No swap meet on UH football game days!

HA Note: “As part of its request for proposal, the Aloha Stadium Authority asked prospective bidders to “take into consideration” vacating the stadium on UH game days, according to Kevin Chong Kee, authority chairman. The Warriors will have six regular-season Saturday home games. UH’s season-opener against Central Arkansas is on a Friday. Chong Kee said the contractor, subject to negotiation, could be given other dates to replace those made exclusive to UH football.

The swap meet is billed as “Hawai’i’s largest open air flea market” on the stadium Web site. More than 600 merchants take part. Swap meets are held Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Saturday hours have been from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., although they have been modified for UH football Saturdays.”

JD was able to get the swap meet canceled for the day of the Hawaii Bowl and he said that a similar plan for UH game days has been:
“discussed with (the stadium) on several occasions.” (HA)

HA Note: “Previously, swap meets have been suspended during the Pro Bowl.”

About the importance of not having the swap meet on UH game days, JD said:
“I think the biggest impact is on the traffic on game days. It allows for the possibility that the parking lot might be opened a little earlier. I don’t know if it will be; that’s really a stadium decision. But it would allow for that.

One of the biggest problems is you’ve got all those people outside to come in when the parking gates open … and you’ve got all the customers and vendors from the swap meet trying to exit before that same time. You’ve got a tremendous amount of traffic being dumped into the streets around the stadium, right near the gates opening for UH parking. So that would be completely eliminated, and should have a positive impact on the traffic and parking situation overall.” (HSB)

About how UH could have earlier kickoff times for some games, JD said:
“For the people not sitting under cover, it can get pretty hot. All things being equal, we’ll probably leave the times where they’re at for now. It would probably be something for a follow-on season. My gut reaction right now would be if there are no swap meets on game days, likely the game times will be the same this year. But it’s something we could take a look at.” (HSB)

About not having swap meets on Saturdays on a trial basis, Klompus said:
“We want to see how it works out. We want to see whatever else can be done. We certainly don’t want to take away anything from the swap. We were trying to balance both.” (HSB)

Ferd wrote: “Authority chairman Kevin Chong Kee has brought a can-do attitude to the facility. So, too, has stadium manager Scott Chan, who once played on its turf as a Kaiser High quarterback. Both — and the folks around them — have been willing to not only listen to UH’s concerns but go the extra mile in attempting to address them.

Likewise UH athletic director Jim Donovan has approached the situation with a more constructive and less combative presence that hasn’t always been seen from his office.

Working together there’s no reason why both the stadium and UH can’t be successful. It all comes down to making “Aloha” more than just the name on the sign out front.” (HA)

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090714/NEWS01/907140335/Swap+meet+may+vacate+stadium+for+University+of+Hawaii+games

http://sports.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090714/COLUMNISTS06/907140329/1142&template=UHSports

http://www.starbulletin.com/news/hawaiinews/20090714_Swap_meet_will_move_on_game_day.html

Davone Bess is Centurians #17

About how Bess was a recruit who went to their road game at Fresno State when they lost 70-14, Ron Lee said:
“We shook hands and I remember getting into the bus and thinking, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to see Davone again.’ ” (HSB)

About how he wasn’t going to go back on his word to the UH coaches, Bess said:
“I gave them my verbal already and I’m a man of my word.” (HSB)

About the twists that his life took that led him to go to UH, and the impact going to UH had on his life, Bess said:
“I think about that all the time. I’m a true believer that everything happens for a reason. They gave me an opportunity to come here and play and I took advantage of it and it put me on a plateau to be successful and work as hard as I can to maintain that success.” (HSB)

HSB Note: “Ask Lee about Bess and “work ethic” is liberally peppered into the conversation. Blessed with hands that clung to just about everything thrown to him, Bess worked diligently to improve them, snaring ball after ball fired out of the Jugs machine before and after practices. When he left after his junior year, those hands had secured a school-record 293 passes, including 41 touchdowns, covering 3,610 yards.”

About how Bess has great instincts and quickness, Lee said:
“He has a tremendous feel for where to be. He made it look easy. He’s not a 4.4 (40-yard dash) guy, but he has the quickness to make guys miss and he has that savvy.” (HSB)

About how his mother Chinell Carpenter (who had him when she was a teen) had to work hard to raise him and his brother in Oakland, Bess said:
“She had to work hard to keep the lights on and put food on the table and make sure we were OK, and she made it happen. That’s my inspiration and motivation.” (HSB)

HSB Note: “Bess appeared on the verge of converting his efforts into a college scholarship after a standout career at Skyline High. But shortly after graduation, Bess let some friends put stolen goods into his car. When they were caught, he shared in the punishment, 15 months in a juvenile detention center.

About how Oregon State pulled his scholarship opportunity then and we viewed his opportunity in Hawaii as a chance to:
“start a whole new life, a new chapter. My big thing is (then-UH head coach June Jones) took a big chance in giving me a second opportunity and I just didn’t want to let him down. I didn’t want to let Hawaii down.” (HSB)

HSB Note: “Once he got onto the field, Bess was both steady and spectacular in averaging over 92 yards per game while developing a bond with Colt Brennan, who also joined the program in 2005 searching for redemption.”

About the connection between Colt and him, Bess said it:
“was all feel, all instinct. It’s all about repetition and staying on the same page with the quarterback and watching film.” (HSB)

About not being drafted, Bess said:
“I got right over it, I had to, I had no other choice. If I was going to be bitter, I probably wouldn’t have had a shot at making the team. It was basically a reality check for me and brought me down to earth and kept me humble.” (HSB)

About the guy that was impersonating him on Twitter, Bess said:
“That’s crazy. I just don’t understand why somebody would want to go out and try to mess up another man’s reputation. But I’m over it. I’m going to be the bigger man about it and put it behind me. I talked to Chris Johnson and let him know it wasn’t me. He understood and was cool about it, so it’s all good.” (HSB)

HSB Note: “Nearly two years after they last parted ways in Fresno, Lee and Bess returned to Bulldog Stadium. This time they left together on the other end of a blowout with Bess catching two touchdown passes in a 68-37 UH victory.”

About the second chance he got at UH, Bess said:
“It changed my life. It was a blessing.” (HSB)

http://www.starbulletin.com/sports/sportsnews/20090714_Bess_loyalty_to_UH_led_to_NFL.html

Warrior Beat Q&A with Brashton Satele

HA Note: “When spring practice ended a couple of months ago, Brashton Satele weighed 264 pounds, and the UH coaches plotted his move from middle linebacker to defensive end. But Satele then went to train with conditioning coach Chad Ikei in Arizona. After a month of intense workouts and a strict diet, Satele lost more than 20 pounds while improving his speed and strength. Yesterday, he weighed 239.”

Asked how he lost the 25 pounds, Brashton Satele said:
“I went to Arizona, and Chad changed my whole mental thought about working out, eating. I feel great. I feel the best I’ve ever felt in my life.” (HA)

About how the workouts and diet were hard on him in the beginning, Brashton said:
“The first day I got up there, I was like: ‘What did I get myself into?’ After a week, it got better.” (HA)

About how it was important for him to get away from Hawaii to change his diet, Brashton said:
“The best thing I did was to get off the island, to get away from Hawai‘i food, the white rice. Chad got me on a good diet. I got rid of the sugars, and cut down on carbs. I substitute brown rice for white rice. I eat chicken, steak, salmon. I bake the chicken. Nothing fried. I started to like it once I saw the changes to my body. I got addicted to it.” (HA)

About how he is stronger and lost 25 pounds, Brashton said:
“The first week, I lost 10 pounds. I started to plateau. Chad started to switch up the phases (of workouts). He gave a new phase, and I dropped another 10. Today, I weigh 239. I lost 25 pounds but I gained strength.” (HA)

About his change in workouts, Brashton said:
“Even when I’m lifting, it’s all super sets. It’s good. A couple of them are seven exercises in one set.” (HA)

About how NFL players were training with Ikei while he was there, Brashton said:
“There were NFL guys there, like Aaron Francisco, Louis Holmes from Tampa Bay, Wendell Bryant from Arizona.” (HA)

About how it was hot in Arizona, Brashton said:
“It was hot. It was like a blow dryer in your face the whole time. Sometimes we ran indoors. But we ran outdoors, too. It averaged 110. Chad would make us run during the hottest time of the day, between noon and 2 o’clock. It was the best investment I ever made.” (HA)

http://warriorbeat.honadvblogs.com/2009/07/14/bess-mouton-to-chat-brashton-sheds-25-pounds/