Other 12/30 quotes

About how they underestimated the demand for tickets from UH fans, HF talked about their 13,500 tickets they got from the Sugar Bowl (after he gave 4000 back):
"They were gone in a day and a half. I had to go back to the Sugar Bowl and beg for more. I could have sold 25,000 if I had them." (AJC)

About how so many UH fans are coming to the game, HF said:
"They hope and I hope it's not a once-in-a-lifetime thing. But just in case, they are coming. In fact, everyone's coming. The governor's coming. The mayor's coming. I hope the last person leaving Honolulu will turn out the light." (AJC)

About how UH fans have gone to great lengths to go to the game, Karl Benson said:
"This has become a statewide event. I've heard of people who have taken out loans on their cars and taken out second mortgages on their homes in order to come to New Orleans. They are treating this as the biggest event in the state of Hawaii since, well, statehood." (AJC)

About how JJ changed things for UH, Vili said:
"June was the first coach who brought the whole island together. It brings out who we really are. It shows what true Polynesian warriors are all about." (NOLA)

About how UH had no identity with Hawaii when he took over, JJ said:
"We were the University of Hawaii. But there was basically no identity with Hawaii." (NOLA)

About how UH has changed, Colt said:
"Hawaii is the melting pot of the Pacific. It's the gathering place for all to come together. We have to be the most diverse team in college football." (NOLA)

About how the infusion of Polynesian players has changed the Warriors, Ron Lee said:
"The Polynesian kids mature at an early age, and they really love physical contact. And our fans just love to see them displaying their physicality." (NOLA)

About how the Warriors reflect Hawaii, fan Francis Kaikuna said:
"They reflect the pride we have in our state. Hawaii is embracing of so many cultures. They're all out there on the field. It's very special to see." (NOLA)

Longtime treasurer for Na Koa, Ben Yee, said about UH:
"Fans love a winner. But they love the atmosphere at the games as well. It brings unity to all of us." (NOLA)

About the Warriors, Robert Kekaula said:
"We're living on a rock in the middle of the Pacific. We have had a lifelong inferiority complex. I mean everybody thinks of Hawaii as paradise, but nobody takes us very seriously. Well, they have to take Hawaii football seriously." (NOLA)

About why they do the ha'a, Hercules said:
"This isn't something we're doing for the tourists. It is our way of showing pride in our heritage and the unity of our team." (NOLA)

NOLA Note: "The ha'a came about three years ago when Jones asked Kanalu Young, an associate professor of Hawaiian studies, to speak to the team and to assist the program with developing an identity that would reflect the nickname Warriors. Young gave the team a Hawaiian phrase, "eo na toa e" which translates to "Warriors respond to the call of battle," and he told them that the ha'a is a "physical protocol connected to the highest spiritual order." The players, most prominently native Hawaiians Brad Kalilimoku, Guyton Galdeira and Keala Watson, came up with the choreography as well as the words to the chant, whose meaning is kept within the team."

About the ha'a, Galdeira said:
"Every culture has its own way of preparing itself for battle. And we kept the words among ourselves because in every family circle of trust there are words only meant for each other. Mainly they show that while we are whole warriors, we also have deep love for one another." (NOLA)

About changing from the haka to the ha'a, Watson said:
"The haka and ha'a really represent two different cultures. We wanted to do something that was really more of our own." (NOLA)

About the ha'a, Vili said:
"They are acting out the ritual of warriors preparing to die and asking for the spirit needed to go into battle. In football terms, it shows that the Polynesian football player is never scared and never intimidated. It also shows the loyalty the Polynesian people have for each other. We give from the heart because that is our culture." (NOLA)

About how wonderful this moment is for the Warriors, Vili said:
"What a wonderful time this is. Our Warriors have a great opportunity to represent our island state. I don't know what the score will be, but I can tell you they will play with all of their hearts." (NOLA)

About being in the Sugar Bowl, Colt said:
“Nothing has sunk in yet." (NYT)

NYT Note: "It was hard to find a more chaotic scene than the Hawaii football team’s frolicking in a vast game room, only a few blocks from Bourbon Street. Players competed in Nintendo Wii games on the five big-screen plasma televisions adorning the walls. A pair of 300-pound linemen howled over a game of air hockey — all the spoils of Hawaii’s berth in the Sugar Bowl."

Feeling that Colt has helped his NFL draft status, JJ said:
“I think this year he’s done the things that the N.F.L. guys wanted to see. 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.” (NYT)

About how Colt loves to spend time with his teammates, Solomon Elimimian said:
“I feel like the most joy on his face was just being with the guys. The greatest joy he had was being with us as a team." (NYT)

About how being on probation helped prepare him for the NFL, Colt said:
“I look back now, and I can’t imagine a better training ground for the N.F.L. than being on probation during college. I mean, I think the things that I had to handle will be a lot of the responsibilities that a quarterback has to handle when he’s in the N.F.L, being responsible and being a role model.” (NYT)

About the special relationship with the Warriors and the people of Hawaii, Terry Brennan said:
“The relationship with the state and the fans over there has been special. It’s funny. If he’d gone to U.S.C. or U.C.L.A., who knows? They probably wouldn’t know who he was walking down the street.” (NYT)

After going over Colt's negatives (too light, sidearm motion, inflated numbers due to the offense), draft analyst Gil Brandt said why he likes Colt:
“All he’s done is won football games." (NYT)

Confused by Colt's detractors, Dick Tomey said:
“He’s as good of a quarterback as I’ve seen. He gets rid of the ball so fast and is the most accurate passer that I’ve ever seen. I just can’t imagine that anyone doesn’t believe he can play at the next level.” (NYT)

About why money isn't important to him, Colt said:
“Money is not my drive at all. And living out in Hawaii, I realized that I can be happy without money. Basically, I just want to go play football.” (NYT)

NYT Note: "Brennan said he was more concerned about landing in the right situation than about being a top pick. Although he wants a team to believe in him and invest in him, Brennan said, money isn’t his motivating factor.

Brennan said that his half-sister’s grandfather, Boyd L. Jefferies, had started a large brokerage firm in Los Angeles, Jefferies & Company Inc., that left his family financially secure. Both his parents are successful in business as well."