Spring Practice Shows Hawaii Is In Rebuild Mode.

Coach Chang has spring ball practice under way. Things are still not set in stone and it sounds like a chaotic mess on the islands. However it's to be expected when a team goes through a coaching change. Hawaii is no different from Boston College or Texas in that aspect.

Espn Honolulu's Hawaii Football Now said, "The defense looks good..." "The offense looks sloppy..." There's a transition going from Todd Graham's offense to Chang's modified run and shoot. It's kinda like a team going from the Jets and trying to learn the Patriots offense. 

Hawaii still has no starting quarterback. Supposedly there’s a quarterback competition but from reports, nobody is showing they want the job. They have a game on the 16th and hopefully they'll have someone showing the leadership and ability to take the helm of the offenses. Otherwise coach Chang is going to need to lay into his passers.

Coaches are reportedly taking Hawaii culture classes to avoid the errors and problems created or exposed by the Todd Graham era. This is the university or at least coach Chang taking accountability for what happened under the previous coaching regime. If a coach doesn't try to assimilate and instead has a colonizing attitude, they won't be accepted. Chang and the university knows that.

Hawaii Football Now talked about the program not just being about the Hawaii but all the Polynesian islands in the pacific and how they need to do a better job of including everyone. Polynesians have some good athletes and It's easier for those players to get to Hawaii. The university needs to do a better job at getting quality athletes from all the pacific islands and even Asia itself. 

Hawaii is still recruiting players do both be surprised if they have names on the roster that weren't added until June or July. Hawaii will be getting a 3 star pass rusher from Oregon over the summer. The thing with Hawaii is they need to remember there's more athletes outside the pacific ocean and to not focus soley on islanders or they can set themselves up for failure.

The thing with this season is to understand it's a building process. A bowl game in coach Chang's first year is not to be expected at the moment. We don't know how things are going to look for fall kickoff but for now keep expectations to a minimum. And keep the faith in the program. Coach Chang's vision may not start to take shape until the 2024 season. To steal a line from the Patriots, "In Chang we trust!" #Braddahood

Coach Chang Spoke About The Rainbow Warriors And How The Program Is Coming Along.

Timmy Chang was on 'call the coach' with Bobby Curran on ESPN. He gave some insight to what's going on with the University of Hawaii football team. Now before I get into what coach Chang had to say, I really have a problem with Hawaii media making it seem like the only criteria a coach needs is to be from Hawaii, or a former member of the program. It's like the media out there is saying knowledge and ability don't matter. That is a huge red flag for someone who wants the program to succeed.

Coach Chang talked about his offensive coordinator. Curran said that "Shoemaker has a whatever works offense." And Chang replied, "yeah, he has a unique style." Chang praised Shoemakers football IQ and admitted that he hired someone he didn't know, which should go to help dispel the notion that Chang was only hiring former teammates and ex-coworkers.

Chang would later talk about his staff, saying they're all "like minded." He said not all his staff was from or knowledge of the islands. And broke down the diversity he hired. This was good to hear because the media wasn't installing a lot of favor in the current staff for fans outside the islands. Chang mentioned the staff "having too much fun." Curran tried to give Chang a way out but instead Chang went into details about what he meant.

Chang mentioned that about half of the scholarships are gone and basically he hopes after spring ball to get high level talent to come to the islands. For them to use Hawaii as a stepping stone in their college career. I don't know that I like that because he's essentially describing Hawaii as a D2 school with D1 ranking. Chang mentioned that the roster building was more about "depth" than anything. 

Michigan got brought up and Chang mentioned about telling the students to play to get noticed at the NFL level.

Chang mentioned that being a coach is more than just football. That's something people forget. Chang talked about preparing them for not only life after they graduated but helping non Hawaiians assimilate to the lifestyle. And making them Hawaiian to avoid problems while there.

Chang went on to talk about the team is still trying to figure out it's identity and it's limitations. Acknowledging that the team can only do what the talent allows for, regardless of what they want to do. That spring practice will be "three times a week." He also mentioned that roster size is not really in his control.

Chang got asked about tailgating but said something interesting. On top of the stadium tickets, Chang wants to try to increase revenue by "having tickets for outside the stadium."  Chang mentioned an "outside viewing area." With how small the stadium is, the university needs to do whatever it can while the new stadium is being built. Maybe the stadium campus will become the spring ball campus.

The one thing that Chang seemed to stress throughout the interview was that he was not coaching with an iron first. That his staff and players would have input. Mainly the staff. He also mentioned learning from each other a few times. Although Chang is the head coach, it almost sounds like for now it's head coach by committee. That may change but that's how it sounded. I don't know if I like the sound of that but it's gotta be better than what Hawaii had under Todd Graham.

Hawaii Working On Getting Back Into Football Shape After Todd Graham

So there's been a lot going on since December for the rainbow warriors of Hawaii. The Todd Graham era came to an end after only two seasons and a huge controversy. And former quarterback Chang was brought in to be the new head coach.

Coach Chang has his work cut out for him. He has to rebuild the Hawaii coaching staff, hiring people that he knows. The problem is there wasn't a lot of time to get a staff together. Especially with trying to get players to sign.

Hawaii has their walk on tryout day coming up. They have had some signings. And they're trying to convince people in the transfer portal that Hawaii is a school that will be looking for it's third straight bowl game invite.

The good news is throughout last season until Todd Graham left, the team lost 19 players but has been able to sign 15 players. Hawaii has plenty of scholarships the question is are they gonna recruit local or will they try to bring in some national guys from the portal? The season is coming and Hawaii needs to make sure they have a team together for spring ball.

UH football players say they have not been tested for COVID-19 despite claimed "clean bill of health

In a recent article by the Star Advertiser on Sunday, where the University of Hawaii came out and said their players were covid free, the players came out calling malarkey.

Senior DL Mason Vega tweeted "we have not been tested, stop the cap". Jr CB Akil Francisco) tweeted out, "all cap".  However, the most damaging tweet came from former punter Ben Scruton.

Scruton tweeted, "Someone doesn't know the facts or is hiding the truth about what's going on. Multiple lads I know haven't received a test at all for this to be remotely true. People still think the virus shit is a joke, protect these MEN! These are human beings not tools for wealth."

The university is not disclosing any information about the test so called issued to the players. Schools like thee Ohio State Buckeyes among others, have canceled all training prior to the season. 

In a quote from the article, it states "Approximately 100 football student-athletes are working out, and none (has) tested positive since arriving on campus (two weeks ago),” officials wrote in an email to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser..."

Tanner Haworth sports editor for Ka Leo broke the story and wrote, "Many players voiced their indifferences to the report on Twitter, many replying with the “cap” emoji, another way of saying someone is lying (i.e. “Stop capping”). "

Covid is already costing the school millions from losses of games this season. The last thing the Rainbow Warriors need is to lose more due to improper handling of the coronavirus. While this will go unnoticed by the casual college football fan, this is sure to draw the attention of the NCAA. 

Hawaii loses the Pac 12 and their chance at the Ducks

Hawaii was set to play three pac 12 teams. The Rainbow Warriors to money maker was canceled as the Pac 12 decided to only play conference games.

The Rainbow Warriors will no longer being playing Arizona or UCLA, which are really no big deal. However, the loss of a top 25 school in Oregon is. The school was set to earn a payday and a victory would've gone a long way for the school.

Including Fordham, this makes 4 schools the Rainbow Warriors have lost. It really sucks as Hawaii has one of the top center prospects in TAAGA TUULIMA, the 6'2" 290 pound beast, who hasn't allowed a sack in over 700 plays.

Christian Shimabuku Of KHON2 wrote "The Rainbow Warriors are now tentatively scheduled to open their season on Oct. 3 at Aloha Stadium against fellow Mountain West Conference member Nevada."

UH athletics director David Matlin said "that the school is “disappointed” but will “move on accordingly with the rest of our schedule," in his statement released on Friday.

Ferd Lewis of the Star advertiser wrote, "For football, that means the apparent loss of $400,000 to play at Arizona and $1 million for the game at Oregon. The UCLA appearance was the most attractive game of UH’s home schedule and was to have marked the Bruins first visit here since 1939."

While the Pac 12 is claiming player safety is behind this, it doesn't change how much of a damaging impact this will have on the Rainbow Warriors football program. The team is left one opponent, who unless they cancel their season by choice, have no excuses not to play the Bows.

Hawaii is already limited in what bowl games they can play in due to NCAA conference rules, that extremely hinder their ability to realistically compete for a national championship. Now covid is reeking damage. The Warriors will survive and this but the battle scars will be tough to recover from.

The Rainbow Warriors Are ready to play some D-1 College Ball.

The Rainbow Warriors will get to wage war on the football field come late July. Large part in thanks to the NCAA College Football Oversight Committee.

Dennis Dodd of CBS reported, "The committee recommended that coaches begin interacting with players on July 13 with training camp starting on Aug. 7. Those dates will each be pushed up a week for the handful of teams competing in Week 0."

Now the current season is expected to end December 5th but the NCAA rules committee could allow the season to end in the middle of January, instead of playing a shortened season.

Currently the NCAA has a six games being listed to kick off on August 29th. Most importantly when Hawaii hosts Arizona. 

Not that it matters to Rainbow Warrior fans due to NCAA rules on bowl games by conference but the national championship game is set to be played on January 11th, 2021.

The September 19th, game where Hawaii goes Duck hunting in Oregon is back on. That will be the Rainbow Warriors real chance to show the NCAA why the warriors from Hawaii deserve to be allowed a real opportunity to finally start competing for a playoff birth. For now Warriors we're on to Arizona.

Hawaii’s most lucrative and highest profile football game in jeopardy

The Hawaii Rainbow Warriors are supposed to get a chance to prove themselves September 19th, when they're supposed to play the Oregon Ducks who are gonna be the number 10 team in the country.

The Rainbow Warriors already have NCAA rules on what bowls team and trophies teams can play for based on conference, which hurts them; now they have to deal with potentially missing a chance to beat a top ranked team due to covid.

Governor Kate Brown of Oregon said “There is some difficult news to share, Large gatherings, including live sporting events with audiences, concerts, festivals and conventions will not be able to return until we have a reliable treatment or prevention, like a vaccine.”

It could be months or even a year before there Is a vaccine for the virus. It is understood that health and lives come before liberties and luxuries. The schools should be given a chance to play with no fans in attendance barring they meet standards.

Governor Brown went on to say " “The Oregon Health Authority is advising that any large gathering, at least through September, should either be canceled or significantly modified. I know this is really, really hard. I will miss visiting our fairs and festivals this year."

Can't get more modified then playing in an empty stadium. While it takes the home field part out of it for the Ducks,  it would allow them to continue to develop students who's careers are at stake.

Like all big named ranked schools, whenever questions about playing the Rainbow Warriors comes up, The Ducks ducked the question.

The athletics department at Oregon released a statement, “We will continue to work with state and local officials, public health experts, and campus leadership in navigating all of the unprecedented issues surrounding COVID-19 and when our student-athletes will be able to return to competition. The health and safety of our student-athletes and community will continue to be our top priority.”

Since the school is running from the Rainbow Warriors, Had to go and see if the team could go duck hunting. According to Ferd Lewis who gives hope for a chance for Men from Hawii to play the children from the mainland.

Lewis wrote, "Oregon’s state health officer and epidemiologist, Dr. Dean Sidelinger, told the media", “So I think as we approach football season, we can see how the disease is behaving in our community, what kind of steps could be taken around the team themselves and the coaches and others around the team to see if they can safely start. But as you heard from the governor’s remarks, large gatherings will likely not be happening through the end of September. So if — or when — those activities resume, they would likely resume without the fans in the stands, but hopefully the fans watching them from a screen in the safety of their own home.”

That's great news for the Rainbow Warriors, as there is a possibility that the cowardly Ducks, Might have to play the jetlagged Bows from Hawaii after all. This is a must play and win for Hawaii, who due to NCAA bowl rules; doesn't have a realistic shot ever at the National Championship.

National Championship Is A Joke

The NCAA national championship is not designed for all teams to win due to the way the BCS is set up.

After the Army vs Hawaii game, I was listening to the post game show on ESPN Honolulu radio. The broad caster said "each team is limited to what bowls they can play in due to their conference." Of course this had me wondering what that means for the national championship. So I texted in and asked if Hawaii could play for it. The response I got was "technically the door has to be open to all teams but realistically with the way the system is set up, it's a no." They went on to say "There are undefeated teams that cannot even compete for a shot." Basically that the system is not designed for all teams to compete.

Theoretically if Hawaii can best Boise State, They should be close enough to the Top 25 in 2020, to break into it. That's also not gonna happen because what a team does previously unless you're a big name, big money conference school, just dosen't matter. The college football bowl series and national championship is designed to keep a handful of schools in the top 40 and only about 1/4 of those schools can actually compete for the National championship.

Attendance is down for many student body sections. The reason is the student bodys have come to terms across our country that the system is a joke and their school have zero chances of winning an important bowl game or making progress towards being number one. Thus the current NCAA BCS series and playoffs are chasing money away from programs. This all could be fixed but the powers that be are making too much off the current schools to make it fair to the nation. It's quid pro quo, they keep the top schools on top and the top schools keep certain individuals wallets' fat.

Why Four Other Teams Need A DPN Edition

Back in 2017 it was hard to find a good sports blog for my favorite teams. The Patriots were the top team in professional football so they had the most media content. However the other four teams I follow not so much.

Along came Donnie O'Donnell, a brash Patriots fan. He told it like it was. Granted he was a character, he sucked you in. The man behind the voice, Mr. Rauth also had a good personality. Donnie was part of a show called Dear Patriots Nation. 

As Ray went on, he became the place to get news, opinion, and analysis for the Patriots. There were and are a couple of other vloggers who cover the Patriots but non have the charismatic personality of Ray. 

Since I found DPN, I have searched for a similar host that covers and can keep me informed on the Utah Jazz, Tampa Bay Lightning, Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, and The Toronto Blue Jays. The closest I came was Jays in the sixth. A short lived channel created by the Father of Donnie O'Donnell, Mr. Ray Rauth.

The channel didnt last long as Ray started getting burnt out. Ray tried to hand off his show to a young and up in comer Matthew Garcia. Sadly, Matt was not able to carry on the DPN brand. He just didn't have Ray's personality, and fans never really gave him a chance.

DPN came back and is growing again. Ray gave DPN a new lease on life. His DPN videos on YouTube are still good for a lunch Break. While he has branched out and Partnered with Sportscastr to produce a nightly live stream. The DPN Brand has a blog that comes out every morning on Tecmohole and Ray has done right by Patriots Nation.

Ray tried to branch out with DPN Toronto. I assume that the channel would've been about all sporting news inside Ray's home city. This excited myself and a couple of other people who were finally going to have a place to get Blue Jays News, opinions, and analysis from a professional fan. But things fell flat.

While DPN Toronto is still collecting dust on Twitter, it gives fans like myself hope that someone can pick up the spark created by Ray. I live in Western New York. Let me tell you, if you don't follow a team in Buffalo, New York City, or the two New Jersey teams, you're not getting any news coverage on your team unless they're the top team of their sport, and then it's minimal. 

DPN Hawaii, DPN Toronto, DPN Tampa, and DPN Utah are needed. I am sure there are other fan bases who would also like their team covered. There's just not enough good video content makers or Sports writers out there reaching their intended audience. The few that do seem to be dryer then Chris Collinsworth. 

Personally, I unfortunately do not know enough about the other sports or my other teams, so I would not be the guy to pick up the pen and video camera. Not to mention I have social anxiety.

Here's hoping somebody will read this blog will contact Ray about becoming a partner.

Find DPN on sportscastr, twitter, Instagram, or blogs.dpnsports.com , we need people with personalities willing to share their fandom with some news, opinion, and analysis.