Two nights ago, I had a dream. It was a vision that Hawaii was going to escape Boise State with a 40-38 victory, off a Dan Kelly field goal. And at the end of the game, the students and fans rushed onto the field, and carried June Jones, Colt Brennan, and the Iceman off the field. And the Boise newspapers ripped apart the loss. Some fairweather journalists from that armpit of Idaho even called for Chris Petersen's resignation, and/or firing.
Actually, as I got the Walter Pyramid for Day 1 of the Baden Thanksgiving Tournament, I wondered if all this could be true. As I watched the first two matches of the mayhem at the Myd, I played Rob Overseer's "Slayed" on iTunes, thinking about the circumstances. In any case, the Warriors are going bowling. The big questions is whether or not it will be back at Aloha Stadium, or down in the Lower 48.
By the way, in the first match, we disposed of the Yales, 3-0. As I watched the second match between UCSB and Temple, it was no surprise who I was rooting for. With Big West conference play behind us, and the fact that we whitewashed the Gauchos, it was easy for me to cheer for UCSB, if only in solidarity of my Big West opponents.
I told them: This should be easy for you guys. If we can beat Temple, so can you. They dropped the first match, but they got the next three games. At the end of the match, I said, "See! I told you that you could do it. In the words of Johnny Warren, 'I told you so!'"
But back to the dream I had. I looked at the score when we were in the fourth game of a five-match marathon with Pittsburgh, and it read: Hawaii 39, Boise State 27, with a few minutes remaining. The previous time I asked for the score, the Press Telegram saw UH trail 27-26. All of a sudden, I was starting to feel good. In the waning seconds, I took my shirt off in the cold, flung it in the air, and I was beside myself. Everyone in the Pyramid knew that I supported the Warrior footbal team.
My friend Nuke told me: Hey, why do you support Hawaii's football team when you're from the Beach? I told him: first off, unless you're talking about rugby or soccer, we haven't had an American football team since 1991. Also, June Jones is a solid coach at the collegiate level, and I love the Run-&-Shoot: greatest football offense known to man, along with the West Coast. The dream came true on a day when LSU fell to Arkansas in triple overtime, 50-42, and Texas lost to Texas A&M. WHat's going to be shocking is that if Missouri defeats Kansas, there will be an undefeated team still standing.
It just won't be from the Lower 48. Even more shocking is that the coaches who led the Razorbacks and Aggies to victories are on their way out: Houston Nutt and Dennis Franchione.