Ex-Oahu Bowl owner questions testimony of Penn State figure Curley

The Honolulu testimony of an alleged figure in the Penn State child sex scandal coverup is under attack by former bowl operator Aloha Sports Inc., which is asking a circuit court judge here to vacate final judgment in its 2011 case against the NCAA and set a new trial.

Former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley was a key witness for the NCAA last year in a case in which a Honolulu jury found that the NCAA did not engage in anti-competitive practices that led to the demise of the former Oahu Bowl in 2003.

The Oahu Bowl was purchased by ASI in 1999 and relocated by ASI from Honolulu to Seattle for 2001 and ’02. It was scheduled to be sold to California-based Pro Sports & Entertainment and moved to San Francisco in ’03, pending NCAA recertification. But the game was decertified by the NCAA.

Curley served as chair of the NCAA’s Football Certification Subcommittee in 2002 when ASI was attempting to sell the game.

ASI filed suit against the NCAA in 2004 seeking more than $2 million and punitive damages.

Curley testified here in September of 2011, less than two months before he was charged with perjury in Pennsylvania for statements made about the Penn State case. Curley resigned as athletic director shortly after the charges.

A hearing on ASI’s motion to vacate judgment and open a new trial has been scheduled for Feb. 15 in circuit court.

William C. McCorriston, the NCAA’s attorney, said in an email, “The motion is without substance. The jury easily rejected the claim on the merits based on all the evidence. Penn State had nothing to do with it.”