Each Year, Hawaii Says Aloha to College Football
Every year from 1982 to 2000, Hawaii would open its door to two of the best college football teams in the land, to do battle in the Aloha Bowl. Over the years, elite programs accepted invitations to Aloha Stadium and made the long trip from the mainland. Alabama, USC, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Florida are some of the biggest name in college football, and they have all played in the Aloha Bowl. Just like that shine on a new football helmet, good things don’t always last.Because of a corporate merger, the Aloha Bowl lost their sponsor and is no longer played. Aloha Stadium is still home to a college bowl game, however—the Hawaii Bowl. The concept of the Hawaii Bowl is a little unique. Instead of pitting two teams from pre-determined conferences against each other, the Hawaii bowl gets some local flavor by extending a permanent invitation to the hometown Hawaii Warriors, as long as they are bowl-eligible. The arrangement has worked out well, as the Warriors have been involved in four of the five Hawaii Bowls played from 2002 to 2006.
Getting a guaranteed bid for the 2007 Hawaii Bowl is Conference USA, which contains schools like the University of Central Florida, Marshall University, and the University of Memphis. Several C-USA teams have been represented in the Hawaii Bowl before, but Memphis is unique in that their team uses the Schutt ION 4D helmet—the one with an all-new faceguard design that has never been seen on a football field before. If Memphis does make it, at least they’ll know with every bone-crushing hit their players dish out—or absorb—they will be protected by the SkyDex 2 cushioning system (which, luckily, is not affected by heat—useful in Hawaii’s midday sun).
But most of all, the Hawaii bowl gives many players the chance to shine in front of a national television audience. Being in the Hawaii Time Zone, many of the University of Hawaii’s games are played in the early evening, out of the afternoon sun. While more pleasant for the players, the later start time means mainland television viewers—especially those on the east coast—have to stay up mighty late to catch the Warriors’ contests. And though Hawaii normally has a good, entertaining team, that doesn’t translate to high ratings.
The Hawaii Bowl, however, starts at 3:00 Hawaii Standard Time, at least giving east coast viewers a chance to catch the game, and offering west coast viewers a reasonable start time around 6 o’clock at night. What a treat it is to see some of the hometown athletes leave everything on the field as they finally reach their dream of playing in a bowl game in front of a national television audience.
So while football may not be the first thing you think about when you think Hawaii, keep in mind that each year the state does say “aloha” to some of the finest amateur athletes in the world.
