Warriors in the Pros

Some good and bad news in recent transactions involving former UH players.

First the bad news. Nate Ilaoa, Dane Uperesa, Melila Purcell and Tala Esera were all cut by their respective NFL teams.

Better news - Dane Uperesa got signed to the Bengals practice squad after clearing waivers. UPDATE: Mel Purcell was signed to the Browns practice squad.

Great news - Samson Satele will be starting center and Reagan Mauia will be starting fullback for the Miami Dolphins. Ikaika Alama-Francis made the Lions. Isaac Sopoaga, who is profiled here, Ashley Lelie and Jeff Ulbrich all made it through the final cuts to the 49ers roster.

Timmy Chang makes his first start for the Hamilton Ticats today as they meet the Toronto Argonauts. He's profiled here by Rick Matsumoto of the Toronto Star, who writes that Timmy will be the first person of Asian heritage to start a game at the pro level.

"I'm not in control of all that stuff that goes on," he said. "But I do feel I carry the state of Hawaii on my shoulders.

"I believe I also carry my ... Asian descent on my shoulders. But when I'm on the field for those three hours during a game ... I'm not thinking of those things.

"But definitely in the off-season when I'm training I have those things on my mind. I feel I don't want to let people down.

"When I'm training and working hard in the off-season and I'm definitely thinking about it and pushing to get better for the Chinese and Asian people."

Right on. Hope he has a great game. You should be able to follow the action via streaming audio from AM900 CHML (link at top left of that page), streaming video outside of Canada from CBC International ($9.95 for the live game, $3.95 archived), or live stats from the CFL. I can't vouch for the video, but I've followed previous games via CHML and the live stats, and it's been pretty good. Have a great game Timmy! And good luck to the rest of the Warriors in the pros, and let's hope those that were cut get picked up on practice squads or can continue their careers elsewhere.

GO WARRIORS!!!!

UPDATE: Chang had a rough outing.