Posted on: Sunday, September 1, 2002
Tailgaters take the trophy for good fun
By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
The parking lots at Aloha Stadium filled up fast for the University of Hawai'i's season opener, with cars and trucks competing for space with blue tarps, charcoal grills, Zippy's buckets and lawn chairs.
By about 5:30, half an hour before the start of yesterday's game between UH and Eastern Illinois University, the traffic cops were estimating the crowd at 30,000 to 40,000 and closing off lots.
Dark clouds hung over the stadium and obscured the setting sun. A light rain was beginning to fall just before game time. The crowd seem undeterred.
The rain's "a blessing," said Teri Takahashi. She and 10 co-workers from the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers were enjoying a tailgate party that one might find rowdier than what you'd expect from a group of accountants.
"Maybe there will be a rainbow," Todd Matsushita said. He shrugged off all the loud moans over that all-too-obvious allusion.
In the next lot over, Kevin and Rebeccah Hoffmaster were taking it easy on a van seat behind their vehicle while Army Chinook helicopter pilot Paul Gyro and a half-dozen of his cohorts from Wheeler cooked, drank, ate, listened to rap music and made bad jokes.
By way of introduction, Kevin presented Rebeccah as the person married to the best-looking man in the group.
"She's for Illinois," he said, shrugging toward his wife, "and I can't stand East Illinois, so I'm for Hawai'i."
Rebeccah said she wasn't necessarily planning to cheer for the visiting team. She just really wanted a break from her kids.
"They're with the baby sitter, praise God," she said, leaning back contentedly in her seat.
Fire investigator Glenn Solem had parked his white van a few cars over from the pilots. He and his family left the grill at home and ate pizza and poke on a mat on the pavement.
Solem said he was interested to see how quarterback Timmy Chang, who recently suffered a finger injury, was going to fare. Many of the tailgaters at the stadium said they were also hoping Chang would do well.
"We've got to toughen him up," Solem said. "But I didn't say that."
Just a few feet away from Solem's family, a group of tailgaters with a professional-looking layout of tarp and covered truck wore No. 14 jerseys while they waited for Ed Siaosi, a former UH player, to finish cooking the chicken and chops.
Siaosi confided that his group included Chang's foremost fan. He nodded toward an older woman nibbling from a vegetable tray.
Sophie Ke-a said she'd gladly wear that title, even if she did have to share it with her daughter, Maryann Chang. Ke-a is Timmy Chang's grandmother. She wasn't sure whether she should feel outright confidence last night or be a little concerned.
"He got hurt, but he is much better," Ke-a said. "He is very excited, and he took an aspirin."
Maryann Chang, the quarterback's mother, said she wasn't at all worried, despite the earlier injury. Timmy sounded confident when she spoke to him earlier in the afternoon, she said.
"He just wanted to start," she said. "He just wanted to get this game on the road."
