Bear, better than a bowl game?

Football in Hawaii: What's not to love?
By April Wortham, Tuscaloosa News

Honolulu, Hawaii -- “Going to the game?''

“Me, too.''

“Roll Tide!''

The exchange could be heard from all corners of Birmingham International Airport Wednesday as fans, recognizable to one another by their Crimson attire and sleepy grins, checked in for the day's journey to Hawaii.

At the concourse snack bar, the Ferguson, Barber and Kaylor families huddled for biscuits and coffee. All were wearing T-shirts boasting, “The Best Is Going to Hawaii! The Rest Are Going to Atlanta.''

With his two sisters and their husbands by his side, Tony Ferguson of Pell City said he didn't mind leaving home for Thanksgiving.

“Except for our poor little son, and he goes to the university,'' said Ferguson's wife, Jane. “It's just a couple of weeks until his finals, so he had to stay home.''

Known in his hometown as “The Ultimate Alabama Fan," a title conferred several years ago by the Birmingham News, Ferguson said he never leaves his house without wearing something that bears the letter “A.''

“He said [that] when he dies, he wants to be buried in his best Alabama shirt,'' said Ferguson's sister, Pat Barber of Atlanta.

“And his ashes scattered over Bryant-Denny Stadium,'' chimed sister No. 2, Linda Kaylor of Heflin.

The Fergusons, Kaylors and Barbers were among 25 people who booked a group trip to Hawaii that left Birmingham with layovers in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. They are among several thousand Tide fans expected to travel to Hawaii this week for Saturday's game against the University of Hawaii.

“We needed a vacation, and we wanted to watch the Crimson Tide play,'' said Coaling resident Mary Waldrop during the Washington layover, as her husband, Len, nodded in agreement.

With one grandson a walk-on for Alabama and the other a part-time travel agent, the Waldrops said the decision to forgo the traditional turkey and dressing at their house this year was an easy one.

A special welcome

“We welcome the Crimson Tide contingency to United Air Lines flight to Los Angeles,'' a flight attendant boomed over the 757's intercom, setting off a wave of “Roll Tides'' among the scattering of Alabama fans. Those not wearing crimson and white looked on in amusement.

Somewhere over the Midwest, passengers were offered their choice of chicken or pasta. Ernest Compton of Tuscaloosa couldn't help but think of barbecue chicken from Woodrow's on Highway 43 in Northport. ó his traditional tailgating meal. “And baked beans and slaw,'' he said.

In Los Angeles, the Crimson Tide contingency became more concentrated as fans from other parts of the country joined in for the last leg of the tour.

Bill and Carolyn Hardin, originally from Jasper, have missed only a handful of Alabama home games since they moved to Indiana more than 30 years ago and then retired to Kentucy in 1999.

“We called our kids and said, "We're going to Hawaii and to watch Alabama play.' And they said, "Have a safe trip.' “

Like most fans, the Hardins said the reason they made the trip to Hawaii was to watch the Tide play. The tropical vacation is just a bonus.

“Kill two birds with one stone,'' Carolyn Hardin said.

After countless sodas and attempted naps, fans rubbed their sore necks as they reprogrammed their watches ó and their bodies ó to believe it was just now after 7 p.m., not nearly midnight.

Hawaiian transition

Aboard the flight to Hawaii, the Averett family of Vance won a bottle of champagne from the flight staff for guessing, down to the second, the closest time when the plane crossed the halfway point from the mainland to Honolulu.

“And we don't even drink,'' Dianne Averett said, laughing. She said the recognition for the computation should go to her son, Josh, a math major at the University of Alabama.

After disembarking the plane in 80-degree weather, the Birmingham passengers were greeted by their floral shirt-wearing guide, who introduced himself as “Cousin Eddie'' and bestowed them with fragrant fuchsia and white leis.

“Smells just like gardenia,'' said one fan with a southern lilt.

Boarding blue Wiki Wiki buses, which Cousin Eddie translated as ë'fast, fast,'' the bleary-eyed travelers soaked up the island humidity as they took in the skyscraper hotels and palm trees wrapped with Christmas lights lining the main drag behind Waikiki Beach.

After most of the Crimson Tide fans retired to their hotel rooms, 2000 UA alumnus Tom Vigorito, who made the trip courtesy of his employer, ESPN, enjoyed a night cap at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

A native of Connecticut, Vigorito said he fell in love with the Capstone while on a visit in high school.

“One weekend. That was all it took, and I was hooked,'' he said. “Let's see: football, pretty girls and a beautiful campus. What's not to love?''

 

Aloha!: Alabama hits the big island for some sun-splashed football against a tough Hawaii team
By Cecil Hurt, TideSports.com

HONOLULU -- Some things are expected when a football team goes to Hawaii — warm breezes, palm trees, sun and surf.

What you don’t traditionally expect is a nationally ranked football team just waiting to make its mark against you. But that is just what the Alabama Crimson Tide football team is getting today.

The history of Hawaii football stretches back to 1909, but as recently as the 1970s, the Warriors — or the Rainbows, as they were once known — were getting most of their victories against teams like Cal Lutheran, Linfield, New Mexico Highlands and Humboldt State. They would occasionally surprise an unwary visitor from the mainland — most notably, a 10-7 win over Washington in 1973 -– but such wins were infrequent.

That started to change when Dick Tomey came to Hawaii in the early ’80s. The school joined the Western Athletic Conference, upgrading and stabilizing its schedule. In 1981, the then-Rainbows went 9-2, were ranked No. 18 by The Associated Press and closed their season with a 33-10 win over South Carolina (which was not a Southeastern Conference member at the time.)

The 1992 team also finished in the poll, at No. 23, and knocked off Illinois in a bowl game. Still, though Hawaii came close from time to time — a six-point loss to Notre Dame in 1991, a one-point loss to the Irish in ’97 — UH has struggled to get that one win that would impress the collective college football world.

That changed last year. Brigham Young was undefeated, and rumbling about suing the BCS if it was left out of the national championship game. But a national television audience witnessed one of the most remarkable blowouts of all time, when Hawaii — resurgent under coach June Jones, now in his fourth year — battered the Cougars, 72-45.

The Warriors hope that what the BYU game was to their 2001 season, the Alabama game, nationally televised by ESPN, will be for 2002.

“I think that BYU game got our players’ attention,” said Tide coach Dennis Franchione. “When we announced last spring that we were going to Hawaii, a lot of the players said they remembered that game.”

Today’s game (6:45 p.m. CST, 2:45 p.m. HST) has become an event locally. A crowd in excess of 50,000 is expected. In an area that doesn’t necessarily have Tuscaloosa’s abiding interest in all things related to football, daily updates on the status of Warrior quarterback Timmy Chang have become important news items.

“It’s all part of June building the program,” Franchione said. “He’s built interest here. He has done a great job of getting the best players in Hawaii to stay at home. Hawaii has always had tough, hard-nosed players but a lot of them had gone to UCLA or Oregon or BYU in the past. June has done a good job of changing that.”

Franchione has won twice before in Honolulu, once with New Mexico (in 1994) and once with TCU (in 1998), so he is familiar with most of the distractions that can arise on a trip to Hawaii. He’s faced Chang (in a 41-21 TCU win in 2000). He’s also been able, more or less, to deflect the swirling rumors about his status as Alabama’s head coach, and the possibility that he could be approached by Texas A&M.

In some ways, the trip off the mainland has helped to insulate the team from the state of Alabama’s full-time rumor mill. Franchione simply refers to it all as “getting focused and ready.”

If the game gives Hawaii a chance at recognition, it gives Alabama an opportunity for some measure of redemption. A splendid season was marred by last Saturday’s 17-7 loss to Auburn at Bryant-Denny Stadium, and while a victory today won’t erase that outcome, it will at least let the Tide’s season end on an upbeat note.

“I’m just glad I have another game to play,” said quarterback Tyler Watts. “You don’t want to end your career with a loss to Auburn or anyone else.”

Watts is expected to start against the Warriors, although backup Brodie Croyle will also see playing time in what promises to be an offensive shootout.

“For them hanging 500 yards on a team is no big deal,” Franchione said. “You have to make sure your team doesn’t get depressed when they drive the ball six or seven minutes to score, and Hawaii comes back and scores in a minute and a half. They can hit two or three passes and get down the field in a hurry. They will throw 50 or 60 passes so we will have to be ready for that defensively.

“Whatever happens, I certainly want our seniors to bow out the right way, and we hope to do that.”

 

Illustration by Tuscaloosa News graphics editor Anthony Bratina.

 

We sold out Hawaii stadium or whatever it's called. First time this year. No, not as good as a bowl game because we would be playing for the SEC championship and a BCS bid. Nice game for the guys who decided to stay around instead of leaving (which was all by the way) Next year I hope to be getting married in Hawaii at the same time Alabama and Hawaii play next year.

 

You're getting married no shit? Has she said yes yet?

Congratulations. How come this is the first I heard about this? And who to?