When you think about it, there are any number of business opportunities Nick Logan and his people could have committed their energy and resources to in Hawai'i.

Nice, comparatively safe investments, too. Promising ventures such as, well, an outdoor ice-skating rink in August. Or, drilling for oil, perhaps.

Instead, Logan, the chief executive officer of Cornerstone Bancard of Georgia, and his people have chosen to really roll up their sleeves and stick their necks out for another Hula Bowl, Jan. 14 at Aloha Stadium. It is the latest group to take a head-first leap of faith at saving the Hula Bowl, something recent history suggests has become a challenge of Sisyphean proportions.

The Hula Bowl is a once-proud game with 60 years of history and memories that have been running on empty of late. Empty stands, mostly, and declining star power. Just 7,065 turned out for the game's return to Aloha Stadium in January after an eight-year absence and Heisman Trophy winners have become few and far between.

Now comes the fourth owner in six years trying to shake things up to keep Hawai'i's longest running sporting attraction going and attempt to carve a niche in the crowded postseason football marketplace, wedged in between the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl and Pro Bowl. Not to mention going against the well-entrenched, NFL-blessed Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

You wish Logan well on bringing the game, "back to where it was." You commend the enthusiasm and commitment because the game is still an asset to the state and the University of Hawai'i. The exposure on ESPN accentuates both and affords former UH players a last shot to make their case for the NFL.

But how tough of a task reinventing and selling the Hula Bowl in these times should have been underlined when Lenny and Marcia Klompus sold out their interest in the game in 2002. When even the Klompuses, after nine years of stewardship, didn't see much of a future in hanging on to it, the handwriting was on the wall. Or, should have been.

As Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa has put it, "the Klompuses were geniuses when it came to doing things (promotionally). Since then, it has not done too well."

Not on Maui or O'ahu.

So now we wait to see what these new folks might make of it. They are nothing if not ambitious and flexible, willing to shake things up. "We're open to different formats to keep the energy alive," Logan said.

Willing even to jettison some of the ties with American Football Coaches Association, which might not be all that good of an idea given the coaches can be a pipeline to the players.

However they go about it, you hope this new group can find a winning formula and find it fast because there might not be many chances left for the Hula Bowl.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.