Tweet
A lot of very, very good cappers have GA as their GOY's, and a lot of other very good cappers have GA as one of their stronger plays. I wish you all luck and hope you have a happy new year!!
But.....I think that being destiny's child is enough sometimes. On paper our schedule sucked. We have the smaller, slower players. Our total athletic budget is 1/10 of GA's football budget. Us against the world.
Don't post my plays here, mainly because I tail you guys!!
But I'll be playing HI for $200 on the moneyline to win $560.
Again, I wish you all luck, and win or lose for me it was a great season.
P.S. I pasted a copy of the forword from June Jones's book below...the guy is unbelievable. It is a great read, and I think that a lot of times you will find that a team will echo it's coach's heart and confidence. These guys are ready to play.
"Sometimes, it's just a person's destiny!"
10/26/2007
by June Jones
(In honor of this week’s release of Hawaii Warrior Football: A Story of Faith, Hope and Redemption, Coach June Jones – in lieu of his "Ask Coach" questions -- authorized Warriors’ Haka to print his foreword, which appears in the book. We hope you enjoy as much as we did.)
With a voice as deep and powerful as James Earl Jones, the late Ed Wong uttered words that would ignite my passion to become the 20th head football coach at the University of Hawaii. What I didn’t know was that this decision would become not only the greatest experience, but also the greatest challenge, I had ever encountered, either personally or professionally.
This was December of 1999.
Just the day before, at two in the morning, I had received a phone call from Bobby Beathard, my good friend and then-president and general manager of the San Diego Chargers. Bobby informed me that owner Dean Spanos had accepted my counter-offer for a five-year deal -- two years more than the original three they had proposed. Furthermore, the Chargers were willing to pay me an additional $2.5 million above their original offer. When I hung up the phone with Bobby and laid my head on the pillow, in my mind, the deal was done. I was going to be the head coach of the San Diego Chargers.
After tossing and turning and unable to sleep, I even called Bobby Beathard in the middle of the night to give him my commitment. The next day, we would clean up the arrangements and announce it to the public.
Meanwhile, the day before, the University of Hawaii had sent eight people to San Diego to interview me for their vacant head coaching job. I was scheduled to meet with the Hawaii contingent at 8 a.m., just a few short hours away. Included among them were Edison Miyawaki, part owner of the Cincinnati Bengals; Hugh Yoshida, the athletic director; John Fink, president of K-5 the Home Team; Ed Wong; president of the booster club, and Jim Donovan, the assistant AD.
Earlier that night, I had prayed for guidance. Now that I had made up my mind to stay with the San Diego Chargers, my heart panged with guilt for stringing out the hopes of the special people of Hawaii. I’d hardly slept when the alarm clock rudely awakened me.
I called Leigh Steinberg, my agent, to tell him of my decision. "Leigh," I said, "It’s a done deal. We’re staying in San Diego. The two things you recommended – five years instead of three, the additional $2.5 million -- I asked them for everything, and they’ve agreed."
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Looking back, I truly believe that God spoke to me right then through Leigh, and it would change my life forever. "June," he said, "I’ve known you … what, 20-plus years? All you’ve ever talked about is one day being the head coach of Hawaii. I think you owe it to yourself to follow through with that interview this morning."
Two hours later, I went to the meeting. In my back pocket, I had tucked a blank, personal, hand-written check for $10,000, to reimburse them for their expenses and trouble. That’s when something magical occurred. The next thing I knew, I found myself in that very meeting, trying to answer the most obvious question: Why would an NFL coach want to take over a team that is dead-last in the nation?
The more I answered their questions, the more I began to sound like a guy that wanted the job. A passion rose up inside me that I’ll never be able to explain. A fire ignited in my gut, in spite of the fact that Hawaii was offering me a tenth of the money so generously laid on the table by the Chargers.
If you’re going to shock the football world, is there a better place to do it than with the worst program in America? You can’t get any more uphill than that. If you’re a football coach who is worth his salt, this is just the type deal that makes your motor run. Just like that, my paradigm shifted, and Ed Wong tacked on the exclamation point that will forever live in my memory: "Sometimes, it’s just a person’s destiny!"
Destiny, indeed.
Eight years later, I’m so proud that we’ve now developed a winning program with a tradition of winning. We’ve done the impossible. We’re winning today with the same budget we had when I got here, when they had just lost 18 straight. Our boys are now the proud holders of countless records. We’ve got kids all over the NFL. We won a WAC Championship with mirrors. Nobody in this football office ever complains.
We just keep finding a way to win.
Our kids have now won four out of five bowl games, against schools that have far, far more resources than we do – Houston, Oregon State, Arizona State. We’ve beaten Michigan State, BYU, Purdue, and even Alabama, which must have made Bear Bryant roll over in his grave. So much has happened to me in the past eight years, I almost don’t know where to begin. Some of these moments you will find in the following pages, and a few I’ve chosen to keep for me. One fact, however, consistently holds true, and it’s something I tell my players every day: That the memories we keep are not found in wins and losses, but in the eyes of the men in the locker room, and in the eyes of those people we meet along the way.
We will all forget the touchdowns and the final scores, but the eyes and the faces and the passion of these men in the locker room and all those who cared about us will live on forever.
This is a love that defines great teams and separates them from ordinary men. When I use the word ohana, I mean it. Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten. As you read the amazing stories in this book, you’ll become a part of our ohana, too.
Each of the past eight years had its own positives. Though we struggled during losing seasons in 2000 and 2005, I am still convinced that because of the way we, as coaches, taught our players to stay united as a group, this led to enormous success with the following 2001 and 2006 teams.
Tribulation requires perseverance. Perseverance builds character. Character blossoms into hope, and hope does not disappoint.In those losing years, we built upon the character that would lead future teams to memorable seasons … and now, when you hear about Hawaii football, you think about hope, and I can promise you, we will always have a chance to win, regardless of the color of the helmet on the other side of the ball.
In the pages to follow, you are going to hear a lot about hope and redemption. You will get to relive our magical seasons of 1999 and 2006. I was unaware, beginning with the second week of January, 2000, right up to my birthday on February 19, 2005, how these years would completely change me.
I am so thankful to God that He loved me so much that, over time, I could forgive myself and others for some of the decisions that were made. During my private island moments, I take the time to reflect on my life.
Like the 18th tee at Hualalai. Or walking behind the Illikai Hotel, and sitting quietly on the rocks by the pier, where I first envisioned what could be one day.
These are the things I think about when I ride my Harley to Haleiwa for shave-ice; when I stroll the beaches of Lanikai, or a night walk at the Ihilani, or stare into the pounding surf of Makaha. Or even when I simply walk alone behind the Kahala Resort, and lie on the beach chairs and stare at the stars.
These places -- and a few dozen more -- live in a special place in my heart.
All of these moments have changed the man who I’ve now become.
Hawaii has allowed me to do what I always wanted to do. We’ve now proven we can win in a very different way than you’ll find in most football playbooks. My goal – from day one -- was to throw first, and have fun second. We do this everyday; in the office, at practice and in the games.
This, truly, is the best job anyone could dream of having.
I’m grateful to have been given this opportunity. I made the decision from day one that we would live on the edge. I knew we would be second- guessed – winners always are. Whether it was throwing the ball on fourth-and-one, or faking a punt from our own 15-yard line, this was the way I decided I wanted the game played.
I also knew that allowing God to be a part of the locker-room would change lives. Looking back, this is all part of what Ed Wong spoke of – helping all of these boys become men. This was why I was called back to Hawaii – to allow God to use me in a way He chose for me. When I see Hawaii football and the haka being replayed in the living rooms of kids across America, it makes me so proud. No matter where we travel, watching our fans stay until the final gun – just to be a part of us -- … the haka took on its own life. It became "us." Watching kids from Los Angeles, Oakland, Texas, and wherever else they come from – to see them now take part and become part of the culture here, it just makes you smile.
Now we get phone calls every day from Polynesian players who moved away and want to come home, to reconnect with their own.How can you not feel good about what has happened here? We have tradition. We have pride. We have all those intangibles that were lost during those dark years when Hawaii couldn’t find a way to win.
I always believed you could be a champion by being a totally positive person.
When I started my football career, berating players was the "in" thing to do – but I always believed a pat on the back could accomplish more. I was determined to build up, not tear down, the people around me. From my very first job, I wanted to prove that you could win with positive reinforcement.
Over the past eight years, I have fought some battles along the way that, I admit, I didn’t need to fight. But that is who I am. I have always believed in the big picture, which is for Hawaii football to be thought of on the same level as a PAC-10 team, or Big Twelve team. All of the changes I’ve tried to make here were done with one thing in mind: To make the University of Hawaii football program the best it can be.
We have so many things that need to be changed, but we’ve begun something now that will last. I believe in my players. I love motivating them, I love showing them I truly care. And I don’t judge a single one of them for their past.
I believe in second chances.
This is why this story is now bigger than the game of football itself. As we open the 2007 season, this might just be my aloha. I am anxious
again for destiny to happen, and to continue to grow as a man myself. Frank Gansz taught me a long time ago that what you give will grow, and what you keep, you will most certainly lose. I have never forgotten those words.
I have given all I have.
My good friend Mike Post once said to me that we should do something for the University of Hawaii that will live forever, something they will remember long after we’re dead and gone. He did, and I’ve tried, and I will continue to give it my all.
Eo na toa!
Eo na toa e!
This is battle! You must respond!
Mahalo,
June Jones III
But.....I think that being destiny's child is enough sometimes. On paper our schedule sucked. We have the smaller, slower players. Our total athletic budget is 1/10 of GA's football budget. Us against the world.
Don't post my plays here, mainly because I tail you guys!!
But I'll be playing HI for $200 on the moneyline to win $560.Again, I wish you all luck, and win or lose for me it was a great season.
P.S. I pasted a copy of the forword from June Jones's book below...the guy is unbelievable. It is a great read, and I think that a lot of times you will find that a team will echo it's coach's heart and confidence. These guys are ready to play.
"Sometimes, it's just a person's destiny!"
10/26/2007
by June Jones
(In honor of this week’s release of Hawaii Warrior Football: A Story of Faith, Hope and Redemption, Coach June Jones – in lieu of his "Ask Coach" questions -- authorized Warriors’ Haka to print his foreword, which appears in the book. We hope you enjoy as much as we did.)
With a voice as deep and powerful as James Earl Jones, the late Ed Wong uttered words that would ignite my passion to become the 20th head football coach at the University of Hawaii. What I didn’t know was that this decision would become not only the greatest experience, but also the greatest challenge, I had ever encountered, either personally or professionally.
This was December of 1999.
Just the day before, at two in the morning, I had received a phone call from Bobby Beathard, my good friend and then-president and general manager of the San Diego Chargers. Bobby informed me that owner Dean Spanos had accepted my counter-offer for a five-year deal -- two years more than the original three they had proposed. Furthermore, the Chargers were willing to pay me an additional $2.5 million above their original offer. When I hung up the phone with Bobby and laid my head on the pillow, in my mind, the deal was done. I was going to be the head coach of the San Diego Chargers.
After tossing and turning and unable to sleep, I even called Bobby Beathard in the middle of the night to give him my commitment. The next day, we would clean up the arrangements and announce it to the public.
Meanwhile, the day before, the University of Hawaii had sent eight people to San Diego to interview me for their vacant head coaching job. I was scheduled to meet with the Hawaii contingent at 8 a.m., just a few short hours away. Included among them were Edison Miyawaki, part owner of the Cincinnati Bengals; Hugh Yoshida, the athletic director; John Fink, president of K-5 the Home Team; Ed Wong; president of the booster club, and Jim Donovan, the assistant AD.
Earlier that night, I had prayed for guidance. Now that I had made up my mind to stay with the San Diego Chargers, my heart panged with guilt for stringing out the hopes of the special people of Hawaii. I’d hardly slept when the alarm clock rudely awakened me.
I called Leigh Steinberg, my agent, to tell him of my decision. "Leigh," I said, "It’s a done deal. We’re staying in San Diego. The two things you recommended – five years instead of three, the additional $2.5 million -- I asked them for everything, and they’ve agreed."
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Looking back, I truly believe that God spoke to me right then through Leigh, and it would change my life forever. "June," he said, "I’ve known you … what, 20-plus years? All you’ve ever talked about is one day being the head coach of Hawaii. I think you owe it to yourself to follow through with that interview this morning."
Two hours later, I went to the meeting. In my back pocket, I had tucked a blank, personal, hand-written check for $10,000, to reimburse them for their expenses and trouble. That’s when something magical occurred. The next thing I knew, I found myself in that very meeting, trying to answer the most obvious question: Why would an NFL coach want to take over a team that is dead-last in the nation?
The more I answered their questions, the more I began to sound like a guy that wanted the job. A passion rose up inside me that I’ll never be able to explain. A fire ignited in my gut, in spite of the fact that Hawaii was offering me a tenth of the money so generously laid on the table by the Chargers.
If you’re going to shock the football world, is there a better place to do it than with the worst program in America? You can’t get any more uphill than that. If you’re a football coach who is worth his salt, this is just the type deal that makes your motor run. Just like that, my paradigm shifted, and Ed Wong tacked on the exclamation point that will forever live in my memory: "Sometimes, it’s just a person’s destiny!"
Destiny, indeed.
Eight years later, I’m so proud that we’ve now developed a winning program with a tradition of winning. We’ve done the impossible. We’re winning today with the same budget we had when I got here, when they had just lost 18 straight. Our boys are now the proud holders of countless records. We’ve got kids all over the NFL. We won a WAC Championship with mirrors. Nobody in this football office ever complains.
We just keep finding a way to win.
Our kids have now won four out of five bowl games, against schools that have far, far more resources than we do – Houston, Oregon State, Arizona State. We’ve beaten Michigan State, BYU, Purdue, and even Alabama, which must have made Bear Bryant roll over in his grave. So much has happened to me in the past eight years, I almost don’t know where to begin. Some of these moments you will find in the following pages, and a few I’ve chosen to keep for me. One fact, however, consistently holds true, and it’s something I tell my players every day: That the memories we keep are not found in wins and losses, but in the eyes of the men in the locker room, and in the eyes of those people we meet along the way.
We will all forget the touchdowns and the final scores, but the eyes and the faces and the passion of these men in the locker room and all those who cared about us will live on forever.
This is a love that defines great teams and separates them from ordinary men. When I use the word ohana, I mean it. Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten. As you read the amazing stories in this book, you’ll become a part of our ohana, too.
Each of the past eight years had its own positives. Though we struggled during losing seasons in 2000 and 2005, I am still convinced that because of the way we, as coaches, taught our players to stay united as a group, this led to enormous success with the following 2001 and 2006 teams.
Tribulation requires perseverance. Perseverance builds character. Character blossoms into hope, and hope does not disappoint.In those losing years, we built upon the character that would lead future teams to memorable seasons … and now, when you hear about Hawaii football, you think about hope, and I can promise you, we will always have a chance to win, regardless of the color of the helmet on the other side of the ball.
In the pages to follow, you are going to hear a lot about hope and redemption. You will get to relive our magical seasons of 1999 and 2006. I was unaware, beginning with the second week of January, 2000, right up to my birthday on February 19, 2005, how these years would completely change me.
I am so thankful to God that He loved me so much that, over time, I could forgive myself and others for some of the decisions that were made. During my private island moments, I take the time to reflect on my life.
Like the 18th tee at Hualalai. Or walking behind the Illikai Hotel, and sitting quietly on the rocks by the pier, where I first envisioned what could be one day.
These are the things I think about when I ride my Harley to Haleiwa for shave-ice; when I stroll the beaches of Lanikai, or a night walk at the Ihilani, or stare into the pounding surf of Makaha. Or even when I simply walk alone behind the Kahala Resort, and lie on the beach chairs and stare at the stars.
These places -- and a few dozen more -- live in a special place in my heart.
All of these moments have changed the man who I’ve now become.
Hawaii has allowed me to do what I always wanted to do. We’ve now proven we can win in a very different way than you’ll find in most football playbooks. My goal – from day one -- was to throw first, and have fun second. We do this everyday; in the office, at practice and in the games.
This, truly, is the best job anyone could dream of having.
I’m grateful to have been given this opportunity. I made the decision from day one that we would live on the edge. I knew we would be second- guessed – winners always are. Whether it was throwing the ball on fourth-and-one, or faking a punt from our own 15-yard line, this was the way I decided I wanted the game played.
I also knew that allowing God to be a part of the locker-room would change lives. Looking back, this is all part of what Ed Wong spoke of – helping all of these boys become men. This was why I was called back to Hawaii – to allow God to use me in a way He chose for me. When I see Hawaii football and the haka being replayed in the living rooms of kids across America, it makes me so proud. No matter where we travel, watching our fans stay until the final gun – just to be a part of us -- … the haka took on its own life. It became "us." Watching kids from Los Angeles, Oakland, Texas, and wherever else they come from – to see them now take part and become part of the culture here, it just makes you smile.
Now we get phone calls every day from Polynesian players who moved away and want to come home, to reconnect with their own.How can you not feel good about what has happened here? We have tradition. We have pride. We have all those intangibles that were lost during those dark years when Hawaii couldn’t find a way to win.
I always believed you could be a champion by being a totally positive person.
When I started my football career, berating players was the "in" thing to do – but I always believed a pat on the back could accomplish more. I was determined to build up, not tear down, the people around me. From my very first job, I wanted to prove that you could win with positive reinforcement.
Over the past eight years, I have fought some battles along the way that, I admit, I didn’t need to fight. But that is who I am. I have always believed in the big picture, which is for Hawaii football to be thought of on the same level as a PAC-10 team, or Big Twelve team. All of the changes I’ve tried to make here were done with one thing in mind: To make the University of Hawaii football program the best it can be.
We have so many things that need to be changed, but we’ve begun something now that will last. I believe in my players. I love motivating them, I love showing them I truly care. And I don’t judge a single one of them for their past.
I believe in second chances.
This is why this story is now bigger than the game of football itself. As we open the 2007 season, this might just be my aloha. I am anxious
again for destiny to happen, and to continue to grow as a man myself. Frank Gansz taught me a long time ago that what you give will grow, and what you keep, you will most certainly lose. I have never forgotten those words.
I have given all I have.
My good friend Mike Post once said to me that we should do something for the University of Hawaii that will live forever, something they will remember long after we’re dead and gone. He did, and I’ve tried, and I will continue to give it my all.
Eo na toa!
Eo na toa e!
This is battle! You must respond!
Mahalo,
June Jones III
Comment