Updated at 5:41 p.m., Wednesday, January 2, 2008
UH football team, fans return from New Orleans
Advertiser Staff
The University of Hawai'i football team returned home this afternoon at Honolulu International Airport.The players and coaches got off a Hawaiian Airlines charter flight that landed about 4:45 p.m. A few fans, some with signs, gathered but were not able to greet the team because the plane did not stop at a terminal. The team walked down a portable ramp and onto four waiting buses.
The Warriors lost to Georgia, 41-10, on New Year's Day in the Sugar Bowl.
Earlier today, the first wave of University of Hawai'i fans got back to the Islands, exhausted and disappointed, but still proud of their team.
"Although the team lost, it was a good experience," said Karen Loui, who went to New Orleans with her husband and 12-year-old son.
The family took a packed Aloha Airlines charter flight to the Sugar Bowl, and got back about 11:30 a.m., along with about 100 other UH fans. Another charter flight carried UH band members, cheerleaders, dancers and others.
The Warriors made their first Bowl Championship Bowl appearance yesterday in the New Orleans Superdome, losing 41-10 to the Georgia Bulldogs. About 15,000 Hawai'i fans followed the Warriors to New Orleans and helped cheer the team on. At the end of the game, the fans gave the Warriors a standing ovation.
"It was a tremendous experience," said U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, who was aboard the Aloha Airlines charter flight that also carried UH band members and cheerleaders. "It wasn't the team's night, but we had a great season."
UH football players will land in Honolulu at 4:44 p.m. today on a Hawaiian Airlines chartered flight. When the plane arrives, players will be picked up in a remote location and will be bused from the airport. Players will not go to the airport terminal, and so fans will not be able to greet them.
