Old acquaintances match wits on field

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer

Once they were landlord and tenant. Now, Kevin Lempa and Gary Crowton are on-field adversaries.

Lempa, the University of Hawai'i's defensive coordinator, and Crowton, Brigham Young's head coach and offensive coordinator, crossed paths in the early 1990s when Lempa was leaving Boston College for Dartmouth and Crowton was arriving at BC.

Lempa rented out his Millis, Mass., home to Crowton for two years.

"He (Lempa) is a good guy and I'm glad to see he and his family doing well," Crowton said. "Just not too well this week."

Said Lempa: "He's a great guy, but he'll hang as many (points) on us as he can this week."

Looking into the future: UH and BYU are talking about another game, possibly in 2005 or '07, but have so far not committed to anything.

"We'll try to get something done but so far there's nothing signed," said Val Hale, BYU athletic director.

Crowton said: "It is a good rivalry. I like the rivalry, but they're not in our conference and they're not a (Bowl Championship Series) school so I don't know about some of the things."

In addition, Crowton said he had some concerns about the travel and logistics of coming to Hawai'i. "Where you really feel it is the week after you play there and that's something we have to think about," he said.

Nearing a sellout: BYU officials said less than 5,000 tickets remain for tomorrow's game. LaVell Edwards Stadium seats 65,000.