Quotes from the Star-Bulletin

About the scholarships that the June Jones Foundation is giving out, Foundation director Kevin Kaplan said:
"They don't have to go to Hawaii or SMU. They can go anywhere they want, as long as it's in the United States." (HSB)

HSB Note: "Ten football coaches, five from Hawaii and five from SMU, will conduct the first June Jones American Samoa Football Academy a week from tomorrow in Pago Pago. The UH coaches are Greg McMackin, Alex Gerke, Nick Rolovich, Brian Smith and Craig Stutzmann. The SMU coaches are Jones, Dennis McKnight, Wes Suan, Jeff Reinebold and Frank Gansz. The June Jones Foundation is sponsoring the academy, as well as $2,000 college football scholarships that will go to five of the expected 550 participants, foundation director Kevin Kaplan said."

HSB Note: "Current and former NFL players Jesse Sapolu, Maa Tanuvasa, Mel Purcell, Reagan Mauia, Paul Soliai and Leo Goeas are also scheduled to appear, Kaplan said."

Looking forward to his first trip to American Samoa, Mack said:
"It's going to be a fun deal. I'm really looking forward to it because they're a big part of the Warrior Nation." (HSB)

HSB Note: "It will cap a week of island-hopping for the UH head coach who replaced Jones. McMackin is on the Big Island for the Dolphin Days celebration and will play in Jones' annual celebrity tournament Sunday and Monday at Hokulia. Then McMackin has his own golf tournament on Kauai next Tuesday and Wednesday. Meanwhile, mediation continues in a dispute between Jones and UH. At issue is $400,008 the school says Jones owes it for leaving for SMU before the end of his contract, which would have been the end of this month."


About how they are close to finalizing their 2009 schedule, JD said:
"We're working diligently with several different schools. But there's nothing at this point. Our goal is to have it done before we open this season at Florida (on Aug. 30)." (HSB)


About how they have sold at least 2,000 more ticket packages for 2008 than they sold in 2007, John McNamara said:
"Right now, we're going with a soft number of 24,500. We're only about 75 percent through callbacks to the fans who put deposits down." (HSB)

HSSB Note: "A total of 98 percent of depositors last year (the first year of the program) followed through with purchases, McNamara said. The projection also includes an estimate of 1,000 student purchases, consistent with last year's sales. Last year's total season tickets sold were 22,975."

About how they still could meet their goal of 30,000 season tickets, McNamara said:
"All the callbacks should be completed by next week. Then we start ramping up for the campaign that starts July 7." (HSB)

In addition to the hope that reduced ticket prices in some sections will increase sales, McNamara said:
"Plus we're offering 50 percent off on a special road pay-per-view package to season-ticket holders of record and those who buy by July 18." (HSB)