Quotes from 12/19

About his commitment to UH, Bo Levi Mitchell of Katy (Texas) High School said:
"I'm going to be a Warrior. It's a quarterback's dream to go out there and play football. I'm going to be living a dream." (HA)

HA Note: "Mitchell, who said he is 6 feet 1 1/2 and 195 pounds, has thrown 38 touchdown passes this season. He has been intercepted only four times. Mitchell will lead 15-0 Katy in Saturday's state Class 5A (large schools) Division II championship game."

About Bo (28-1 as a starter), Katy coach Gary Joseph said:
"Hawai'i is getting a good one. He's a good player and a good person. He's a feel-good story." (HA)

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

About how his parents used to live in Hawaii, Bo said:
"They really liked it out there." (HA)

HA Note: "The families of Mitchell and UH cornerback Ryan Mouton, a former Katy standout, have been friends for several years. Mitchell visited Mouton when the Warriors trained in Houston in the week between the Louisiana Tech and Nevada-Las Vegas road games. Mitchell said he gave his highlight videotape to Mouton, who forwarded it to the UH coaches."

About how Washington State and Kansas State had talked to him, Bo recounted his conversation with the Kansas State coaches:
"If I were two inches taller, they'd take me. I'm not 6-4. It didn't matter. Hawai'i is the school for me." (HA)


About how Warriors Scout Offense Player of the Year Jake Santos cannot be on the travel roster for the Sugar Bowl, nor receive any of the gifts, Santos said:
"It's a raw deal." (HA)


About Santos missing out on the Sugar Bowl, GM said:
"I feel terrible for him. He's done a great job, and he's prepared us every week. He has a lot to do with our defense being successful." (HA)

HA Note: "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."

About Santos, UH compliance officer Bill Bryant said:
"He's eligible to practice, but not eligible to compete." (HA)

"You can't travel if you're not eligible, and he's not eligible." (HA)

HA Note: "Redshirts and players on medical leave are eligible for the UH travel roster, but not those redshirting as part of NCAA transfer rules."

About how he was surprised that he couldn't go with the team to the Sugar Bowl, Santos said:
"I thought since school is over, I could go. I thought not being able to suit up (for games) is punishment enough. But I guess the NCAA says you can't get into the postseason. The whole entire year you feel fine, and I still feel part of the team. You have to deal with it." (HA)

About how they tried to be able to have QB Santos be on the travel roster, QB coach Dan Morrison said:
"We tried. We looked at different situations. It's an unfortunate situation. We would have loved to take him. That rule is the only reason he's not going." (HA)

About how he'll pay for himself to go to the Sugar Bowl, Santos said:
"I'm flying myself out there because I want to be part of the team. I want to watch the game." (HA)

About how it is unclear if he can get a WAC Championship ring, Santos said:
"I don't know if I get a ring, which would suck because we won our WAC championship when I was out there." (HA)

Hoping that he gets his WAC Championship ring, GM said:
"We sure hope he gets one." (HA)

About their WAC Championship rings, GM said:
"we wanted to design something that was good enough for the accomplishment the team made. That's what we worked for. Hopefully, they'll like it. It's a story of this year on the ring, with a lot of bling." (HA)


Praising Laupepa Letuli, OL coach Dennis McKnight said:
"I think he's going to be a great player. 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." (HA)

HA Note: "Letuli, who can play guard or tackle, has endured injuries that have kept him from breaking into the playing rotation. In 2005, his first year at UH, he suffered a chipped bone in his right shoulder. Last year, he suffered a fractured left hand and two injuries to the medial collateral ligament in his left knee."

About the 25 pounds he gained over the past 2 years to go over 300 pounds, 6'3" Letuli said:
"That's some good weight. Most of it is bad. I need to work my way back. I have to stop eating a lot." (HA)


About having Letuli practice as an edge blocker now, McKnight said:
"He's a tough kid, with good character. If I could trade places with anyone, I'd trade places with him. That sucker's got it all in front of him." (HA)


About how he tried to blame himself for Colt's concussion but Colt instead blamed himself, Keith AhSoon said:
"We talked about it. I told him, 'My bad.' He just told me, 'Don't worry, it's not your fault, it's my fault.' We always try to point at ourselves, that's why I love this team. I appreciate what he said to me because it made me comfortable that he still trusts me. That's the best feeling in football, when your teammate trusts you." (HSB)

About the excellent Georgia DL, John Estes said:
"They have a combination of size, strength and speed. 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." (HSB)


Not worried about how tall the Georgia defensive linemen are, Keoni Steinhoff said:
"To me, the height doesn't really matter. Sometimes the taller they are the easier they are to block. It's just going to be a matter of getting off the ball faster and staying in front of them the whole time." (HSB)

About the challenge posed by Georgia's DL, JJ said:
"Our tackles are good players, but everybody's got a challenge this game. Those defensive ends can rush. So can the DTs. The O-line is going to be challenged. They'll play hard. They started off a little slow against Washington and then played really well." (HSB)


Feeling that the month between games helps the OL more than the DL, Estes said:
"I would say (advantage) for us, just because we don't really give away what we do pre-snap. Watching tape, they're straightforward. They're going to show up and say, 'Can you block us?' We had good games, but we had breakdowns almost every game. It's time for us to have a game that everything goes right for us." (HSB)

About how an OL can be judged by a single mistake, Estes said:
"Fresno, first half we were blocking so well. Then the low point was when Colt got hurt. That's the life of an offensive lineman. You might be kicking someone's (butt) the whole game. One play he beats you or you slip and he gets a sack, and then everyone is, 'So-and-so had a bad game.' Even though you had your way with him the whole game." (HSB)


About practicing alongside the Boise State players, Ryan Keomaka said:
"It's even better when we say our yell, 'WAC champs.' We do it every day. For them to be right there and hear it is pretty cool." (HSB)

HSB Note: "The Hawaii football and soccer practice fields were bizzaro world yesterday, as the WAC rivals practiced next to each other: the Warriors for the Jan. 1 Sugar Bowl and the Broncos for Sunday's Hawaii Bowl."

Happy to see BSU director of football operations Keith Bhonapha, who played and was a graduate assistant at UH, Keomaka said:
"He used to drill me. It was good stuff, and we're still doing it today. He's a real good coach and a real good person." (HSB)

About how he didn't talk with Bhonapha (who also graduated from Skyline High in Oakland and helped recruit him to UH) after the BSU game, said:
"We kind of spoiled and shattered their little dreams." (HSB)

When they saw each other yesterday, Bhonapha said to Bess with a big grin:
"I'm waiting for you. I don't want to step on your shine." (HSB)


Claiming that they were able to accommodate all season ticket holders who wanted tickets (ignoring the fact that many already bought tickets from the reseller market), HF said:
"I'm glad we were able to accommodate all of the football season ticket holders who were interested in Sugar Bowl tickets." (HSB)

About being able to release 1000 tickets that had been reserved for UH use, HF said:
"we then have been able to shake out additional tickets. And that's where those tickets came from. So they came from our existing allotments." (HSB)

HSB Note: "So far, said athletic director Herman Frazier, 11,339 tickets have been allocated to the Koa Anuenue booster club and season ticket holders, 1,530 tickets to the team and staff, 1,500 for travel packages, 631 for corporate partners and 250 for administrators, alumni and the UH Foundation. That brings the total to 15,250 tickets."

HSB Note: "The 15,250 tickets available to UH includes the 1,500 extra tickets provided by the Sugar Bowl and 250 tickets provided by the Western Athletic Conference, Orange Bowl and friends from collegiate football."

Note: In other words, UH didn't realize until now that they had reserved 1,000 tickets more than they needed...now they want others to buy those tickets at this late date.


Unhappy with his seats in section 127 behind the end zone near the UH cheering section, Rory Lee said:
"The angle's going to be really bad. For the most part, you can only see the game when the action is taking place on your side of the field. If anything's going on in the other end zone, forget it. I'll be better off watching the big screens." (HA)

his seats near the end zone nearest to the UH cheering section and his friend Gino Patague's seats in the nosebleed (625) section also behind the end zone, Jon Tesoro said:
"The angle is a little bit off for my seats. But Gino's got it worse. He wishes he had my tickets." (HA)

About how they assigned the seating, John McNamara said:
"It's a new situation for our community, and we're trying to be as diligent as possible in explaining the various processes and provide as much information as we can. We can only work with the seat locations that were provided to us by the Sugar Bowl. In regards to the Sugar Bowl allotment of tickets, there has been a Herculean effort on our part to secure as many Sugar Bowl tickets as possible for our season-ticket holders. Our effort to continually reach out as tickets became available demonstrates our commitment to our season-ticket holders." (HA)

Kale Hannahs believes that die-hard fans like him should not be in the end zone, but instead:
"should be rewarded with sideline seats. Their devotion to the team and its players should be rewarded, especially making the journey halfway across the U.S. to watch our boys play ... I would have been more than happy to pay for tickets on the sideline rather than have it just be assigned. I hope, in the sense of fairness, that Georgia season-ticket holders have similar seats on the opposite side of the field. It would be quite unfair if Georgia had a whole sideline opposed to UH's half sideline and a full end zone." (HA)

About the seating for UH and Georgia fans, Duane Lewis, director of communications for the Sugar Bowl, said:
"The sections are split accordingly by team on opposite sides of the stadium. Both teams have the same number of seats in the same general sections, which partially include the end zone." (HA)

Unhappy to be in the end zone, season-ticket holder Ryan Gonzalez said:
"I don't think it's right. I'm a little miffed that they put us in the end zone. When we purchased our tickets, we weren't really given an option on where we'd sit. We were just told that prices ranged between $125 to $150. I would have definitely paid more for a better seat if that's what the issue is." (HA)

HA Note: "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."

Happy not to be in the end zone but unhappy to be next to Georgia fans on the Georgia sideline, Ogata said:
"I'm happy that our seats are good and they're not in the end zone. 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." (HA)

Happy to be in the end zone instead of the nosebleed seats, Kalei Ka'ano'i said:
"Usually the end zones are pretty clear. My brother's excited to sit there versus being all the way at the top." (HA)

"We'll be able to see the plays from a different angle. Of course, if we're 40 yards outside the end zone, we'll be looking 140 yards down the field to the other end zone." (HA)

Happy to just have tickets, even if it is the end zone, Henry Ajitomi said:
"Being in the end zone? Somebody had to get those tickets. Half the time it's not going to be good. But the other half, you're right in the action." (HA0