WARRIOR FOOTBALL
TONY AVELAR / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Warren Shikuma bleached his hair gold and dyed an image of the Hawaiian Islands on the side, much like the way the Warriors' Colt Brennan did last month.
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Warrior nation expanding
SAN JOSE, Calif. » Russ Cannon doesn't seem like a typical University of Hawaii football fan.
If you go to a UH road game, chances are good you might see the friendly, tall man in a No. 13 Warriors jersey who speaks with a tinge of a Southern accent. Sometimes his daughters, Savannah and Skylar, are with him. He lives in Dallas, where he is a mechanic for American Airlines.
Cannon's connection goes back to when he was a teenager in Hawaii, playing JV basketball at Radford High School. His coach was Levi Chang, father of Tim, and his teammates were future UH football players Brian Norwood and Kenny Niumatalolo.
Cannon, 42, is one of the thousands of people around the country who count themselves among the expanding UH fan base. And as evidenced by their growing presence at venues as far-flung as Ruston, La.; Moscow, Idaho; and Friday at San Jose, the citizens of Warrior Nation are, indeed, nationwide and more willing to travel than ever before.
And maybe there is no such thing as a typical UH fan now, as the Sea of Green expands to tidal wave status.
Was the time and expense (he does get a break on airfare for working at the airlines) of going to games at Louisiana Tech and San Jose worth it to Cannon?
"Absolutely," he said. "I couldn't imagine being stuck at home watching that game on ESPN. The experience isn't even close."
Estimates of Hawaii fans to find their way to San Jose and see 16th-ranked Hawaii come back to remain undefeated in Friday's 42-35 overtime thriller range from 6,000 to 7,500.
Large crowds of green-clad UH fans have attended games in California and Las Vegas before, but the numbers are growing. And they're also more noticeable in less-traditional places for Hawaii fans to trek to, including Louisiana and Idaho. About 500 Hawaii fans were at the LaTech and Idaho games.
"I really do think it's growing," said David Loui, 51. He lives in Hawaii, and has begun building vacations around road games. Loui and his wife, Teri, went to Ruston to see Hawaii edge LaTech in overtime, then played tourist in New Orleans for a few days before heading to Las Vegas for the Warriors' next game at UNLV.
TONY AVELAR / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Darryl Winchester cooked up some steaks during a tailgating party with his family before the game between Hawaii and San Jose State in San Jose, Calif., on Friday.
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They made it affordable by finding the most economical flight route -- unfortunately it meant six flight legs just to get to Monroe, near Ruston, where the LaTech game was played.
"It was 11 stops total, but you do what you can to make it work," Loui said. "I couldn't find a travel agent with a package for it, so I did it myself. You just check all the Web sites for the best price and do it."
Loui said the pricetag on the two-week vacation came out to around $4,000 for him and his wife. The two Hawaii victories made it worth it for him.
"I think this year's team is very, very special," Loui said. "They proved it again (Friday)."
Mainland college students from Hawaii comprise another large portion of Warrior Nation.
Warren Shikuma is a graduate student at Pacific who is from the Big Island. He and a bunch of his college friends trek to Fresno or San Jose State every year for UH games. This time Shikuma had a distinctive appearance -- he bleached his hair gold and classmate Sheena Hokuten, a Moanalua grad, dyed in the Hawaiian Islands, ala the 'dos of Brennan and Blaze Soares last month.
"It was pretty easy," Hokuten said. "Warren already had the stencil."
UH president David McClain was among the speakers at a VIP reception in San Jose last week.
"There's just a lot of excitement among our alums on the mainland about Hawaii, but the thing that's so fun is we have so many people from Hawaii following the team," McClain said. "I have now met at least three couples who have been to LaTech, who have been to Vegas, been here (to San Jose), have been to Idaho, and they're going to Nevada. You go, 'wow, that's dedication.' It's because the team is such a treat to watch, and obviously very talented."
Tom Ishii, 68, is a longtime UH fan who lives in Hawaii. He attended the function and the game in San Jose.
"I really believe that as we go along, we've reached our next plateau where there are big-time schools with traditions," Ishii said. "They have fans follow them all over the place because of their winning traditions, and I think we're just beginning to start that."
TONY AVELAR / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Hawaii fans from San Jose enjoyed the food and drinks as they partied before the Warriors' game against the Spartans.
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Retired UH basketball coach Riley Wallace now works as a host for Boyd Gaming, and he coordinated events in conjunction with the Warriors' game at UNLV last month. He also senses a sea change in the Warrior fan base and its willingness to travel.
"I think it's definitely grown. This is one of the good places here. And (former UH athletic director) Hugh Yoshida started that group down in Southern California. It's very important for the future of the programs, especially football. They're going to make the trek, to the Fiesta Bowl, the Holiday Bowl, whatever. The fact is fans following the team is part of big-time sports now."
Wallace said the reasons are obvious for the growth.
"Not only is he (coach June Jones) winning, but he's building a program -- it's all about the winning and the style," Wallace said. "You got Colt Brennan and he's nationwide and the name Hawaii makes it special. All of a sudden they come out of the woodwork. Then you gotta keep 'em."
Jack Barnes and Dennis Wykoff, who played for UH in the early 1970s, said efforts to keep alumni involved in the program have improved recently.
Melvin and Beverly Chow are longtime fans who say they don't agree with everything Jones has done since becoming coach in 1999, but "he's on the right track," Melvin said.
The Chows were among the thousands who traveled from Hawaii to San Jose for Friday's game.
Jones and the players appreciate the support. They say it's had a tangible effect, and seven straight road wins dating back to last season backs up the assertion -- especially for a team that used to struggle mightily away from home.
"It's amazing to me how many people are coming to see us play now," Jones said. "And not just from Hawaii. I just talked to a guy who came from Chicago."
After all four road wins this year, players said the fans in green pushed them to victory.
"It's real comforting," junior receiver Davone Bess said. "It gives us a chance to really appreciate what we've got. How valuable we are to them and they are to us. It makes us feel comfortable. When there's a thousand fans, what seems like a million fans screaming at us, 'We hate you,' and then we see them smiling at us, shaka signs.
"I've noticed a lot more this year," Bess added. "With all the attention Colt's getting, it's putting us on the map. It gives us a chance to get some love outside of the state."