HAWAII LIKELY WILL REVERSE REJECTION OF LEAGUE’S PRO BOWL PROPOSAL

As expected, the Hawaii Tourism Authority voted last week on a proposal from the league that would bring the Pro Bowl back to Honolulu in 2011 and 2012. And the HTA passed. Instead, Hawaii came up with a counteroffer. And the NFL rejected it. So now the HTA is going to vote on the proposal that it already voted not to accept. According to the Honolulu Adverstiser, lawmakers are pushing the Authority to re-do the vote after a 6-4 tally against the league’s offer. “I can’t believe where we are now,” Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann said. “I speak to the [NFL] commissioner on a regular basis. . . . [They] are just flabbergasted at this latest rejection. The NFL is not going to put another offer on the table.” HTA chairman Kevin Bloom thinks that, this time, at least three of the folks who voted against the move will change their positions, paving the way for passage. “I’d like to believe that in our next board meeting we’ll have an affirmative vote . . . in favor of accepting the NFL’s offer,” Bloom said. “I think we can achieve that this Friday.” In 2010, the Pro Bowl will be played in Miami, one week before the Super Bowl. Proposals for the Super Bowl to be played in February 2013 will include a pitch to play the Pro Bowl at the site of the championship game on the preceding Sunday.