honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 6, 2009

Will pros say aloha for good?

Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Here's a sign you might not see next year when the Pro Bowl is in Miami — Adrian Peterson flashing a "shaka" after he was named the Most Valuable Player in the 2008 game at Aloha Stadium.

Advertiser library photo

spacer spacer

DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.

UCLA's 88-game winning streak.

The Lakers' 33-game winning streak.

Add to the list, the Pro Bowl's 30-year streak in Hawai'i.

While this record might not cause a ripple on the Mainland, it will make waves in Hawai'i.

An event that found a home here in 1980 and stayed till this year, will move to Miami next year.

The 2010 Pro Bowl will be played in the open week between the conference championships and the Super Bowl at Miami's Joe Robbie Stadium.

Whether it will return is anyone's guess, despite early optimism.

In late January, the board of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority, citing uncertainty about exactly when the game will be played in Aloha Stadium, voted to reject the NFL's offer and negotiations won't begin again until late February, further clouding the future return of the NFL All-Star game.

The HTA could not agree to the NFL's first offer because the uncertainty about when the games would be played would hurt the logistics of preparing for the game arrival, making it tough to coordinate with the hotels and other travel agencies that have to accommodate for the average influx of visitors.

"It could be the first (year after 2010), it could be the third and the fourth, and our board felt that we should go back to re-negotiate and see if we could get something with a little more certainty," said Lloyd Unebasami, HTA's interim president and chief executive officer. "The proposal that was put on the table ... we could not accept."

Under the current contract, the NFL receives a $4.5 million annual subsidy from HTA to have the game played here.

However, the state is in a financial crisis that Gov. Linda Lingle couldn't deny in her state of the state address Jan. 26.

The governor and state lawmakers will have to work to reduce a projected $315.4 million deficit in fiscal year 2010 and a $549.8 million deficit in 2011.

Can the state afford to pay millions to bring the Pro Bowl back?

Can it afford not to?

According to HTA figures, the game attracts about 25,000 off-shore visitors, of which about 20,000 come specifically for the Pro Bowl. The visitors spend about $28 million and of that amount, about $2.5 million goes back to the state in excise, hotel and car-rental taxes.

In addition, NFL Charities donates $100,000 annually to local youth programs.

Whatever the viewpoint, the Pro Bowl and Hawai'i have made an ideal marriage.

While critics have panned the game as barely competitive, anticlimactic following the Super Bowl and meaningless, Hawai'i football fans were allowed their one chance a year to see NFL players close up and live. Furthermore, fans enjoyed almost unprecedented access to the top players, either at designated practice sessions, or at NFL-sanctioned promotions or charitable fundraising events.

The game in Hawai'i proved its popularity as each of the 29 Pro Bowls was a sellout at the 50,000-seat Aloha Stadium.

It also was popular among the players and their families.

Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson, a Miami native, didn't seem excited about moving the game to the Mainland.

"I love Hawai'i," said Johnson, a three-time Pro Bowler. "It'll be different, being in a different site."

And sometimes an exciting exhibition would take place.

Two games were won by scoring drives in the final minute of regulation, two others were decided in overtime.

In the first Pro Bowl here in 1980, New Orleans Saints running back Chuck Muncie ran for two touchdowns and threw a 25-yard option pass for another touchdown to lead the NFC to a 37-27 victory.

In 1995, Indianapolis Colts rookie running back Marshall Faulk, a well-known nemesis for his days of running wild for San Diego State against Hawai'i, set a Pro Bowl record with 180 rushing yards, including a 49-yard touchdown run from punt formation.

Three years later, Warren Moon played in just three drives but guided the offense to scores in each one, including the game-winning touchdown with less than two minutes remaining.

Those who were named MVPs here are like a list of current and future Hall of Famers: Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, Michael Irvin, Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Peyton Manning, and Adrian Peterson.