Brennan: Best is yet to come for No. 12 Hawaii

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10/30/2007 -

HONOLULU (AP) -Colt Brennan isn't surprised by Hawaii's perfect 8-0 start and believes the 12th-ranked Warriors are just getting going.

Hawaii's star quarterback said he withdrew from the NFL draft and returned for his senior season, in part, to lead the team to an undefeated year. With the season two-thirds over, that goal is looking more attainable each week.

``At this moment, I definitely expected to be 8-0. Right now, everything's all good,'' he said Monday. ``Coming up is where it's time to rise up and make a statement.''

The Warriors moved up four spots this week in the AP poll to their highest ranking in school history after a 50-13 rout Saturday night over New Mexico State. They also moved up three spots to No. 14 in the latest BCS standings.

Hawaii can automatically qualify for a BCS bowl by finishing in the top 12 of the standings.

Warriors coach June Jones said he won't pay too much attention to the polls until the end of the season.

``I don't look at it because it doesn't matter. It's only going to matter if we keep winning,'' he said.

The Warriors have won 18 of their last 19 games, a school-record 12 straight conference games and matched the best start since 1973, when Hawaii was an NCAA Division II team.

Hawaii, which has a bye this week, has so far played several lackluster teams. It will have its toughest challenge during the final stretch of games, including three at Aloha Stadium. The Warriors host Fresno State on Nov. 10 before traveling to Reno to face Nevada.

They cap their Western Athletic Conference season at home against No. 21 Boise State on Nov. 23 in a game that most likely will determine the conference champion. Hawaii then finishes the regular season against Washington.

``This is exactly where we want to be,'' Brennan said. ``We're in the driver's seat. ...These next four games will say a lot about our football team. If we win all four, I think we would've said enough. It's all about getting victories,'' he said.

On Monday, Brennan was named the WAC offensive player of the week for his performance against the Aggies. He was 29-for-46 for 425 yards and six touchdowns.

The six scores gave Brennan 119 career passing TDs, two shy of tying the record held by Brigham Young's Ty Detmer, who played from 1988-91.

It was the first time Brennan said he felt at full strength. He's been dealing with an ailing right ankle he sprained in September.

``It just felt like I finally got out there and I was myself again,'' he said. ``Now I'm so excited to get back out there. It feels like the season is about to start against Fresno State.''

Brennan, one of the most accurate passers in NCAA history, struggled his first games back from the ankle injury, throwing a flurry of interceptions.

``Because I struggled early on, everybody's kind of written me off,'' Brennan said. ``I don't think people realize that I'm really hungry and I'm about to have a run that I'm really excited about.''

Brennan wants to close out his record-breaking career at Hawaii with a strong finish.

``That's something I really want to do - really go out on a blazing note,'' he said.

Brennan believes he's still in the hunt for the Heisman Trophy. He could have a strong case with several top teams falling and if Hawaii goes undefeated.

``If we're 12-0, chances are, my numbers will be where they need to be to get respect,'' he said. ``Really, the Heisman has been about the best player on the best team in the country. It hasn't been about the overall best player. That's why my team really is the deciding factor whether I go to New York.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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