Let me preface this by saying this is not an editorial, this is not a crack at anyone, this was not really meant to make sense.  I just feel so sh**ty about our game and felt like I was watching different players playing for us, I had to do something... 

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To my Warrior friends, fellow Alum, fellow fans, and those of you who are combinations of all three...

Make
no doubt about it ~ I am torn apart inside that we got trounced by the
Bulldogs (a team I actually cheer for each year...not kept up with,
just checked the scores of type of thing).

I've shed tears between last night and now, probably will again.

I
suffered through 20 years of the CRAP coming from all directions:
coaching woes, player woes, mainland fans bashing on us b/c they don't
even know who we were/are, BYU fans of the past, locals bashing on
their own, the harsh words from critics...it all comes with the
territory of sports.

However there are other things that
shouldn't (but do) come along with our UH sports. We are living on an
island in the Pacific where everything is a little behind the rest of
the nation. Hawaiians (then other Polynesians later) being typecast as
illiterate, stupid, slow savages in the media. Being harshly judged and
criticized by people who have never seen us play and live.

Hawaii
only has the University of Hawaii Warrior football team. There is no
other college football team (unless you connect to BYU via the BYU Laie
Campus). There are no pro-football teams here. The amount of passion,
love, enthusiasm, and personal emotional investment by TRUE fans and
the $50,000 recruiting budget are the foundation of our team.

Bandwagoners: DON'T bother hopping back .. you jumped off last night. We all don't need you.

Critics:
If you're not intimately familiar with the way UH football rolls both
on film, in the numbers, on AND off the field, you're not qualified to
judge us.

True Fans: Next year is going to be a terrific year
with Tyler. He reminds me a bit of Dan Kelly b/c he's come in, do his
job, and that's that.

Let me make this last thing clear: IF YOU
HAVE SEEN OUR UH WARRIORS PLAY FOOTBALL BEFORE, YOU KNOW THAT THEY DID
NOT BRING IT LAST NIGHT. Whether it's inexperience, atmosphere, both,
or neither, you KNOW that it was NOT the Georgia Bulldogs that beat us
in that game.

IF YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN OUR UH WARRIORS PLAY
FOOTBALL BEFORE, then you do believe we're over-rated b/c you never got
to see what our guys can do.

Now all we have to do is withstand
the onslaught of harshness and unsportsmanlike comments against us. At
least we have each other to believe in and carry us through to next
year.

Oh and BTW, the GATORS and their Heismann winner
lost to an UNRANKED team and the Razorbacks and their 2nd place
Heismann candidate lost to the 4th place Heismann candidate's team.
Just thought I'd leave with that thought.


IMUA WARRIORS!

~aloha nui, d

True

That's how I felt at the Florida game... Lets kick ass this year Warriors

Amen girl!!! Now that's a true fan. Bandwagon fans be gone, we don't need you!

The word that seems to be missing here is simple.

 

It's called loyalty.

 

One of the worst things in the entire world you could do to someone you love, is tell them that you have no faith in them! Weather it's one big mistake or a lot of little ones. That just crushes the soul. Faith and trust is what relationships are built on.

 

And that's what you all are doing to this young team whose trying to go out there and have a fighting chance, you're crushing their souls!

 

It's just so wrong! "Your team" (if you deserve to have that title) who deserves to be cheered even in the worst of moments is not only struggling as a new team but now has to deal with the loss of faith of the people that "claim" to love them and the people that they play for every single day. The only reason they get out there day after day is for you. And instead of building them up, you tear them down by your thoughtless boos and hurtful words.

 

You think that doesn't affect them? Just ask Dan Robinson how he felt the first time he ever tasted a beer. It was from the thoughtless "so called" Hawaii fan that poured it on him as he took the lonely walk back to the locker room. He suffered at the hands of people that he played to win for.

 

Why should these warriors fight for you? What motivation are you giving them to get back out there and win?

 

Parents don't boo their child for bringing home a bad grade, or for making a mistake and cut them down and tear them apart. No... children learn from being taught the correct way and then being built up and sent back out there to win.

 

How bout you bandwagon fans let Greg and the team do their job and you do the cheering aka the building up so that our Warriors have a fighting chance to do what they came to do... WIN! That's all you're there for. Otherwise do us all a favor and stay home.

 

P.S. For any of those of you who have actually read the Hawaii Warrior Football book it is a story of Faith Hope and Redemption. June Jones actaully came in and believed in the players that you all rejected. He took the so called "Donkey" aka Dan Robinson and turned him into Seabiscuit. And yes, you same people that booed Dan and threw beer in his face, how funny, were now on your feet, screaming at the top of your lungs, claiming him as your own.

 

Faith, Hope and Redemption lives on... and it will come through if you just give it a chance to work. I have faith in you Greg McMackin and all that you will do. I still stand on my feet and claim you as my own, good times and bad. Thank you for playing for us even though it hurts right now. You get up and do it again and again time and time again, and for that, I am ever so grateful.