Vaughn Meatoga, Practice, Media, Etc.

Stephen Tsai writes about Vaughn Meatoga, whose mother recently passed away, and his teammates who were there for him.

"They came over to pray for my mom," Meatoga said. "She really liked that."

Watson said: "All he needed were people to lean on, to be there for him. I'm so glad he asked us. I told him, 'Thanks for calling us.' We're all brothers. We want to be there for each other."

"I never told anyone but the real reason I stayed back was because I wanted to be near her," Meatoga said. "I knew she was sick."

When it was announced UH would play the Scout Bowl, Lynnette booked a flight. She sat in the downpour as Meatoga played impressively in the intrasquad scrimmage.

"It was my biggest dream to play (college football) for my mom," Meatoga said. "The Scout Bowl was the closest she got to see me play."

Our condolences to Vaughn and his family.

Dave Reardon has some notes from UH practice, including news about Ryan Grice-Mullins and Davone Bess returning to practice after recovering from injuries, Meatoga not making the Sugar Bowl trip to be with his family, a soccer anecdote from Dan Kelly, and backups receiving additional reps at practice.

Ferd Lewis writes about Fox Sports taking issue with some Sugar Bowl viewing parties.

"We want as many people as possible to watch the Sugar Bowl, it is just the instances where viewing parties are advertised using the logo and marks of the schools and admission is being charged that we want to discourage," said Dan Bell, a Fox spokesman.

Bell said, "our business affairs division has already put a stop to one of these." He would not name operators.

Lewis also writes about the media and fan frenzy over UH football, and how it's affecting coverage or even interest in other UH sports.

Where the men's basketball team's surprising first-round loss in the 44th Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic and resulting exile to today's 11 a.m. consolation bracket might have been the hot issue in any other year, it has taken a significant back seat to almost anything to do with Warrior football.

Recruiting, Sugar Bowl tickets, autograph signings, you name it, and all things football dominate headlines and conversations. Three weeks after UH secured its Bowl Championship Series berth, there are longer lines to be found for souvenir t-shirts than tickets to anything else.

And finally, UH will be selling a few remaining Sugar Bowl tickets to the general public starting tomorrow.

The University of Hawaii will put its remaining Allstate Sugar Bowl tickets on sale to the general public tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center Box Office.

About 200 tickets will be available to the public, said John McNamara, associate athletic director for external affairs. An exact figure was not available yesterday because the ticket office was still compiling the number of sales to season ticket holders, McNamara said.

Tickets for the general public will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be a maximum of six tickets per person while supplies last, according to UH officials. No orders will be taken by phone or online. A Hawaii driver's license is required to purchase tickets.

P.S. Thanks a bunch to franksabunch, who points out that former UH kicker Jason Elam has co-written a novel.