Ti Leaf Unveiling

I'm in the New Orleans Marriott with Chawan Cut, and we just got to meet J. David Miller and his lovely wife Laurie. I hope LizKauai is okay with this as I believe I'm posting her video of the ti leaf unveiling that was held yesterday (?). I'm also posting this from J. David Miller's computer, which is just crazy. Hope he doesn't catch me. Anyway, hope to see all the UH fans waving their ti leaves tomorrow in the stadium.

My pics from New Orleans

i uploaded them to Sportshawaii, so rather than repost them here, I'll just post the link

http://www.sportshawaii.com/sh/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23023

Sunday Photos

Below are some pictures from tonight's festivities on Bourbon Street -- which was packed with UGA and UH fans. Warrior spirit was alive and well tonight! UH fans were decked out in green, singing the Warrior fight song, chanting "Go Warriors Go!" etc.

The best part was when Willie K led the UH fans gathered near Johnny White's Pub and Grill in a rendition of Hawaii Pono'i. A lot of people were singing it at the top of their lungs and it was just great to hear and be a part of.

Vili was there as well, riling up the fans, doing what he does best. Also saw some coaches, had my first Hurricane, had some great food at Johnny White's, and stepped in a lot of horse crap. Lots of mounted police out and about. Anyway, please enjoy these blurry photos.

Lots of Articles

The Star-Bulletin has some great articles today, and The Advertiser has a whole crapload of articles. Gonna board plane soon, and I'm being charged like $5 a minute to blog, so I'll end it here. Hope to have a new post up tonight. Be sure to check the links in the previous post for more news.

Off to New Orleans

In a few hours, I'll be flying to New Orleans. I will try to blog as much as possible while I'm there, though I apologize in advance in case I fall behind in the news and/or have connection problems and/or am "indisposed." In any case, here are some links for all your Warrior news needs:

Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Honolulu Advertiser
KHON Sports
KGMB Sports
KHNL Sports
KITV Sports
Atlanta Journal-Constitution's UGA page
Macon Telegraph's Bulldogs page
Athens Banner-Herald's Dog Bytes
The Ledger-Enquirer's UGA page
Sportshawaii.com Football Forum
Warrior Sports Network Ohana
Stephen Tsai's Warrior Beat (hopefully Garret will continue his link madness in the comments)
Dave Reardon's UH Sports Extra
Dave Gladow's NOLA blog
Leahey & Leahey Blog
Warriorshaka.com
Georgia Sports Blog
Dawg Sports Blog

I'm sure I'm forgetting some obvious ones, but these above links should lead you to even more links. You can also check out other sites on the sidebars of this blog. I'll try to update as much as possible. Good night!

Colt is Animated

Jeff T, a crazed, devoted UH Warrior fan living in Wisconsin, sends in his rendering of Colt Brennan as a Simpsons character. Great work, Jeff! Or should I say, eeeeeeexcellent. Love the detail, especially the taped-up shoes (or spats). Click on the image for a larger version.

J. David Miller in New Orleans

J. David Miller, author of the excellent Hawaii Warrior Football: A Story of Faith, Hope and Redemption will be signing books in New Orleans. Here's the details.

Author J. David Miller will be signing a limited number of Hawaii Warrior Football: A Story of Faith, Hope and Redemption during festivities at the Sugar Bowl. There are only 1,500 copies of the book available on site. Extraordinary demand from Hawaii fans has led to sell-outs of the book. The book is now on its fourth printing.
Miller will be available at the Na Koa – June Jones Foundation booth. The tentative schedule is as follows:

Saturday,12/29 - 3:00 - 10:00 PM, New Orleans Marriott (555 Canal Street)

Sunday, 12/30 - 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM, New Orleans Marriott

Monday, 12/31 - 10:00 AM - 10:00 PM, New Orleans Marriott
6:00 - Midnight, Generations Hall (310 Andrew Higgins Drive)
6:00 - Midnight, The Sugar Mill, (1021 Convention Center Blvd.)

Tuesday, 1/1 - 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM, New Orleans Marriott

Fans should make plans now to get their copy while supplies last. Warriors’ Haka will continue to post more details as they become available.

Hopefully, someone can clarify the Monday three places at once deal. In any case, if you're in NOLA and haven't bought the book yet, be sure to check it out.

Sugar Bowl News, Late Saturday Night Edition

Chip Towers of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution writes about the task the Georgia defense has trying to stop the Warrior receivers.

"We know Hawaii is going to come out and throw the ball 50 times," Georgia defensive end Marcus Howard said. "They pass nearly 90 percent of the time. This is the type of game a defensive line dreams of."

Chad Nielsen of ESPN the Magazine profiles the four UH receivers. An excerpt:

Against Boise State, Bess somersaulted into the end zone from the 4-yard line. A week later, he read the defense, turned to Grice-Mullen, and said, "Dawg, you're about to score." And Grice-Mullen did. "A lot of that comes with experience and repetition."

The AP's Jaymes Song profiles them as well.

Georgia has been preparing for the "Dreadheads."

"They're the best set of wide receivers since I've been in college football," Bulldogs defensive end Marcus Howard said.

Jake Curtis of the San Francisco Chronicle has an excellent profile of Davone Bess.

Stephen Tsai had the quote earlier, but here's an article from Towers about Tim Tebow talking to Colt Brennan about Georgia.

Tebow was sacked six times by the Bulldogs in a 42-30 loss in Jacksonville. Tebow's advice?

"He said just get rid of it because they're coming," Brennan said. "They're a very physical and very fast defense. They're Georgia. They live up to their reputation and they're just as good as they are any year."

Roger Clarkson of The Athens Banner-Herald writes about the comparatively undersized yet athletic UH offensive line.

"They're the most athletic offensive line that we've faced all year," Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner said. "It's shocking. They're very athletic out front. It's a great system. (Brennan) knows where he's going with the ball. They do a great job in protection. It's going to be a big challenge for us to put some pressure on him and try to not let him move his feet and set and throw the ball."

Here's a Georgia practice report from Dawgpost.com.

"College football is a game about momentum," said Martinez. "You got to grab it when you have a chance and keep it when you got it. That's the challenge again here. Hawaii scores a lot of points and they get rid of the ball quick. We'll have to be able to get pressure, maybe not a lot of sacks, but we have to be able to get some knockdowns. We do a good job with our substitutions at all positions. We've been able to get a lot of guys some experience this year and we'll continue to do that.

Marc Weiszer of the The Athens Banner-Herald takes a look at the contrasting cultures of Georgia and Hawaii.

Here's some news and notes from Weiszer, including this funny story about Georgia defensive tackle Geno Atkins getting a picture with Colt Brennan.

Brennan also obliged when a stranger wanted to pose with him in front of camcorder this week on Bourbon Street.

The guy's name was Geno Atkins. Yes, the Georgia defensive tackle who will try to put Brennan on his backside Tuesday in the Sugar Bowl stopped to meet Brennan when both were with some of their teammates one night this week.

"He was like acting like a groupie," said defensive end Marcus Howard: "All of us gave him grief for that."

"Geno wanted to just meet him," defensive tackle Jeff Owens said. "He was taking pictures of everything we saw. He got Colt Brennan."

Linebacker Dannell Ellerbe wasn't thrilled when he heard the news.

"I'm going to have to get him about that," Ellerbe said. "You don't take pictures with the enemy."

Here's some Georgia news and notes from The Macon Telegraph.

Troy Johnson of the Ledger-Enquirer writes about the uniqueness of the UH football team, while his colleague David Ching has some notes about Hawaii's culture, including a section on Solomon Elimimian adapting to Hawaii his first year.

An interesting AP article with some history of sugar in US, and how it relates to Hawaii, Louisiana and the Sugar Bowl.

Thomas Stinson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks to Don Murphy about Warrior fever.

There is no way to describe it because nothing like it has gone before it.

Hawaii football, 2007.

How big is it?

"Boy, I don't know," Don Murphy said one recent afternoon. "It's like statehood."

Tony Barnhart of the AJC writes about the dedication of the UH fans.

But let's be honest. If you're a Georgia fan, the LONGEST road trip you had this season was to Jacksonville for the annual game with Florida. That's about a six-hour drive from Athens. The rest of the road games were a five-hour drive or less.

If you're a Hawaii fan, every road trip BEGINS with a five-hour flight across the Pacific.

David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes about how June Jones helped to turn around the program.

Here's another June Jones profile, this one from Josh Kendall of the Dawg Post.

And this excellent JJ feature article from Heather Dinich of ESPN.com.

And finally, Pete Thamel of the New York Times writes about what Colt Brennan has learned, enjoyed and accomplished after deciding to come back for his senior season.

He threw for 20 fewer touchdowns and 2 more interceptions (12) this season while slowed by an ankle injury and a concussion. His accomplishments, however, might have transcended the numbers.

“I think this year he’s done the things that the N.F.L. guys wanted to see,” said Coach June Jones, a former N.F.L. coach. “He’s competing and winning games, coming from behind. When bad things happened to him this year, he raised his game another level when he got the ball back. I don’t think he’s hurt himself at all. I think he’s helped himself.”

Interviews and Practice Footage 12-29-07

David Gladow has uploaded today's video clips from practice, which includes great sound bites from Colt Brennan, Hercules Satele and (I think) coach Dan Morrison, followed by interviews with Blaze Soares and Jeff Reinebold.



Stephen Tsai has more quotes from Colt Brennan on his blog.

Blogger Bowlnanza (and other vids)

Scott from Sportshawaii.com does an excellent job in this NBC Sports Sugar Bowl Blogger Bowlnanza video. Host Tiffany Simpson discusses both teams with Scott and Kyle King from Dawgsports.com, who also does a great job. They answer questions about their respective teams, make some bold predictions, and end the segment with a pop quiz Trivia Smackdown! Big thanks to Scott for taking the ball and running with it, representing Hawaii well. Be there!

ESPN's Bruce Feldman takes a look at the bowl matchups and says that this is a statement game for Hawaii.

And be sure to check out KHON, KGMB, KHNL and KITV for their ongoing video coverage of the Sugar Bowl hype and happenings.

Sugar Bowl News - 12/29/2007

Colt Brennan is looking forward to playing indoors.

"I love it," the University of Hawaii quarterback said before yesterday's practice when asked if he's looking forward to playing indoors. "I don't know what it is. The ball has a way of cutting through the air that you can't get when you play outside.

"I know our guys can't wait to run on that fast track. We're going to have an outstanding time throwing the football around in there. We're going to have some fun."

Ferd Lewis writes about Colt's Georgia doppelganger, Logan Gray.

"It isn't a bad guy to be as a quarterback," Gray said during yesterday's practice at the Superdome. "Hawai'i's offense is a fun one to play in, you have a lot of fun slingin' it around trying to be in his (Brennan's) shoes a little bit."

Georgia QB Matthew Stafford sounds like he's getting a little bit tired of all the attention getting paid to Colt.

“As this offense gets better and better and we grow, numbers will come,” Stafford said. “I’m not worried about numbers right now. I’m not trying to get drafted this year. I’m just trying to win games.

“That’s one of the biggest things I think the media do. They fall in love with numbers. It’s something to write about. Wins have always been, in my mind, the biggest thing you can judge a quarterback by.”

Pierce W. Huff of The Times-Picayune takes a look at the UH running backs.

Dave Reardon writes about the UH cornerbacks and how they're able to make plays in Greg McMackin's defense.

"Coach McMackin preached playing as a team, and that's what we did, all season," said Newberry, who intercepted a team-high four passes this year. "When he came in, he said I did a good job last year, but he was going to get me some help, I wasn't going to be on an island all the time."

Les East of the Advocate and WBRZ profiles the UH defense.

Statistically it can’t match the offense, but it’s much improved from last season and has played a part in Hawaii compiling the nation’s only undefeated record heading into the Allstate Sugar Bowl game against Georgia on Tuesday night in the Superdome.

“When you have a great offense and a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback and you’re putting up great numbers, the defense is going to be overlooked no matter how good it is,” linebacker Solomon Elimimian said Friday. “But we’re comfortable with what we’ve done. We’ve won games on defense this season.”

Paul Arnett looks at the matchup between the Georgia offense and the UH defense.

Stafford believes the Hawaii defense is going to gamble by blitzing in certain situations. He feels the key for the Bulldogs is to stay out of third-and-long downs so as to counter the Warriors' penchant for coming after the quarterback.

"They do some strange things on third down," Stafford said. "The only team that blitzes as much as them is Georgia Tech, and they come after you on every down. I think if we can stay out of those third-down situations by moving the ball on the first two downs, we should be all right. They have a great offense, but their defense is good, too."

Stephen Tsai talks to Greg McMackin about this D that does strange things.

"These guys are really smart," McMackin said. "Because they're really into it, and they know their roles, they do what they're supposed to do. I'll call 'nickel' or 'stack,' and they're all out there when they're supposed to be."

McMackin ran the same defense when he was coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks.

"(The Seahawks) had more time (to learn plays) because they didn't have school," McMackin said. "We're using three-fourths of what they were using, which is outstanding. We've been able to do things that really haven't been done in college."

Arnett writes about Greg McMackin's two favorite teams.

"The two most special football teams are the one I coached here in 1999 and this one," McMackin said. "It's not even close."

Arnett and Reardon have some additional news and notes.

Michael Tsai talks to many of the UH fans who are in New Orleans for the game.

Stephen Tsai writes about Warriors wearing lavalavas.

"That's what I'm going to do for the rest of my life: wear my lavalava around," Patek said.

Even in his hometown of Victoria, Texas?

"If people ask, 'What's wrong with you?' " Patek said, "I'm going to say, 'Hey, I'm from Hawai'i.' "

Here's an AP blog about Michael Lafaele wearing one.

Here's an AP profile of June Jones, how he came back in 1999 and turned around the program despite bare-boned facilities, etc.

"If (money) was a factor, I would've stayed in San Diego," Jones said. "I always felt the opportunity to do what you want to do in a place where you want to be was worth more. I've been talking about it for 25 years, coming back here and coaching."

Jones insists it's the people of Hawaii that brought him back and they are what keeps him there.

"It's a great place, nothing quite like it," he said.

Matt Hurst of The Press-Enterprise profiles Ryan Grice-Mullins (Mullen).

"I can't say enough about the people here," Grice-Mullen, who caught the winning touchdown pass against Washington to preserve Hawaii's perfect season, said by phone. "Everywhere you go, I'll be in the grocery store, they're just thanking me. Football is that big on this island. Just to know they care about it just as much as you do and support you -- it's a great feeling."

Ferd Lewis profiles dangerous Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno.

Carter Strickland of AJC talks to a couple of psychics in the French Quarter, who make some game predictions.

Interviews and Practice Footage 12-28-07

David Gladow has more interviews and footage from practice today. Soundbites from Greg McMackin, Solomon Elimimian, Myron Newberry and Jacob Patek accompany the practice footage. Interviews with Colt Brennan, Jason Rivers and June Jones follow. Lots of cameos from the Hawaii media in the background!



P.S. Check out the UH Athletic Department's Sugar Bowl photo gallery.

P.P.S. This page has links to Leila Wai's videos from New Orleans.

Apology & see you in New Orleans!

I have to apologize now, as I'll be flying out to New Orleans today. I won't be able to do my news upload, even remotely. There will be so much happening and all the travel time, and the amount of news that there's too much at once.

Please follow the links below that Tombo posted to go to the local news stations websites. They have all of their news up on there.

When I return to Hawaii next week, I'll try to catch up and upload a few here and there.

Go Warriors! See you there or in spirit!!!!

last upload, KHON's countdown, Game 10 vs Nevada & the ICEMAN!

News Videos

I hear that Chawan Cut's computer is giving him fits, so he can't post last night's news anytime soon. Luckily, it looks like more and more these days you can go straight to the source. News from last night is up at KGMB, KITV, KHNL and KHON.

These links are also in this blog's "Press/Media Web Sites" sidebar. Be sure to check often as the news is coming fast and furious!

Speaking of video, Paul Crane and Terry Bowden of StarGames TV preview the Sugar Bowl.

UH D Press Conference, PreGame Analysis

Here's a transcript of the UH defense press conference from the athletic department. Participating were Greg McMackin, Mike Lafaele, Solomon Elimimian, Myron Newberry, Jacob Patek and Adam Leonard. An excerpt:

Question for Greg McMackin - Could you compare Georgia's offense to any teams that you played? "I believe that you can compare their offense to the last five teams that we have played. Obviously, Georgia will be the best team that we will play this year. Philosophically, they are comparable to Fresno State, Boise, and Washington in what they do. They have such great personnel on offense - you have to control the run against them, but they have an excellent quarterback also who can throw the ball. I have known Matthew Stafford since he was being recruited and he is a big time player. If you try to load up on the run he can certainly hurt you with the pass."

Adam Caparell of CSTV.com writes an analysis of upcoming game.

Some think Brennan's nothing more than a product of June Jones' run and shoot offense and many label him a system quarterback. Richt and the Bulldogs would characterize him quite differently.

"The guy is a great quarterback," Richt said. "Sometimes you might have a guy who throws it 60 times a game and he's going to throw for a lot of yards and touchdowns and if you do it a lot you're going to get more yards and more stats. But when you watch him the guy is pinpoint accurate and knows exactly what to do with that ball. And if he was inserted into certain teams who struggled at the quarterback position, he might have led them to a championship."

Richt thinks so highly of Brennan, in fact, that he easily believes the record breaking signal caller could easily succeed in the SEC.

Bulldogs safety Kelin Johnson would concur with his coach. He sees a little Erik Ainge in Brennan and it was Ainge who finished among the top three in nearly all the important statistical categories for quarterbacks.

The only problem is while the Bulldogs have seen plenty of Ainge, they've only seen film of Brennan and what Brennan and Hawaii brings to the table is something entirely different than what they have yet to see this season.

"We haven't faced anybody like them," Johnson said.

And here's an article from CFN's Pete Fiutak looking at both teams and some keys to the game.

No, Hawaii isn't last year's Boise State, but that Bronco team isn't this year's Hawaii. The Warriors have an aggressive defense that's great at getting into the backfield and boasts a secondary more than good enough to hang around with the middling Georgia receiving corps. The return game is among the best in America, the coaching is solid, and oh yeah, the offense led the nation in scoring and likes to throw it around a wee bit.

Practice, Media and Parties in New Orleans

Jaymes Song of the AP writes about the Warriors in NOLA.

Saints coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis watched the first half-hour of Hawaii's scheduled two-hour practice.

"We're not really here scouting," Loomis said. "We're just allowing them to use the facilities."

He was well-aware, however, of the talent on the Warriors, who won their first outright Western Athletic Conference title, finished the regular season as the only unbeaten team in major college football and earned a berth to their first Bowl Championship Series appearance.

Loomis said the Saints' story last year, as far as overcoming obstacles and having a special season, is similar to the Warriors' success this year.

Stephen Tsai has details of the practice. Great quote from Adam Leonard:

It was sunny yesterday, much to the disappointment of linebacker Adam Leonard.

"It feels good to have a roof over your head when you practice," Leonard said. "But I wanted it to rain so I would know what it's like to practice and not get wet."

Two articles from Paul Arnett and one from Dave Reardon on this page. Arnett profiles both teams while Reardon writes about June Jones, his love for Hawaii, and the possibility of him leaving. Hopefully a very very small possibility.

His current contract expires in the offseason. Jones' agent, Leigh Steinberg, and athletic director Herman Frazier want to come to an agreement quickly, in January or February. Such a pact would presumably result in a substantial increase to Jones' $800,000 per year salary -- a bargain by any measurement in comparisons with colleagues, even many less successful ones.

Frazier said last month work has begun on a multi-year extension. But there is no done deal, no agreement in principle.

"Like other years, Leigh is taking care of it," Jones said yesterday. "When this game (against Georgia on Tuesday) is over I'll take some time off and analyze everything."

Arnett and Reardon also have an article looking at the matchup between the UH offense vs the Georgia defense, how UH wound up at the Saints practice facility and this funny exchange:

In his news conference yesterday, Jones talked about how he couldn't get any playing time at quarterback in four years at Oregon and Hawaii, and voila, in one year in the run-and-shoot at Portland State he broke passing records.

"Does that mean you were a system quarterback?" KITV's Robert Kekaula asked.

Laughter filled the room

"I was a system quarterback," Jones answered, also laughing as he labeled himself with the stereotype he fights to keep off of Brennan.

Arnett has a column about the media frenzy surrounding Colt in the Saints practice facility, and Coach Jones being back in the NFL, or at least for now, an NFL facility talking to an NFL coach.

Ferd Lewis writes about the grand treatment UH is getting from the Sugar Bowl, and the efforts to stay grounded.

Defensive coordinator Greg McMackin, who had been to the Orange and other bowls with the University of Miami, termed the Sugar, "the most impressive." Head coach June Jones called it, "super ... just like a Super Bowl." Added assistant coach Jeff Reinebold: "There wasn't some cardboard sign with magic marker that says 'Hawai'i' on it. This bus was the real deal."

For the jazz band that serenaded them at breakfast and upon arrival, the fear is that those cleats might not touch the ground in time for the kickoff of the Jan. 1 showdown with Georgia at the Superdome.

Which is why Reinebold could be heard walking the sideline shouting: "remember, guys, this isn't a vacation. This is about work, right?"

Lewis has some news and notes from the facility as well as some details of the amount of media in town for the Sugar Bowl:

A spokesman for the Sugar Bowl said 408 media members have been approved for credentials to cover the game.

Officials said that number could go higher.

They said the number was lower than last year when more than 500 were granted for a game matching Notre Dame and state favorite Louisiana State.

"It (this year) is a good turnout," added Duane Lewis, the bowl's spokesman.

Gary C.W. Chun writes about Lynn Sapir preparing his bar, Johnny White's Pub and Grill, as a destination for the UH fans in New Orleans.

With Sapir throwing his support behind his home state's team, he and his right-hand man, Sonny Fisher, were starting to decorate the place by unfurling and putting out Hawaii and Warriors flags around Johnny White's second floor. They also were erecting support poles underneath the aged balcony for the many Hawaii fans they were anticipating to come during the next few days.

Michael Tsai writes about the bowl games in New Orleans bringing in a bunch of needed tourist dollars. In his article is a priceless quote from a New Orleans merchant.

Alex Fleming, who works at the Cigar Factory on Bourbon Street, said he anticipated a healthy influx of visitors from LSU — "I figured it would be Mardi Gras II when they came," he said — but he wasn't prepared for such a strong contingent from Hawai'i.

"What surprised me is that people from Hawai'i actually came all the way out here," Fleming said. "I didn't think they'd come, but then all of a sudden it was, like, 'Holy crap, look at all the Asians!' It's been good. It's been good."

I must visit him. I shall bring greetings from the yobo contingent of the Asian Invasion.

The Advertiser has details about a card stunt in the works for the Sugar Bowl.

For two University of Hawai'i alums, the Warrior spirit for the Sugar Bowl is in the cards — roughly 1,600 of them for Tuesday's game against Georgia in the Superdome.

Mia Okinaga and Sonya Miyashiro have done the research and created the materials and are now asking fans that will be seated in sections 320 through 325 to participate.

The cards, when held up together, will spell out "Hawaii" and "Believe."

The cards will be on the seats before the game, and will come with instructions. At the first time out in the second quarter, fans should hold up cards that will spell out "Hawaii." At the first time out of the fourth quarter, fans again will hold up cards that will spell "Believe."

Awesome. Hope it looks good!

The Advertiser also has details of free stuff UH fans can get in New Orleans.

University of Hawaii fans attending the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans will be able to get some freebies — 20,000 UH Warrior fans shaped like helmets and 14,000 ti leaves — while supplies last.
The hand-held fans are helmet-shaped with "Proud to e a UH Warrio fan" on the front.

Hopefully that's just a typo.

The UH Warrior fans will be distributed, as follows:

When: Dec. 30 & 31 and Jan. 1 from noon to 2 p.m. Mayor Mufi Hannemann also will be handing out the fans on game day outside the main stadium entrance from 2 hours prior to kick-off.

Where: Marriott New Orleans, 555 Canal St., room TBA (look for signs) and at the Superdome on game day.

Lee Corso predicts a UH victory in the Sugar Bowl.

Q: Can Hawaii [in the Sugar Bowl versus Georgia] pull off an upset like Boise State did last year?

A: Absolutely. It's a tough assignment playing Georgia down in the South, tougher than what Boise State had last year against Oklahoma. It's a tough environment in New Orleans, inside a dome with a million Georgia fans, and Georgia is playing as well as anyone in the country, winning six straight games. But I still think Hawaii is going to do it somehow. They are going to throw the ball around and outscore them. You take Colt Brennan's arm, with the legs and hands of the receivers, who are among the best in the country, and coach June Jones' mind, and I just think they will put a ton of points on the board and outscore Georgia. They are just so good at that passing game. It is a great equalizer.

From the same Q&A, Corso says if he were an NFL GM, he would take Colt in the draft.

Q: If you were an NFL GM, which quarterback would you want to take first in the NFL draft: Kentucky's Andre Woodson, Louisville's Brian Brohm, Brennan, or Boston College's Matt Ryan?

A: I would take Brennan 'cause he has played more of a pro attack. He can throw the football well, and June Jones is a pro coach. I like the fact that he has been taught the passing game from the ground up from Jones.

Ted Lewis of the Times Picayune writes about the Warriors in NOLA, and talks to Louisiana Tech coach Derek Dooley about the matchup.

Dooley has conflicted rooting interests in the Sugar Bowl.

Hawaii is a fellow member of the Western Athletic Conference, but Dooley is the son of former Georgia coach Vince Dooley and earned his law degree from the school.

"I don't get all caught up in that," he said. "I'm just an interested fan."

But Dooley said he does think the underdog Warriors have a good chance to pull the upset.

"Their offense has been phenomenal all year," he said. "And it looks like they've played better and better on defense each week.

"Their challenge is going to be containing Georgia's runner (Knowshon Moreno) while not giving up the big pass. But Hawaii's quarterback and receivers are as talented as anyone's in the country. They can score on anybody."

And finally, here's an interesting article comparing Texas Tech's current Mike Leach offense with the run and shoot, which used to be run at TT. There's a few quotes from UH defensive coordinator Greg McMackin.

Georgia, Predictions, Colt Profiles

Georgia coach Mark Richt praises the Warrior offensive line.

When Mark Richt watches film of Hawaii's offensive line, he thinks he's watching an instructional video. Or, at least, that's what he says.

"You could literally put a clinic on from that group," the No. 4 Bulldogs' head coach said Thursday before his team held its second practice in preparation for Tuesday's Sugar Bowl against the Warriors.

"They are textbook in pass protection," Richt said. "When they slide one way or another, it's like a dance team or something, it's very well done."

Hawaii offensive line coach Dennis McKnight played the position for 10 years in the NFL, and the professional influence shows, Georgia defensive line coach Rodney Garner said.

"I think they are the most athletic offensive line we've played, and it shows on film every snap," Garner said. "It's every single clip, and then you see how hard and physical they play. They are going to get after you. They play with a great tenacity."

Marc Weiszer of The Athens Banner-Herald writes about Georgia thinking back to a previous Sugar Bowl loss as motivation in this game.

Georgia struggled against West Virginia's spread offense with quarterback Pat White and tailback Steve Slaton. Now it gets Hawaii's run-and-shoot offense led by Brennan.

"We could easily take them for granted and they come out and show us out and embarrass us, or we can get pissed off and take care of business and show the nation that we are one of the best teams," linebacker Rennie Curran said.

Georgia didn't take care of business in the 2005 Sugar Bowl.

"The last time we were in the Sugar Bowl, we didn't show up," defensive line coach Rodney Garner said. "We didn't play very good. That left a bad taste in people's mouths for a long time. We still talk about that."

Georgia doesn't want Hawaii to turn into another West Virginia.

"I don't know if we did a good enough job convincing our kids how good West Virginia was, how fast they were," Garner said. "Obviously, we've tried to really emphasize that this year with Hawaii."

Weiszer also has some UGA news and notes, including this excerpt from today's Bulldog practice:

Coach Mark Richt said duplicating Hawaii's run-and-shoot offense with scout teamers like Croffie can't be done because of the precision of the passing game and pace of the offense.

But after Georgia's first Superdome practice Wednesday night, Richt told the scout team players he wanted to see more from them.

"I really didn't think we had a tremendous effort," Richt said. "I thought it was a little bit half-hearted. I just told them if we're going to win this game, you've got to help us prepare. You're job is every one of these practices."

David Ching of the Macon Telegraph writes about UH's tenacity this season.

Exhibit A: In the Warriors' final game of the regular season, they fell behind Washington 21-0 in the first quarter, only to cut the deficit to 28-21 by halftime and eventually win 35-28.

"When they went down by 21, I was like, 'Man, I guess they weren't as good as everyone said they were,' " Georgia tight end Tripp Chandler said. "But then the fashion that they came back showed something that they hadn't been talking about, and that was the poise that their team showed and just how they stuck together.

"That just really shows our team that even if we get up on them in the beginning, that doesn't mean anything. They can come back on us just as quick, especially with that high-powered offense that they have."

Hawaii's ability to fight back was on display throughout a 12-0 season, as the Warriors trailed at halftime or later five times this year, only to come back and win each time. Three of those comeback wins came on the road.

RGM has an update in his blog. An excerpt:

Sorry I took so long for getting back everyone. I'm a little new at this thing but from here on out, I'll be posting multiple entries each day.

Last night, some of the guys went out and toured the French Quarter. We had some fun but we knew that we're here on a business trip so we were definitely on our best behavior. We understand who and what we represent, which is not only the team but the school and the entire state of Hawai'i.

Here's a Sugar Bowl preview and prediction from Ed Shearer of the AP.

Russell Levine has a game preview in the New York Sun.

This game represents the biggest opportunity for Hawaii to prove itself that it is ever likely to have. The Warriors have had showcase games in the past — they opened the 2006 season with an eight-point loss at Alabama, and they are scheduled to play at Florida next fall — but a win here would validate both Brennan's career and Jones's offensive philosophy. A blowout loss risks seeing Brennan's achievements dismissed as merely the product of a system, and seeing the system itself dismissed as a gimmick.

Hawaii must get off to good start to prevent Georgia from simply pounding running back Knowshon Moreno at the line all night. The Warriors have a very athletic, aggressive defense, and they will likely pack the box and dare quarterback Matthew Stafford to beat them. If they can force Georgia to play from behind, they can minimize the effectiveness of the Georgia running game without really having to stop it. If the game becomes a shootout, it's advantage Hawaii.

Chip Towers of the AJC has a prediction as well.

Just looking at it objectively, I don’t believe the Warriors can match the Bulldogs athletically. At least on paper they can’t. Yes, they have a great quarterback. Yes, they have great receivers. They have a very experienced offensive line and, relative to years past, a very good defense under the direction of an exceptional coordinator in Greg McMackin.

But football, in my experience, usually comes down to whipping the guy in front of you, and I see a lot more guys for Georgia that should be able to whip the Hawaii guys they’ll be facing on Tuesday. Let’s face it, the Bulldogs have been recruiting a different breed of player the last several years. As far as blocking and tackling, I have to think Georgia has an advantage there.

Here's a great profile of Colt Brennan by Thomas Stinson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Before he had set any of his 20 NCAA records, Brennan went out to play his first game of catch with some of his new receivers soon after his arrival at the University of Hawaii. He was tall enough (6 feet 3), but a little light (hardly 190 pounds) and didn't pass the ball as much as he slung from a three-quarters shoulder angle. And it was beautiful.

"The one thing I noticed was just how easy his pass was to catch," said Ryan Grice-Mullen, a slotback in UH's pass-mad offense. "A lot of quarterbacks just want to fire every ball. But since day one, he makes it easy on the receivers. It's up and it's out."

And another great feature on Colt from Bernard Fernandez of the Philadelphia Daily News.

"I have to give it to Boise State," Brennan said. "What they did last year gave us a great opportunity to go to a BCS bowl this year. And don't forget what Utah did a few years before that. It made people realize that it's all right to give the little guy a chance.

"Good football is being played in conferences like the WAC. I think if a team like ours does well enough, we should be given a chance to compete against the big boys. We're not just happy to be going to the Sugar Bowl. We're looking to go there and win."

June Jones' New Orleans Press Conference

The UH Athletics website has a transcript of today's June Jones press conference. It's pretty long and has lots of great quotes. Here's an excerpt:

Was it a strategic plan to let the kids experience New Orleans for the first couple of nights? "It was a plan. We didn't have curfew last night and we won't have it tonight. Pretty much every player has at least one family member with them in town that they are spending time with. I am not as concerned, this is a great group of kids and I am not worried we are going to do anything we would be ashamed of. We have pretty much the whole time here tied up from meetings morning till night. It's okay with me to let them experience something they may never get to experience again."

Express your emotions on bringing a team from where it was when you started to this point (Sugar Bowl)? "To be perfectly honest, I haven't had much time to process the accomplishments and really answer that question completely as it has been pretty much non-stop since the Washington game ended and probably had four hours a sleep a night. From the time I wake up till the time I go to bed I have been preparing. I just haven't had time to sit back and say WOW what a year we've had. I don't feel like we are undefeated, I feel that this is just the next game and we need to win it. My team, my relationship with my guys, I am just proud of the last two years and what we have been able to accomplish. I told this to the local media, you know last year we were 11-3 and over the past two years we have won 22 of our 25 games. And in those three losses we were in position to win all three in the final moments. That's pretty amazing when you think about it. And what it really comes down to is the difference that we have learned from last year on how to win. We have had the ball four times this year and had to have a final drive to win the game. That's the difference in being a good team and a great team."

Interviews and Practice Footage 12-27-07

More great video coverage and interviews from "davegladow." This vid contains footage of UH practicing at an indoor (Saints?) practice facility while June Jones talks about the game. Interviews with Colt Brennan, Davone Bess, Adam Leonard and Jones follow. Check out cameos from Stephen Tsai, Ferd Lewis and Robert Kekaula.



P.S. Here a link to David Gladow's blog. He's a New Orleans sportswriter.

New Orleans news

just stuff from the local news last night. All of their reporters must've flown last night, as there wasn't much new stuff. Expect A LOT of local news coverage tonight.





and Game 9 from KHON's season countdown. Fresno State (Boo!!!)

Hawaiian Cajun Bash (Mostly) Sold Out

From their website:

Due to the overwhelming support of Warrior fans, advanced ticket sales have been closed. Limited tickets will be available the night of the event at Generations Hall.

Doh. However, tickets to the other big UH-themed New Year's Eve party, Warriors Rally at the Sugar Mill, should still be available.

Of course there will be other parties around the city, and I hear you can admire the flocks of migratory seabirds on Bourbon Street.

Paul Westerdawg of the Georgia Sports Blog has a post with boozing and other entertainment recommendations.

And if you miss all that, the next day there's the Sportshawaii.com tailgate at Johnny White's Pub & Grill leading up to the big game. In fact, Johnny White's will be open to UH fans the whole week. Be there!

New Orleans Interviews

Via Sportshawaii.com (again) here's some mostly unedited video interviews with Ryan Grice-Mullen-Mullins, C.J. Hawthorne, Hercules Satele and Brad Kalilimoku in New Orleans.

In New Orleans, Praise from Coaches, C.J. Etc.

Dave Reardon writes about the Warriors arriving in New Orleans and getting acclimated with their surroundings.

The University of Hawaii football team -- following an all-night flight from the islands to New Orleans -- rested yesterday, sleeping and getting acclimated to their surroundings.

Today they continue practicing for the biggest game of their lives: the Sugar Bowl against the University of Georgia on New Year's Day.
The Bulldogs held their first practice last night.

UH held its first team meetings last night, after a casual day of rest and exploring the city.

Also on that page is a NOLA weather forecast, as well as a look at the athletic department's finances.

Stephen Tsai writes about Colt Brennan, Davone Bess and Tyson Kafentzis meeting up with the team in New Orleans.

Brennan, slotback Davone Bess, who spent the holidays with family in California, and linebacker Tyson Kafentzis were on the same flight from Denver to New Orleans.

They landed in a thunderstorm. On the drive to the hotel, they saw snippets of a rebuilding New Orleans.

"There's a lot of construction because of (Hurricane) Katrina," Brennan said.

Except for two team meetings, Brennan said, yesterday was "a mellow day."

Reardon also writes that June Jones has a lot of faith in his players to stay responsible and focused.

"Tonight and tomorrow there'll be no curfew," coach June Jones said last night, after the Warriors arrived here yesterday morning. "Most of the players have family here and they'll be doing stuff with them. They'll be fine."

One concern is casinos. There is legal gambling within walking distance of the team hotel.

All-American guard and team captain Hercules Satele said he's managed to avoid going to casinos at previous road games and doesn't see any reason to start trying his luck now.

Not that the Warriors of legal age have been specifically banned.

"(Jones said) try to stay away from the things we're supposed to stay away from," Satele said. "He mentioned it, but didn't really actually say it. I'm staying away from it. The whole season I've stayed away from the casinos."

As Manny Rezentes, the team's director of security puts it:

"We have a town that's open all night. So after the meetings and stuff they can wander the streets. There's only a few nights with curfew, prior to the big game," Rezentes said. "(Jones) wants to treat them like men."

Ted Lewis of the Times-Picayune talks to people from both teams about the distractions of the city.

Since Georgia's football team was staying at the Riverside Hilton across the street from Harrah's this Allstate Sugar Bowl week, Bulldogs senior running back Thomas Brown was considering trying his hand at the slots a couple of times.
That is, until Georgia Coach Mark Richt put the quietus on any visits to the casino while his team is in New Orleans.

"It's OK," Brown said Wednesday after Georgia's arrival to begin its final preparations for Tuesday's game against Hawaii at the Superdome. "I don't think the guys are going to have any trouble living up that.

Here's an AP article about the teams' arrivals, and the distractions.

Speaking of distractions, here are more eat and drink recommendations from the AJC.

Steve Murray of Midweek takes a look at the game. Coach Jones has even more praise for Georgia.

“There is not one guy (on the D side of the ball) who won’t play in the National Football League,” says Jones. “All of them will get the chance to play at the next level. I don’t know how many seniors they have this year, but whatever that number is, that’s how many will go this year.”

The article continues with the importance of the game and of the BCS money.

Steve Chancey of the Albany Herald takes a look at the Warriors from the Georgia perspective. And now it's Mark Richt's turn to praise UH.

The Warriors also have been prolific. Led by quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Colt Brennan, they rank first in the country in scoring offense

“No question, he’s the key,” Richt said. “When you first hear about a guy having a lot of numbers, touchdown passes, and yards, you look at him and say, ‘Gosh, he throws it 50, 60 times a game. He oughta have a lot of numbers.’ That’s probably your first impression. But after studying the film, the regular game film and the TV copy, he is really, really good. He’s special.”

“You get a little better feel for the spirit of the team and the mental toughness and resilience that they have,” Richt said. “I watched that Washington game and they’re down, 21-0, then 28-7 about midway through the third and they came roaring back. And it’s almost as if there wasn’t anybody who could do anything about it.”

Ferd Lewis writes about the importance of UH beating BCS opponents.

Beginning with the 2007 regular-season finale against Washington that punched UH's ticket to the Sugar Bowl, the Warriors have Georgia in the postseason, open 2008 at Florida and, after I-AA Weber State, play Oregon State in Corvallis. It would have been five BCS foes in six games had Michigan State not coughed up $250,000 to buy its way out of the contracted Nov. 24 game.

All in all, it lines up as the most formidable stretch of power conference opponents and should provide the best indication of where UH stands. Win a couple of those and you have a leg up in any argument. Drop the lot and there will be a lot of I-told-you-so being dished.

Ted Lewis of the Times-Picayune profiles Gulf Coast native C.J. Hawthorne.

"C.J. has really come on strong," Hawaii Coach June Jones said. "I really wish he had another year in our system because he could be really, really special."

Hawthorne came to Hawaii basically on a whim, taking an official visit because the other schools recruiting him -- Troy and Marshall -- weren't exactly glamour spots.

"I figured it was a chance to see Hawaii," he said. "But then when I got out there, it was so beautiful I couldn't believe it. I came back home and talked to my coaches. They said it's a great place and they want you while everybody else is just toying around with you. I'm glad I listened to my coaches."

Carter Strickland of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has fun comparing Hawaii's haʻa and Georgia's Soulja Boy. Some excerpts:

Cultural awareness

Hawaii performs the Ha'a to bring all players from every background closer together, from Heisman-caliber quarterback Colt Brennan to Guyton Galdeira, a member of the Ka Leo O Laka I Ka Hikina O Ka La dance group organization.

No one has yet seen Georgia's Andy Bailey, from Athens, Tenn., do the Soulja Boy on the sideline.

Survey says: Hawaii

Audience participation

The Ha'a is a series of complicated moves combined with rhythmic pounding of hands on the pads, coupled with tongue-twisting Hawaiian words.

You can do the Soulja Boy.

Survey says: Georgia.

By the time this is posted, the remaining Sugar Bowl tickets will be on sale online.

Today, what few Sugar Bowl tickets remain will be sold online starting at 8 a.m. through etickethawaii.com and at its bowl ticket office in the Marriott New Orleans. UH officials said yesterday they were confident the slow trickle of walk-ups at the Stan Sheriff Center — with more than 100 sold over the past two days — was an indication that all ticket needs in Hawai'i were met.

Ferd Lewis writes about head coaching salaries around the nation and the good chance June Jones will get a big raise.

When Jones' current contract was put into place, the top salary paid in Division I-A was $2.3 million to Nick Saban at Louisiana State. Saban, now at Alabama by way of the Miami Dolphins, has the highest salary at $4 million per season.

"What they (Alabama) did affects everybody," Frazier said.

Jones, who turns 55 in February, has said he could see himself finishing his coaching career in Manoa.

"Oh yeah, I could," Jones said. "I want to coach, maybe, five or six more years. Then, I want to look back and enjoy this season. I want to coach a few more years, probably five or six and then that's it."

And in former UH basketball player news, Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post has a great profile of Anthony Carter.

Mele Christmas news

lots from yesterday with the team leaving on their charter. Check out the big H on the plane. I wonder if I can get that afterwards somehow. Would look nice on my wall.

Oh, anyways, nice story on Brian Kajiyama, as well as a KITV singalong to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.







and here's game 8 (vs New Mexico St.) of KHON's countdown of the season.

June Jones Profile

Here's an in-depth profile of June Jones by Thomas Stinson of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, discussing June's days with the Atlanta Falcons to the present. An excerpt:

"The NFL was one of the best times of my life," said Jones, 1994-96 Falcons head coach and a 12-year NFL coaching veteran. "I'll get another opportunity to go back.

"But this has been a real blessing for me. I have a love for the people of Hawaii, and I'm happy that I was able to come back here and do what I can."

In the Manoa Valley, where even clear days are filled with periodic mistings, one rainbow follows another across the morning sky as Jones comes to work.

This is where his Warriors practice, and it becomes easier to understand why Jones came here in the first place. The volcanic Diamond Head rises to the east, the Pacific Ocean sparkles to the south. Xanadu has a home team.

"We get everything done," Jones said in a recent interview, "and we have fun every day."

Warriors Touchdown

Via Couz at Sportshawaii.com, a short clip of the Warriors arriving in New Orleans.

Farewell, Food and More Food, Arrival, Tips, Etc.

Robert Shikina writes about the fans who came out to send off the Warriors to NOLA.

Dozens of University of Hawaii fans greeted the Warriors at Honolulu Airport yesterday before they left to play the University of Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day in New Orleans.

Some fans waited outside the airport terminal, while others met the team inside the security area.

"I'm just surprised how many people came out to support us," said UH linebacker Solomon Elimimian. "It's fun but it's time to refocus. It's about business. It's about doing something that's never been done before."

In his article about the sendoff, Stephen Tsai wins the unofficial line of the day award.

Like most of his University of Hawai'i football teammates, all Blaze Soares wanted for Christmas was two front seats.

Tsai also recounts the frenzy over t-shirts Jason Rivers made for his teammates.

"It's a dream come true," said running back Daniel Libre, rummaging for a size-L shirt. "

"This completes the collection," receiver Jett Jasper added.

Punter Tim Grasso said: "It's a cherry on top. (Rivers is) one of the best players on the team. To finally get a shirt is great. My dad's his biggest fan. Every time my dad sees him, he says, 'That's Jason Rivers! That's Jason Rivers!' I'm like, 'Yeah, dad, calm down.' "

RGM's blog has pics from the sendoff and the arrival in New Orleans.

Michael Tsai compares Hawaii to New Orleans and writes about some things visitors can expect to see.

Hawai'i fans may be tempted to pay a visit to the Warrior quarterback's namesake Brennan's Restaurant, reknowned for its gourmet breakfasts and courtyard dining.

Another must-stop for many tourists is internationally known Cafe du Monde, which has coffee and beignets available at seven locations around New Orleans. (The shop's coffee with chicory and beignet mixes are popular take-home items.)

For a slightly seedier experience, there's no shortage of bars and adult entertainment shops along Bourbon Street (think Kuhio Avenue meets Hotel Street, with better restaurants), and for those who seek maximum efficiency, "Big (expletive) Beers" in plastic cups are available from take-out windows for convenient drinking and staggering.

M-Tsai's article also has a handy list of restaurants and the various UH parties.

Betty Shimabukuro talks to Elmer Guzman, owner of the Poke Stop in Waipahu, who worked in Emeril Lagasse's New Orleans kitchen for a few years. He offers even more food recommendations. An excerpt:

Any Bourbon Street sandwich shop: Try a Po' Boy -- fried oysters, shrimp, roast beef and countless other fillings, served on crusty French bread with Remoulade, a sauce of mayonnaise, ketchup, Worcestershire, garlic and spices that will vary by eatery. "Locals are going to think it's a chunky Thousand Island Dressing."

And add these to your list: Steamed crawfish, etouffée (a seafood stew), gumbo (a soupy stew of many types), blackened red fish (snapper), andouille sausage.

Daddy's gonna come home fat. And while we're on the food recommendations, don't forget to check out this excellent restaurant recommendation rundown from the Georgia Sports Blog, which I've linked in the Sugar Bowl Info sidebar.

Laurie Au offers some safety tips for visitors to New Orleans.

While New Orleans officials acknowledge the high volume of crime in the city, they say most of it is occurring in historically dangerous parts of the city. They advise visitors to stay in tourist areas, such as the French Quarter and around the Superdome, which are relatively safe.

"In reality the French Quarter and the business district is relatively as safe as anywhere else in the country," said Anthony Radosti, vice president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission, a statewide nonprofit watchdog group based in New Orleans.

On the same page, Gary C.W. Chun talks to Hawaii-born Lynn Sapir, who is hosting Warrior fans at his bar, Johnny White's Pub and Grill.

Dave Reardon reminds you that the Star-Bulletin will have tons of coverage from NOLA, and has this quote from June Jones:

Jones has coached in the Superdome before in NFL games, but not in a contest of this magnitude. He said the hype will be akin to that other bowl, the one the pros aspire to.

"I think it will be very similar," Jones said. "Especially with LSU being there, too, in the same hotel (for the national championship game Jan. 7). It's going to be a Super Bowl atmosphere."

The Star-Bulletin begins its on-site coverage with online reports tonight and in tomorrow's print editions.

Here's Dave's first blog post from the trip. And here's Stephen Tsai's post about the team's arrival.

The Warriors arrived safely in New Orleans at about 1 a.m. Hawai‘i time.
According to media relations director Derek Inouchi, the Warriors were greeted by the Sugar Bowl committee and an eight-piece jazz band.
Quarterback Colt Brennan, slotback Davone Bess and the other players who did not travel on the charter are expected to arrive in New Orleans today. June Jones set a reporting deadline of 8 p.m. Central time.

Ferd Lewis writes about the potential the Warriors have to throw another wrench into the gears of the BCS.

Most people believe, incorrectly, the BCS was designed to determine a national championship. It wasn't. It is supposed to assure that the lion's share of the postseason money — more than $100 million — stays in the pockets of the power conferences. For this the best BCS minds had put together a formula that was supposed to largely fence out the lower classes but leave just enough room to mollify Congress and monopoly-charging lawyers.

And now along comes UH to squirm through a hole in that fence, doing it with a schedule that has drawn comparisons with French pastries.

If the Warriors — and they are 9-point underdogs on some betting lines — should somehow win, they will not only reinforce everything Boise State did last season but expand upon it. And there would go another chunk of the BCS' argument for controlling bowl berths and staving off a true national championship playoff.

The AJC has a list of 10 "facts" about UH.

Here's an article from Josh Kendall of The Macon Telegraph about the Bulldogs heading to New Orleans.

And finally, an article from Billy Turner of the Times-Picayune about the Bulldogs getting over their disappointment over not playing for a national title.

"It was disappointing from the standpoint that if you just looked at the fact we were No. 4, and Nos. 1 and 2 lost, it would seem that we would move up to No. 2. But we didn't expect it," Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez said. "A lot of people assumed we would move up. Our kids didn't understand. From my standpoint, we're excited about where we're going to be, in a BCS bowl. We were disappointed about two hours. We went from the euphoria of seeing those teams lose to seeing, as a defense, who we were going to play. It was, geez, we drew Hawaii. The players know we have these guys. They kind of refocused after that."

No SMU, Warrior Fever, RGM Blogs

While SMU may have an interest in June Jones, June Jones has no interest in SMU.

"I have not heard from them, I'm not gonna hear from them," Jones said Tuesday just before boarding the University of Hawai'i's charter flight to New Orleans, site of the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl against Georgia.

Asked if he had talked to SMU or was interested, Jones said, "No."

Jones said: "I'm just interested in the University of Georgia."

Stewart Yerton of NOLA.com has an interesting article taking a look at the epidemic of Warrior fever. It also has bits of information about the UH players, fans, culture, etc.

Hawaii fans are so excited about the game that they are willing to endure what can amount to nearly a full day in crowded airports and cramped airplane and rental car seats to get to New Orleans. Direct nonstop flights between Honolulu and New Orleans don't exist, except for a few charter flights. And one-stop flights quickly filled. That has forced people to take tortuous routes.

Regan Onikama is typical. A Honolulu mortgage broker, Onikama plans to leave Honolulu on Saturday at 9 a.m. on a four-hour flight to Los Angeles. In L.A. he will switch planes for a two-hour flight to Phoenix, where he has another connection to Houston. After arriving in Houston at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, Onikama plans to rent a car and drive to New Orleans, where he hopes to arrive by 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

Also in the article, our athletic director has this to say about the schedule and Hawaii's success this year:

"We just had a one-year mishap that we were able to fix," he said. But Frazier added: "Would you be sitting here talking to me if we had played USC the first game of the season and Michigan State the last game? I don't know."

As always, finding just the right thing to say. Gee, thanks.

Ryan Grice-Mullen-Mullins will be keeping a Sugar Bowl blog, writing about his experiences on the trip. An excerpt from his first entry:

What a send off we had. There was a motorcade for our team buses that blocked all the freeway on-ramps and we had the freeway all to ourselves. At the airport, fans greeted us and there was even a band.

Our fans are truly the best in the country. We're just about to take-off. See you all in Nawlins.

And finally, the few remaining tickets will go on sale tomorrow (Wednesday).

The University of Hawai`i has put its remaining Allstate Sugar Bowl tickets on sale to the general public and will make the tickets available until Wednesday, Dec. 26, at 4:00 p.m. (the office is closed on Christmas Day).

Tickets are being sold at the Stan Sheriff Center Box Office on a first-come, first-served basis and there is a maximum of six tickets per person, while supplies last. No orders are being taken by phone or online and fans must show a Hawai`i driver's license when purchasing tickets.

Merry Christmas (eve) news!!!

Hope alls well out there in Warrior land. Here's some news from last night.



and KHON's game by game recap... this time game 7 vs San Jose in the mud bowl.

C&K Show 11

In this episode, C&K document the autograph session craziness.

Part 1



Part 2 is spent trying to find the end of the crazy long line



Part 3, where they find Iceman rockin the Elton John shades, and catch up with the players after the session.

Travel, AhSoon, Kajiyama, Another NOLA Party, Etc.

Kalani Takase has some details about the who's going to the Sugar Bowl, and how much it might end up costing UH.

University of Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier said he expects the school will realize at least $2 million from its Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl appearance after expenses are deducted for a traveling party of 542.

It is estimated UH will get a total of $4.5 million for the Bowl Championship Series game in New Orleans.

"Two million, for sure, is probably a good guess-timate and probably have great aspirations to be much higher," Frazier said during a weekly meeting with the media yesterday.

Frazier was unable to give an exact figure, citing numerous variables in the process.

The Star-Bulletin's Craig Gima has more.

The university is spending about $700,000 to $750,000 on three chartered Hawaiian Airlines jets to take the 113-member football team; 17 coaches; 48 athletic department administrators and staff; 281 band members, cheerleaders, Rainbow Dancers and staff; family members; and VIPs to New Orleans starting this afternoon.

Then there is the expense of lodging, meals and ground transportation.

The University of Hawaii also is allowed to buy a gift for each football player going to the game with a value of up to $350.

Some contracts for meals and lodging still have to be signed, so it is not clear yet what the total bill for the travel expenses will be, Frazier said.

"It is a business trip for us," Frazier said. "The money we'll be able to save on expenses will help our bottom line."

Also on that page, Dave Reardon has a breakdown of the numbers, while Jennifer Sudick talks to agent Leigh Steinberg about how UH's success will bring in more money to the university.

The success of the University of Hawaii football team this year will help contributions to all areas of the university in coming years, according to sports agent Leigh Steinberg.

Everything from endorsements, licensing partners and alumni donations to product and ticket sales will continue to rise because of the publicity surrounding quarterback Colt Brennan and coach June Jones, Steinberg said.

"There has been more national press coverage of the UH football program in this last year maybe than the whole history of Hawaii football combined," he said. "And much of it revolves around Colt Brennan."

Discussing Hawaii's success while simultaneously angling to be Colt's agent for $200, Alex. Gong!

Dave Reardon writes that June Jones thinks that there may be close to 35K Hawaii fans attending the Sugar Bowl. On the same page, Reardon profiles left tackle Keith AhSoon.

When Keith AhSoon wasn't protecting Colt Brennan's blindside this year, he was helping him graduate.

Don't worry, it's not what you might think.

"I did a report on Keith for an ethnic studies class about where he came from," the Hawaii quarterback said. "He's a unique guy and it's amazing how well he's adapted. You feel like you could put him in the middle of New York and he'd survive."

There's no snow, no department stores at which to buy big screen TVs and no turkeys to cook for dinner. But, yes, Christmas is certainly celebrated on the tiny American Samoan island of Faleasao, an 8-hour boat ride from the relative metropolis of Pago Pago.

The AP's Jaymes Song profiles grad assistant Brian Kajiyama.

Kajiyama sits with the fans at Aloha Stadium because the coaches' booth isn't accessible by wheelchair. He's not allowed on the field during the game for safety reasons.

Also, Kajiyama hasn't accompanied the Warriors on any of their away games, let alone been on the team bus ride to their home stadium.

That'll change today.

He'll make his first road trip with the team when the Warriors travel to New Orleans.

Reinebold and others on the team lobbied for Kajiyama to attend after it appeared he would be left behind, again. The university has arranged for a wheelchair-accessible bus and hotel room to accommodate Kajiyama.

"To have my official road trip to be a BCS bowl, I'd say that's a heck of a first trip to make," he said.

Mike Griffith writes an article about Georgia not overlooking Hawaii.

Richt said Hawai'i could present as much of a challenge as anyone the Bulldogs might have faced in a BCS game.

"You can see Hawai'i is passionate about the game and very resilient,'' Richt said. "They will not panic and they will not quit. I've seen them down, and they got off the mat.''

Richt, who votes in the USA Today coaches' poll, said he saw enough of the Warriors in late-night games to know what to expect.

"San Jose State, they played in horrific weather, then Washington and Louisiana Tech, Hawai'i has had some games that are heart-pounding barn burners and they came out on the winning end, and that gives a team confidence,'' Richt said. "You turn the film on, and our guys are smart enough to know when they see a good team, it's undeniable. There's no complacency here.''

Griffith also compiles a lot of Sugar Bowl predictions from writers throughout the land. A sampling:

"I'm excited to see Hawai'i, because I think their offense is unbelievable and I don't think they get their just dues. I'm curious to see how they do against an SEC team. I think Georgia will win 35-31.''

Brian Dohn

Los Angeles Daily News

"The best way to stop Colt Brennan is to hand the ball to Knowshon Moreno 40 times. This game is great for college football. Often you get the same old, same old, and this is a match-up you couldn't even imagine to put together on a PlayStation 2. Georgia 34, Hawai'i 24.''

Ron Higgins

Memphis Commercial Appeal

SMU is looking at June Jones for their vacant head coach job.

SMU is interested in Hawaii coach June Jones as its new football coach, according to a source with knowledge of the school's search.

The interest may help explain why SMU is still looking for a coach despite firing Phil Bennett on Oct. 28.

Right.

Via Garret at UH Warrior Quotes, another recounting of Colt Brennan's story, this time by David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Presidential candidates seeking to win the state of Hawaii would be wise to get their picture made with Warriors senior quarterback Colt Brennan.

"He could get anything he wanted to win on this island right now," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "He could be governor. He could be speaker of the house. We could go back to the royal times, and he could be king."

Kalani Simpson returns with his all-time all-UH team.

And the Advertiser has details of the Hawaiian Cajun Bash party in NOLA, as well as info on another New Year's Eve party at The Sugar Mill.

University of Hawaii fans in New Orleans can celebrate New Year's Eve with other UH fans, celebrities, former UH players and current NFL players at The Sugar Mill in New Orleans' Warehouse District.

The event will be held from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. The venue, located at 1021 Convention Center Blvd., is within walking distance from most hotels and the French Quarter.

Entertainers scheduled to perform include Willie K., Vili the Warrior, Augie T., Na Leo's Nalani Choi and others.

Also expected to attend will be former UH players Samson Satele (Miami) and Isaac Sopoaga (San Francisco).

Tickets are $49 in advance and $59 at the door. Children under 10 are free.

Man, that sounds like it's gonna be an awesome party too. Tough choice! You can get more info at www.warriorsrally.com.

Sunday night news

stuff from the last home practice before the guys have off for christmas.



also, here's part 6 of KHON's countdown. vs Utah State

Last Practice, Believe, Merry Christmas

Gotta jet, forgot about a family function I need to be at. Here are today's articles!

Practice reports, news and notes, etc from Dave Reardon:

The Warriors finished their final home workout of the year with a relay race won by the defense. Cornerback Ryan Keomaka anchored; he sprinted to the finish and was lifted by the rest of the green shirts as if he'd just picked off a pass to win the Sugar Bowl.

It didn't meet with coach June Jones' complete approval, as the last thing he wants is more pulled muscles before the team leaves tomorrow evening for New Orleans and its Jan. 1 date with Georgia at the Louisiana Superdome.

"No racing!" Jones yelled from the other side of the practice field.

And from Stephen Tsai:

For quarterback Colt Brennan, the circle was complete. Twenty-nine months earlier, as a recent transfer from Saddleback Community College, Brennan met his new UH teammates on the grass practice field.

"It's amazing," Brennan said. "It's crazy how fast time flies. You don't think about it, and now it's my last day. It's crazy walking off the field like this. That's the best part of living life — growing up and moving on."

Michael Tsai writes about the faith and beliefs held by Warriors like Solomon Elimimian, Jacob Patek, Desmond Thomas, and others.

Dave Reardon has a column about yesterday's Boise State loss to ECU in the Hawaii Bowl.

Ferd Lewis writes about a couple bad losses by WAC teams.

To have the Broncos dominated for much of yesterday's game and, eventually, lose to an East Carolina team that did not make Conference USA's title game didn't do much to polish the WAC's image. Nor did having Nevada, a team UH needed a field goal to beat, so thoroughly worked over by a middle-of-the-pack Mountain West Conference team. Still to play is Fresno State, which meets Georgia Tech Dec. 31, the day before UH's Sugar Bowl appearance against Georgia.

And finally, an awesome, heartwarming Christmas story from Scott at Sportshawaii.com.

My take on the autograph fiasco

Ok, this is a blog right? So I can blog my thoughts on things right? Ok, Tombo, don't get mad at me, but this is what I wrote up and shared on Tsai's Warrior Beat, but I wanted to post it here too.

How many times this year have the "headless" honchos up in their offices failed us. Yet we as fans continue to support because its Hawaii's team. Our team.


do they not understand up there at the athletic department? this is the BIGGEST year ever in our history. Stop hiding behind the statement "this is our first time, give us some slack" how many years have you been doing your job? what "big time" schools have you come from before? this isn't your first job at an athletic department. wouldn't you make EVERY effort to pre-plan to the most extreme BEST case scenario? and this one amazingly might not be the headless HF honcho's fault. you can place this one on our public affair's guy, the associate "headless" man himself, Mr. JM. watching him on the news yesterday sickened me(see previous blog below). How can he say all was a success and that yesterday was for the fans and not realize how screwed up the situation was.

Maybe he should personally apologize to each and every kid who walked away empty handed. Apologize to every parent who has to somehow explain to their young one why they couldn't see their favorite players. Apologize to every other fan who just wanted to get close to their idols and now have nothing to have or give away for Christmas.

What in your right mind would make you think that there wouldn't be a good turnout yesterday? How many people showed up at the Aloha Stadium autograph session earlier in the year? How many HOURS (notice, PLURAL ) were there lines?

hopefully some of those "headless" honchos take their failures to New Orleans and never come back. i know they're dying for this season to be over, so people can get off their backs, but that won't happen.

let's see what else is left....

- JJ's contract
- Murakami stadium turf
- Cooke field's non existent turf
- and finding their HEAD

and that was my rant of the year. i'm still upset though.

Autograph Session, Sugar Bowl News, Etc.

Chawan compiles last night's news about the craziness at yesterday's autograph session, little kids doing the haʻa, some Sugar Bowl news, etc. From KITV and KHON:



From KHNL and KGMB (which includes a cameo from C&K!)



Will Hoover writes about the fans who showed up.

In fact the session lasted 70 minutes. But at an average of six autographs a minute, Brennan signed around 420 to 450 autographs — factoring in an amazing speed-signing frenzy in the final moments.

Trouble was, officials said ten times as many autograph seekers showed up to have the star quarterback sign helmets, books, posters, photos and footballs.

The Advertiser has a photo gallery of the session.

Here's Stephen Tsai's take on the craziness.

The self-inflicted problems stem from the school's consistency in underestimating the fans' support and an inability to properly address the demand. The thing is, when it comes to once-in-a-lifetime situations, there's never a second chance to correct misjudgments.
Yesterday's problems could have been minimized.

Gene Park writes about the craziness as well.

The autograph session lasted a little more an hour. But it still wasn't enough to accommodate all of the fans that showed up.

As Brennan was being ushered into a van, Warriors fans who were only a few feet away from him chanted, "Five more minutes!" But Brennan departed, and the other players left soon afterward.

Some fans who lined up at 8 a.m., two hours before a line was supposed to have started, couldn't even get to Brennan.

That's why Alvin Jamikawa, 50, of Palolo went to the gate at about 3 a.m.

Lots of pictures on that page as well, along with news that "The Largest Shuga Party in Hawaii" has been cancelled. And on the same page, Park writes that the scalper market has taken a hit.

Just a couple of weeks ago, scalpers were asking $300 for the cheap seats with a face value of $125.

Last night, tickets were still available at the Stan Sheriff Center box office and scalpers were selling tickets for $100, $25 below face value.

Dan Nakaso writes about the many Sugar Bowl contests and giveaways.

Central Pacific Bank allows only one entry per person for its contest to win two plane tickets, three hotel nights and two Sugar Bowl tickets on the 30-yard-line in section 617 in the upper rows of the Superdome.

Even with the restriction, CPB's 38 branches still have been averaging a combined total of about 1,000 entries per day for its Dec. 27 drawing for a winner.

Stephen Tsai writes about Dan Kelly signing autographs, Siave Seti rejoining the team after attending his grandmother's funeral, Sugar Bowl gifts, and a young Warrior.

Steven Su, who turned 12 yesterday, is in a wheelchair because of a birth injury. He had spent most of his life as a ward of the state. But this season, he has become an important member of the Warrior family.

"He's a really nice kid," defensive end Francis Maka said. "He's one of those purely innocent people. He comes into our locker room after (home) games, and it's always so nice to see him. He's always smiling. Everybody loves it when he comes around. He's our inspiration."

Dave Reardon writes about Le'Marcus Gibson's recovery and rehab from a knee injury, has injury updates on Fale Laeli, Jacob Patek and Victor Clore, talks to Ryan Mouton about his old high school, which UH QB recruit Bo Levi Mitchell just led to a Texas state championship, and has this from June Jones regarding UH practicing in New Orleans.

After today's final workout at its home field for the 2007 season, Hawaii's next football practice is Thursday -- at the same place where Drew Brees and Reggie Bush prepare for their games.

Warriors coach June Jones said he hasn't seen the New Orleans Saints' practice facility. But the former NFL coach had several reasons to use it as UH prepares for its Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl encounter with Georgia.

"I know they've got an indoor facility, a weight room, basically everything we need," Jones said.

Also, Jones might prefer that Saints coaches and officials get a look at some of his pro prospects, rather than having prying eyes elsewhere getting a gander at the UH schemes.

Paul Arnett speculates about how UH will prepare.

Running out of the Superdome tunnel toward the largest audience to see Colt Brennan and Co. up close and personal is a moment best left to professionals like Jones. Controlling that emotion, playing within one's self at all positions on the football field, especially in the early going, are critical to success. This is where Jones shines as a coach.

And yet another article about Georgia QB Matt Stafford's lack of stats, production, etc.

Stafford does not resent his team's offensive leanings, he said, but he will be looking across the field with a touch of jealousy Jan. 1 when Georgia plays pass-happy Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. Warriors quarterback Colt Brennan averages 43 pass attempts per game and has thrown for more than 4,000 yards this season. Would Stafford like to trade places with Brennan for just one game?

"That," he said, "would be pretty cool."

Saturday Morning (Friday Night) News

Chawan Cut reports that there's already a gigantic line forming for the autographs. He hopes that some people will be there to watch the basketball game too. Here's his compilation of Friday night's news -- same fan from the Star-Bulletin article complaining about the white out, an early Sugar Bowl weather report from Guy Hagi, coverage of UH's ESPNU cyber championship, etc.

Autographs, Grasso, White Out, Forney, Etc.

The Advertiser reminds you about today's autograph session.

University of Hawai'i football players and coaches will hold a final autograph session before the Sugar Bowl from noon to 1 p.m. today at the UH soccer field.

Fans can begin lining up no earlier than 10 a.m. No holding a place in line will be permitted. Also, no chairs or coolers will be allowed in the line.

Dave Reardon writes about the autograph session, the announced white-out, Inoke Funaki's socks, Josh Leonard finding his place on the defensive line, and Tim Grasso playing through probably one of the worst injuries a punter could have.

Hawaii junior Tim Grasso managed 40.2 yards per kick this year despite a torn hamstring. Thankfully for Grasso, the nation's highest scoring offense forced him into duty just 32 times.

The injury got better late in the season, but Grasso still has a black and blue mark on the back of his right leg and pain when he kicks.

"I shouldn't have played on it," he said. "But I worked hard to be here, turned down scholarships to do so. This season is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I wasn't going to let a hamstring ruin it. It affected my season --the first part of the year I couldn't even touch my knee when I'm trying to touch my toes."

Stephen Tsai writes about the Sugar Bowl per diem the players received, has other news and notes, and writes about Tim Grasso's plans for a sabbatical.

Making use of an NCAA exemption, punter Tim Grasso will go on "sabbatical" during the 2008 spring semester and rejoin the Warriors in July.

Grasso, who transferred from a junior college in July, is not on scholarship, and the Warriors do not have an available one for the spring semester. He is promised one for the 2008 season.

Grasso said his post-Sugar Bowl plan is to travel to Salt Lake City, which is a short drive from his family home in Kaysville, Utah. He said he will spend the spring semester in Kaysville, then work out in a punting camp in June. After that, he will enroll in UH's second summer session.

"Financially, it's smarter for me," Grasso said. Missing "spring ball will be fine. We don't do a whole bunch of punting."

Gary C.W. Chun writes about at least one UH fan peeved about the white out.

But at least one avid Warriors fan sees the white-out campaign as a marketing ploy. Aldrin Villahermosa said he and his friends had already "spent a ton of money on Warrior green attire and Warrior gear" that they were going to wear to the game.

And finally, Nick Abramo continues his "Pros(e)" series with a profile of former Warrior and current Atlanta Falcon Kynan Forney.

Forney plans on going to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans along with another former UH and NFL lineman, Adrian Klemm.

He's been vocally backing Hawaii in their matchup against Georgia, even though he's in hostile territory.

"We've got some friendly little stuff going on (with three Falcons teammates who played for Georgia). The loser has to wear the shirt and caps of the winner's school. I'm just showing some pride in my school. We're talking some trash."

White Out, BSU, Ikaika Alama-Francis Update

For UH fans going to New Orleans, bring your white shirts.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl is more than a week away but Head Coach June Jones has already called his first play. And, this one is for the fans.

Jones is calling for a "White Out" in the UH sections and is asking all UH fans in attendance at the Superdome to wear a white shirt. Georgia Head Coach Mark Richt has called for Bulldog fans to wear black shirts.

"This is something that both the UH and Georgia fans can have some fun with and it will be unique to our game," Jones said. "UH fans can wear green shirts around New Orleans during the week to show their UH pride and then sport a white one at the bowl game."

Dave Southorn of the Idaho Press-Tribune writes about Boise State supporting Hawaii. Yes, it's true.

Beside the entire 50th state pulling for the Warriors in their game, they’ve got the back of the Broncos, who know from experience what it means for a WAC team to even reach a BCS bowl game.

“We’re all about Hawaii,” Boise State head coach Chris Petersen said. “I think it gives the conference a lot of credibility, especially if they can win. If they show up and aren’t too hyped up, I think they have a great chance.”

Boise State took out a 7-by-10-inch full-color ad in the Honolulu Advertiser on Wednesday congratulating the Warriors on their season, telling them to “WAC ‘em in New Orleans.”

The Broncos and Warriors have developed an amicable rivalry while both sharing the honor of being the only WAC teams to reach one of the five BCS games.

“We have a ton of respect for them, for what they’ve done,” Brennan said. “I know we were pulling for them against Oklahoma. With Fresno State, our rivalry is a little more hot-headed, but with Boise State, there’s a lot of respect. I have never experienced anything like it. It always feels like we’re both fighting for the same cause.”

This was in Chawan's compilation from last night, but check out what Boise coach Chris Petersen says at the end of this video segment by KHNL's Jason Tang. Classy.

Meanwhile, Georgia's offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is getting some tips from LaTech head coach Derek "I didn't swear at Davone Bess" Dooley. Tip #1 - Ask the refs to penalize UH for performing the haʻa. I'm just kidding. I'm pretty sure I'm kidding.

"I talked to him about them and their personnel and the mindset that we have to get our kids in and what to expect," Bobo said. "They're going to play aggressive, they're going to play hard and they're going to come after you. I know they scored 44 on them and that's the highest output anybody's scored on them. I think they're a very good defensive football team. I expected with that being a high-scoring league, that they would give up more points."

And finally, here's an article from David Birkett of the Journal Register News Service, giving us an update on Ikaika Alama-Francis, who may get an opportunity to start next season.

The Lions spent a second-round draft pick on Ikaika Alama-Francis in April expecting him to eventually be a starter.

Next year might be eventually.

With Kalimba Edwards likely to be released in the offseason, Alama-Francis could have every opportunity to win a job in camp. The Lions have several holes to address on defense -- linebacker and cornerback chief among them -- but need to upgrade their pass rush desperately.

"I'm counting on him being a major factor, really," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said. "I've looked at him inside as a pass rusher (in nickel situations). He's a big, strong left end and he's got a great motor. He's a want-to type of guy."

Still, he was poised to crack the rotation midseason until a pulled hamstring sidelined him for three games. Two weeks ago he returned and passed Edwards on the depth chart, and last week he made four tackles (two solo) in a 51-14 loss to San Diego.

"That's what I'm working for," Alama-Francis said when asked if he envisions himself as a starter next year. "The more I'm out there the better everything feels. And when you have that confidence level you tend to play a lot better."

Friday Night Videos: C&K Show 10, AC, Champions!

C&K got a new show. In Part 1, they talk about the Sugar Bowl, how potent UH's offense is, Victor Clore's bull episode, and visiting the Rainbowtique.



In Part 2, they visit it:



C&K, getting more and more famous. They should've gotten some free clothes for that long promotional video.

======

Last night, former UH basketball player AC Carter nailed the game-winning shot for the Denver Nuggets.



Still got it!

======

And do you realize in the video game world, Hawaii is NATIONAL CHAMPS!?!?!?!



You can check out the playoff games here:

UH vs USC
UH vs LSU
UH vs Georgia

Thanks for UH Bows for uploading these vids.

Thursday night news

Boise giving us some best wishes as they get ready for their game. Also, tickets will go on sale to the HAWAII public only. More previews of the game as well.



Also, KHON is doing a game by game recap of the season. Game 1: No. Colorado Game 2: La Tech. Game 3: UNLV
Game 4: Charleston Southern

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.

UGA Prepares, National Profiles

AJC's Carter Strickland writes about the Georgia coaches teaching their players about Polynesian culture.

But Mike Bobo wasn't interested in showing the players the dance as they sat in the offensive meeting room earlier this week. Instead, Georgia's offensive coordinator wanted his players to learn why the Warriors do the dance, its origin and its meaning.

"We have been talking to the [players] about their tradition and what to expect," Bobo said. "We are trying to give them some history lessons. The more you can familiarize them with what they are going through and what they are playing for, it helps make our guys more aware of what to expect."

David Ching of the Ledger-Enquirer writes about Georgia scout QB Logan Gray trying to mimic Colt Brennan.

The Georgia freshman quarterback is doing his best Colt Brennan impression during Sugar Bowl practice, trying to simulate the run-and-shoot passing attack that helped the Hawaii quarterback become a Heisman Trophy finalist.

But asking Gray and the rest of the scout team to provide a close simulation of the nation's highest-scoring offense is a tall order.

"I can't sit here and say he throws the ball as good as Colt Brennan. It's so hard to simulate what they're doing with our guys," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "You draw on a card and you say, 'Read this card and do it the way they're doing it.' It's just impossible.

From a few days ago, here's video from Online Athens of some Georgia players talking about facing UH.

David Ching also writes about Hawaii's improved defense.

"(Hawaii isn't) overly sophisticated in what they do, but they do what they do well," Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford said.

Tailback Thomas Brown took it a step further, saying that Georgia's offense needs an effective game not only for its own sake, but to benefit the defense by keeping Brennan and the high-powered offense on the sideline.

"The defense doesn't get much credit, but they're a lot better than they were last year," Brown said. "They've gotten better in that phase of the game and they're gonna be a challenge for us. I think it's gonna be important, especially for us as an offense, to make sure we don't turn the ball over and keep (the offense) off the field as much as possible."

T Kyle King of DawgSports.com takes a look at Hawaii's passing game.

This may shock you to learn, but Hawaii can throw the ball. The Warriors rank second in the nation in passing offense with 450.2 yards per game through the air and their numbers are just plain gaudy: 50.5 attempts per contest, 8.9 yards per pass, a 70 per cent completion rate, and 50 touchdowns through the air. That just ain't right.

June Jones has more praise for Georgia.

"I think every player on their team will play in the National Football League," said the former NFL coach and quarterback. "They've got a lot of talent. They've got some young kids playing, too. But right now, they already look like they can play in the NFL."

Jones, who played and coached with the Atlanta Falcons, said Georgia has fast skill position players, a young and athletic offensive line and a running back, "who is one of a kind." Georgia freshman Knowshon Moreno has run for 1,273 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Via the Leahey blog, here's a short video clip of Coach Jones praising Georgia on "Sports Unfiltered with Dennis Miller."

Amy Brittain of the Christian Science Monitor takes a look at the Warriors and writes about the budget disparity between UH and a BCS team like Georgia.

Georgia's football program alone brings in more than $60.3 million in revenue compared to Hawaii's $7.5 million. Hawaii's underdog story is a nostalgic reminder of an era when a team's budget/deficit column wasn't correlated to its win/loss column.

"There is typically a decided advantage for well-funded schools such as Georgia," says David Carter, director of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. "In preparation for game day, these programs typically have better support for training and academics."

David Leon Moore profiles the Warriors for USA Today.

Jones, who played quarterback at Hawaii in the early 1970s, played in the NFL and eventually was the Atlanta Falcons' head coach for three seasons, says this year's team has especially embraced the concept of ohana. It also has four wins — two in overtime — in which it scored the tying or winning points in the final 1:34 of regulation. "This team is very connected," he says. "They really love each other. And they believe in fighting through adversity. … That's what makes it special."

Wednesday news

Sorry so late Tombo, don't be mad at me...

Anyways, news from practice. The guys are anxious for the game. JJ also was 3rd in the voting for AP Coach of the Year.



oh, and if you missed this earlier in tombo's previous blog, the advertiser's mighty Princess Leila has a funny video with the players and their 12 Days of Christmas rendition.

Die-Hards, Rivers, 15, Unlicensed, Etc

Dan Nakaso profiles some die-hard fans who have supported the team through the years, through thick and thin.

No matter how lopsided the score over the years, no matter how much it rained and no matter how many other University of Hawai'i football "fans" were already in their dry cars headed home, the real UH faithful stayed to the end of every game.

"There was plenty of good cause for us to leave early, but we didn't," said Gilbert Leong of Kailua, who has held season tickets for more than 30 years. "I told my grandsons, 'We're sitting through these games as penance to get to heaven.' "

Stephen Tsai writes a great profile of Jason Rivers.

Linebacker Timo Paepule and Rivers have been teammates and close friends since their freshman year at Saint Louis School.

"I love that guy," Paepule said. "He's really grown and matured. One thing about Jason is he's had a rough life. A lot of people don't know that. That's something personal for him. To see how he grew up and how he changed his life, that's something. He's really spiritual now."

Dave Reardon has a few notes from practice and writes about the calls to have Colt Brennan's number retired.

"His number should be retired, for what he's done for the state of Hawaii and what he's done for the football team," junior linebacker Solomon Elimimian said. "Not just wins and losses, but how he's touched people outside of football. He's such a giving person, with such a big heart. He'll never tell a teammate no. He's so humble, he reaches kids. He's such a good person, his heart.

"People ask Colt for a lot of things, and there's a lot of stress on him, but he never says no."

UH is warning fans about counterfeit merchandise.

With the popularity of the unbeaten (12-0), Sugar Bowl-bound Warrior football team, UH said it has been made aware that non-licensed products, including "some with designs that some people may find offensive," have surfaced, according to Carolyn Tanaka, UH vice president for external affairs and university relations.

Josh Kendall of the Dawg Post writes about that mysterious offense known as the run and shoot.

If the system is so wonderful, why aren’t their more copycats? The spread offense seemingly has swept the naton due to its success at places like West Virginia and Florida, but the run-and-shoot remains marooned in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with only one true devotee. Neither Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt nor defensive coordinator Willie Martinez can remember facing a true run-and-shoot.

“I don’t think anybody is willing or patient enough to do that,” Richt said. “A lot of people feel like you have to have some kind of balance in your running game or you can’t survive in anybody’s league. You’ve just got to be sold out to it. The head coach has got to be sold out to it, and the coordinators have to be sold out to it.”

Another reason why Hawaii is lucky to have Coach Jones.

And finally The Wizard of Odds has a very interesting post about which teams and conferences log a lot of miles for out-of-conference games, and which ones don't.

* Georgia has traveled a total of 358 miles for nonconference road games since 1998. By comparison, Hawaii has traveled 72,918 miles.
* Teams from the Southeastern Conference hold down seven of the top eight spots for teams having traveled the fewest miles. This includes Florida, which last played a nonconference road game outside of the Sunshine State on Sept. 21, 1991, at Syracuse (a 38-21 Gator loss).
* The Western Athletic Conference is the most traveled conference, having covered 327,521 miles. The SEC is last at 42,141.

Road Warriors indeed.

Sugar Bowl Links, Vid, Blogs, UGA Articles, UH Fans

A little late in the game, but I've posted some Sugar Bowl info links on the top right of the blog. It includes the UH Sugar Bowl web page, Superdome seating chart, some restaurant recommendations from the Georgia Sports Blog, etc. Let me know if there's anything I could add to it.

In this Leila Wai video, UH football players and coaches count down the 12 days of Christmas. Hehe.

Dave Reardon has a blog post with all kinds of stuff - he has additional info on the Star-Bulletin's Dream Season magazine, some news that Victor Clore did not fall off a bull, and info on a new contest that might be of some interest to UH fans:

KGMB9 and HMSA are giving away tickets to the Sugar Bowl, and not just any tickets; luxury box tickets. Five winners will each receive two VIP tickets.

It’s one of those tell them why you deserve it deals. The winners will be announced Friday morning, during Sunrise on KGMB9.

The deadline to enter is Thursday night, a minute before midnight.

E-mail suitetickets@kgmb9.com to enter. Provide your name, phone number, address, e-mail address and why you and your guest should go to the game. You must be a current Hawaii resident.

Sweet.

Stephen Tsai's blog has links to more videos, an addressing of the bull situation, a cool letter, and info about the Advertiser's upcoming magazine about the 2007 season:

Did I mention our newspaper is coming out with a book on the UH football season?
It's due out in mid-January, and will include stories/photos on the Sugar Bowl.

Marc Weizer of the Athens Banner-Herald writes about Hawaii, the WAC, and non-BCS schools playing in BCS games.

The success of Boise State and Hawaii has brought pride to other WAC programs, who hope to be the next program to break through on the big stage against the major conferences.

"It's great," said Fresno State coach Pat Hill, whose team rose to as high as No. 8 in the nation in 2001. "We're always competing against the Pac-10 out here in recruiting. It's very difficult for us to recruit, but if you look at the last six years, there's only one school (Southern California) from that league that's gone to a BCS game and we've had two from our league go. ... people are starting to see there's a lot of good football teams in this country. If you take the name off the helmet or off the jersey and just let them play football, I think a lot of people would understand that."

Carter Strickland of AJC writes about bowl games providing opportunities for teams to run trick plays.

"Now [that] we have 25 to 30 days, we can run every play that you can ever think of," said wide receiver Mikey Henderson. "There is always something you are going to run and something you can dedicate 10 or 15 minutes (of practice) to."

However, I don't get this:

Hawaii's entire offense is tricked up, so it might be a stretch to see the Warriors put in a trick play. But Georgia may have to figure out a way to keep up with the Warriors. Against an over-pursuing defense like Hawaii's, a trick play can come in handy.

Because passing the ball is so tricky? What? Anyway:

"You will look for something that will become an easy score," said Georgia coach Mark Richt. "You hope sometimes it looks like a true razzle-dazzle double-reverse pass. But sometimes it is just showing one look over and over and then showing that look and doing something else that might be a little more subtle."

It could also be a simple switch in tendencies. During a normal week, players can watch film for, well, a week. Georgia has 30 days to figure out Hawaii. And Hawaii has the same amount of time to figure out Georgia.

"They can go back and look at every game you have played and every breakdown because there is so much film and so much more time," Henderson said. "There are not as many (committed) hours because they don't have school. Then you can look at yourself and see what you have done."

And finally, The New Orleans Times-Picayune has an article about the impact the bowl games are having on New Orleans' economy. And guess what fan base is supplying a lot of tourist dollars to the city?

In fact, the interest from Hawaii fans has been the surprise highlight for hoteliers, who initially worried that the distant school's fans would not travel in large numbers. But the college sold out of its initial allotment of 13,500 tickets and requested 1,000 more.

"I will tell you that it has been quite a nice surprise that Sugar Bowl demand has been high," Sawyers said. "We all know Georgia travels well, but Hawaii has been a surprise."

John McNamara, Hawaii's associate athletic director, said the excitement stems from several factors: the team's undefeated season, a Heisman Trophy-nominated player and the fact that the Sugar Bowl will be the school's first appearance in a BCS game.

Hawaii's excitement about the game may turn into a financial windfall for local businesses, because Hawaii fans are making a long vacation of their jaunt to the mainland, booking five- to seven-night stays in New Orleans.

"We were shocked that the market from Hawaii came on so strong," said Bob Bourg, general manager of Destination Management Inc., the official travel company of the Sugar Bowl. "We didn't anticipate that because it was so far away and there was no history. It's such a long distance, but these people, they're so excited."

That's great to hear. There's been a lot of people underestimating the UH fan base lately...

Practice, Bo, Tickets, Parties, Etc

Dave Reardon writes about the Warriors practicing next to the Boise State Broncos yesterday, and talks to the offensive line about playing against Georgia's defensive line.

They're the first wave of a UGA defense that produced 34 sacks. UH center John Estes said the group looks on tape to be better than any other D-line the Warriors have faced this season.

"They have a combination of size, strength and speed," Estes said. "Most teams, one guy will be quick, but he won't be strong. Vice versa. But these guys, all four, they can change up with swim, speed rush, they can bull you."

Stephen Tsai writes about Bo Mitchell's commit to the Warriors.

"Hawai'i is getting a good one," Katy coach Gary Joseph said. "He's a good player and a good person. He's a feel-good story."

Joseph said Mitchell was a backup on Katy's freshman team. He had limited time as a sophomore. But Mitchell emerged as a starter as a junior, and this season is one of the team captains.

Joseph said Mitchell is 28-1 as a starter.

Katy has been ranked as high as No. 3 nationally. Katy is No. 4 in the last USA Today's Super 25 rankings.

Stephen Tsai writes that Scout Team Player of the Year Jake Santos won't be able to make the trip.

"I feel terrible for him," said defensive coordinator Greg McMackin, whose first-team defense competes against the Santos-led scout offense in practices. "He's done a great job, and he's prepared us every week. He has a lot to do with our defense being successful."

An NCAA rule requires Santos, who transferred from Division II Missouri Southern in July, to wait an academic year to gain eligibility as a Division I-A player.

"He's eligible to practice, but not eligible to compete," UH compliance officer Bill Bryant said.

He says that he'll end up paying his way to support the team. That just sucks, but glad he can still make it out. Tsai also writes about offensive lineman Laupepa Letuli, practicing as a perimeter blocker.

Letuli has been competing as a perimeter blocker — tight end? — in recent practices.

"I think he's going to be a great player," offensive line coach Dennis McKnight said. "I think potentially he could become one of the best offensive linemen to ever come out of this school. He's big, strong, athletic, fast. His top end is unlimited. He could be a dominant, dominant player."

As Hawaii season-ticket holders receive their Sugar Bowl tickets, Dan Nakaso writes that some fans are surprised and upset at where they're sitting.

UH season-ticket holder Jon Tesoro knew he had bad seats when he opened his tickets and saw that he would be near the end zone nearest to the UH cheering section.

Then Tesoro heard from Gino Patague, his computer specialist co-worker and fellow UH season-ticket holder, whose seats are directly behind the same end zone but at the top of the Superdome in section 625.

"The angle is a little bit off for my seats," said Tesoro, who'll be sitting in the 29th row of section 124. "But Gino's got it worse. He wishes he had my tickets."

While many fans got tickets behind or near the end zone, others received great seats near the 50-yard line.

Jay Ogata, 22, and his group of five friends from Central O'ahu are happy with the seats they got in section 138 near the 10-yard line.

But Ogata can't figure out why UH put his group near the Georgia sideline in the Georgia cheering section.

"I'm happy that our seats are good and they're not in the end zone," Ogata said. "But, buying our seats through UH, I'm shocked that we're not in the Hawai'i section. It makes no sense to me. I called the Stan Sheriff (box office) and they couldn't explain how it happened."

Well, I haven't received my tickets yet. Not looking good!

Rosemarie Bernardo has some details on the ticket sales, with some still available to season ticket holders. On the same page, Gary C.W. Chun writes about a Sugar Bowl party to be held at the Blaisdell.

Those who can't afford that trip to New Orleans can head for the Blaisdell Arena on New Year's Day instead, and it'll cost thousands less. Nothing, in fact.

Pono Shim of Concierge Services at the Ward Entertainment Complex is throwing the "Largest Shuga Party in Hawaii," beginning at 2:45 p.m. Jan. 1, with the game between Hawaii and Georgia shown on two extra-large high-definition screens.

Meanwhile Cindy Luis writes about the Hawaiian Cajun Bash being held in New Orleans.

Through a friend who recently moved from New Orleans to Honolulu, Murphy was able to obtain Generations Hall, a facility that can accommodate up to 5,000 people with the option of a tented parking lot for additional guests.

"If we get a huge response, we'll use the tents, close the street and have a block party," said Murphy, who does just that for the annual Pigskin Pigout and St. Patrick's Day celebrations at his restaurant.

The tickets are $125 for adults, $50 for ages 20 and under. It will be $150 at the door.

Uhwarriors has details of a Sportshawaii.com tailgate at Johnny White's.

Irse K5 has The Greatest Season UH football special up.

Yet another article about Georgia QB Matthew Stafford and how he stacks up against Colt.

Carter Strickland of the AJC talks to WAC coaches and Georgia players about Hawaii's defense.

"They've really made some great strides on defense," said Boise State coach Chris Peterson. "They really attack you.

"Hawaii's always scored a lot of points (but) they've probably taken more strides on the defensive side of the ball than anywhere else," he said. "They lead the nation in scoring, so they do about as well as they can do there, but (defense is) where they make it tough. Their defense has tightened up and you've got to score with them. So when the defense is playing well and playing their game, they're tough to beat."

"I don't think we have seen a defense that fights like theirs does from the snap of the ball to the end of the play they are fighting as hard as they can and they truly are warriors," said Georgia tight end Tripp Chandler. "We have to come out there with the mindset they are going to fight us for four quarters and 60 minutes and if we don't come out there and fight just as hard for just as long they can beat us. There is no doubt about it they can beat us."

Josh Kendall of the Macon Telegraph has some Bulldog news and notes, including details about Georgia trying to simulate the run-and-shoot.

Freshmen wide receivers Walter Hill, Israel Troupe and tight end/wide receiver Aron White are getting plenty of work this week, but it's a tall task, head coach Mark Richt said.

"It's so hard to simulate what they are doing with our guys," Richt said. "You are drawing these plays up on cards and showing it to them and saying, 'Go do it.' It's just nearly impossible."

Freshman quarterback Logan Gray is simulating the Warriors' quarterback, Heisman Trophy finalist Colt Brennan.

And finally, Nick Abramo talks to former Warrior and current Dolphin Samson Satele.

"We finally got one and I'm real happy about it," Satele said in a phone interview. "We did it with more effort, by playing harder. We had a Christmas dinner (for the Dolphins' offensive linemen on Monday) and I can say it was a better dinner (than it would have been). It was real cool, real fun."

But does one win wipe out the 13 miserable losses, and is there a bigger pot of gold down the road somewhere?

"Yeah," the 23-year-old Satele laughed about that latter, precious-metal part. "This is a business and I can't just quit. This is my team and this is my job. Everybody hates to lose. Of course it would be better to be 12-0 like the Warriors instead of (1-13).

"It's all the little stuff that every coach talks about. All the little stuff that sets you back and you lose by three points. It's been close."

UPDATE: One more article from David Ching of the Ledger-Enquirer, who talks to some Bulldogs about facing Hawaii's offense.

"At first, the defense was like, 'Man, we've got to play against Hawaii. They're gonna just throw the ball. We're gonna be out there tired like we were against Troy,'" Georgia defensive end Marcus Howard said. "But then when you just think about it, you want to showcase your athletic ability and the best way to do that is to play against the pass and play against a great quarterback in (Hawaii's) Colt Brennan.

"The defensive backs, they're gonna have a great time to showcase their talent because this will be the best set of wide receivers that we've played all year."

Bo, Autographs, Vids, NOLA Parties, SB Mag

Stephen Tsai writes that quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell of Katy High School in Texas has committed to UH.

"I'm going to be a Warrior," said Mitchell, whose 15-0 team has been ranked as high as third nationally.

Mitchell, who said he is 6-feet-1 1/2 and 195 pounds, has thrown for 38 touchdowns this season. He has been intercepted only four times. His team plays for the state championship Saturday.

Congratulations to Bo!

There will be an autograph session this Saturday.

University of Hawai`i football players and coaches will be available for autographs on Saturday, Dec. 22, from noon until 1:00 p.m. on UH's soccer field, which is adjacent to the football practice field.

Fans requesting quarterback Colt Brennan's autograph will be limited to one item with his signature only. Items will not be personalized or include special notes. He will also not pose for photos in order to accommodate as many fans as possible with autographs.

This will be the final time before the Allstate Sugar Bowl that UH players and coaches will be available for autographs and public appearances.

Chawan compiles tonight's news coverage from KHNL, KGMB, KITV and KHON.



On his blog, Reardon reports on Bo's commit, and has info on a gathering place for UH fans going to New Orleans.

Lynn & Jeaneen Sapir are the owners of Johnny White’s Pub & Grill on Bourbon Street, and Lynn is from Hawaii — so you know what that means!!!

On New Years Eve food will be served until 7 pm and then a $10 cover will be charged with a one drink minimum. It will be first come first serve without in and out privileges. ESPN’s 1420 Sports Animals will broadcast from 7 pm till 10 pm from the balcony.

On January 1st there will be a tailgate buffet type event for $20 from 1 pm until 6:30 pm. In and out with a stamp. This offer is for Hawaii fans, who are requested to wear green. ESPN 1420 will broadcast a pre-game show from our balcony from 5:30pm till 7:30 pm.

Via Sportshawaii, Na Koa will be hosting a "Cajun-Warriors New Year's Eve Bash" in New Orleans. Details can be found at www.hawaiiancajunbash.com

Planning to ring in the new year in the Big Easy? Visitors in town for the BCS Allstate Sugar Bowl are invited to join the "Cajun-Warriors New Year's Eve Bash" - a one-of-a-kind party featuring University of Hawaii football coach June Jones; the UH band and cheerleaders; great Cajun food stations; live entertainment including Cajun and Blues music, mardi gras festivities and much more!

Net proceeds from the "Cajun-Warriors New Year's Eve Bash" will benefit the Na Koa Football Club as well as the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity on behalf of the University of Hawaii.

And if you haven't seen this already, The Star-Bulletin will be putting out a special "Dream Season" magazine, recapping UH's undefeated season. You can order it here. Dave has more details about it here.

The Warriors' Biggest Little Fan

This young UH football supporter shares his strategy for taking on the Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl.



Word has it that no team he's ever cheered for has lost a game. Awww yeah.

Thanks to Devan!

Monday night news

Here's a compilation of last night's stuff. News from practice and news of tickets.




Also, KHON is doing a countdown of the 12 games of the season in leading up to the bowl game. Here's Game #1 vs Northern Colorado:

Khevin, Victor, Colt, UGA Articles

Dave Reardon profiles running back Khevin Peoples, who despite injuries and low depth chart standing, has remained enthusiastic and been a valuable member of the team.

Khevin Peoples is a scout team running back for the Warriors. At practice yesterday for the Sugar Bowl, he impersonated Knowshon Moreno -- the Dawgs' talented and precocious running back, UGA's best freshman ball carrier since Herschel Walker.

Of course, Peoples would rather have a starring role as the 10th-ranked Warriors (12-0) go up against No. 4 Georgia (10-2) in the Jan. 1 BCS bowl game at the Superdome in New Orleans. Both of his parents (mother Regina was an Auburn track star) thrived in competition against the Bulldogs and other SEC schools.

But the junior from Tampa, Fla., knows his task is important, though relatively thankless.

"It's a job that I was given. I'm not gonna turn my nose up at anything, be it scout team or whatever it is," Peoples said. "An opportunity like this, it really feels good. I'm physically getting back into what I used to know playing football in the South. I was brought up with the I-formation and running straight at you. Spreading out, four recievers, I really wasn't brought up with, it wasn't shown to me."

Stephen Tsai writes that Victor Clore fell off a bull.

Clore suffered a separated acromioclavicular joint and a fracture in his right shoulder when he was thrown while riding a bull Friday.

Clore asked if he could tag along with linebacker Brad Kalilimoku, who is a paniolo.

"He wanted to come to the ranch (at Whitmore Village), so I took him to the ranch," Kalilimoku said.

Kalilimoku said he put Clore on a bull that has "good and bad days."

Man, that's definitely a story to tell the grandkids one day. Also from that article, Tsai writes about Karl Noa and Amani Purcell switching sides on the defensive line.

Tsai also writes that Colt is officially off probation.

"I did the time," Brennan said. "Now I'm a normal kid again."

Brennan, who developed into a Heisman Trophy finalist in his third season at UH, has been a model citizen since arriving in Hawai'i in July 2005. He has been a frequent speaker at juvenile-detention centers in Hawai'i.

Colt goes on to talk about preparing for Georgia.

Josh Kendall of The Macon Telegraph writes about Georgia's view of Polynesian culture.

Hawaii head coach June Jones speculated Monday that no Georgia player has ever met a person of Polynesian descent, and he probably would be right if not for cornerback Thomas Flowers.

Flowers' father lives in Seattle, and Flowers has spent enough time there to count a few Samoans as friends.

"They can cook good, I know that," he said. "It's really good food, seriously."

Beyond that, "I'm clueless, really," on the Polynesian culture, Flowers said.

David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press writes about June Jones' very high praise of Georgia.

There is praise, there is significant praise, and then there is overdoing it.

Hawaii football coach June Jones likely did the latter Monday afternoon when discussing the New Year's night Sugar Bowl matchup against the Georgia Bulldogs.

"They are by far the best team we've played since I've been here," Jones said on a Western Athletic Conference teleconference. "They have a lot of great athletes and a lot of speed, and we're going to have to play a perfect game to hang with them."

Jones, who is in his ninth year with the Warriors, must believe the Bulldogs are superior to the recent stalwart known as Southern California.

How is he overdoing it? This is after all, "SEC football" -- the greatest conference in all the land, might as well not show up, and all that.

You can listen to June's teleconference on this WAC page.

David Ching of the Ledger-Enquirer writes about the BCS money helping out non-BCS schools like Hawaii.

"We have new football offices that were halfway built three years ago and they've never been completed because they ran out of money," Hawaii coach June Jones said. "Hopefully the money will go to that and those type of things will be improved. We have a lot of things that need to be done and I'm sure this will start the ball rolling anyway."

In fact, the needs are so numerous on the Hawaii campus that mild squabbling over how the money would be spent started as soon as it became clear the Warriors were in position for the school's first BCS appearance.

Jones expressed confidence on Monday that help was on the way.

"I think the season we've had has brought attention to the legislators and the people in town that understand how we've gotten this thing done and made it visible that we need more help from (the state legislature), and I think that's taking place," he said.

"I think the actual check itself will obviously be of help, but at the same time we have big needs. The $4.2 million will probably do some of the things that we need repaired more than anything."

Ching also has some news and notes.

Carter Strickland of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes that Georgia is looking at the Sugar Bowl as a springboard to the 2008 season.

"If we win this [bowl] game, we will be in the top five, top three in the country," said running back Thomas Brown, when speaking about playing Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. "If we can start early in the top three or top five [next season], we can do a lot easier than where we started this season, as far as getting to the national title game."

"The way it is set up, it is very important where you are ranked [in the] preseason," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "You hate to say much about it, but it is the way that it is."

And finally, Kalani Simpson writes... an interesting column.

But as far as Hawaii cashing that BCS-bowl check, Herman is the MVP.

This is Herman's schedule Hawaii went 12-0 with. UH getting these BCS millions is his greatest feat.

More Tickets Available

FYI, from UH:

One thousand (1,000) additional tickets to the Allstate Sugar Bowl will be available Tuesday, Dec. 18, exclusively to UH football season-ticket holders who have not yet had the chance to purchase them. Call backs have been completed to UH football season-ticket holders who were on the initial waiting list.

UH will begin taking ticket requests (maximum of six) by phone (956-4482, 4483, 4484) from season-ticket holders beginning Tuesday at 8:00 a.m. and continue until the ticket office closes Tuesday at 4:00 p.m.

If the number of tickets requested exceeds the number of available tickets, a lottery system will be used to select those who will receive them. Tickets will not be issued on a first-come, first-served basis, so any season-ticket holder calling Tuesday between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. will have equal access to tickets.

The ticket office will return calls on Wednesday, Dec. 19, to finalize ticket purchases.

Colt Grads, Jason Ferguson, Stafford, Pros

UPDATE: Chawan has a compilation of last night's news about the UH commencement ceremonies.



Lots of coverage about Colt Brennan graduation - from the AP, the Star-Bulletin, and the Advertiser.

"It feels like it took forever for me to be done," Brennan said. "And for me, to finally accomplish it, it's a great feeling. The best thing is to get a degree from this school. This place is unique. You really feel special coming to the University of Hawai'i, especially this being the school's 100th year."

Jason Kaneshiro profiles Jason Ferguson, who despite a career-ending knee injury, has continued to support and cheer on his teammates this season.

Though the injury effectively ended Ferguson's career, he remained a regular presence around the program and was around to savor UH's run to the Western Athletic Conference title and BCS berth this season.

"As far as being a part of this team, it's amazing. I wouldn't trade it for the world," Ferguson said. "The relationships I have with these guys kept me involved."

He could often be seen prowling the Aloha Stadium sideline this fall -- eye-black and all -- poised to offer encouragement or advice to his teammates.

And here's another article about Georgia QB Matthew Stafford, with yet more emphasis on stats not mattering.

Meanwhile Stafford has only 81 completions in that time frame. Contrast that with Hawaii's Colt Brennan, Stafford's counterpart in the Sugar Bowl. He has 185 completions in the past six games. (In one of those game Brennan attempted and completed only two passes due to injury.) Those are two extremes, but there is little doubt Stafford could do what Brennan has done given that type of offense.

Or in other words, "You guys are great and all, but we could lead the nation in scoring too. We just choose not to." Why, how generous of you!

And finally, congratulations to Reagan Mauia and Samson Satele for being part of the Dolphins first victory of the season! They also played well, according to the Sun-Sentinel:

One other bright spot: Excellent blocking from C Samson Satele and FB Reagan Mauia on Gado's 7-yard TD run up the middle.

And the Advertiser has more Warriors in the Pros news:

Defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis of Detroit, a Kalaheo High and UH alum, had three tackles and two assists in a 51-14 loss to the Chargers.

Punter Mat McBriar of Dallas, a UH alum, had seven punts for a 50.1 average with a long of 58 in a 10-6 loss to the Eagles.

June Jones Profile, Cheer, Road Unis, Libre, Etc.

Stephen Tsai has a great feature article on June Jones. Here are the opening sentences:

The dream should have ended before it was conceived.

It should have been buried in the rubble that was once a black Lincoln Town Car, left abandoned among the broken glass and crushed metal on the H-1 Freeway that February morning in 2001.

The car accident was so horrendous that the driver's mother was told, later, that paramedics were calling in a "DOA" (dead on arrival).

Tsai recounts the story of June's accident, his recovery, his outlook on life, the good he's done -- a summary won't do it justice so go read it! And when you're done with that article, be sure to check out J. David Miller's Hawaiʻi Warrior Football if you haven't already. I'm in the middle of reading it, and so far it's awesome -- you get to know the kind of person June is, and how he's affected people in and out of football, what he's done for the program, etc. I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to review it anytime soon, but you can read Gigi Hawaii's review here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. And you can buy the book from Warriors Respond, and many other places.

Ferd Lewis has a glossary of terminology for the people traveling to New Orleans. Some examples:

• Beignet (bin-yey): French doughnut, minus the hole, that resembles a square malasada with powdered sugar. The width of one is about how close Georgia came to playing in the Bowl Championship Series national title game.


• Do-do (dough-dough): Sleepy, said to come from the French verb dormir (to sleep). What happens if you try to figure out BCS formulas.


• Elleshew (ella-e-shoo): LSU, as in Louisiana State University from down the road in Baton Rouge. The pride of the state and the team UH would have played if the Tigers didn't vault over Georgia for a place in the BCS national title game.

Gary C.W. Chun writes about the UH band, dancers and cheerleaders, who will be performing at the Sugar Bowl.

Finals were done that day and an aftermath of post-test weariness was evident. Still, the band gamely ran through their 5-minute pre-game performance, one that will be televised nationwide on New Year's Day from the New Orleans Superdome before the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

With the help of assistant band director Gwen Nakamura and a trio of student conductors, the 270-piece band went through their paces and formations in a brief program that includes the school's alma mater, the "Hawaiian War Chant" and a bit of "Hawaii Five-O."

The show features the band in full-dress uniforms -- plus featured baton twirler Shannon Dresser, the 20-member cheerleading squad and 25 Rainbow Dancers.

Brian McInnis writes about UH wearing their road uniforms in the Sugar Bowl.

Once the hallmark of Hawaii's futility away from Aloha Stadium, the Warriors' road white uniforms have become a symbol of the team's grit and resiliency against long odds in their first BCS bowl season.

On four occasions during the regular campaign -- road games at Louisiana Tech, San Jose State and Nevada, and the home finale vs. Washington -- the Warriors pulled off comeback wins through a number of different playmakers and heroes.

There was some consistency there, however. Gerard Lewis' batted pass, Colt Brennan's rousing fourth-quarter and overtime performance, followed by Myron Newberry's interception, Dan Kelly's kick and Ryan Mouton's pick. All of that occurred when the Warriors donned their white-and-silver road garb.

Not surprisingly, coach June Jones has no problem with his Warriors wearing their roadies in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against No. 4 Georgia on New Years Day, where the Bulldogs, the designated home team, claimed their all-black uniforms as their attire of choice.

Brendan Shriane has a great profile of running back Daniel Libre.

Undaunted, Libre went right back to Hawaii, where he's made his mark this year, rushing for 183 yards on 22 carries with a long of 44 yards in three games for the Warriors after converting from slotback to running back in coach June Jones' spread offense.

"It's real exciting. It all came on pretty fast," said Libre, the only Big Islander on the current Warrior roster -- incoming freshman offensive lineman Levi Legay of Kealakehe will join the team next spring.

Libre said he was looking at a probable redshirt year in 2007 before moving his way up the depth chart with what is quickly becoming a trademark for him -- hard work and determination.

"Finally," his father, Lydell Libre, who's a JROTC instructor and riflery coach at Konawaena High, said. "He never gave up -- he perservered -- he finally got to where he wanted to be.

Marc Weizer of Online Athens profiles Georgia QB Matt Stafford. Comparisons with Colt Brennan get brought up a lot.

Stafford has been pegged with NFL potential written all over him. He sees the 4,174 passing yards that Brennan put up this year and knows that he's capable of putting up similar numbers if asked.

"It'll come," Stafford said. "I'm still young. Obviously I expect a lot of myself this year, but I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing and keep plugging away."

If he does, Richt believes Stafford's career will continue on the upswing.

"He's been a very good leader for us, a winner for us," Richt said. "I think his best years are yet to come statistically. He'll be much more grown up at his position and up front, I think our skill players will be mature enough for him to have a really fine season as a winner but also, statistically, I think those numbers will rise."

And finally, Chawan has a compilation of last night's news from KITV, KHON and KHNL:



...okay, forgot to include this article by Derrick DePledge about the various factions at UH already fighting over the BCS money. Fun!

The push and pull over whether to spend the payout on the athletic department — which is most responsible for the bonus — or the rest of the campus — which is in much need of repair — started soon after the Warriors' come-from-behind victory over the University of Washington that helped send them to the Sugar Bowl.

It would probably not be an issue at all, since the amount of money is marginal in the context of Manoa's budget, but it is symbolic given the university's persistent complaints about aging facilities.

...and here's a great season recap video by Leila Wai.

News Vids: Practice Practice Practice

Chawan Cut compiles last night's news coverage from KHON, KITV, KGMB and KHNL. Mostly about practice, though Liz Chun also reports about some fans calling for Colt's jersey number to be retired.

Practices, Turtle, Sugar, Lucious is Back

Dave Reardon writes about the second day of practice, has injury updates on Jacob Patek and Keao Monteilh, among others, and talks to Mike Lafaele about getting ready for the Sugar Bowl.

The 6-foot-1, 300-pound former offensive lineman thrived, despite a variety of injuries. He enjoyed the 11 days off since the end of the regular season.

"Everything's good, everything's ready," said Lafaele, who graduates next spring with a sociology degree. "Just trying to get back into the groove. Pretty much focused on school these last two weeks, today was the last day to turn in papers and stuff."

Here's an AP article by Jaymes Song from yesterday about the Warriors' return to practice.

Thursday's practice was the first of nine before Hawaii leaves Christmas Day for New Orleans. For the first time this season, Jones has closed the practices to the public to avoid the hoards of fans and autograph seekers who had been attending.

Security guards have also been posted at the practice.

``It's too much autographing,'' Jones said. ``It's taking two hours to get back to the locker room, so I'm just trying to relieve some of that.''

Here's a short report from Georgia's practice, from DawgPost.com:

The Bulldogs (10-2) practiced under the lights on a chilly evening in shoulder pads and helmets. Georgia is scheduled to practice again on Saturday and then Monday through Friday as it prepares for its Jan. 1 meeting with 12-0 Hawaii. All other practices will take place in New Orleans.

Before practice on Friday, Georgia coach Mark Richt met with the media and was asked about the importance of resuming practice.

³I told the staff that I expected them by today, when we meet with our players for the first time in a while, to have a good bit of that game plan ready to implement and not waste a day,² Richt said. ³We have a lot of respect for this team, and we feel like it is going to take everything we have to win it.²

Ferd Lewis writes about the motivational powers of Mark Richt.

And here's a lot more press conference quotes from Richt and some Georgia players. An excerpt:

"The University of Hawaii is undefeated, plain and simple. No one has beaten them. A of teams have had a lead on these guys, but they are very resilient. They will not give up no matter what happens. I've watched a lot of film like we normally do as coaches just to study end zone and side copies. I have also watched a couple of TV copies of some of these games, and it is much more impressive to see them on the TV copy, quite frankly. You get a little better feel for the spirit of the team and just the mental toughness and resilience that they have. I think you have to start with Colt Brennan. There is no question he is the key. You hear about him having a lot of numbers with touchdown passes and yards, and after studying the regular film and the TV copy, he is really good. He is special.

Here's an AP article by Paul Newberry covering the press conference and taking a look at the matchup.

Here's a Dawg Post article by Josh Kendall, titled "Dawgs Know: Hawaii all pass no run", in which the coaches and players discuss facing the UH offense.

Kealoha Pilares is the University of Hawaii’s leading rusher this season. He has 362 yards.

“That speaks a lot,” Georgia cornerback Thomas Flowers said.

What it says is the No. 4 Bulldogs’ defensive backs will be in for a long day when Georgia meets the No. 10 Warriors at 8:30 p.m. Jan. 1 in the Alltel Sugar Bowl. Hawaii, which employs the run-and-shoot offense of former Falcons head coach June Jones, throws the ball on 70 percent of its offensive plays.

“This team right here is just pass, pass, pass,” Flowers said.

You know, he's right. I think they should play eight defensive backs the whole game.

When we last heard from heralded recruit Lucious Henderson back in July of 2006, he was getting ready to enroll in Navarro College due to some academic requirements. Here's what he said at the time:

"I still want to be a Warrior," Henderson said. "This is a little side trip."

And here's what he's saying today:

"I'm coming back to Hawai'i," Henderson said. "I'm coming back home."

Henderson said he has gained about 10 pounds the past two years.

"I'm beefing up to play at the next level," he said.

He added: "I think I got a little better, a little stronger, a little faster."

As a McCallum senior, he ran 40 yards in 4.46 seconds. During training camp in the summer, he sprinted the distance in 4.44 seconds.

Congratulations to Lucious! Now we finally get to hear Jim Leahey call you Delicious, woot woot! Also in that Stephen Tsai article is an injury update on Desmond Thomas, profile of Mike Lafaele and a few words from Le'Marcus Gibson, who will get to go back home for the Sugar Bowl.

And finally, here's more coverage about the songs people are writing about the Warriors.

Graduation, Practice, CJ, SS, Kickers

Stephen Tsai writes about the Warriors getting ready to graduate as they get back to practice.

Brennan met the final requirements when he completed a video project that he used as his thesis.

"I'm just glad to be done," Brennan said. "Now I can focus just on football."

Defensive ends Karl Noa and Amani Purcell, defensive tackle Siave Seti, linebacker Rustin Saole, right guard Larry Sauafea and right wideout C.J. Hawthorne also will graduate.

Jason Kaneshiro has a report from the practice field.

After the relatively light workout, the Warriors pushed through about a half-hour of conditioning drills. It won't be quite as rigorous as training camp, but the Warriors can expect more over the next week or so leading up to their departure.

"Probably the next 10 practices we'll really run a lot and then we'll taper down the week we get down there (to New Orleans)," UH coach June Jones said. "We're just doing our stuff right now we're not really game-planning. Next we'll start that and get two solid weeks of practice of what we need to do."

On the same page, Dave Reardon talks to C.J. Hawthorne about some no-nos in NOLA.

"I think the majority of it is there's going to have to be some self-discipline," Hawthorne said. "I'll definitely try to steer them the right way. This is a business trip for us. There's definitely good things about (New Orleans) and there'll be time for us to have fun. But New Orleans can definitely steer a lot of people the wrong way."

Hawthorne said the streets will be incredibly crowded with all kinds of people celebrating in all kinds of ways. He warns fans as well as teammates to not get separated and lost.

"Everyone's walking, and you can walk into anything," Hawthorne said. "Fun never starts out wanting to be bad. Next thing you know you're in trouble, somebody gets suspended. A little problem can turn into the wildest nightmare."

Dave Reardon also speaks to safety Spencer Smith, who hails from Georgia.

Smith said many of his friends from Kell go to Georgia. The Athens campus is about a 2-to-3 hour drive from Marietta.

"It's a long way. My friends who go there don't come home too often. But a lot of them are making the trip to the game and they're excited. They're excited about us, too. When you grow up in Georgia as a Georgia fan, all you think of is red and black.

"Everybody wants tickets, so it's kind of hard, yeah," said Smith, who has around 40 friends and relatives who want to make the trip. "A lot of my friends go to UGA, so they're talkin' trash already. It's going to be a great experience for everyone."

Nick Abramo profiles former UH and current Cowboys punter Mat McBriar, who has this to say about the Sugar Bowl matchup:

He certainly hasn't forgotten his football roots at UH.

"Oh yeah!" he gushed, when asked about the Warriors' upcoming Sugar Bowl appearance. "I couldn't be happier for June Jones. What a boon for the school to be in a BCS game and in the national championship discussion. I think they can pull it off. I've seen most of the games this year, there's been quite a bit of coverage.

"Some of the guys here came from the SEC, like (tight end) Jason Witten from Tennessee. They think Georgia will be able to run at will. But I doubt there's a corps of receivers as good in the nation as Hawaii's. And I'm pretty sure Hawaii has a better quarterback."

And speaking of former UH kickers now in the pros, here's a profile of Broncos kicker Jason Elam, by Lee Rasizer of the Rocky Mountain News.

Thursday Night News: Back to Practice

KHNL's Jason Tang, KGMB's Liz Chun and KHON's Kanoa Leahey report from the rainy practice field. Chun interviews QB coach Dan Morrison, and Joe Moore has an excerpt from Willie K's arena rock anthem, "Warriors Cry."



And reports about practice, the flight to New Orleans, and the Hawaii Bowl from KITV's Caroline Sluyter, Paula Akana and Robert Kekaula.



Thanks again, Mr. Chawan!

Hay Sup, Colorado, Songs

There's something about this picture that just makes me laugh and laugh. Not exactly sure what it is.



======

The dates for the four future games with Colorado have been finalized.

The first game is set for Sept. 18, 2010, at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo. CU will make a return trip to Honolulu on Sept. 3, 2011, with the other two dates of the series set for Sept. 20, 2014, in Boulder, and Sept. 5, 2015, back at Aloha Stadium.

======

And the Warriors' amazing season has inspired a few musicians to write some songs.

One, "Warriors Cry," was written by Willie K, who performs it with Vili the Warrior and Robert Kekaula. It celebrates the 12-0 season. It will be available for downloading from iTunes (www.itunes.com), beginning Tuesday; a single of the battle cry will be released by OneHawaii the following week and will be available at retail stores.

"I dedicate my performance to June Jones for his love for our state, our people and our culture," said Vili The Warrior, in a statement. "I'd also like to thank Coach Jones for believing in me and for giving birth to Vili The Warrior."

The other, "Hawai'i, We Did It," features lyrics by Frank DeLima and Patrick Downes, and is based on a Tim McGraw composition, "I Like It, I Love It." It was on KSSK Radio, and will likely be posted on DeLima's Web site, www.frankdelima.com, but there are no plans to release it commercially.

Rob DeMello and the Leaheys blogged about this last week -- a musician from Cincinnati named Ryan Parker wrote a song and made a music video about the Warriors. Check it out.

Warriors D, Kiran Kepoʻo, Georgia's D, Halo 3

Stephen Tsai talks to Greg McMackin about the improvement of the UH defense.

This season, opposing offenses converted 28.7 percent of their third-down plays. They were successful on 39.3 percent of third-down plays in 2006 and 48.5 percent in 2005.

"I give the other (assistant) coaches real credit for that," McMackin said. "I sort of introduce everything and teach it to the coaches, and they teach it to the players. I can't ask for a better job they've done."

The previous two years, the Warriors attacked out of 3-4 alignment. This year, McMackin implemented the 4-3 as the base defensive formation. But UH also has an Oky scheme (3-3-5) and two types of nickel defenses (4-2-5) involving different personnel. Including the different blitz plans, the Warriors have used about 140 defensive schemes this season.

"These guys have picked up a pro package, and done it really well," McMackin said.

Dave Reardon has some great news regarding Kiran Kepoʻo.

Kiran Kepo'o won't have a tangible impact on the Allstate Sugar Bowl's outcome, but the fact that the redshirt freshman quarterback is on the Hawaii travel roster of 114 players says a lot.

So does the following sentence, uttered by Kepo'o last night:

"I'm doing fine."

On Sept. 18, Kepo'o was in a bicycle accident on lower campus and ended up with serious head trauma and requiring surgery for a fractured cheek.

Kepo'o has recovered enough to probably start running this week. His goal is to return to active duty with the team in time for spring practice.

In the same article, June Jones praises Georgia's defense:

When June Jones looks at the Georgia Bulldogs defense, he sees a whole different level.
"They look like the Baltimore Ravens," the Hawaii coach said after watching tape of UH's Sugar Bowl opponent. "They've got a whole bunch of guys and they're good at everything. Every one of those guys looks like he will play in the NFL."

The Savannah Morning News discusses the game and some keys to a Georgia victory.

Doesn't take a genius to figure out how to beat Hawaii ... get pressure on Colt Brennan and knock him around. And cover. Hold this WAC Unit of the Year under 24 points and you win the game. And it would help if Knowshon Moreno runs wild, too.

Knowshon will be all jacked up, too. So, don't worry about it. Loosen up. The Bulldogs will hunker down on these guys.

And finally, "Jordan1s" recreates Dan Kelly's clutch game-winning field goal against Nevada... using Halo 3. Awww yeah.

Wednesday Night News: JJ, Hawaii Bowl, Etc

A CC compilation with news of June's Coach of the Year nomination, Detective John Fink promoting the Hawaii Bowl, an ESPN the Magazine controversy, etc.



And from last night's KITV news, Herman Frazier says he's not looking for another job.

Bear Bryant Award, Colt Interview, Sugar Bowl Preview

June Jones is a finalist for the Bear Bryant Coach of the Year award.

University of Hawai`i head football coach June Jones is one of seven finalists up for the 2007 Paul "Bear" Bryant College Coach of the Year. The announcement was made today in Houston by former NFL legend and former Bryant player, Kenny "The Snake" Stabler.

"It is truly an honor to be recognized amongst the top coaches in the country," Jones said. "I was lucky to grow up during that era. Bear was not only a legend, but a real man."

Along with Jones, the other six head coaches are Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech University; Sylvester "Sly" Croom, Mississippi State University; Mark Mangino, University of Kansas; Les Miles, Louisiana State University; Gary Pinkel, University of Missouri; and Ron Zook, University of Illinois.

Congratulations to Coach Jones!

Here's an interview with Colt Brennan from AOL's Dave Hollander. An excerpt:

DH: How about some credit to your co-MVP in last year's Hawaii Bowl, Jason Rivers? Where would you be without him and your other fine receivers?
CB: This season I missed two games due to injury and was knocked out a few games. That’s four victories I only played so much of a part in. When I think about what happened and what developed in those games, it was outstanding play by the receivers, the O-line and running backs and having Tyler Graunke step in and do some big things. I really think Tyler had the confidence he did because he knew the talent he had around him.There's no doubt in my mind that the best receiving corps hands down, without a doubt, in the nation is at the University of Hawaii. I don't even think it's close. What they accomplish collectively, nobody can touch 'em.

And here's a preview of the Sugar Bowl from the AP's Brian Orefice. Lots of quotes from the past week.

Of course, the Warriors defense will have its own hands full, but its challenge will be in stark contrast to Georgia's. Instead of focusing on a senior passer, Hawaii looks to contain a freshman runner.

Following injuries to senior running backs Thomas Brown and Kregg Lumpkin, Knowshon Moreno came out of nowhere to become the focal point of the Bulldogs offense. He finished the regular season with 1,273 yards rushing - second in the SEC behind Arkansas' Darren McFadden - and lit a spark under his team when it was needed most.

"I was just trying to help my team in any way possible," said Moreno, who joined Herschel Walker as the only freshmen in Georgia history to go over 1,000 yards on the ground.

Steven Christian, Herman, All-Americans

Stephen Tsai writes that cornerback Steven Christian has committed to UH.

The Warriors yesterday secured a commitment from Steven Christian, an athletic cornerback from Kennedy High School in Sacramento, Calif.

The Warriors' starting cornerbacks, Gerard Lewis and Myron Newberry, complete their NCAA eligibility at the end of the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl.

"Yes, I'm going to be a Warrior," said Christian, who is 6 feet 1 and 175 pounds.

And funny story about how UH came to recruit him.

He was an inadvertent UH recruit. During an unofficial recruiting visit to the University of Nevada last month, he attended the Warriors' 28-26 victory over the host Wolf Pack.

After the game, he approached UH defensive assistant Terry "Duff" Duffield and defensive coordinator Greg McMackin.

"It started from there," Christian said.

Pretty cool. Congratulations to Steven!

Michael Tsai talks to Herman Frazier about June Jones' contract, rumors, and the ticket fiasco.

A popular question on talk radio and online message boards has been why Frazier didn't survey season-ticket holders to gauge their interest in making the trip. Such a survey, critics have argued, would have provided a ballpark figure that Frazier could have considered before returning 4,000 of the 17,500 tickets UH was allotted.

UH was able to get back 1,500 tickets, but the demand still exceeds the supply.

Frazier said surveying season-ticket holders likely would have yielded misleading data.

"You can do the survey, but how sound is it?" Frazier said. " I'm sure if I did a survey everybody would say, 'Yeah, I want to go.' But everybody can't go. You aren't going to find many people who are going to say no on a survey, especially when they're as enthusiastic as they've been."

Pulling a number out of thin air? Much more accurate. This is all very hilarious, in a really depressing sort of way.

In a completely unrelated story, Ferd Lewis writes about the high demand for Sugar Bowl tickets.

Dave Reardon has a rundown of Hawaii's All-Americans.

"I thought it was nice that a couple different publications chose different guys instead of one guy," said Brennan, who just returned from the Heisman Trophy ceremony Sunday. "There's three guys who deserved first- or second-team All-American. Their numbers and the way they play warrant it. But because of where we play and the system being stereotyped, it's hard to get recognition. And Herc's definitely a guy that deserves it, too."

And here's an All-America rundown from Stephen Tsai.

"I'm thankful," Bess said. "I give praise to my coaches and teammates. I'm going to try to work my way to second or first team next year."

Grice-Mullins said: "I'm happy. It's a pretty good accomplishment. I definitely worked hard, but it was never my goal to be on an all-star team. It was to do what we did as a team. That was the most important thing."

Tuesday Night News: Herm Speaks, All-Americans

Compilation of tonight's news from Mr. Cut. Herman Frazier talks about the ticket situation. There's also news about Warriors named to All-American teams, clothing sales, June's contract, etc.

All-Americans

The UH Athletics Department has a recap of the Warriors named to All-American teams the past couple days.

Quarterback Colt Brennan and receiver Davone Bess were both named to the A.P. All-America third team. It marked the second consecutive year that Brennan was selected to the third team.

Both Brennan and Bess were also named to SI.com's All-America teams. Brennan was a second team selection while Bess has an honorable mention for the second straight year.

Also named to SI.com's All-America team were receivers Ryan Grice-Mullen (2nd team) and Jason Rivers (honorable mention) and offensive lineman Hercules Satele (honorable mention).

In addition, Satele was the lone Warrior on the FWAA's 64th All-America team. The senior was one of four offensive lineman selected to the team Western Athletic Conference representative.

Over the past two weeks, Bess has been selected to the Walter Camp Football Foundation All-America team and Rivals.com All-America third team.

Sugar Bowl Preview, Colt, Etc.

Here's a pretty cool montage previewing the Sugar Bowl, from a Georgia fan:



Dramatic!

CBS Sportsline's Dennis Dodd ranks the bowl games, with the Sugar Bowl at #1.

Both teams have offensive stars (Hawaii's Colt Brennan; Georgia's Knowshon Moreno). Hawaii has the nation's longest winning streak (13). Georgia is fourth (six).
This game strikes to the heart of SEC pride. Mark Richt's salary is bigger than the entire Hawaii football budget ($2.2 million). Hawaii hasn't played a team this big, this physical, but that chip on its shoulder might make up the difference. Georgia hasn't faced a passing offense this prolific.
Upset alert: Any stray cheerleaders after the game are likely to get a proposal from someone.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann copies Linda Lingle's pineapple bet.

Athens-Clarke Mayor Heidi Davison and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann have a friendly wager over the Jan. 1 Bowl Championship Series game in New Orleans, and if Davison loses, it'll be the pits.

A member of Hannemann's staff called Davison last week to set up the bet.

"He said, 'How about some pineapples for some peaches?' " Davison said Monday. "I said, 'OK, I can do that.' "

Pete Schrager of FoxSports.com thinks Colt Brennan is cool.

Everyone knows Brennan's career accomplishments. The single-season Division I-A passing touchdown record; the career Division I-A passing touchdown record; 23 other Division 1-A records; an undefeated season, etc. That's all good and well. Is Brennan an NFL quarterback, though?

I think so. Having watched several Hawaii games over the past three seasons, I've become absolutely enamored with the way he throws a football. It's unlike most other quarterbacks I've seen. The release it most resembles is Kerry Collins' motion, and even that is a stretch.

The scouts and NFL writers are going to pick apart his throwing style come February. That's almost as definite as taxes, death, and another Lindsay Lohan meltdown. But that shouldn't deter teams from going with the guy. Most draft pundits I've spoken to have Brennan listed as a late second-, early third-round draft pick.

Personally, with the absolute dearth of quality QB's in the league — as made evident in an NFL week where Brock Berlin, Chris Redman, and two McCown brothers started games — I can't see him slipping out of the first round. Brennan has a fantastic touch and one of the quicker releases you'll see.

And Lyell Marks praises Brennan on The Bleacher Report.

Brennan led that comeback against San Jose State, and defeated Mother Nature in the process. Against Washington, he rallied the troops when it mattered most. He got his teammates to the Sugar Bowl—where they deserve to be.

No team has beaten the Warriors this year. Soft schedule or not, that garners recognition.

So the next time you call Hawaii a joke, or dismiss the Warriors as overmatched, understand that you're sending a personal message to that kid Brennan.

And the next time you decide that the game is over because Hawaii is down by 21 points, consider the Joe Montana-like poise that Brennan has shown all year.

June Jones, Bill, Tickets, C&K, Hercules, CB

Another reason why we love June Jones.

A group of Hawai'i business leaders and UH supporters have pledged more than $100,000 as a gesture to thank and support Jones.

Jones, in turn, said he will give the entire amount to his assistant coaches and to improving the athletic department's deteriorating facilities.

"I want the money to go where it's needed," Jones said.

Awesome. Some words from coach Jeff Reinebold:

"I think that says an awful lot about the kind of guy June is," defensive line coach Jeff Reinebold said. "That's a window into June. He's very generous to make a gesture like that."

"Everybody talks about the great job the South Florida coach did in building a program," Reinebold said. "But June resurrected a program. If the program was a patient in the hospital, they would call the priest to give the last rites. He took it off life support. He breathed life into it, and gave it an identity.

A lot more great quotes from that Stephen Tsai article, which also has news about a proposed bill by U.S. Rep Neil Abercrombie.

Insisting the Division I-A postseason format does not provide justice for all, Hawai'i Rep. Neil Abercrombie is prepared to propose a bill that would declare the Bowl Championship Series as unconstitutional and call for a playoff system.

Abercrombie said a system that limits automatic berths to six conferences "is restraint of trade. The automatic qualifiers are still taking care of themselves. I'm saying regardless of what good intentions may be behind this, it's restraint of trade. It's illegal. It's unconstitutional."

Woot woot!

The Advertiser has more on the 1,000 additional Sugar Bowl tickets UH received.

McNamara said the returned tickets "are in different sections" than the original allotment, which were located in all levels of the east and southeast corners of the stadium, closest to the UH bench.

He also was uncertain who or what groups previously held those tickets. The previous 500 tickets were set aside for corporate sponsors, community groups and others "that support their game annually," said McNamara earlier.

"I don't know where the tickets came from, our primary concern was getting our fans in the building," he said of the 72,000-seat Superdome.

Splitting up the fanbase in more ways than one. C&K are not split about it. Here's what they have to say:



C&K gonna be in NOLA! And those are some nice looking tickets.

Rosemarie Bernardo writes about the 1000 tickets, and on the same page Robert Shikina writes that grad assistant Brian Kajiyama will be going to New Orleans.

Kajiyama, who has cerebral palsy and uses a motorized wheelchair, will make his first journey with the team when the No. 10 Warriors travel to New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl against No. 4 University of Georgia on Jan. 1.

Last week, Carl Clapp, associate athletic director for administrative services, offered an invitation to Kajiyama and his parents to attend the game at the Louisiana Superdome.

"Life was sweet, but just got even sweeter," wrote Kajiyama, 31, in an e-mail to the Star-Bulletin. Kajiyama, one of two graduate assistants for the team, is also a UH doctoral student in special education. To communicate, he must use a computer that turns text into speech.

Right on.

Brian McInnis writes about Hercules Satele's All-American honor.

Offensive lineman Hercules Satele was named to the Football Writers Association of America's All-American team over the weekend, when all eyes were on New York and Colt Brennan at the Heisman Trophy awards show, where the quarterback finished third.

"That's pretty awesome," Jones said when told of Satele's accolade. "That's the first I've heard of it, but he's certainly deserving. He's had a great career, and he's played very well last year and this year. Pass-protected as well as anybody in the country."

And finally, Kalani Simpson, who hasn't really left us after all, has a great story about Colt Brennan that he's saved since August.

Monday Night News Vids

A Chawan Cut compilation of news stories about Colt Brennan arriving back in Hawaii, the 1000 tickets, etc. KHON's Andrew Pereira says Herman Frazier will hold a press conference tomorrow to address the ticket fiasco.



And since Chawan can't compile everything, here's last night's KGMB news, which includes video of Colt telling a funny story about being at the Heisman ceremony.

Video: JJ not interested in UCLA

courtesy Kanoa Leahey & KHON...

1000 Tickets, Practices Closed

UH got one thousand more tickets back from the Sugar Bowl.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl is sending the University of Hawai'i an additional 1,000 tickets for its season-ticket holders on a waiting list. The UH ticket office staff will begin contacting those on the waiting list today (Monday, Dec. 10).

With the 500 tickets sent last Friday, the Allstate Sugar Bowl has provided a total of 1,500 additional tickets to UH for its season-ticket holders on the waiting list. Season-ticket holders will be called in the order in which their request was received. The ticket office asks that those on the waiting list not call the ticket office regarding their status.

Let's hope these tickets are in the Hawaii sections, and not scattered all over the place. Here's a seating chart from the UH Athletics Department, which lists the Hawaii sections, in case you need to buy tickets elsewhere.

And Stephen Tsai writes that practices leading up to the Sugar Bowl will be closed.

UH is closing practices to the fans, and players will not be permitted to sign after practices. Campus security will be stationed to keep fans from the Warriors' grass practice field.
UH decided to implement the policy after fans started to wait for players outside of their classes.
This is finals week at UH.

June Won't Go (to UCLA) / Sugar Bowl

Ferd Lewis talks to June Jones about the UCLA rumors.

University of Hawai'i football coach June Jones branded as "an absolute lie" a report in the Los Angeles Daily News that he has let UCLA know he is interested in the Bruins' vacant head coaching position.

The newspaper reported Friday that its sources said Jones "is a candidate of interest for Bruins athletic director Dan Guerrero."

Jones said yesterday: "That's an absolute lie. That's all I've got to say."

Whew.

======

Carter Strickland of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes about Georgia getting ready for UH.

"People that have played them say their receivers are as good as any you'll see in the country, and the quarterback," said Georgia coach Mark Richt. "They said the quarterback-receiver situation there, you won't go to any school in America and find a better bunch. We've talked to a couple who have played them, and they're like, 'You can count on that.' "

You also can count on Georgia's defensive coaches beating that drum for the next three-plus weeks. In fact, it has already started.

"There is a lot of talk they are trying to compare him to [Florida's Tim] Tebow," said cornerback Bryan Evans. "Anytime you play a person that they compare to Tebow the defense needs to come and bring their A game."

The rub is that the defense will have to bring its b, c, d even z packages. Hawaii uses as many as five receivers on one play. So say goodbye to strongside linebacker Akeem Dent and hello to five maybe even six defensive backs.

Georgia can and has gone nine deep in the secondary.

"I would think we are going to rotate [to stay fresh]," Richt said. "I am thankful this year we have really rotated our defensive personnel. We have kept people pretty fresh."

Weekend News

Some non-Heisman news you can use.

ESPN pundits take a look at the Sugar Bowl matchup and make some picks:


Thanks UHBows (again)

Former UH and current Atlanta Falcons guard Kynan Forney makes his Sugar Bowl prediction.

Falcons guard Kynan Forney was on June Jones' first team at Hawaii and was an All-Western Athletic Conference tackle before being drafted by the Falcons in 2001. He's predicting a Hawaii victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, and to add more spice to things, he said he was not impressed by the Bulldogs' black jerseys.

"Being 12-0 and going to a BCS game, do you imagine what that's going to do for recruiting with people wanting to come to Hawaii?" Forney said. "We have the best-looking uniforms in college football. We can't be touched right now."

Governor Linda Lingle makes a bet.

If Hawaii wins, Purdue will send a crate of Georgia peaches to the islands. If Georgia wins, Lingle will send a case of Hawaii pineapples to the Peach State.

"While Hawaii pineapples are certainly the preferred fruit anywhere around the world, in this particular case, I'm looking forward to receiving some fresh peaches from our friends in Georgia," Lingle said in a statement.

Funny.

Josh Kendall of Macon.com has an article about Georgia getting ready for the game.

Sure, Georgia is going to suffer a letdown after not being selected to play for the national title.

"You can't avoid it," tight end Tripp Chandler.

That doesn't mean it will have any effect on the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl, when the No. 4 Bulldogs play No. 10 Hawaii at 8:30 p.m. at the New Orleans Superdome.

"My gosh, it's going to be a whole month before we're going to play, and that's plenty of time to get jacked up for a ballgame," Georgia head coach Mark Richt said.

Jennifer Sudick writes about the prices of packages to New Orleans keep going up.

Hawaii residents hoping to score tickets were lucky enough last week if they were willing to pay top dollar. Travel packages to New Orleans have risen to $3,499 for a Hawaiian Airlines coach seat, and even those were selling fast.

The more than one-third increase in travel prices this week at Hawaii's largest travel agency is the result of heavy demand to see the Warriors face off against the Georgia Bulldogs on New Year's Day, as well as the extra costs of setting up charter flights and competition from holiday travelers who booked their tickets months ago.

Congratulations to UH alum Ken Niumatalolo, who became Navy's new head coach.

"I am so humbled and honored to have this opportunity," the 42-year-old Niumatalolo said in a phone call from his Maryland home. "I know I'm representing a lot people, being the first Polynesian head coach. Hopefully, if I do well it will open doors for some other guys."

Ferd Lewis has a great column about the dues Niumatalolo paid as a grad assistant at UH to get where he is.

When acquaintances from La'ie spied him lugging bag after bag to the University of Hawai'i football team's bus following a loss at Brigham Young in 1991, they hooted and razzed Ken Niumatalolo.

So much for getting your foot in the door of the coaching profession, they snickered.

And it looks like The Warrior Insider is closing up shop. It was a great site to get recruiting news, gossip and discussion. Definitely will be missed.

Heisman Recap (w/UPDATE)

UPDATE: Chawan Cut compiled last night's live, local, late-breaking coverage of last night's Heisman ceremony. Here's Part 1, which has segments from KGMB and KITV:



Part 2 (KITV contd, KHON) and Part 3 (KHNL).

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Check out this page, which has video of the Heisman post-ceremony press conferences, including a great one by Colt Brennan. Here's a direct link to Colt's page. You might have to launch the external player to view it.

Stephen Tsai has a Heisman Trophy recap:

"I felt I was representing all of the mid-majors," Brennan said. "It was a great honor to be here. Hopefully, (the next time) a kid in my position will have a lot less scrutiny and will be able to be thanked for who (he is)."

Brennan and Missouri's Daniel first met at an Elite 11 football camp in July. Brennan became fast friends with Tebow and McFadden during this visit.

"We were hanging out" before the Heisman show, Brennan said. "There was no nervousness. All of the finalists were great guys. All we talked about was how much fun we were having."

Here's Dave Reardon's recap.

Brennan was scheduled to return to Hawaii today after a whirlwind weekend of appearances and trying to dodge human and vehicle traffic on the streets of Manhattan.

"It was pretty tough, scrambling through the people today, the crowds, it's like the biggest shopping time of the year out here. They close down sidewalks just to make the sidewalk not so jammed. Boise's (defense is) probably just a little tougher," said Brennan, who got full star treatment from people who recognized him on the street. "It was crazy, it's amazing, to think you're all the way in New York and people know who you are. We stopped sometimes to take pictures, a great feeling, obviously."

In the article, Colt talks about hoping that the facilities will be improved.

If Hawaii is to keep the success going that has it 23-3 the past two seasons, Brennan said its infrastructure must be worked on.

"I really do hope the school improves things, because it's a long time coming. We talk about the facilities and the way things are," Brennan said at last night's ceremony. "But we have to stop fooling people by telling them our facilities are good -- they're not. We've got to start telling our recruits how good our facilities are going to be. Maybe not their freshman and sophomore years, but by their junior and senior years they'll have the best facilities we can provide."

Brennan said the school's athletic facilities are an embarrassment.

"It shouldn't be that place that you drive by on the H-1 and it's kind of falling apart. It should be a diamond that shoots out of Manoa's campus," he said. "That's where this step took us, and we need to get the whole school, the whole community to ride this momentum and take the school to the next level."

Shine that light!

More from Colt, in this Tsai article:

Brennan said the program will grow if the school "does a great job and takes the money and the momentum and does what (it is) supposed to, and gives it to the students, and gives a reason for all of the student-athletes to really feel like it's a pleasure to go to Hawai'i. We have the talent and the attitude. We need the school to make it just as beautiful."

Brennan said the atmosphere in Hawai'i "is college football at its best. It's a unique place with unique people. It's a diamond in the rough."

Also from that article, a great honor for Hercules Satele:

Hawai'i senior offensive lineman Hercules Satele was named to the Football Writers Association of America's 64th All-America Team, it was announced yesterday.

Reardon has some news and notes from the Heisman festivities.

And Paul Arnett writes about his choice for Heisman... Dennis Dixon.

UPDATE: I missed this, but Stephen Tsai has a great post about Colt deserving to win, along with a couple more anecdotes about his time in New York.

Heisman Videos

Two features from last night's Heisman ceremony. The first one takes a look at Colt on the field.



And this video has a profile of him off the field, talking about why he loves Hawaii. The segment concludes with Colt being interviewed live on the show.



P.S. What would we do without UHBows?

Colt Places Third

Tim Tebow wins the Heisman. Dave Reardon got the points breakdown.

Brennan received 54 first-place votes and 632 total points.

Tebow was a runaway winner with 462 first-place votes and 1,957 points.

The Advertiser has a rundown of the ceremony.

While they awaited the presentation, the finalists, including Brennan wearing a suit and a kukui nut, conch shell and maile lei, were shown playing a video game in a waiting room during the hour-long program on ESPN.

The program featured profiles and interviews with each of the four finalists.

Brennan's profile opened with scenes from Hawai'i and included Brennan catching tako and small fish on a boat.

Brennan and Daniel were interviewed together, with Brennan giving Daniel a lei.

Brennan said playing in Hawai'i "gave me confidence. It was a fresh start. The people care about you as a person.

"It was a breath of fresh air ... how I want to live my life."

Colt's Interview on ESPNEWS

Great interview, about seven minutes long. Thanks again to UHBows. Heisman ceremony is in about an hour is now! is over.



UPDATE: Speaking of the Heisman, both Stephen Tsai and Dave Reardon have reports from New York of the (as of this writing) pre-ceremony goings-on.

Heisman, June to UCLA?, Tickets, Bess, Ikaika

Dave Reardon followed Colt Brennan and the rest of the Heisman candidates as they toured New York yesterday.

"I'm really excited to be a part of it," Brennan said, after completing a double-decker bus tour of the city and before a pizza party that would cap the evening's activities. "There's always a possibility. But considering the fact that I didn't get invited to the Johnny Unitas or the Maxwell or the Camp (award shows), watching the way the awards have gone the past week, I'm just grateful to be here. I'm not too optimistic about me winning anything tomorrow."

Stephen Tsai has some details about the fan frenzy surrounding Colt.

Several autograph seekers greeted Brennan at the Newark International Airport luggage area.

Later, fans swarmed the stretch limousine carrying Brennan when it pulled into the driveway of the Midtown Manhattan hotel. Security was summoned to help Brennan exit the limo.

"It's been crazy," said UH sports media relations director Derek Inouchi, who is on Brennan's 10-person guest list to attend today's Heisman Award show at the Nokia Theatre in Times Square.

Ferd Lewis writes about the fellowship between Colt and some former UH QBs.

"Everybody who played, whether they were a backup defensive lineman or special teams player, feels a part of this," Rolovich said. "But as a quarterback, you feel like you have a foot on that stage (today) with Colt."

Check out Dave's and Stephen's blogs for any updates leading up to the Heisman ceremony later today.

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Okay, this is not what you want to hear.

Meanwhile, Hawaii coach June Jones let UCLA know he is interested in the vacant head coaching position, and he is a candidate of interest for Bruins athletic director Dan Guerrero, sources said.

However...

But a big question for UCLA could be Jones' true interest in the job. He is paid $800,000 at Hawaii, must deal with downtrodden practice and coaching facilities, and has a recruiting budget of $50,000. There could be concern Jones would use UCLA to get a better deal at Hawaii.

There's no way UH would let June go without a fight. Of course, I would not be surprised if this one was fumbled too. But June loves Hawaii too much...

======

Rosemarie Bernardo writes about the tickets UH are keeping in-house.

The University of Hawaii reserved a little more than twice the number of Allstate Sugar Bowl tickets for its team and university use than the University of Georgia.

UH set aside 3,000 tickets compared with Georgia's 1,370 tickets.

A breakdown of who will get the tickets UH slated for the team and university use was not available yesterday. "We're still working on that. We'll be able to confirm those numbers soon," said associate athletic director Carl Clapp yesterday.

The University of Georgia readily disclosed to whom its tickets are going.

That'll be an interesting list. And if they're holding so many tickets, it's another reason to ask why did they give so many back?

======

Congratulations to Davone Bess, who was named a Walter Camp 2nd team All-American.

======

And finally, here's a Q&A with Ikaika Alama-Francis, from the Detroit Free Press.

News Catchup

Ok, now that I'm home and hot rather than away and cold, I can get back to uploading the news more regularly.

Here's Thursday's and Friday's stuffs. I know Tombo has missed me and my posts... Don't hate me!!!

Thursday:




Friday:

Aloha Friday Links - Sugar, Heisman, Etc

The news, it never stops. It's been crazy. Here are some articles from the past few days.

Robert Collias of The Maui News takes a look at the Washington win, the Sugar Bowl, future schedules, etc.

Jim Alexander of The Press-Enterprise is rooting for the underdog.

The big boys, with their $60 million-plus athletic budgets and football-only dorms and indoor practice facilities, aren't real keen on sharing the postseason spotlight (and payout) with an interloper that has a $21 million athletic budget, spends $2.2 million on football and has to scramble just to make sure the soap dispensers in the showers are filled.

Kyle Woodley of the Newark Advocate is also a Hawaii advocate.

Hawaii is putting up more points than any team in the country, and it's racking up the third-highest number of offensive yards. And while most Western Athletic Conference teams are known for giving up as much as they dole out, the Warriors are in the upper half of the nation of both points and yards allowed.

And I suppose this is a minor point:

They're 12-0.

That's one credential all 119 other FBS teams are missing this year. Ohio State and Kansas are the only teams ranked ahead of Hawaii that have just one loss -- the rest have fallen twice.

Want to penalize the Warriors for a weak schedule? OK.

Let's penalize teams ahead of them for weak losses.

Jeff Miller of the Orange County Register has a great column about Colt Brennan.

In the Warriors' final two tests, with the WAC title and a BCS bid in doubt, he went 82 of 103 for 937 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Yeah, he knows how to finish with flair.

"Hawaii," Brennan said, "has inspired me to do a lot of great things."

At one point, he braided his hair to bond with his dreadlocked receivers. Then, early this season, he had most of his hair dyed blond except for a portion that was dark and in the shape of the Hawaiian Islands. Paradise, genuinely, had gone to the guy's head.

Now, after passing for nearly eight miles and 131 touchdowns for the Warriors, Brennan's college career is down to one award show and one Sugar Bowl. He isn't favored in either.

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News writes why he chose Colt Brennan as his Heisman Trophy pick.

His numbers are impressive (more than 4,100 yards passing, 38 TD; 8 rush TD), and breaking an NCAA record every time he steps on the field helps, too.

But here's what matters: Four times this season Brennan led his team to come-from-behind wins in the fourth quarter. The last was against Washington -- with everything on the line -- when Brennan completed a staggering 42-of-50 passes and threw five touchdown passes that accounted for all of Hawaii's points.

If you don't think there was pressure in that Washington game, ask LSU if there was pressure in the Arkansas game with everything on the line. Or West Virginia with Pitt coming to town. Or Missouri against Oklahoma.

Hawaii was down 21-0 in the first quarter, and Brennan kept chipping away.

Just like when the Warriors were down 14 points with four minutes to play at San Jose State -- and Brennan was playing with a high ankle sprain.

Danny Aller of The Albany Herald makes a case for Colt.

Yes, I’ll admit that in reality Brennan likely won’t win the Heisman on Saturday night when it’s awarded in New York — heck, he might even finish dead last — but that certainly doesn’t mean the voters won’t be wrong.

Aside from leading his team to the only undefeated record in Division I-A this year, this kid can flat-out play, and I couldn’t care less about what people say about Hawaii’s strength of schedule. All those arguments will be settled when the Warriors face the top-notch defense of No. 4 Georgia — arguably the second-best team in the nation’s toughest conference — Jan. 1 at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

B.J. Lisko of the Salem News in Ohio makes another case for Colt.

Brennan did what no other Heisman candidate did. He simply won every contest he was asked to win. He led his team from behind. He demolished the squads he was supposed to demolish. He set the bar for pass-oriented college quarterbacks.

Colt Brennan thanks his coach for bringing heat upon himself, which possibly helped Colt get to New York.

Georgia coach Mark Richt and cornerback Thomas Flowers address the system tag in this article by Marc Weizer of Online Athens.

Brennan said Jones actually has a "ton of respect" for Tebow.

"I think what he was trying to say is that the type of passes we throw and the type of execution we're asked to do, Tim Tebow isn't asked to do that in his offense," Brennan said, "but then I'm not asked to run over 225-pound linebackers either."

Cornerback Thomas Flowers played against Tebow and watched Brennan in a replay of Hawaii's win over Washington.

"I understand what he's saying, but Tebow is a great quarterback," Flowers said. "You can't take anything away from that guy. Colt Brennan, that's a great quarterback. You can plug those guys in any system."

Said Richt: "I think if a quarterback is performing at a high level, it means their coach has done a great job of providing them the system where their skills could be maximized. That's the bottom line."

Stephen Tsai checks in from New York.

Colt Brennan is in town, at the first of his many functions.
UH has produced a Colt Brennan Heisman guide. Pretty spiffy ... from the 14 seconds Lois Manin let me read. Lois, who is one of Colt's 10 guests,was on my Delta flight.

And Dave Reardon, in New Jersey, has a new post.

Derek Inouchi reports that Colt Brennan was met by a mad rush of fans at the airport and hotel in New York. Inouchi was told by a Heisman official that it was the “craziest he’s seen.”

I’m headed across the bridge now to meet up with them.

Tickets Update, Heisman, Signings, Etc

Rosemarie Bernardo writes that UH got 500 tickets back from the abyss and is hoping for more.

The University of Hawaii is expected to receive 500 more tickets today from the Allstate Sugar Bowl to help quell the appetite of season ticket holders with sights set on New Orleans.

But the figure does not come close to the 1,500 tickets requested by 352 die-hard fans placed on a waiting list after UH sold out its reduced supply Tuesday.

While Sugar Bowl tickets remain available on the Internet at inflated prices, the original tickets assigned to UH had the advantage of being in the Warriors' cheering zone.

UH is expected to hear from the Sugar Bowl early next week whether additional tickets will become available. The Sugar Bowl will review the ticket issue over the weekend, said John McNamara, associate athletic director for external affairs.

Lots more details from that article. And Ferd Lewis writes that the Sugar Bowl may have pressured UH into releasing the tickets early.

That would belong to the 74-year-old Sugar Bowl which, for reasons that have yet to be explained, couldn't give UH four days to gauge how it ticket sales would go. UH was on the hook for 17,500 tickets and a nervous Sugar Bowl gave the school a now-or-never ultimatum of turning back 4,000 tickets or risking having to eat the unsold ones at $125 a pop.

Never mind that UH could have given it an answer in 48 hours. The Sugar Bowl, with a month before kickoff, still couldn't — or wouldn't — wait. Forget, too, that Georgia, which sold 22,000 tickets right off the bat said, "We could have sold upwards of 30,000," according to a school spokesman.

From the comments to yesterday's post:

What I don't understand is why UH didn't just sell the tickets themselves to those 5,000 Georgia fans over the internet AFTER offering the tickets to season ticket holders and general fans thru the UH box office.

The Sugar Bowl SELLS OUT EVERY YEAR regardless of the teams!!!!

There was NO CHANCE that UH would have been stuck with any unsold Sugar Bowl tickets!!

Sigh. Moving onto Heisman news, Stephen Tsai talks to current and former coaches, teammates and family about Colt Brennan as he was. Here's an excerpt:

Dave Money knew.

As Mater Dei's offensive coordinator, Money knew of Brennan's defiant spirit. Money watched the telecast of the Warriors' victory over Washington in which they rallied from a 21-0 deficit.

"I was really impressed with his demeanor and body language through adversity," Money said. "They were down 21-0, and you would have never known that. That's one thing Colt's always had. We had a game where we played Fallbrook. We were down, 17-0, in the first half. He came back in the second half and led us to victory. It kind of reminded me of that watching him play the other night. No matter what the situation is, it won't affect him. He's always wanting to be positive."

Dave Reardon writes about some of the people Colt is taking with him to the Heisman ceremony. Among those are Fran and Christian Allen:

Fran and Christian Allen are part of the Colt Brennan story that is often forgotten. But Brennan will always remember the Allens, and vice versa.

Before Hawaii, before Colorado, there was Worcester Academy in Massachusetts.

He was matched with outside linebacker Christian Allen as a roommate. Allen lived near Worcester, so Brennan spent most weekends at Allen's home.

"He was 3,000 miles away from home. We indoctrinated him to the ways of life in Boston much like he's been indoctrinated to the ways in Hawaii. We kept in touch, good times and bad," said Fran Allen, Christian's father, in a phone interview yesterday. "You could tell he had talent. The team was OK, and it was a tough league. He didn't have a great line, but he had some really good receivers."

Tsai has a full list of Colt's NY supporters.

Reardon, who will be reporting from New York on the Heisman festivities, is on his way there and checks in from Atlanta. He also notes:

Jason Rivers and Ryan Grice-Mullins will sign autographs Saturday at the Honolulu Marathon Expo at the Hawaii Convention Center.

They will appear from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the back of the expo hall.

And here's June Jones' book signing schedule this weekend. It was on, then off, and now on again:

Jones is appearing in support of J. David Miller's "Hawaii Warrior Football: A Story of Faith, Hope, and Redemption." The book features a foreword written by Jones.

The schedule is:

Saturday: at Borders, Ward Center from noon to 1 p.m.

Sunday: at Borders in Lihue from noon to 1 p.m.

Sunday: at Pictures Plus in Lihue from 1:30 to 2:15 p.m.

Sunday: at JJ's Broiler in Lihue from 3 to 4 p.m.

If you haven't read J. David Miller's excellent book yet, or met June yet, or visited Kauai yet, now's your chance to do all three.

Speaking of June, some business and boosters are trying to raise funds to give June and the football program a bonus.

A group of prominent Hawai'i businessmen and University of Hawai'i supporters is well on the way to raising $100,000 to demonstrate support of football coach June Jones and encourage him to remain at the school.

The group has circulated an "Enhance the Pride of UH Football!" e-mail request to approximately 100 others seeking 50 donors to each contribute $2,000 toward "furthering the team and coaching staff's efforts."

The e-mail mentions the milestone accomplishments of this year's team — Heisman Trophy finalist, unbeaten season, Sugar Bowl berth — and notes, "what the football team's success has brought to light is the fact that all of this was done with a bare bones recruiting budget, outdated office furnishings and equipment and without the flexibility to reward assistant coaches and other key support staff with discretionary bonuses or incentives."

Big bonuses for the assistant coaches would be awesome.

Rounding Down, CB to NY, Ratings

Rosemarie Bernardo has more details about those tickets. One of these quotes is not like the other.

The Sugar Bowl organization called UH and the Western Athletic Conference before UH qualified for the Bowl Championship Series with a request to reduce the number of tickets from 17,500 to 13,500.

Athletic director Herman Frazier said the decision to accept the reduced number of tickets was based on estimated ticket sales of 12,000 to 13,000. "That's why we said yes," Frazier said.

McNamara said, "Because we had no history with this type of event, it was impossible to calculate the demand from the season-ticket holders."

It was impossible to calculate demand, and yet...it was anyway. Here's what a season ticket holder has to say about it:

Loui said the administration lacked faith in season-ticket holders and mainland fans to support the Warriors in the Sugar Bowl. "This is the first time," he said. "This is our first outright championship. There are so many firsts for this team. And to not have faith, not only to season-ticket holders, but to fans abroad, to make efforts to make it to the game upsets me greatly."

In a Dave Reardon article about Colt Brennan being a Heisman finalist, here's what Brennan had to say:

"Why'd we do that? ... It's no surprise to me," Brennan said.

Not much else to say. At least not without a bunch of swear words

Back to the Heisman portion of Reardon's article:

Safety Desmond Thomas said Brennan's intangibles as a leader are as important to the Warriors as his physical skills.

"Personally, he deserves (awards)," Thomas said, when asked about Brennan's penchant for deflecting praise. "For one, you play harder for that guy, unconsciously, and for each other, and it becomes a team kind of thing. Not 'Let's win for Colt,' but, 'Let's win for all of us, the school, the community, for God.' "

"I got injured, fought through injuries," Brennan said. "If you take a look at my ankle (sprained Sept. 14) it still looks like a tennis ball. It looks bad, I fought through that all year, continued to make victories, got hurt again (a concussion Nov. 10 against Fresno State). But I bounced back from that (after playing two snaps at Nevada) and the biggest two games of the year were my best games."

More on the Heisman nod from Stephen Tsai:

"We'll let him go to New York," mused Terry Brennan, Colt's father, "but he'd better graduate. If he doesn't, he's going to be in a lot of trouble with me."

Ferd Lewis writes about Brennan's nomination, and puts it in context of this crazy season.

Hardly anybody imagined a bid to a Bowl Championship Series game. The Sugar Bowl might as well have been on Neptune as in New Orleans for the chances anybody gave UH of ever getting there.

But as much by the strength of conviction he displayed in passing up the NFL draft to return to UH for this season as by arm strength and precision passing, Brennan helped encourage us all to think big. He dared us to shoot for the stars in a manner unimagined previously.

Yesterday's announcement that Brennan had earned a trip to New York as one of the four finalists for the most prestigious award in college athletics, the Heisman Trophy, was but the latest and one of the biggest in a string of validations of his dream-big mantra. It was reinforcement for those — far and wide — who came to believe in the Warriors and their avowed pursuit of perfection.

Here's an AP article comparing the four nominees.

And finally, Ferd Lewis has news about some of the high ratings the late-season UH games pulled in for ESPN2.

Colt to NY Press conference news

from yesterday... We find out Saturday!

Heisman News

Here's a new profile of Colt Brennan from the AP.

USA Today makes cases for and against the four Heisman finalists, while USA Today's Christine Brennan writes about casting her first place Heisman vote for C. Brennan.

With the kind of record-setting year and career Colt Brennan has had, combined with the fact that he is the only quarterback in Division I-A football to lead his team to an undefeated season, I asked myself a very simple question the other day:

How could this C. Brennan not vote for that C. Brennan?

No, this was a legit first-place vote for one of the four players who has been invited to New York for Saturday night's Heisman announcement. This was a real vote for a once-troubled player who seemingly has gotten his act together at the University of Hawaii to become the most dominant throwing quarterback the NCAA has ever seen, including a stellar junior year, in 2006, when he threw for a record 58 touchdowns. He also holds the NCAA record for most touchdown passes in a career, with 131.

We just so happen to share the same last name, and the same initials. As best as I can tell, we are not related. We have Ireland in common, but so do millions of other people, and that was a long time ago, even before Keith Jackson started calling college games.

I had never spoken with Colt until Wednesday. "I appreciate the vote," he said over a cellphone on his way to a journalism class on the Hawaii campus. "I've met a lot of Brennans over the past few years. It's a name people take a lot of pride in. I know I do."

Did he wish that there were perhaps a few more Brennans in the sports media voting for the Heisman this year?

"That would be nice," Colt Brennan said with a laugh.

Here's the UH Athletic Department's press release about Colt's selection.

And here's video from Liz Chun's KGMB news report about it, with some quotes from Colt from today's press conference. Chun also reports on the ticket fiasco.

Random Wednesday Links

Former Saints and Falcons QB Bobby Hebert talks to Peter Finney of The Times-Picayune about June Jones and the Warriors.

"I can only speak for myself," Hebert said. "June Jones has the greatest offensive mind in the history of football. Ask Warren Moon, and he'll tell you the same thing. I spent four years under him in Atlanta, and he was the reason I made the Pro Bowl in '94. As far as the Sugar Bowl goes, I don't know how the Hawaii defense will do against Georgia. But I promise you, with a month to get ready, Hawaii is going to score a lot of points against the Bulldogs."

The article also discusses the differences in BCS and non-BCS budgets and what this Sugar may mean for Hawaii's finances.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Terence Moore wants Georgia to crush UH.

So Georgia is among the elite two of college football? Then that means the Bulldogs just can’t go to the Sugar Bowl and beat Hawaii.

They must obliterate Hawaii.

After all, despite the nice storylines, including quarterback Colt Brennan as a possible Heisman Trophy winner and former Falcons coach June Jones turning a nothing program into something, the fact remains: Hawaii is among the most fraudulent teams ever to go undefeated.

No, shy of an absolute thrashing of Hawaii, the Bulldogs can’t win in this situation, and they better not lose.

I love it.

Though the votes are already in, and Colt's a finalist, Russell Levine of the New York Sun makes a great case for Colt Brennan in the Heisman trophy race.

Hawaii's three toughest opponents, Fresno State, Boise State, and Washington (the only BCS conference team on the Warriors' schedule) were scheduled to play during the team's final four games. In those contests, Brennan was marvelous, completing 110 of 142 passes (78.7%) for 1,333 yards, 12 touchdowns, and just two interceptions. He also added a pair of rushing scores. That's an average stat line of 37-of-47, 444 yards, 4 TDs, 1 interception, and 1 rushing TD.

The Heisman is not supposed to be a career achievement award, though it sometimes toes the line that way, such as when Nebraska's Eric Crouch won in 2001. If any player deserves such a career prize, it is Brennan. He has brought a Hawaii program with a limited budget, poor facilities, and the unique challenges of geography to the big money world of the BCS, an outcome that will have a lasting effect on the school's football operations for years.

Amarillo.com has a few thoughts on the Warriors' success:

Heard of John Estes, Keith AhSoon, Hercules Satele, Larry Sauafea or Keoni Steinhoff? They form the offensive line that has allowed only 26 sacks on a team that has passed 606 times.

Defensively, Hawaii is ninth in the nation in sacks and fifth in the nation in tackles for losses. Solomon Elimian is ninth in the nation in tackles, averaging 11 per game.

Overall, the Warriors are 33rd in the NCAA in defense - better than Texas Tech (50th), Texas (54th), Texas A & M (83rd) and five Southeastern Conference teams.

They're legit.

Hawaii would still be good without Brennan. They didn't have him for two games, and they did exactly what Oregon couldn't do without Dennis Dixon - win.

Chris Steuber of ScoutNFLexperts.com has some good things to say about the UH linebackers in his 2008 NFL Draft Watch.

· Hawaii is known for its high-powered offense, but no one talks about their defense. The Warriors have two outstanding junior linebackers, Adam Leonard and Solomon Elimimian. At 6-foot, 218 pounds, Elimimian is an undersized outside linebacker who's a tackling machine. He's a rangy player who reads the action well and attacks the opposition. He has 127 tackles (65 solo, 62 assisted), 10.5 for a loss, and 1.5 sacks this season. But Leonard, who stands at 6-foot, 236-pounds is an even more impressive prospect. He's a tremendously skilled all-around player who's instinctive against the run and shows great awareness in coverage. He has 100 tackles (50 solo, 50 assisted), 12.0 for a loss, two sacks, and four interceptions. Elimimian and Leonard have promising futures, but should return to Hawaii for their senior seasons.

It's Official

Colt's a Heisman finalist!

University of Hawai'i quarterback Colt Brennan is one of four finalists for the Heisman Trophy, it was announced today.
Brennan guided the Warriors to a 12-0 regular season and a berth in the Bowl Championship Series in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 against Georgia.

The other finalists are: Florida quarterback Tim Tebow; Arkansas running back Darren McFadden; and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel. They will all be in New York on Saturday night when the award is given to the top player in college football.

It will be televised on ESPN (Ch. 22/222) at 3 p.m., Hawai'i time.

Congratulations to Colt!

June Jones a Finalist for Coach of the Year

From a FWAA press release:

DALLAS (FWAA) – The Football Writers Association of America has announced eight finalists for the 2007 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award to be voted upon by the entire membership.

With the 2007 regular season completed, the FWAA, in conjunction with the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, has tabbed the following finalists: Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, Air Force's Troy Calhoun, Arizona State's Dennis Erickson, Hawaii's June Jones, Kansas' Mark Mangino, Missouri's Gary Pinkel, Ohio State's Jim Tressel and Illinois' Ron Zook.

The finalists will be placed on a ballot which will be sent out to the entire FWAA membership. FWAA members will be asked to vote for their top three choices.

The FWAA coaching award is named after the late Robinson, a coaching legend at Grambling State University for 55 years. He has more Division I victories (408) than any other coach.

The winner of the FWAA/Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award will be announced and honored at a reception on Jan. 4 in New Orleans in conjunction with the BCS Championship Game.

Congratulations to Coach Jones!

About Those Tickets

Dan Nakaso has details about the sold out allotment:

Warriors supporters would have had a better shot at getting Sugar Bowl tickets had UH officials accepted the school's full allotment of 17,500 seats. UH officials, concerned they would not be able to sell the full allotment, received permission from the Sugar Bowl and Western Athletic Conference to reduce the number to 13,500.

WAC Commissioner Karl Benson said last night that Sugar Bowl officials contacted him and UH officials before Saturday night's game against Washington asking if Hawai'i would give up 5,000 of its tickets to LSU if LSU ended up going to the Sugar Bowl "knowing that the LSU demand would be greater."

"Hawai'i was faced with making a decision, trying to estimate what their local demand might be and trying to accommodate the Sugar Bowl's request and made a decision that 12,500 tickets might be enough to satisfy the Hawai'i fan base," Benson said.

In the face of actual demand from UH fans, WAC officials are now asking the Sugar Bowl for extra tickets for Hawai'i, Benson said.

But UH officials have been told that the game is sold out, said UH associate athletic director John McNamara. "We just said, 'Call us if any more tickets become available,' " he said.

Talk about lack of faith in the fan base. Couldn't they have waited until after sales to the general public to give back any tickets? The article has a lot more details about this, as well as fans' reactions, and the various ways fans are finding ways to New Orleans, with or without tickets.

Here's more about the hoops fans are jumping through to get there, from Rosemarie Bernardo.

Some University of Hawaii football fans are willing to endure multiple stopovers and long layovers to support the Warriors in New Orleans when they play the University of Georgia Bulldogs in the Sugar Bowl.

But they say it's worth it.

For the past couple of days, fans scrambled to find the best package deal on the Internet.

For Carter Siu, 33, his flight from Honolulu to New Orleans includes three different carriers, three stopovers, a seven-hour layover and an hourlong shuttle.

Just unbelievable. It's great to hear about the fans' dedication to support the Warriors. Just hope they all find ways to attend the game.

======

And about the yet to be announced Heisman invitation for Colt Brennan, here's an article from Stephen Tsai:

Brennan said that if he were indeed a finalist, he would go to New York as an ambassador.

"I don't represent myself," Brennan said. "I represent my team, my teammates, the University of Hawai'i and the state. This will be a good opportunity for all of us."

Dave Reardon has a story about it as well, along with final regular season statistics. He also talks to El Paso Times writer and AP voter Bret Bloomquist, who ranked UH at #1 in his final regular season poll.

Bloomquist gave Hawaii its first No. 1 vote ever in the AP poll. He said he plans to put the 10th-ranked Warriors in the top spot again in the final poll after it plays fourth-ranked Georgia (10-2) in the Sugar Bowl.

"I expect Hawaii to win," he said. "I think they could beat Ohio State. I think they can line up with anyone in the country. Their offense can score against anyone, and you win with quarterbacks."

Bloomquist said he didn't have UH very high in his rankings early in the season but, "once teams stared losing, I moved them up quickly."

And finally, Ferd Lewis writes about the bonuses coach June Jones and AD Herman Frazier are in line for.

Colt to New York (w/UPDATE)

Colt Brennan is a Heisman finalist! From Dave Reardon:

Colt Brennan is the University of Hawaii's first Heisman Trophy finalist.

"Awesome," coach June Jones said. "It's a great achievement for Colt and he's very deserving."

Brennan will be on a flight to Newark, N.J., on Thursday night, headed to New York for the Saturday night ceremony announcing the winner of college football's biggest individual award.

More from the Advertiser:

"This is great for the state and the school," Jones said. "When has that ever happened for our school? Never. It'll probably never happen again."

Right on.

UPDATE: Here's a CC compilation of tonight's KHON news, with Kanoa Leahey breaking the story earlier this evening. It also includes a segment by Gina Mangieri, who reports that the UH Athletic Department's allotment of tickets is already SOLD OUT. Holy crap. But that's not all - apparently UH, in anticipation of travel problems, had already given back some of the alloted 17,500 tickets back to the Sugar Bowl before they went on sale...



Check out Chawan Cut's Youtube page for more compilations of yesterday's news, as well as the KGMB, KHON, KITV and KHNL sites. I'm sure there will be a lot more news about the Heisman, the ticket sales, and the travel problems tomorrow.

Pics from the Washington Game

Orlando got a lot of great photos from the game up at his UHWarriorFan.com 2007 Photo Gallery.

Irse has some great photos in his Washington gallery.

And more great pics on the PBase site.

C&K Show #8

Another great one by C&K. In parts 1 and 2, Blaze interviews the outgoing seniors, asking them about their best memories at UH, if they have any message for the younger guys, etc.

Part 1:



Part 2 (where C&K also visit the Sportshawaii tailgate and interview Scott, Papa Tek and the Grassos)



Part 3 has highlights from the game and reaction from the crowd from inside the stadium. Then C&K spend the rest of Part 3 trying to find the back of the line into the Stan Sheriff Center for the BCS selection party the next day.



Part 4 has crazy scenes from inside the arena. And at the end a few of the underclass guys have messages for the seniors.



Check out C&K's Myspace page or their Youtube profile page for previous vids. WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Colt Brennan: USA Today Player of the Week

Congratulations to Colt:

Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan threw for 442 yards and five touchdowns against Washington to earn this week's USA TODAY Player of the Week honor. The senior went 42-of-50 to help the Warriors finish the regular season undefeated and lock up a BCS bowl berth. Brennan won the award with the support of college football editor Erick Smith and Gannett News Service columnist Mike Lopresti. Fan voting sided with Central Florida running back Kevin Smith.

Fathead, Travel, All-WAC, Sugar Bowl, Etc.

Via the Advertiser, Fathead is now producing a UH helmet.



I think that would scare me at night.

Rosemarie Bernardo writes that travel packages are going fast, flights are scarce, but charter flights are in the works (hopefully).

Amorin said Panda is working with mainland charter companies to see if they can arrange charter flights to New Orleans. "Our goal is to take as many people as possible," she said.

Patrick Dugan of McNeil Wilson Communications said Hawaiian Airlines is also looking into whether it can charter a flight. It is traditionally the busiest time to travel, Dugan said: "They're seeing what aircraft is available."

Hawaiian Airlines is expected to know in a couple of days whether it can charter a flight. Aloha Airlines will not offer a charter because of a lack of planes, said spokesman Stu Glauberman.

Dan Nakaso also writes about the madness.

About 5,100 tickets were sold online and at the Stan Sheriff Center box office yesterday as the school's allotment of 17,500 tickets were made available to season ticket holders.

Even after getting their tickets, dozens of UH fans found themselves like Danielle McCarty and her husband, Jeff, with vouchers for Sugar Bowl seats but no airline tickets or hotel reservations. Others had hotel and airline reservations but no Sugar Bowl tickets.

Stephen Tsai talks to some of the players about being named All-WAC, and has details of Brennan asking Karl Benson to create the special award for the offense.

"I said, 'If there's any way we could collectively win this award, I'd really appreciate it,' " Brennan recalled saying.

Estes said: "Colt is so unselfish. He would do anything for this team."

Dave Reardon writes about Jason Rivers playing big in big games. Also on that page is a great profile of C.J. Hawthorne by Brian McInnis. And Reardon has an article about June Jones and his Tim Tebow comments.

"I'll probably get a little more (heat). My intent was not to demean Tim Tebow in anyway. ... My point was my quarterback has been labeled a system player, for three years. (Brennan is) the best passer in college football history," Jones said. "Tim Tebow is in a system. The last quarterback that was in that system ... Alex Smith (was) talented, but I didn't see him in an NFL passing deal. Colt Brennan plays in an NFL passing game. You can dial it up and see it's not a system. And Tim Tebow's system is a college system.

"He's a great quarterback, probably win another national championship, he's competitive, he's all those things. But a lot of his stuff comes off little dive fakes and all different kinds of things that he's not going to do in the National Football League. That's my point."

And Brennan's take:

The UH quarterback said Jones' comments were misunderstood.

"I know he wasn't taking any shots at Tim Tebow. I've heard him say great things about Tim Tebow. Tim Tebow is a great quarterback, he most likely will win the Heisman Trophy. But I think Coach Jones is very strongly trying to take away that whole system thing (on me), and just let the players be players."

I think the whole thing has gotten blown way out of proportion. Basically, you can't say one player is a system player without calling the other, or any QB for that matter, a system player. Every player is in a system, and both Tebow and Brennan benefit from their systems. But that doesn't mean both aren't great players either. I think June switched between talking about Heisman-worthiness (system label doesn't matter) to NFL potential (system label matters a lot) and that disconnect has caused a lot of the grief. Just my opinion. Moving on!

Ferd Lewis writes about the effect UH (and Leilehua) winning has had on the community.

Football brought us together in ways and numbers never seen here before. It joined disparate groups and ages with a resiliency of purpose and power of shared passion, giving us something to not only cheer for but rally around en masse.

And when it came to the Sugar Bowl-bound Warriors, the din could be heard far and wide. Neighborhoods — some with signs saying "hana hou Warriors" — echoed with cheers and went eerily silent with UH setbacks. Fireworks announced touchdowns almost as fast as ESPN could.

Here's an editorial from The Maui News, looking ahead to the New Year's Day game.

The Warriors will have to play their very best game to get past Georgia, which compiled a 10-2 mark while playing some of the country’s best teams. There’s no question Hawaii will put points on the board. The question is whether the UH defense can stop Georgia. It may all boil down to heart; how much Hawaii wants to win.

Harry King of The Morning News in Arkansas looks forward to watching the game.

That bowl game in New Orleans has my full attention. Not the national championship game that includes a team that lost to Arkansas, but the game six days earlier.

Colt Brenann, I mean Hawaii, against Georgia.

I want to see the quarterback who holds a stack of NCAA records go against a defense from the SEC instead of the WAC.

Georgia coach Mark Richt looks forward to the game as well.

Now we get a chance to play the only undefeated team in the United States. I’ve met Coach (June) Jones, but I don’t know if Coach Jones remembers me or not. June: We’ve got a common friend in Campo – Dave Campanozzi. I know he really enjoyed his time with the Falcons and working for you, so I feel like I know you maybe a little bit more than I would if it wasn’t for Craig. I’ve got a lot of respect for what you’ve done there Coach, and look forward to seeing you here in New Orleans.”

Not sure if I already linked to this article from Online Athens previewing the game.

"I've been up many a late night watching Hawaii play," said Richt, a voter in the coaches' poll who watched Hawaii play or waited for their score to come across the ticker.

Now, it's Bulldogs defensive coordinator Willie Martinez's turn to toss and turn thanks to Brennan and Hawaii's tops-in-the- nation scoring offense at more than 46 points per game.

Pleasant dreams.

Phillip Kisubika of Red and Black, a Georgia student paper, has a great article taking a look at the game.

"Obviously the SEC talent across the board is superb - it's what they consider the best in college football," Brennan said. "We're coming up against a monster ... I'm expecting a dogfight and for us to fight for everything we get."

Of Brennan, Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford said, "He's awesome. He's got a quick release, he's accurate, he's got a big-time receiving corps. They're playing great."

David Ching of the Ledger-Enquirer has some quotes from Colt about the game and his Heisman candidacy. Georgia center Fernando Velasco has this to say about the matchup.

"We don't want them to make their name off of us. They're gonna come in with a chip on their shoulder because they don't get the type of respect that they think an undefeated team should get," Velasco said. "You hear so much about their offense and how many points they score, so we've got a challenge for everybody - not only defensively, but offensively as well, just to keep their offense off the field because they're so high-powered."

And finally, Colt is now 3rd in ESPN's Heisman Poll, and 2nd in Rivals.com's Power Rankings.

UW & Sugar Bowl Vids

Irse has this week's June Jones Show up in Windows Media format.

Orlando has it up on Youtube: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

And Chawan Cut has mostly caught up on the insane amounts of news, at least from yesterday. He's actually traveling right now, but he's dedicated and using his magical powers to compile these vids. So while they may be slightly delayed, he's doing it, which is awesome. Here's a couple of the most recent clips, but check out his Youtube profile page for a lot more.





P.S. You can always check the KGMB, KHON, KITV and KHNL sites too. They're getting a lot better at putting their own videos up.

Sugar Sugar, Heisman

The news faucet is gushing full-blast and all I have is a paper cup. Here is but a sample of the news from Georgia and rest of the nation.

First, some smack from a few Georgia papers...

From Travis Fain of The Telegraph in Macon, GA.

But since I doubt the BCS is looking for my opinion, let me close with this: I want Colt Brennan's head on a stick. I want that pretty boy Hawaii quarterback driven through the Superdome turf. I want perfection in all phases of the game this New Year's Day.

Destroy Hawaii. And then let this be known across the land: The Georgia Bulldogs will be staying in the national title conversation for many years to come.

And if you're not with us, then you'd better start running.

Sounds like a guy who plays too much Dungeons and Dragons.

From Christopher McIntosh of the Athens Exchange:

I do know two happy people on the Georgia side, however. Knowshon Moreno and Thomas Brown. They may run for a combined half mile against Hawaii's defense.

Ultimately, though, what does it prove? The number four team in the country, no SEC championship shot, and a JV national title game against a team that probably shouldn't even be in the BCS. Hell, even if we win, we may still end the year at number 4.

From Morgan Lee of AccessNorthGA.com.

And again, it’s not because the Bulldogs are headed to New Orleans. It’s because playing Hawaii is like picking a fight with the 90-pound weakling on the playground.

This is not really smack talk, just because we hear a version of this before every game.

Of the Warriors' offense, which averages over 46 points per game and boasts three 1,000-yard receivers, Georgia safety Kelin Johnson said, "To be honest, it better be your dream (to play against an offense like Hawai'i's). It's the opportunity to get more interceptions and more sacks because (Brennan) drops back about 45 times a game."

And now back to the non-smack articles:

Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has this from Georgia coach Mark Richt about the fans traveling to the game.

Specifically, he was hopeful that fans will travel to New Orleans in record numbers and “make a statement” to the nation and the bowl system that Georgia is a force to be reckoned with at the ticket booth as well as on the field.

I found this interesting on a couple of levels. One, this came AFTER Georgia had already presold its entire allotment of tickets plus 5,000 extra — 22,500 tickets in total. With Hawaii not likely to bring a big following all the way from the big island, Richt envisions Georgia fans taking over the Superdome.

Challenge! But for the first day (or so) of ticket sales, the Advertiser declares:

University of Hawai'i season ticket holders bought about 5,000 tickets to the Allstate Sugar Bowl by the time the Stan Sheriff Center box office closed at 4 p.m. today — and through the UH athletic department's Web site, which operates around the clock.

Carter Strickland of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talks to Colt Brennan about playing Georgia.

That bowl represents an opportunity to silence those critics, Brennan said.

"There is no doubt we've heard it all and we have fought through negative criticism" he said. "We really want to make a statement and get some respect. We realize the monster that is in front of us, but we can't be more thrilled for the opportunity that is in front of us."

Via SI, an AP article about Hawaii's selection to the Sugar Bowl.

From USA Today:

"This puts us on the map and says a lot about what we've been able to accomplish here," Jones said in a telephone interview before Sunday's Sugar Bowl press conference. "We've been to bowl games seven of the last nine years but never one like this. I'm really excited and proud for the entire state of Hawaii.

"Our kids have been on an unbelievable run and believe they can compete with anybody. Our team's success has allowed Colt Brennan a chance to win the Heisman Trophy, and that's a huge bonus."

Mark Whicker of the Orange County Register wonders why Hawaii isn't playing for a national championship.

In an AP article by Andrew Bagnato, a few words from Ikaika Alama-Francis.

Even Hawaii, which played a schedule ranked 117th of 119 by the NCAA, has its proponents. "We're the only 12-0 team in Division I-A, so how can we not be in the national championship game?" said former Hawaii defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis, now with the Detroit Lions. "I don't want to hear people blame our schedule, either."

Bret Bloomquist of the El Paso Times writes an article about why he voted Hawaii #1 in his final regular season AP poll.

Because I think Hawaii's the best team in the country, that's why.

Because I think if they got a chance to play Ohio State or Georgia or LSU, they'd beat them.

Because I think they are as good or better than Boise was last year, and I think the 2006 Oklahoma team is as good or better than Ohio State or any of the two-loss teams out there.

This is the year to give them a chance. This is the year when parity has reigned and it is time to see what Hawaii could do against the power brokers.

The only significant argument against a playoff is that an exciting regular season is more important than determining who the best team really is, so why not give the post-season its most exciting end and let Hawaii tee it for the title?

That didn't happen, of course.

From Ralph D. Russo of the AP:

Q: Did Hawaii deserve to get in?

A: Sure. The undefeated Warriors needed to finish in the top 12 and they came in 10th. They did what was asked of them. And beyond that, it's good to have Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl against Georgia just for the curiosity factor. We'll find out once and for all if Colt Brennan and crew can hang with the big boys.

After a few weeks of bashing the Warriors, Dave Nemetz offers a mea culpa on the Bleacher Report.

With an empty fifth of Beam and the Saturday night crowds beckoning, I flipped off the TV and headed out to the bars, assuring myself that Washington had it in the bag.

And herein lies the underlying message of this turn of events, and perhaps the whole season:

Never, under any circumstances, head out for the bars when an undefeated team is playing with their season on the line.

Too many people shrugged off Hawaii this year, including myself (in an unfortunately very public way). Too many people ignored a team that tended not to play until after 11PM on the East Coast, and often took all four quarters to pull off each of their 12 victories.

But despite all that, these Hawaii Warriors didn't quit. They knew the odds were longer than a direct flight from JFK to Honolulu (if such a flight even exists), but they said to hell with it all, throwing up a big goose egg in the loss column and leaving it to the befuddled BCS voters and computers to make heads or tails of it all.

And just like they did against Fresno State, against San Jose State, and against Nevada, Hawaii came back against Washington—this one their biggest comeback of the year—and proved everyone wrong—again.

More love from the Baltimore Sun's Bill Ordine.

And returning to my favorite team of the season, Hawaii, anyone who watched the undefeated Warriors until 3:40 a.m. Eastern time Sunday morning (I did) saw a three-touchdown comeback against Washington. You can scoff that Hawaii struggled against the the lowly Huskies, but I'll remind the scoffers that the Warriors beat Washington by seven points while No. 7 USC (which argued it should play for the national title) defeated the Huskies by just three earlier in the year.

Adam Rank uses Hawaii as a blunt instrument to better bash LSU with, on AOL's Fanhouse.

All Hawaii has done is win all of their games. No campaigning. No begging. No press conferences. Hawaii has just gone out and won football games.

Weird, I know.

The knock against Hawaii is that they do not play anybody. Or at least that's the myth. The truth is that nobody wants to go over and play Hawaii. That's hard to fault the Warriors. Go play them if you have a problem with their schedule. But LSU probably can't get out of that commitment to play Bayou Banjo Tech. If you aren't willing to play the team, you can't complain about their schedule.

And while Hawaii was running the table, LSU was losing to mediocre teams like Arkansas who fired its coach after the season. LSU played most of its games at home. It played one tough road game this season, at Kentucky and they lost.

Hey, that's pretty funny.

Some very early predictions from:

SI's Cory McCartney, Georgia 38, Hawaii 27.

CFN's Pete Fiutak, Georgia 34, Hawaii 27

Omaha Newsstand's (?) Zachary Baehr:

Hawaii will crush Georgia

Hawaii is 8 to 10 point underdogs according to Las Vegas books.

Rivals.com Mike Huguenin ranks the Sugar Bowl at #3 in his rundown of all 32 bowls.

John Moss has the game at #2 on the Bleacher Report.

I was tempted to put this game at number one. I really was. Some have said this is the "real" championship game...I don't buy that, but it will be a great game regardless.

Rivals.com compares and contrasts each team in their respective BCS bowl matchups.

Here's a message to those still filling out their Heisman ballots, from Tim May of the Columbus Dispatch.

It says here that the Heisman Trophy ballots, to be filed by Wednesday, should show, in order: No. 1, Tim Tebow, quarterback, Florida, right; No. 2 Darren McFadden, running back, Arkansas; No. 3, Colt Brennan, quarterback, Hawaii.

Brennan has thrown 131 career TD passes, 10 more than anyone else in major college annals. The comeback he engineered against Washington late Saturday was phenomenal.

And from Adam Van Brimmer of the Savannah Morning News:

If I had a vote, I'd give it to Hawaii's Colt Brennan. His team won't play for the championship either, but at least he has a chance to lead the Warriors to the only undefeated season in Division I-A.

Plus, his performance Saturday night, leading Hawaii from 21 points down to defeat Washington in the final minute, was Heisman-esque.

2007 All-WAC Teams and Awards

The WAC has announced their 2007 first and second teams, as well as individual honors. June Jones is Coach of the Year and Colt Brennan is Offensive Player of the Year. Brennan, Davone Bess, Ryan Grice-Mullins, John Estes, Hercules Satele, David Veikune, Mike Lafaele, Solomon Elimimian, Adam Leonard, and Myron Newberry made the first team, while Jason Rivers made the second team. There was also a special "Offensive Unit of the Year" award given out. Stephen Tsai has details.

How influential is Colt Brennan?
After being told Saturday he would be named the WAC's Offensive Player of the Year, he asked WAC commissioner Karl Benson to recognize the entire team.
The WAC did just that, giving a special award for "Offensive Unit of the Year." Acknowledged were Brennan, slotacks Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins, and wideouts C.J. Hawthorne and Jason Rivers.

Dave Reardon writes about the classy move.

Maybe some of the Karl Benson bashing will stop since the WAC commissioner was responsive to Colt Brennan’s wishes to honor his receivers, and Benson created a new “unit award” to give Jason Rivers, Ryan Grice-Mullins, C.J. Hawthorne and Davone Bess.

Benson, a Boise State alumnus, is often accused of favoring the Broncos.

And it’s no surprise Brennan came up with the idea to share his Player of the Year award. We’re used to that kind of selfless attitude from him.

Congratulations to all!

Sugar Bowl, Fans, Banquet, Etc.

Dave Reardon covers yesterday's announcement and gets reaction from Colt Brennan.

"I haven't been to New Orleans and I'm excited about it, especially playing in that dome," Brennan said after yesterday's announcement. "So many great games have been played there. I can't imagine how this offense will run indoors."

Dave also writes about last night's banquet, injury updates on Jacob Patek and Keao Monteilh, this week's Warrior Replay, and a full bowl schedule.

Stephen Tsai talks to the players about going to the Sugar Bowl. They also give thanks to the fans.

The fans roared each time Fox cut to a live shot inside the arena. They booed loudly when an analyst questioned whether the Warriors merited BCS consideration. But, mostly, they yelled in joy.

"I've never experienced anything like this," linebacker Timo Paepule said. "Our fans have our back. It was loud."

Watson said: "It was nice to experience this. During the games, we're so focused, we don't pay attention to what the fans are doing. This was nice to see our fans really support us. We appreciate it."

"We always wanted to do something for the community and Hawai'i itself," Bess said. "This is way beyond what we imagined. We're thankful for the opportunity."

Mary Vorsino covers the festivities in the Stan Sheriff Center and talks to some long-time fans.

For many UH fans, the road to the Sugar Bowl has been a long one.

Some have been waiting more than 30 years for yesterday, after sticking with the Warriors through seasons filled with disappointments and frustrations.

"We've cheered for them all the way through," said Kane'ohe resident Beverly Hamada. "It's been a really fabulous season."

Michelle Alves of Makiki has been supporting the Warriors since the 1980s. "We always believed they would pull it out," Alves said, laughing. "I think it's a season of a lifetime."

Michael Tsai has a lot more great fan quotes.

"I've been waiting for this for 40 years," said 65-year-old Mililani resident Alvin Akiyama. "This is just fantastic."

"This is great," Shishido said. "This makes up for all those years of suffering."

Ferd Lewis has a few quotes from June Jones.

"We're excited to be there and, obviously, it is a big game for us," Jones said.

Jones said, "We're in for a tremendous challenge in the Superdome with a whole bunch of Bulldog fans and I know how many come down there."

Georgia has announced it has already sold more than 20,000 tickets for the game.

"It is gonna be like a home crowd (for Georgia)," Jones said. "We're, hopefully, going to have the whole state of Hawai'i there, too, to make it equal."

Ferd also has a column discussing what June said in the process of hyping Colt for Heisman that made a few Florida fans angry.

In a Brian McInnis article, June Jones talks about what the BCS money might mean.

"Hopefully, it means we'll get some new carpet and new stuff in my office," Jones deadpanned.

In all seriousness, Jones said the increased funding takes the team's recruiting plateau, previously limited to $50,000, up a notch.

"The identity, what's happened to us and how we do it, it's a little different," Jones said. "We haven't even made trips to the mainland to recruit because of the money situation. ESPN, Fox and all the TV exposure, which I knew would come as we got to winning with our offense, people would want our games on TV. We're getting calls from Atlanta, South Carolina, Florida. It brings us into a new arena."

Paul Arnett reacts to the Sugar Bowl selection.

Suzanne Roig writes about some of the hurdles UH fans will have getting to New Orleans.

"Flights are really booked right now between the holidays and with college kids returning to school," Shimamoto said.

A search of airline Web sites yesterday showed roundtrip ticket prices around Jan. 1 running about $900 per person.

The UH athletic department's Web site did list a Sugar Bowl package starting at $1,999 per person that included airfare through Vacations Hawai'i, but company officials could not be reached yesterday. Space is limited, according to the site.

UH season ticket holders Jasmine and Stephen Mukai, of Niu Valley, plan to go to New Orleans but know they will probably have to book their airline arrangements separately from their hotel and game tickets.

"We'll see what happens," Stephen Mukai said yesterday.

I'll be flying out of LA, so I have it a little easier. I just hope everyone who wants to go can go.

And finally Ferd Lewis writes that East Carolina and Boise State will play in the Hawaii Bowl. He also discusses the possibility that Broncos head coach Chris Petersen may or may not be there for the game.

The Los Angeles Times has reported Petersen is the first choice of the UCLA administration to replace Bruins' head coach Karl Dorrell, who is expected to be fired this week. The Times said UCLA athletic department representatives have already contacted Petersen.

Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier did not return calls to The Advertiser.

Sugar Bowl News

So I just plunked down a big chunk of non-refundable money to go to this game. Wooooooooo!!!! Now I just gotta ask my boss for the time off. Woops. Oh man, but that's okay, it's the biggest game in UH football history and I just have to go support the Warriors and the rest of the fans making the trek up. New Years in New Orleans, Hawaii vs Georgia, David vs Goliath, gonna be a crazy experience. Be there!

UHBows uploaded video of Fox's BCS selection show, visiting the fans, band, Colt and June in the Stan Sheriff Center earlier today:



In this AP article by Charles Odum, Georgia coaches and players expressed a little disappointment over not getting to play in a national championship. But further down the article... did Georgia just call dibs on wearing black unis?

After the Sugar Bowl announcement, Richt told his players they will wear the black jerseys they unveiled in an emotional win over Auburn.

Richt also called on Georgia fans to again wear black.

"Let's see if we can relive a little of that excitement," Richt said.

Richt said the Georgia players celebrated the announcement about the black jerseys.

"We're excited obviously to get to play in those," said quarterback Matthew Stafford. "It's going to be fun, but it really boils down to us playing a great football team."

Are they the home team? Is that why? Oh well, would've been cool to see UH in their home uniforms... Then again, UH has had a lot of great wins in their road unis.

Here's another AP article covering the selection of both teams.

"Sugar is definitely sweet," Brennan said. "We're going to do it Hawaiian style."

And Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes a look at the matchup.

Matchup that worries Hawaii? Stopping Knowshon Moreno and Georgia's running game. The Rainbows are better than you might think against the run. They rank 39th nationally in rush defense, 33rd in total defense and 40th in scoring defense. Their linebackers are fast and physical, and they hit hard. But they haven't encountered the kind of rushing attack they'll see from the Bulldogs, who undoubtedly will lean on it more than usual in an attempt to keep Hawaii's offense on the sideline. Loading up to stop the run will make Matthew Stafford's play-action game even more lethal.

Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl! (w/Ticket and Travel Info Updates)

Just announced on Fox!

More details to come.

UPDATE: Here's the final BCS rankings from the CFN site. Hawaii finished ranked #10. ...and here's a PDF of the final Harris Poll.

UPDATE 2: Here's an article about it from the Star-Bulletin.

Here's an article from the Advertiser detailing the party in Stan Sheriff Center.

UPDATE 3: And finally, Fox announces that UH will play Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Awww yeah, it'll be a great matchup.

UPDATE 4: Here's an article about the BCS bowl games from the BCS website.

And P.S. I made a temporary title change to the blog. Sweeeeet.

UPDATE 5: Visit this UH Athletics web page for info on tickets, travel packages, game and stadium info, etc.

Visit the Sugar Bowl website for a lot more info. They already have UH-themed Sugar Bowl merchandise for sale. Here's a link to their travel package broker.

Hawaii at #10 in Coaches Poll (#10 in AP)

Bumped.

UH remains at #10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll (and gets a first place vote). Ohio State and LSU are #1 and #2.

The Warriors also move up one spot to #10 in the AP poll.

Hawaii vs Washington Wrap-Ups

Hawaii Papers:

Great game wrap-up from The Advertiser.

The stirring ending was an altogether fitting exclamation point to a season of comebacks and improbable turnarounds for the Warriors, who won two overtime games and squeezed out a couple more thrillers. And it involved many of the same characters. Jason Rivers, the Warriors' "big-game" receiver, did it yet again, pulling in 14 passes for 167 yards and four touchdowns, earning a thunderous ovation during the ritual postgame Senior Walk along with the man who authored them, Brennan.

Here's a wrap-up from Stephen Tsai.

Sweet dreams indeed do come true.

For the Hawai'i football team, they are created with a four-wide offense with seemingly unlimited possibilities, steeled by a defense that refuses to fold, and united by players who are related by spirit.

That article also has links to a bunch of videos and photo galleries from the game.

The Star-Bulletin has an excellent photo slideshow set to the ha'a, cheerleaders cheering, and fans screaming. Really cool.

Dave Reardon with another great line in his wrap-up.

There's just one thing to say after last night.

Happy New Year, Hawaii Warriors!

And from the star of the game:

"It's the same quote we've been saying all year," said Jason Rivers, who tied his career high with four touchdown catches. "We believe, we believe.

"For us that didn't matter. First thing that came to mind when it was 21-0 was we've been in this position before. We've been behind in bad weather, we've had to overcome all kinds of adversity."

In Nick Abramo's game wrap-up, a quote from Ty Willingham.

"He was just good," Willingham said. "That last one (Rivers' fourth TD), we tried to stay on top of him, but he just got by us."

However, Michael Tsai writes that Willingham did not like the refs.

Willingham was particularly frustrated with a number of calls and reversals that favored UH.

The Warriors successfully challenged three calls: One that resulted in a touchdown for UH, and two that negated potential first downs for the Huskies.

"To play a game like they played and to have some things surrounding that kind of shape the football game, that (makes me) angry, because things shouldn't be like that," Willingham said.

"You can't play against two teams," said Huskies free safety Nate Williams. "We can't play against Hawai'i and the referees."

Finally, in the fourth, with the score tied 28-28, Locker appeared to connect with Quintin Daniels for a first down in Hawai'i territory, but officials determined that Locker had passed the line of scrimmage and the Huskies were again forced to punt.

"I couldn't see it but it was probably fitting for all the calls we had tonight," Willingham said.

Maybe he should watch the video and get back to us. While some of the refs were bad, and calls went against both teams, the video booth made the correct calls on anything they reviewed. But I understand, it was a close and frustrating loss for them in a long and frustrating season. Still, watch the video.

Brian McInnis highlights the great performance by the defense after a crazy first quarter and injuries to key players.

Because of first-quarter injuries to starting safeties Patek (high ankle sprain) and Thomas (hip pointer) McMackin entrusted Mouton with an unfamiliar position, and Erik Robinson with a job he had never fully experienced in crunch time.

"Everyone has to know what everyone does, in case we have to fill in or whatever," Mouton said. "We know we can get the job done no matter who's out there."

Robinson was in on seven solo tackles and Mouton added six. Linebacker Solomon Elimimian had a team-high 12.

Jason Kaneshiro has a game summary and short game capsules of each game played this season.

Dayton Morinaga has a bunch of notes from the game, including this quote from Hercules Satele:

"We left everything out there," Satele said. "Most teams would have given up. We were down 21 points to Washington. But this team, we never give up. We never stop fighting."

Morinaga also highlights Jason Rivers' big night.

Stacy Kaneshiro highlights Colt Brennan's big night and has this great quote from Ryan Grice-Mullins.

"Mostly, I felt good to do it for these seniors," said Grice-Mullins. "We had a very emotional night last night at the hotel. The seniors said their last speech and everything. Guys shed tears because of the love on this team.

"It felt good just to get this win, first of all for the seniors, second of all for the team and third of all for this island. All I can say is it's beautiful."

Ferd Lewis has a column praising Colt Brennan.

Paul Arnett highlights Colt's performance and has quotes from Herman Frazier and Karl Benson about going to a BCS bowl.

"What a great comeback," Benson said. "You know, I said this was a team of destiny a month ago. I saw the San Jose State game and the Nevada game, and to see this game, what a great finish for a great team.

"It validates our league in such a big way. Unfortunately, we've got to turn our attention to one more game and hope they can do it again. This is a team that has proved they can do it. We're going to another BCS game."

Dan Nakaso gets reaction from the fans.

"What an awesome way to end the season," said stunned fan Tony Goo. "It's just unreal, just unreal, fantastic. This is the best."

Robert Shikina has an article about the fans trying to rush the field at the end of the game.

In the Star-Bulletin's Sports Notebook, Colt Brennan lobbies for his choice of BCS bowl.

Hawaii may be going to the Sugar Bowl to face Georgia, but senior quarterback Colt Brennan's preference would be to play Southern California in the Rose Bowl.

"I began my career against USC and I'd love to end it against them," Brennan said, moments after Hawaii secured a 35-28 victory over Washington last night at Aloha Stadium. "I've got nothing but respect for SC. I'm a big fan of their program. I sure want to play them.

"We want to stay on the West Coast. I know Hawaii fans would fill that place. Of course, we'll go anywhere they send us.

And the Advertiser reminds you about the BCS party today in Stan Sheriff Center.


Washington Papers:

Here's a wrap-up from John Boyle of HeraldNet.

Here's a wrap-up of the game and the season for the Huskies, from Don Ruiz of The News Tribune.

Here are observations of the game from Nathan Ware of The Dawgblog.

Here's a wrap-up as well as a game notebook from Molly Yanity of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Here's a summary of the game from Scott Eklund of Dawgman.com.

Here's a wrap-up from Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, which includes this fun quote:

That play was one of four reviews that all went against UW on a night when Husky coaches were left livid over the officiating, often thought to favor the home team here.

"We knew that was coming,'' said UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. "We all knew that was coming.''

Just to reiterate, they should watch the video before making accusations like that. Unbelievable.

Condotta also has some notes about the Huskies' offensive gameplan, the flight delays getting here, etc.

And what a classy guy.

UW's Roy Lewis wasn't that impressed by Hawaii. Asked where they would finish in the Pac-10 he said "probably last. To really be honest. They're a good team for the conference that they are in, but the Pac-10, I think there are just too many heavy hitters. Once teams get their number and have the right plays called, that system, like all systems, can be broken. You can find glitches in the system. They run their system very well, don't get me wrong, but there are some glitches that can be put out there.''

Enjoy the trip home, my friend!

And just to end it on a more positive, less sour grapes note -- here's a nice quote from an objective observer.

Finally, I have to address Hawaii. The Warriors showed a ton of heart last night, rallying from 21 points down to beat Washington. They deserve a BCS bid after going 12-0.

Highlights from the UH vs UW Game

By the way, why did UH wear road unis?



Once again, thanks to UHBows for uploading the vid.

Hawaii 35, Washington 28

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

This team just knows how to win. Coming back from that 1st quarter fiasco to win this game? Unreal!

Jason Rivers - 4 touchdown catches.

Colt Brennan - 5 touchdown passes.

UH Defense - Held Washington scoreless in the second half.

Hawaii Warriors - 12 and 0!

BCS! BCS! BCS!

Okay, news to follow!

UPDATE: Here's some game stats from the UH website.

Here's a post-game game summary from the Star-Bulletin.

Here's a game summary from the Advertiser.

And oh by the way, the Advertiser reports that the Stan Sheriff Center is hosting a BCS selection party tomorrow. Everyone is invited!

Sheriff Center gates will open at 2:15 p.m. and fans are expected to be seated by 2:50 p.m., for the program which starts at 3 p.m., UH said.

Admission is free and UH officials say they would like to fill the 10,300-seat arena much as Boise State did for their BCS announcement last year.

UH coach June Jones, Warrior players, cheerleaders, Rainbow Dancers and pep band will take part.

The bowl pairings, which likely would send UH to the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, will be revealed in the 40-minute program that follows Fox's NFL coverage at 3 p.m. Hawai'i time. Fox will televise four of the five BCS bowls, including the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl.

UPDATE 2: Via ESPN, here's an AP wrap-up.

And here's a slightly different AP wrap-up from CBS Sportsline.

UPDATE 3: Here's an instant analysis of the game by CFN's Matt Zemek.

Saturday night's heartstopper against the Huskies represented the latest in a long line of white-knuckle victories for Hawaii, as this talented team once again showed that its considerable athleticism is actually exceeded by its uncommon mental toughness. On a night when the Warriors stared down a 21-point deficit and faced the prospect of a somewhat ruined season, a team with so much at stake found the focus needed to avoid a descent into panic. On a night when West Virginia cracked under tremendous pressure, the Warriors pulled another close win out of the fire. It was truly just another day in paradise for a team that has earned every blessing that has come its way.

While Washington once again lost a game it had been dominating (the Huskies fell victim to a number of similar setbacks in 2007), Hawaii demonstrated its ability to continuously prevail when other weaker teams would have flinched and faltered. If a college ever offered a course on "learning how to win football games," only one school would earn an A-plus after 12 regular-season games: yes, it's the University of Hawaii. Now, the prize student of this just-completed regular season will likely have the chance to pass a challenging final exam: in the Sugar Bowl against a very formidable SEC opponent that will be named in roughly 16 hours.

Ways to Follow the Hawaii vs Washington Game

If you're going to the stadium here's some parking and bus/shuttle info, compiled by the Advertiser.

Watch it on ESPN2.

Streaming video from ESPN360.com, if your ISP supports it.

Listen to 1420 on your AM dial. Neighbor islands can listen live on KNUI on Maui and KPUA in Hilo.

Streaming audio via 1420 AM online.

Live online stats from Internet Consulting Services via the UH website. You can also get stats from ESPN's Scoreboard, which should have a "Gamecast" link during the game. Or try CBS Sportsline's scoreboard for a "Gamecenter" link.

Senior night! GO WARRIORS!!!!

College GameDay Segment - On the Beach

Desmond Howard paddles to a beach in Hawaii and has Colt Brennan teach him a thing or two about the run and shoot. Colt draws up a play in the sand, discusses it, and then has Howard defend it. Afterwards, Fowler, Herbstreit and Corso discuss tonight's game against Washington.



Once again, big ups to UHBows, who has a lot more videos on his Youtube profile page.

GameDay: Hawaii vs Washington

This is it. Biggest game in UH history since last week. Gotta win this one. All the marbles, baby!

Hawaii News:

Stephen Tsai writes that after a huge delay, the Huskies finally arrived last night.

Washington's scheduled flight was severely delayed yesterday, and the team spent nearly nine hours waiting in the Sea-Tac International Airport.The plane left at 6:15 p.m. Pacific time, and arrived in Honolulu at about 9:30 p.m.

The article continues with quotes from coaches and players on the bigness of this game, and how some UH players played through injury against Boise and will play through them against Washington.

"We know how long people have waited for this," defensive tackle Michael Lafaele said.

It is why several players, including Lafaele, are playing despite injuries.

Linebacker Adam Leonard has a fractured right hand that makes it difficult to hold a pen.

Right slotback Ryan Grice-Mullins has 90 receptions despite a fractured finger on his right hand. Which finger?

"This one," he said, laughing, as he gives the finger to a reporter.

Lafaele has a fracture in his right hand, a sprained left wrist, a strained right knee and tightness in his left quadriceps.

Dave Reardon's gameday preview has great advice for fans from Colt Brennan as well as from Reardon himself.

"Everyone I know is saying, 'BCS, BCS,' " star quarterback Colt Brennan said. "If everyone really wants that to be a reality, all the fans, everyone out there, they really need to focus on Washington. Washington is a good football team. We have another war this Saturday and we're going to need another great performance by everybody, players included."

OK fans, focus. Here's your game plan: Make noise when Hawaii's defense is on the field, do not when the offense is out there. And don't rush the field and steal helmets again.

Too funny. The page also has Dave's key matchup, a profile of Washington QB Jack Locker by Brian McInnis, and a profile of Adam Leonard, by Billy Hull.

Stephen Tsai's gameday preview, which breaks down the offense, defense and special teams of UH and UW, is mostly in .GIF format for some reason. Here's an excerpt from the text portion:

"They're going to be ready for us," UH quarterback Colt Brennan said. "It's not going to be easy."

And the Huskies have one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in the West.

Jake Locker "is a phenomenal athlete," UH defensive secondary coach Rich Miano said. "His running speed, quickness, and his ability to make people miss, those are the reasons he's a great quarterback."

And Dave Reardon takes another look at the matchup and what it means, and has some news about parking, security and transit.

UPDATE: Forgot to include this Ferd Lewis article comparing the haves (BCS teams) vs the have-nots (non-BCS teams) in college football.


Washington News:

Don Ruiz of The News Tribune has a game preview. Here's an excerpt about Colt:

Brennan is second in total offense, fourth in passing efficiency and could use a big game on national television to clinch an invitation to the Heisman Trophy ceremonies in New York.

“He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country, if not the best,” UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano said. “And he’s accurate. That’s what I really marvel about that system: how accurate that kid is. He doesn’t miss many. If you’ve got somebody open, the ball is going to be there.”

Molly Yanity of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a game preview, and discusses the Huskies' mistake-prone defense.

All season, defensive players have talked about mental lapses, "little" mistakes, and how good they are despite the results.

"We are a good defense," senior end Greyson Gunheim said after last Saturday's 42-35 loss to Washington State in which the Cougars' game-winning touchdown came when the Huskies defense appeared to be in two different sets.

"We just don't play like it all the time."

John Boyle of HeraldNet has a preview, with quotes from members of the Huskies' D on facing the UH offense.

"Proving (the doubters) wrong would be a good thing," safety Darin Harris said. "Especially in the secondary. They say we're the weak point of the defense and that kind of stuff. So it's a great challenge for us, and we accept the challenge."

"We plan on getting to that quarterback, because he obviously throws the ball pretty well," defensive tackle Jordan Reffett said. "We've got to get to him, we've got to take some shots at him and see if we can get him rattled.

The article also has some great compliments from Fresno State coach Pat Hill.

"The passing game is all about timing and spacing, and their timing and spacing is excellent," Fresno State coach Pat Hill said. "Also, don't ever underestimate the speed of the Hawaii receivers.

"Oregon's a good football team with very good receivers. Hawaii might not be as big as their receivers, but I felt they were a lot faster. They can really run.

"That's the thing about them. Those receivers can run, they know what they're doing, they've been together for two and three years, and they've stayed healthy. Colt's got a great release. It's very hard to get to them, because they get the ball out so quickly. They have got big-time speed."

Here's some game notes from the Seattle Times.

Also from the Times, Bob Condotta talks to Husky coaches and players about what this game means to them and how they plan to win.

"Me, I love it," said receiver Marcel Reece of Washington's status against undefeated Hawaii, which needs a win to get to a Bowl Championship Series bowl game, likely the Sugar, for the first time in school history.

"We don't get a chance to go to a bowl game this year, which was our goal, but we do get to try and spoil something for a good team, and that's something that you can look forward to," Reece said.

The Huskies also want to try to simply keep Hawaii's offense, which is averaging 47.2 points, off the field.

Washington coaches said they plan to do that by trying to chew up clock with the running game, confident they can do so against a Hawaii defense that doesn't quite compare to its offense.

"It's going to be a challenge," said offensive coordinator Tim Lappano. "But I think we are probably one of the better offenses they've faced, so hopefully we can move it on them."

Should be a great game. GO WARRIORS!!!!!