Thousands of Crimson Tide fans here for game
| • | Alabama-UH is a matchup of rich vs. poor |
| • | Game Day (Graphic) |
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Yesterday was the scheduled start of the holiday-shopping season, but Alabama football fans already have been painting the town crimson for several days.
They are renting mopeds, trying out plate lunches and, according to a Crazy Shirts saleswoman identified only as Carly, "buying anything red."
"We've seen a lot of (Alabama fans) in here," said Brent Potter, general manager of Hilo Hattie-The Store of Hawai'i. "In general, they're buying souvenirs — chocolates, statues — and aloha shirts. But the shirts have to be red."
Potter said many are buying Christmas shirts "because they're red."
Alabama used its entire allotment of 6,000 tickets for today's game against Hawai'i at Aloha Stadium, and at least another 2,000 tickets were purchased by Tide fans through the Internet.
Using the most conservative estimate, Crimson Tide fans are expected to pump $8 million into the Islands' economy this week.
If Tide fans are helping to boost Hawai'i's economy, Hawai'i, in turn, has helped salvage the Tide's season.
After the NCAA placed the Alabama football team on probation for the second time since 1995, the Crimson Tide was left without a place to play in the postseason for the next two years. Alabama officials instead created their own postseason, replacing Washington State on UH's schedule this year, and then signing up for a rematch next year.
"We wanted to give the guys an opportunity, within the rules, to play another game," Tide coach Dennis Franchione said at his weekly news conference.
Alabama defensive tackle Jarret Johnson said today's game should ease, somewhat, the pain of the NCAA probation. Alabama finished first in the Southeastern Conference's West Division and, if not for the probation, would be playing in next week's SEC title game.
"It's very frustrating," Johnson said. "We've played so well, and we should have gone to the SEC championships. But this will give us another chance to play."
Franchione said this "bowl game" was "something our seniors deserved and would appreciate and we're happy to have a chance to give them."
The Warriors also welcome a chance to play a nationally ranked team — the Tide is No. 14 in The Associated Press poll, but is ineligible for the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll because of the probation — in a nationally televised game. Mike Gottfried, ESPN's top color analyst, has been assigned to the game.
"You can tell this week we're all excited," UH quarterback Shawn Withy-Allen said. "We're all preparing a little more mentally. Some of the teams we play, (they are) hard to get really up for, but you pinpoint Alabama on your schedule from Day One. We're all very excited, but we're not trying to get overly excited to the point where we're all tensed up. We want to relax, but we're excited at the same time."
The Warriors will wear the black jerseys reserved for big games. In the past two seasons, they are 3-0 when they wear black jerseys. Since 1999, June Jones' first season as UH head coach, they are 4-2 when they wear black jerseys. They wear green jerseys for the other home games and white tops on the road.
UH also is expected to switch sidelines, with Alabama facing the setting sun for most of the game.
"This is a big game for us," UH right tackle Uriah Moenoa said. "We want to prove to everybody we can play with the big boys. We are the big boys."
