Spring Practice Quotes from the local papers

Hoping to get the crowd involved with the ha'a, Mack said:
"We're working to get the band and cheerleaders involved,. We want to get a chant for the fans to do. We want to get as many people involved." (HA)

HA Note: "In 2006 the Warriors began performing the haka, a Maori chant, at the end of pre-game warm-ups. Last year, defensive tackle Keala Watson, linebacker Brad Kalilimoku and nickelback Guyton Galdeira created their version of the ha'a, which is chanted in Hawaiian. McMackin, who was hired as June Jones' successor in January, decided the ha'a was a practice he wanted to continue."

About continuing the ha'a, Mack said:
"There's no reason to change something that's known all over the country. It's a cultural thing. It shows passion. It shows togetherness. And it gets (the players) jacked up for the game. It's the culture of our state." (HA)

HA Note: "At the end of yesterday's final practice before the intrasquad Warrior Bowl tomorrow, the Black and Green teams dueled in a chant-off. The Black team, led by Watson, performed the ha'a, concluding with several players leaping toward the Green team. The Green team then tried to perform the haka, but they were repeatedly heckled. Members of the Black team yelled that the Green players did not know the words to the haka. "He's Filipino!" they yelled at defensive tackle Rocky Savaiigaea, who served as the Green team's conductor. Savaiigaea is of Samoan, Filipino, Chinese, Spanish and German ancestry."

About the Green team, Black team safety Keao Monteilh said:
"They were making up their own words. The guy leading the haka wasn't even Maori. He's Samoan/Filipino. That doesn't make Maori, not even if you blend it a little. I'm not going to say No. 92's name." (HA)

Laughing, Mouton added:
"That's Rocky. I'll say his name." (HA)

About the heckling from the Black team, Rocky said:
"They tried to mess us up. We've got something for them on Saturday." (HA)

About how they will do the ha'a before the Florida game, Mack said:
"Absolutely. No doubt." (HA)

About how he turned down his nomination to be one of the leaders of the ha'a, Monteilh said:
"My voice cracks when I try to call the defense." (HA)

About how 3 players from the Mainland (Salas, Pollard, LWJ) has asked to be considered to be one of the leaders of the ha'a, Keala Watson said:
"We have a lot of guys who are excited about trying to lead it. One of the main objectives of doing the ha'a is to spread the language. I can say everybody who does the ha'a can speak the Hawaiian language. We want to spread the culture and to honor those who have passed away, and bring back the aloha spirit." (HA)

HA Note: "Quarterback coach Nick Rolovich created a competition in which the quarterbacks had to throw a football into a trash can from various distances and under various conditions. The Black team (Inoke Funaki, Shane Austin and Kiran Kepo'o) outpointed the Green (Tyler Graunke, Jake Santos and Bryce Kalauokaaea), 19-13."

About the competition to throw a football into a trash can, Inoke said:
"It was a good workout." (HA)

About how the drill reminded him of how he worked has as a little kid, Inoke said:
"My father tried to instill in us the importance of hard work. He took us to the farm to dig holes and plant taro and yams. Being a kid, it wasn't the most fun thing to do on a Saturday. I'd rather be at the beach with my friends. Being a kid, I'd slip away. I would look for rocks or make mud balls, and entertain myself by throwing at coconut trees or any target I could find. I liked throwing at objects." (HA)

About how he never killed the pigs on the farm, Inoke said:
"We had pigs (on the farm). I've been told a couple of times to (kill a pig), but I couldn't do it. I held the back legs, maybe. If I grew up in (Tonga), I definitely would do it. My cousins were like, 'Noke, do it.' I'm like, 'No, not yet.' That takes a little more courage for me to do. I can't kill a pig yet. But I'm there to help the others." (HA)

About how game-type conditions like the Warrior Bowl will show them something about their players, Mack said:
"Receivers, for example, can catch it when they know they're not going to get hit, but you want to see who can catch it in a game like this where they know they are gonna get blasted." (HA)

About how Royce Pollard has a shot at the starting job, Ron Lee said:
"I think Royce is competing for a starting spot. Guys like Royce had a great spring. You tell him something once, he gets it done, makes the corrections. Expect him to come back (in the fall) and compete. Last year, he hardly got any reps. He's really stepped up." (HSB)

HSB Note: "The Warrior freshman wideout was born in Hawaii but raised in various places on the mainland because of his parents' military background. Now, he relishes the opportunity he's been granted as a walk-on to make an impact in the overhauled Warrior receiver corps. Pollard was on the scout team last fall and entered spring camp a long shot to compete for playing time against the more experienced Malcolm Lane and Dylan Linkner at "Z" (right-side) receiver."

HSB Note: "Small surprise Pollard ended up on Lee's side of the field; it was Lee, then the receivers coach, who extended an invitation to fall camp Pollard's way last year after noticing him "wandering around campus." "

About what Ron Lee said when he approached him, Pollard said:
"He told me, 'You got some really big hands.' (HSB)

HSB Note: "Moving to the islands was an easy choice to make because of a burning desire to learn more about his Hawaiian heritage. He'd visited briefly in the past, but never stayed long enough to get comfortable. Now, he's making up for lost time. Since enrolling in the fall, Pollard has taken a course in (Hawaiian history). Pollard's mother, Verli-Ann, raised her part-Hawaiian son with local customs in mind. He called myriad places home until Pollard went to live with his dad after finishing the seventh grade. He remained with his African-American father, Anthony, throughout high school, losing touch with that side of the family to a certain extent. That is, until rediscovering his mother's ways with a host of Polynesian Warrior teammates in Manoa."

Enjoying learning about his Hawaiian roots, Pollard said:
"I see how they act, I enjoy it. I see a lot of the Hawaiian attributes I portrayed, even though I wasn't here. Up until seventh grade, I was really living like that, the Hawaiian passion." (HSB)

About how Pollard meshed quickly with the rest of the Warriors, Inoke said:
"His first summer, he'd be out here with his playbook already, running his routes. They say attitude determines altitude. The coaches like the guys who know their plays. I think for him, he's going up from here." (HSB)

About his large extended family in Hawaii, Pollard said:
"Some people probably still don't know I'm their nephew or cousin." (HSB)

About the Black team's gameplan for the Warrior Bowl, Monteilh said:
"Don't say anything but we got a little plan going on. If you see a guy in black on the Green team, something's going on. He's a spy for us." (HSB)

HSB Note: "That would be Inoke Funaki. He's the starting quarterback for the Black in tomorrow's Hawaii spring game at Aloha Stadium. But he's also the holder for both teams. Black coach Ron Lee confirmed Funaki is under orders to botch a potentially decisive Green kick. Call it Operation Tony Romo."

About possibly messing up for the Green team during a kick, Inoke said:
"My hands might get really slippery and the ball might slip out of my hands. Possibly." (HSB)

About how Cal Lee said that if he messed up the hold that Dan Kelly would need to pick up the ball and run, Inoke said:
"That's OK, I'll tackle Kelly. He's pretty fast. But I think I can chase him down. I'll do it for my Black team." (HSB)

Saying that his said will win in a blow out, Monteilh said:
"Just going by our little mock practice, we scored about seven times here just fooling around, so we'll get about 70." (HSB)

Trash talking a little, Cal Lee said:
"The spread? Seventeen." (HSB)

HSB Note: "There was plenty of light-hearted bravado at yesterday's dress rehearsal for Warrior Bowl I: Brother vs. Brother. And the fun and games won't be limited to the kiddie rides at Aloha Stadium's south concourse tomorrow. But there will be some serious stuff, too, since many players will be competing for depth chart position -- or their roster survival.

With the condusion of spring practice, coach Greg McMackin and his staff will evaluate players on the bubble and cut around two dozen to make room for incoming recruits. Some will be brought back once school starts, but McMackin said it is like "cutting their hearts." "

About how they agreed to move their game with Navy from 9/5 to 11/21, JD said:
"We received a request from their athletic director and we made an accommodation for them. It's in our best interest." (HSB)

About filling the last opening in their schedule, JD said:
"We're in discussions about the open dates. The good thing is the first and last games of the season are the easiest to book. But we are getting to the 11th hour to fill the 2009 schedule." (HSB)

About how his comfort level is at an 8 out of 10 for their new offense, Tyler said:
"I'm getting more comfortable every single day. There's no cheap payoff for hard work. There were a lot of new guys to form chemistry with, but we bought into a new system and we're rolling with it." (HSB)

Looking forward to the Warrior Bowl, Tyler said:
"I'm getting ready for a game right now where we're gonna be throwing live bullets. Florida's spring game was on ESPN. we're not at that level, but we're getting there." (HSB)

About how Heun is trying to learn the ha'a and haka, Keala Watson said:
"Jake (Heun) said the only dance he knows is the river dance, but he's picking it up." (HSB)