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| This time, the goodbye is for good. |
Aloha is one of those words that could mean either hello or goobye.
For the better part of the last month, it meant both for Temple University's football team.
First, it meant hello.
Then it mean goodbye.
Then it meant hello again.
Now it means goodbye again.
This time, the parting seems to be final.
This was the release Temple University handed out today:
Hmm.
As late as Saturday, people "in the know" were optimistic a deal would be announced on Monday.
When Monday came and went, I had my doubts.
The "unforseen circumstances" had everything to do with the Benjamins. Unlike the Temple deal with the Eagles, $15 million for the 15-year contract, Hawaii has to pay Aloha Stadium $100K for every time the stadium opens up. Still, there is plenty of talk about Temple being able to make a bowl game as a 5-7 team due to the very real possibility there won't be enough 6-6 teams to fill the number of available bowl slots but I don't think that's even worth discussing at this point.
Unforseen circumstances on the Hawaii end seemed to be ironed out when the Warriors got permission from the NCAA to play the game on Dec. 7 in order to avoid a Dec. 8 conflict with Aloha Stadium but they spent the better part of two weeks crunching numbers that did not add up.
Speaking of numbers, I think it is a net minus for Temple football.
I would have liked to seen the Owls go out to Hawaii with a 5-6 record, finish at 6-6 for the regular season and a chance for a fourth-straight winning season.
That's not happening this year.
I would have also liked to have seen Temple with the extra few weeks of practice so that a "young team" can develop.
Really, the only positive that can come of this is that this gives three-time "National Recruiter of the Year" Steve Addazio a chance to work his magic in the two months between Nov. 23 and Feb. 4, national signing day.
That was one of the big reasons the university made a significant financial commitment to Daz along with a $10 million addition to an already relatively new $7 million facility.
If the Owls are able to beat out a lot of Kent States and UMass for their recruits, it won't mean much. If, on the other hand, the Owls are able to get guys with offers from Penn State, Michigan State and those type schools, it could be the significant talent injection this program needs.
Right now, though, the most important thing is to beat Army and, considering the results on the field over the last four weeks, that's far from a given.
To do that, the Owls need to say Aloha to the 75.9 percent run-on-first-down approach and Aloha to a few well-timed play-action passes on those same early downs.
No need for the definition of those two Alohas now.
