Respect

Robert Collias of The Maui News talks to several Warriors about the schedule and their hopes for the upcoming season. There are a lot of great quotes in this article. Here are a few excerpts:

“Oh man, I think this team is so hungry right now for the opportunity that we have,’’ wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen said. “Coming into the spring, people were way more excited than the year before. You know, that 11-3 (record last season) – guys really know that we passed that test and now it is time to get to the real test and finish strong.’’

Do the Warriors dare to say

“Unbeaten?’’

“Definitely, we can’t say that it doesn’t cross our minds,’’ Grice-Mullen said.

“It is definitely possible,’’ echoed fellow All-WAC receiver Davone Bess.

Grice-Mullen said the team anticipates plenty of national criticism for the schedule, which could have been 13 games.

“Definitely, because we are getting criticism now and the season hasn’t even started yet,’’ he said. “We don’t let the media determine our success. Look at Colt with the Heisman – he could throw 70 touchdown passes and not win. The media turns it their own way. The only thing we can control is our destiny and that is to go out there and win games.’’

Bess said that the critics should be ready for a breakout season for the Warriors.

“Coming from Hawaii you are always going to get some type of criticism – ’The schedule is not tough,’ or ’They are in the WAC,’ or ’They are a system team,’ ’’ Bess said. “It is always something, but that is what drives us.’’

Well said. And that's not even half of it. There are more quotes from Bess, GM and Solomon Elimimian that make you even more pumped than you already were about the upcoming season. Check it out.

And Ferd Lewis measures the respect UH has gotten, using homecoming games as the metric.

Want to know how the Warriors are really regarded? Check the schedules to see how many times they are listed as somebody's homecoming game. That's been a traditional yardstick for measuring UH's respect index. The more the Warriors are feared, the less likely they are to turn up as designated victims for homecoming festivities where cheesy plastic lei are handed out.

And this year, unlike last season and, indeed, most years, nobody wants to take a chance on the Warriors raining plenty of points on their homecoming parade.

From two homecoming bookings in 2006 to none in 2007 is hardly a coincidence. It might be the first time UH has played four or more road games in a season and nobody has booked them for the straight man.

Coincidence? Hardly. Marketing folks aim to please the alumni. Alums give money and buy season tickets and do more of both when they're happy.

With their habitual struggles on the road, it is a rare season in which the Warriors aren't projected as somebody's idea of a good time.

Ferd writes that last year UH was the homecoming opponent of both Fresno State and New Mexico State, which UH beat 68-37 and 49-30, respectively. Well, that certainly explains it.