Warrior Beat: Traditional touch

Former UH defensive tackle Isa‘ako Sopoaga addresses the Warriors during a special ceremony yesterday. / Photo by Stephen Tsai

In a collaborative effort bridging the past and present, Polynesian Warriors and Rainbow Warriors, a new rite was added to the UH football program.

Before every practice, the Warriors will touch a koa plaque in the locker room to draw mana and unity.

A group of boosters, chaired by Kekoa Furtado, and coach Nick Rolovich introduced the rite during an emotional ceremony yesterday afternoon.

Brook Kapukuniahi Parker, a famed illustrator and Hawaiian historian, created a picture of Polynesian warriors. That picture is hanging next to the koa plaque. Martin & MacArthur supplied the koa.

Parker delivered an riveting speech during the ceremony.


After the plaque was mounted to the wall in the locker room, former Warriors R.J. Hollis, Keith Ah Yuen, Isa‘ako Sopoaga, and Jason Rivers delivered kick-okole speeches.

Among the contributors to the project were Tim Bowden, Dean Shimabukuro, Jerry Boster, Janice Boster, Jamie Go, Stretch


Nice job by all.

Brook Kapukuniahi Parker
Janice Boster, Jerry Boster and Kekoa Furtado

Safety Tumua Tuinei
Center Emil Graves
Cornerback Akil Francisco
R.J. Hollis and J.R. Hensley

COMMENTS

  1. Loa August 13, 2018 6:34 am

    Morning Gang! Nice. Mahalo Kekoa for spearheading the efforts and to DPK, Akamai Okole, Sailor Blue, Mrs. Sailor Blue, BG and Jesse James for the contributions


  2. PONO August 13, 2018 7:09 am

    Awesome touch. Something that is unique to the warrior program.


  3. 808WarriorFan August 13, 2018 7:38 am

    AWESOME ….. Chicken Skin Stuff …

    LIVE ALOHA … PLAY WARRIOR … DEFEND THE ROCK … GO ‘BOWS … !!!!!


  4. gigi-hawaii August 13, 2018 7:41 am

    I read yesterday’s post about Jim Leahey being honored for his many years of broadcasting in the world of UH sports. He will be sorely missed.

    Back in 2007, we organized a First Anniversary Party for the Warrior Beat. I posted photos of the event, which was attended by Jim Leahey and many others who love the Warrior Beat.

    Here’s the link to those photos:

    https://gigihawaii.wordpress.com/2007/07/26/first-anniversary-warrior-beat-party/


  5. Akamai Okole August 13, 2018 8:02 am

    Great Morning All!

    Mahalo to those for spearheading the project and allowing me to come along fo da ride.
    …and to the Warriors! Pound dat wood!
    Now, no sked ’em, go get ’em!


  6. KAPUKUNIAHI PARKER August 13, 2018 8:06 am

    Honored to be in attendance and share the aloha. GO BOWS!!!


  7. Boolakanaka August 13, 2018 8:13 am

    Outstanding: both exemplary and po’okela at once, good going gangee.


  8. LizKauau August 13, 2018 8:45 am

    God Bless, our team and our Tsai-kos.
    Live aloha, Pray, Play, Warior!


  9. LizKauai August 13, 2018 8:48 am

    God Bless our team and our Tsai-kos!
    :mrgreen:
    Live aloha, Pray, Play Warrior!


  10. A-House August 13, 2018 9:07 am

    well done, Tsaikos for all your work to make the Warrior mural a reality!


  11. Savich August 13, 2018 9:49 am

    Koa wood? Solid. Varnish? City mill. Too hot.


  12. Stephen Tsai August 13, 2018 11:14 am

    Ah You’s pep talk was amazing


  13. A-House August 13, 2018 11:48 am

    ST:

    any of the “audio” taped for others to hear later?


  14. al August 13, 2018 12:09 pm

    You mean Ah Yuen.


  15. Matt Nakamura August 13, 2018 1:25 pm

    Would love to get a text of those speeches.
    Very powerful stuff when players from the past connect with the current team.
    There’s a proud history to Hawaii football that needs to be exploited every year.


  16. JesseJames August 13, 2018 2:23 pm

    Awesome to be able to contribute. Listening to the locker room speeches made me want to strap it one more time…then I realized it was 20+ years ago….BWAHAAHAHHAHAHA

    Been a long time Tsaikos….glad to be back.

    As Kifi said in his speech yesterday, “It doesn’t matter what the name of the school is on the Jersey of the guy across from you. If you punch ’em in the mouth, they’re gonna feel pain…gonna bleed.”

    Live Aloha. Play Warrior.


  17. Da Punchbowl Kid August 13, 2018 3:36 pm

    Mahalo to all who helped make yesterday’s ceremony such a powerful experience.

    We should also mention the excellent mana’o delivered by George Lindsey, himself a former Warrior. George is a martial arts master and a teacher of Hawai’i’s ancient martial art of lua. A successful attorney, a traditional healer and expert on all things related to ancient Hawai’i and its Warrior culture, he is the embodiment of a modern Koa or Warrior.

    Watching the players eyes as he, Brook, and the former player’s spoke, you could see the connection being made to the great Warrior teams of the past.

    It was a privilege to observe the whole thing and to feel the mana of players past, present, and future.

    A special mahalo to Coach Rolovich for initiating the project.


  18. Da Punchbowl Kid August 13, 2018 3:41 pm

    Another big mahalo to Tsaiko rich2176 for his generous support of the project. Also, thanks to LizKauai and wafan too!


  19. Da Punchbowl Kid August 13, 2018 4:10 pm

    Stephen Tsai’s mother-in-law, “Gramzy” went home to the angels today. Prayers and aloha to all Tsa’i’s ohana.


  20. tommui August 13, 2018 4:35 pm

    Sorry to hear the news of Gramzy. My prayers go out to the Tsai’s O’Hara.


  21. Akamai Okole August 13, 2018 4:55 pm

    Aloha to the Tsai Ohana and especially to Wena.


  22. Boya_jr August 13, 2018 6:17 pm

    Awesome. Wish I could witness this. Go Warriors!


  23. Tom-warriornation August 13, 2018 9:23 pm

    Another great accomplishment for the Tsaiko’s; you guys are super supporters for the UH football program! We need every competitive edge we can find. Greatly looking forward to this years team and coaches! GO WARRIORS!


  24. Tom-warriornation August 13, 2018 9:28 pm

    If you need road game tickets at Army, Colorado St, San Jose or San Diego, sitting with hundreds of other UH fans behind the Hawaii bench: email me at tomkitaguchi@yahoo.com


  25. bg August 13, 2018 9:50 pm

    Would be an real oversight not to mention the substantial check sent in by the A-House Family. Tsaikos through and through, and UH supporters in every way, shape, and form. A HUGE Mahalo!


  26. wafan August 14, 2018 10:14 am

    Good morning! Where is everyone?


  27. wafan August 14, 2018 10:17 am

    Nice job on the picture and koa panels!

    ‘Attaway, Tsai-kos!!!


  28. wafan August 14, 2018 10:21 am

    Crazy. I guess a street sign counts as a road in the poorly written quiz.

    No wonder comments have fallen off.


  29. suckkabooya August 14, 2018 11:25 am

    wafan…..and everyone else.

    As a lurker since this blog’s inception I was always afraid to post a comment mainly because those who did post seemed to know each other personally. A lot of the posts seemed to be personal interactions not necessarily reflective of the topic. There was a comfort level between Mr. Tsai and his followers so no need to bother them. Anyway just by sifting through all the posts I could always find the information I was looking for. Then sometime during the end of coach Mac and the beginning of coach Chow (I think) there was a lot of spam posts. That combined with some political commentary posts made things harder to sift through. It sucked. With the system in place now the blog is much cleaner and easier to sift through (aside from the lack of postings) so I encourage anyone who is a fan to post your opinions. Every voice counts here and it is moderated well. Mr. Tsai will keep things in check, just keep it civil. I enjoy reading everything I can on UH Athletics. Post if you have time. Everyone.


  30. Da Punchbowl Kid August 14, 2018 11:45 am

    suckabooya –

    Glad you’re here. Love your posts.

    GO WARRIORS!!!


  31. Stephen Tsai August 14, 2018 11:50 am

    New post: http://www.hawaiiwarriorworld.com/?p=46408


Comments are closed.