Jeff had been looking forward to going to a UH game for a while, thankful that the first game of the season was to take place when we'd be on the island. After making several stops at the Rainbowtique, Macy's, and Wal-Mart prior to game day, we both found shirts to wear but passed on the face paint.
Tailgating is very similar to the Midwest and TN in that there is a lot of drinking, lounging, eating, talking, laughing, and of course, talk of sports. One major difference I noticed was that many "camps" had buffets of rice, kalua pork, and other Hawaiian/Pacific Rim inspired dishes in leiu of burgers, dogs, and brats, though those options could be found here and there. A couple of Jeff's coworkers join the masses who spend the day baking in the hot sun in the massive parking lots around the stadium to tailgate and invited us to hang out.
Thankfully, Jeff compromised with me on a full day of football by watching it on TV for a while in the morning, then spending time outside to break it up, before going to the Aloha Stadium around 3. Even though it's beautiful here 95% of the time, I still didn't want to devote the entire day to watching the pigskin get tossed around.
After parking and walking a ways, we found one of the coworkers' camps, talked for a bit, and then made our way inside to watch the pregame festivities. By the time we got inside, we were able to catch just the end of the chant the players do sometimes, the hapa (I think). Apparently the chant goes by two names and is not done every time. I was glad we'd made it in time to witness a little bit, and then we took our seats in the blaring sun. Sweat was beading on our faces within minutes of sitting. The people around us were holding up newspapers to the left side of their faces to keep the rays off. The east and south side of the stadium were swathed in sunlight where mostly open seats could be found. It was clear that the smarter, experienced folks purchased seats on the other two sides of the stadium, which were packed.
With 15 minutes before the start of the game, we decided to walk around and get out of the sun to take pictures. We found a much better, shaded spot where we could have a good view of the players rushing the field. Besides the band, which was quite good according to my high school band member husband, the festivities also included a "surfing" cheerleader whose surfboard was held up by 6 strong male cheerleaders running down the field, and the Warrior Mascot who looked mean enough to kill. What else would the band play but the "Hawaii 5-0" theme song; how appropriate. During breaks in play, we noticed two bare chested students (males, of course) beating ceremonial looking drums on the north side of the field.
Kettle popcorn and a Diet Coke kept us in our purchased seats for almost the entire first quarter. By the beginning of the second quarter, we found ourselves in the upper deck on the west side, under the glorious cover of a roof. The section was not crowded, mainly consisting of families. I liked the viewpoint much better, since I really have to see what's going on to care and stay engaged. Shortly after sundown, I needed the light jacket I'd brought, but the evening was very pleasant.
The Warriors played an exciting game, keeping the huge crowd involved the whole time. The final score was 34 to 17, a big W for the Warriors and a great way to spend a fall Saturday in the islands.
