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yu absolutely right about coupla tings. coach too quick to cova for da odda coaches. afekz credibility.

but yur most accurate, heads on, hands down analysis wuz describin
our Notre Dame performance a pop warner production. that hurt in da most intensest of wayz. i had mo fun wit my kuz an frenz at da Tgate.

W/Doc ~ Emoticons have been around for years in differing forms. The name is self-explanatory, it’s all about displaying your emotion on whatever you feel about the subject matter.

The batch that I use in my personal email box are not the traditional yellow smiley faces. They are brown in color, football and basketball shaped graphics that can be enlarged if need be.

Like any brevity icon, they are inserted to convey a quick visual message to the receiver. For example, if you think you are the coolest person on the planet today, you can express that thought by inserting the ever popular 😎 smiley. One picture=1 “emotional” word. (1,000 would be overkill).

Unfortunately, the university that you attended prolly wasn’t ‘sophisticated’ enuff to offer these in any of their classes. Only the always cool *School of Hard Knocks* offer the latest in ultra-hip graphic therapy lessons…get the picture W/Doc? 😳

1. If there were over 100 people in attendance NOT including the pep band, cheerleaders, Stan Sheriff Center employees, team members, coaches, and support staff, I would be very surprised. All together, I counted about 160 people on three separate occasions. The failure of both the University community and the larger fan base to support the basketball team must be emotionally devastating to these young women. Since SSC seats about 10,000, 99% of the seats were empty.

2. Bolla does not interact much with anyone on his staff before or during a game and rarely has any exchanges of any sort with any of his players.

Unlike Bob Nash who high-fives his players coming back to the bench and walks up & down courtside throughout the game, Bolla sits and observes. I put the binoculars on him several times and never once saw him crack a smile.

3. The Wahine came back from significant deficits several times, but they lost the game on not only on turnovers but at the free-throw line. These are fundamentals. That’s a coaching deficit.

4. We decided to continue going to the games because it’s important that the student athletes feel that they are supported even if we do not like their coach.

5. As for the 3 pm game time, I doubt that it would have made any difference in terms of turnout if it had been scheduled in the evening. My understanding is that a number of issues – staff overtime, cost of utilities, media availability – all led to the time decision. I do know that this afternoon’s game between Colorado and Pepperdine is at 3 pm because of the men’s basketball game with Boise at 7:05 pm.

6. Counting Sunday’s game – there are nine more home games for the Wahine in the regular season. One game is at 4 pm; four are at 5 pm; and, four are at 7 pm.

Finally, switching to another topic: The responses to my query about the (mostly) yellow figures on posts evoked some very interesting responses. Got your message(s) loud & clear except that no one answered my core questions: What do they mean? Words have meaning. Pictures have meaning. What do these graphics mean? Why are they used? I had never seen them before on a website until they started showing up here.

hird Time’s The Charm – Perhaps we’ll run into some of you at the SSC or the Les Murakami Stadium or the Wahine Softball Stadium during the rest of the school year.

If you are interested in keeping up with funding for UH projects, a twice-weekly webjournal or blog will start very shortly. Other issues such as universal health care, public education, the rail system, solid waste management, alternative energy, sea level rise, peace in the Middle East, and many more topics will be covered as well. Do drop in if you’ve got something to say or just want to keep current on what’s going on in the world outside of sports.

Wow Gorn…over 2000 words on UH football in one post! I don’t agree with everything but that was an excellent read. I don’t think we’ll ever have the cash in the state/UH budget to do all the things that would make us look like any of the big programs. I’m just amazed that we’ve accomplished as much as we have considering the hurdles of a small market, a comparatively small recruiting base, and the tough economic conditions that the majority of Hawaii’s fans experience.

The key word in your post is “inibriated”.

The way Utah punched Alabama in the mouth (sacking JPW 8 times and holding the Tide to 208 total yards is pure domination) legitimized themselves and the Mountain West Conference. That victory by lowly Wyoming at Tennessee no longer looks like a fluke either. Forget about the fact that Florida beat Bama 31-20. I watched that game and Utah looked and played way more dominating football than Florida did. Speed wise, Utah would have given Florida problems. This is what good coaching does. It elevates the play of the players.

Utah going undefeated now also reveals what a scam this entire (B)ull (C)rap (S)ystem really is because they deserve a shot at being crowned the National Champions but won’t due to the system. And while that notion may seem damaging to UH and the WAC, again, Utah and the MWC deserves the accolades because they took care of business throughout the season. If the WAC wants the same respect (football wise), then the various schools need to raise the bar not only in conference play but OOC as well. It is put up or shut up time. Respect is earned, not granted, and only BSU in the WAC has been consistent at doing this.

Utah’s success also highlights Hawaii’s embarrassing performance at last years Sugar Bowl. That distinction will be a huge monkey on UH’s back much worse than the BYU one. Non-BCS is 3 and 1 in BCS bowls and guess who that 1 loss is attributed to and will continually be attributed to? Additionally, the rest of the WAC teams who went bowling this season at least played competitively unlike the lackluster performance by UH in the Hawaii Bowl. Sheesh, even vonAppen’s squad had far more competitive fire and played a much more talented Bob Davie coached ND down to the wire in 1997. This only further perpetuates the joke of a reputation that UH football has in the eyes of the rest of the college football world. That goes right down to the small time thinking that has permeated the state of Hawaii in terms of not investing in the facilities at UH which on the athletic side, is below some D1AA programs even with the Ching Field upgrade. And UH Manoa has many problems with administrative and academic facilities being poor as well. This level of neglect is unconscionable. Whereas other places look at these as investments in the future, the people who run this state have seen it the other way for decades which is why the state is at a roadblock on many different issues (including the lack of a diversified economy). In order to make money, you have to invest money.

Side track example. Look at the amount of money they are dumping into that rust bucket called Aloha Stadium in hopes that the bandaid fixes will last another 30 years. It is pouring good money down the drain rather than looking at creative solutions including downsizing a new structure which that money could fund. While that might seem counterintuitive, look at UH attendance. They barely manage 40,000 per game. The Hawaii Bowl still struggled to sell out even with Notre Dame. Even during last years run, look at the turnstile attendance. And arguments about the Pro Bowl and its 50,000 requirement fly out the window as well when they exercised their option to rotate out of Hawaii. Is the state really getting its bang for the buck dumping all that money into the rust palace with the extra side revenues the Pro Bowl brings in versus putting that money into a smaller but new, modern, attractive stadium which fits the overall needs of the state of Hawaii including high school football and UH (since UH nor its boosters would be able to raise the funding on their own to build their own on campus stadium)?

The state should have had an option to downsize to something like a 40,000 seat concrete stadium with partial sideline seats (premium seating) and the rest being lower cost seat backs. Build a structure within the budgetary constraints but with a design which could be enhanced and expanded (capacity wise) down the road from funds generated by naming opportunities, premium and luxury box seating. Unfortunately, most everything done in Hawaii is with short term thinking and bandaid fixes where it ultimately ends up costing more down the road to fix properly. The price tag to build a new stadium 30 years down the road is going to be more than double the current day cost to build a new 50,000 seat concrete stadium (the numbers for that are in that 2005 DAGS report).

But going back to Utah’s win, can anyone now blame Boise State’s lobbying to position themselves for entry into the MWC? I felt their president was full of it making noise but now I can understand he is just positioning BSU to be in the best possible situation for the inevitable. Come 2011 after the current BCS contract expires at the end of the 2010 season, the Cotton Bowl, which used to be a traditional big bowl during the SWC days will likely be included in what is being called the next generation BCS (Chick-Fil-A and the Capital One Bowls will also be lobbying for this coveted spot). The 2010 Cotton Bowl will move to the Dallas Cowboy’s new stadium priming its way as a selling point into the BCS. That is right in TCU’s backyard of Dallas-Fort Worth. With the addition of another BCS bowl, adding another AQ conference makes sense.

The MWC now has an extremely good selling point and the inside track as a BCS auto qualifier and can increase their stock by running the table again this upcoming season or at least placing several teams into the top 20. Utah’s convincing Sugar Bowl win provides a shot in the arm for higher preseason rankings to them, BYU, and TCU putting Boise State (given their loss to TCU) and the WAC at a clear disadvantage. The WAC’s dismal bowl performance including two losses to the MWC doesn’t help things any. And if Boise football continues dominating the WAC in 2009 and 2010, the arguments are going to grow stronger in favor of seeing them move to a better conference like the way Lou Holtz was drooling on about. People can put on whatever rose colored glasses they want but the WAC is beginning to look like the Mickey Mouse conference that it really is. If the conference is not overall competitive, it is difficult to play at a high level. Boise plays at that higher level because of their system and excellent coaching which is why they have been able to dominate the WAC. And while from TCU’s perspective, SMU might be a better choice WHEN (no longer is this an IF with this Sugar Bowl win) the MWC expands (rivalry game, Dallas-Fort Worth television market, local travel partner), there are no guarantees JJ will get them to the sort of level of play which BSU is at consistently which would boost the MWC status further. BSU brings instant credibility in football and increases the power rating for the MWC. The business decision in these economic times is going to trump some of the other concerns some MWC member schools may have about BSU because the BCS money is going to make up for that.

McMackin… if you even bother to read this from Las Vegas, you have your work cut out for you in your remaining 4 seasons and that $1.1 million you are being paid. Contrast to Kyle Whittingham whose original six year deal (to expire in 2010) was $4 million. He deservedly earned his new five year $6 million contract. UH had many chances to redeem themselves this past season but failed. The same mistakes were made over and over. The so called strength and your forte, the defense, turned out to be a bust of swiss cheese proportions giving up too many big plays. That shameful pop-warner performance against Notre Dame set the program back more than the Kool-aid drinkers would like to admit. Coaches prior to the Jones-era like Tomey and Wagner at least fielded teams which played competitively against the talent laden OOC power teams. The players you had were likely far more talented than what Tomey or Wags had to work with. Talent however can be wasted if they are not coached up (look at Notre Dame and how they’ve managed to underachieve because of coaching issues under that arrogant pighead Weiss).

The product you and your coaching staff put out on the field was for the most part, unentertaining (the Nevada game and the Cinci game before the meltdown were probably the most entertaining) and furthermore, an embarrassment to the state of Hawaii from a national perspective. And what was one of YOUR rules? Was it not to embarrass the program? Donovan should realistically expect to see 2009 football season ticket sales drop putting the athletic department further in the hole. In these economic times, you are going to have to put a compelling and competitive product out on the field. If you don’t, the economic realities of these times will manifest itself with people voting with their pocket book. Fortunately for you coach, Donovan will be in no position to fire you like he and Yoshida did with Wagner and then vonAppen because the university won’t have the money to buy out your overpriced contract. You and your staff get a pass this first season just because of the transition. You and your staff will likely get a pass this upcoming season which will be challenging due to the loss on the defensive side and the serious need for improvement on the offensive side. It is not just the O-line. They do bear a part of the responsibility but there were also many times when they provided Alexander more than enough time and he just hung on to the ball way too long. There were also times when the receivers ran the wrong routes or dropped the ball on catches that should have been made. Moral, it is also competency at the QB and receiver positions. As JJ used to say, repetition and practicing the base offense until they reach a level of unconscious competence is what makes it successful. Anyone who watched Graham Harrell, Colt McCoy and Brian Johnson could see how quickly their release was and how they were on the same wavelength as their receivers. Colt Brennan had that plus an uncanny accuracy.

Throughout this season, there has been a disconnect between O-line, QB, and receivers. Some of this was due to the QB carousel, some of it is due to certain O-line personnel, some of it is due to the coaching, and part of this was due to the offseason practicing from under center and trying to change the R&S from what JJ was running instead of slowly transitioning and taking advantage of the competencies that the returning offensive players had learned and practiced. Rather than simplify and getting the basics down on offense, they modified and tried to add things while the foundation was not even stable. The responsibility of that lies in the decisions made by the coaching staff which McMackin has been too quick to praise far too often. Anyone NOT blind who watched the sidelines saw chaos and disorganization. Why aren’t the QB’s all together and near Rolo so that everyone can learn and be on the same page. Why do some players completely ignore Smith? This is just the tip of the iceberg of the sideline mess. So is it any surprise there are communication issues and clock management issues which for some reason, you coach, don’t seem to think is an issue. It was humorous during one ESPN televised games where they showed Hawaii fans doing the timeout signal while the announcers questioned the seemingly lack of urgency by the UH coaching staff at calling a timeout. Andre Ware’s statements during the ND game were also spot on (he can talk because he ran the R&S) as well as the other announcers saying UH lacked fire during the warmup. This all seems to point to the coaches not being able to motivate and fireup the players. There are times when actions speak louder than words.

Coach, your 3rd season, 2010, starts off with USC and this Warrior fan would like to at least see UH play disciplined and competitive football by that time. I am not delusional and don’t expect Hawaii to beat USC. All I am asking for is a complete 4 quarter challenge with the possibility of an upset against a big name program and not a bodybag shellacking like the outcome of the Florida, Oregon State, and Notre Dame games. Dick Tomey’s teams played against a Charles White USC team down to the 4th quarter, led against a Turner Gill, Roger Craig, and future Heisman winner Mike Rozier led Nebraska team 16-0 for most of the game until a 37 point blitz, had a Barry Switzer coached OU squirming only to lose by 4, lost another close one the following year to a Hayden Fry coached Iowa, and also kept it close against Bo Schembechler’s Michigan squad in Tomey’s final year at UH. Tomey’s team managed to beat schools that were physically superior like South Carolina twice, Arizona State, and Wisconsin. Wags also did fairly well against big name OOC opponents including some hallmark wins. The point being is that Tomey’s and Wag’s (except towards the end when he clearly lost control of the team with the internal fighting) had instilled discipline in their players, played in a tougher WAC, and was therefore able to compete head-to-head with the best where they weren’t easily blown out by those big name teams and garnered a reputation of playing big name teams tough. 2006 and 2007 saw a move towards the next level of national respect but that all came crashing down in the Sugar Bowl and the way this past season went including the way they lost of ND on national TV. Continue losing in that manner and all that groundwork layed during the JJ-era will need to be rebuilt from scratch.