

HA Note: "UH averaged 45,491 for its final two regular season home games of 2006 after averaging 27,749 through its first six home games. With the Warriors' first preseason national ranking (23rd in the Associated Press poll) and the return of Heisman Trophy candidate Colt Brennan, ticket officials were projecting to have 34,000 tickets distributed through sales and promotions and possibly 30,000 fans in Aloha Stadium Saturday."


Hoping that more people will come to the CSU game, McNamara said:
"I think (this year's) fans are pretty typical in terms of wanting to evaluate the product and I think the ones that do come out to the stadium on Saturday are going to be treated to a wonderful time both before the game and during. Hopefully, that word of mouth will get out and we'll have a better crowd for the next home game (Sept. 22 against Charleston Southern) and that will continue to build." (HA)

HA Note: "Pay-per-view season subscription sales are running slightly ahead of this point last year, according to John Fink, vice president and general manager of KFVE, which produces the games. Last year, 6,646 season packages were sold, resulting in about $2.7 million in revenue divided among KFVE ($1,325,000), Oceanic ($965,000) and UH ($410,000)."


HA Note: "Under its new medical policy, UH said it will restrict information about injuries to athletes in one of three categories — probable, questionable or doubtful — unless the player signs a waiver form for each instance. Probable will mean "likely to return to game or practice," questionable is "possible they might return but further evaluation is needed," and doubtful is considered "unlikely they will return to game/practice."

Citing federal laws, last year UH inaugurated a policy of not disclosing the medical condition of athletes other than to say whether the player was cleared to play unless a waiver was signed beforehand."


About the 2008 schedule, McNamara said about HF:
"I know he wants to get that completed as quickly as possible. I would anticipate some sort of announcement soon." (HA)


About their promotions to try to get more students to go to the football games, McNamara said:
"We've really made that a priority this year. I think the (student) response for football is going to be tremendous, probably the best we've ever seen. We want to make sure that translates into our other sports as well." (HSB)

HSB Note: "As of Monday, the school had sold 660 student season tickets for football, up from 514 last year, and 117 all-sports passes good for any 10 UH sporting events."


About how it is hard to get students to go to the games, McNamara said:
"It's tough when you have 3,000 residential students. Those challenges have been in place for a long time and we're trying to address the feedback we hear from students and structure a package for them." (HSB)

HSB Note: "UH students had accounted for 1,100 of the 28,800 tickets distributed for the Warriors' season opener against Northern Colorado -- which has been dubbed "Student Night" -- with a free ticket within the student sections promotion ongoing.

Students with a valid ID can pick up a free ticket at the Stan Sheriff Center box office through Friday. McNamara said the UH-Manoa chancellor's office is also sponsoring six buses which can transport 300 students each from the campus to Aloha Stadium for the Warriors' seven home games."


About how they are trying to get students to go to the UNC game so that they want to go all season, McNamara said:
"The whole goal is to get the students out early, show them how important they are to the electricity and excitement of the event. We want to do everything we can to entice the students to come on out." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Overall, UH has sold about 22,300 season tickets, up from 18,125 last year, and McNamara said the department is projecting to issue around 34,000 tickets for Saturday's game."


About how they might issue more than the projected 34,000 tickets, McNamara said:
"I think with everything we're doing over the next four days we might be a little north of that number." (HSB)


About how UH officials have met several times about Ian Sample's claims, McNamara said:
"They want to be expeditious but they also want to be thorough. They want to make sure they talk to all the necessary parties and make sure everything is evaluated and addressed." (HSB)


About why the NCAA hasn't contacted them yet, McNamara said:
"Typically, they let the institutions do their own review and see what they discover and if they feel it's necessary, then they'll step in as well." (HSB)