ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thousands of University of Hawaii fans packed Las Vegas' Fremont Street yesterday for a block party on the eve of today's game against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Vegas gets serving
of aloha as run-up
to UH-UNLV gameThousands are expected
to cheer the team
LAS VEGAS >> You can call this "Elaine and Pam's Excellent Adventure."
Well, maybe "Pretty Good Adventure," after the vacation of Hilo women Elaine Kai and Pam Carter got off to a rocky start Saturday with the University of Hawaii's 61-32 loss to Southern California at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Or "So-so Adventure," since the slot machines haven't been kind to them since their arrival here Tuesday. "I'm just feeding them," Carter said.
But the travel buddies remain undaunted because everything else on their trip, planned around UH's football games at USC and Nevada-Las Vegas, has been close to perfect.
The two are among thousands of Hawaii residents who built vacations around one or both UH football games.
Hey, so what if the Warriors lose? There's still Disneyland, Celine Dion and shopping, at mall after mall.
"The highlight so far is shopping," Kai said. "We've probably gone to every shopping center from L.A. to here. And tonight we see Celine! "We're so limited in Hilo as far as clothing (shops). There are lots of sales here," Kai added.
The state employee also enjoyed Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm.
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Vincent Bucaneg, above left, posed with Hawaii's Man of War Vili Fehoko, while Jeff Mariano, below, with 7-month-old grandson Antonio Kailipalauli, watched performances onstage.
"My first time," Kai, 58, said. "My kids went, and I think my two grandsons, but never me."
Carter, 60, said UH's loss to USC was a downer, but the experience was not.
"The football game was kind of disappointing, but it was an exciting experience. It was something different you don't see at home," Carter said. "We were in the seventh row. The horse (USC mascot Traveler) kept passing right in front of us."
Kai and Carter have vacationed together since both of their husbands died in recent years. Three weeks ago they decided to go to the UH games.
Many of those who made the trip to Las Vegas for tonight's game got together with Vegas residents with Hawaii ties for a massive pep rally downtown yesterday.
There was live Hawaii entertainment, including a show with Melveen Leed, Don Ho, the Makaha Sons of Niihau and others, and massive amounts of food and drinks.
A tailgate party was scheduled for today at Sam's Town, where the Warriors are staying. Displaced Hawaii folks who live in Las Vegas, and those vacationing from the islands as well as other places on the mainland, will gather to eat kal bi ribs, kalua pig, lomi salmon and rice before heading up Boulder Avenue for the game.
The Krush is scheduled to play, and Cecilio & Kapono will make a "surprise" appearance, according to Mary Marshall, director of entertainment at Sam's Town.
She said UH's loss at USC would not cut into the crowd for either the tailgate or the game.
"People planned to come to this ahead of time," she said.
A crowd of around 30,000 was estimated for the game, with around half of that number cheering for Hawaii.
KKEA-1420's Bobby Curran has been broadcasting his daily sports show from the California Hotel all week with UH radio analyst Robert Kekaula. The Cal, with its aloha-attired staff and local food available 24 hours a day, is the Las Vegas favorite of many Hawaii residents.
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Hawaii singers Don Ho, left, and Melveen Leed performed at yesterday's block party on Fremont Street in Las Vegas.
"I feel like I'm in Kaimuki," said Curran, who is also UH's play-by-play man for football and basketball.
"What a perfect exacta for Hawaii fans," he added, "Warrior football and Las Vegas."
After the block party, UH President Evan Dobelle was flanked by Don Ho, Carl Hebenstreit (TV's Kini Popo), Hawaiian entertainer Iva Kinimaka and former Washington Redskins player and Kamehameha graduate Karl Lorch at Lillie Langtry's, a Chinese restaurant in the Golden Nugget.
"That was a hell of a block party for the team. That's what I call a pep rally," Ho said. "When you've got Vegas teaming up with Hawaii, that's a great partnership."
Las Vegas resident Demitreus Henderson waited a long time for this game. UH football fans will remember "Doe" Henderson as a defensive back for the Rainbows from 1992 to 1996. He was an assistant coach at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles before moving to Las Vegas two years ago. Henderson is now a hip-hop musician and producer for the group Dynasty.
He remained optimistic about the Warriors' chances on the field.
"This one should be a cakewalk," said Henderson, who intercepted a pass as a freshman in Hawaii's 55-25 homecoming victory over UNLV in 1992, the year the Rainbows won the Holiday Bowl.
"Best Hawaii team ever," he said.
Henderson said he is looking forward to seeing former teammates Michael Carter and Rodney Glover, among others, at the tailgate and the game today.
"I want to get back into that aloha vibe," Henderson said.
There are some Hawaii expatriates in Las Vegas who are not going to tonight's game.
Kaiser High School graduate Daniel Itakura has lived in Las Vegas since 1991 and is a bartender at the Mirage.
"I work the day of the game and can't go, and I'm not that much of a fan anyway," Itakura, 36, said. "But I'm going to the pep rally downtown. There's going to be a lot of live entertainment, and I'll meet up with some friends."
