Hawaiian music lyrics often speak of aloha. ‘Aloha’ in Hawaiian means affection, love, peace, compassion, mercy, goodbye and hello. Colt Brennan, Coach June Jones, and the Hawaii Warriors football team know the word ‘Aloha’ well. The voices of these men from the college locker room, who expected so much for the state of Hawaii, sang Aloha.

OK… so Colt Brennan and the Hawaii Warriors didn’t win the Sugar Bowl, but WOW, they gave the State of Hawaii a lot to be proud of!

Hawaii Warriors did not win the Sugar Bowl, the score was 41-10, but it did win the hearts of the people of Hawaii. The team showed Aloha, often offering their hand to the other team. You would have to live in Hawaii for a while to understand this… you really would.

“If you go to Hawaii, I guarantee I’ll be there.”

~Colt Brennan

Brennan’s tears are now being criticized. The pressure on Colt Brennan was tremendous, not just because of the game but because he became a hero to the entire state of Hawaii. Every child knows his name. Hawaii also considers Colt Brennan and the Warrior football team as part of its ‘Ohana.’ In Hawaiian culture, “ohana means family, both blood-related and extended. It is an honor. It means taking care of each other. It has been used to describe not only how the Warriors players feel about each other, but also how the state feels about them.

“This is everyone’s team, which I knew would happen if we put it in motion. It could take over the entire state. And it has.”

~Coach June Jones

Colt Brennan’s career, however, remains one of the best in college football history.

Outside of a 41-10 loss to Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, Colt had an outstanding 2007 season. Hawaii has now won 22 of its last 24. Colt Brennan broke Tye Detmer’s TD record of 122 touchdowns and has broken 33 other NCAA records. This season he has a 71.40 completion percentage and has thrown for 4,174 yards and 38 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. Brennan completed an NCAA-record 70.4 percent of his passes for 14,193 yards and was responsible for 146 total touchdowns.

Also factoring in their loss to Georgia is the fact that UH’s recruiting budget is only $50K, barely a tenth of Georgia’s. Coach June Jones had one team, while Georgia had what amounted to several, capable of continually trading team players, while Hawaii could not. All those players from Hawaii played their hearts out throughout the game.

There were also penalties that should have been noted. Brennan was often dismissed even after he had thrown the ball. Hawaii players were often knocked down after time was up. Because of his brotherhood experience within their team and understanding of what ‘aloha’ means in Hawaii, they were stunned. The Hawaii Warriors were seen offering their hand to the Bulldogs when they were on the ground after time ran out. His ‘Aloha’ hands were rejected.

“I’m proud of him and the career he’s had,” Jones said. “I wish he could have finished, obviously, better than he did tonight. But I think that had a lot to do with Georgia and not so much with him.”

~Coach June Jones

Aloha, does this matter? Is the ‘aloha spirit’ in soccer or outside of Hawaii something that has no place? Or is it a reminder that society has somehow lost its way? Has winning become the only thing that matters? In the State of Hawaii, the people have taken their champions and embraced them like they always have. Why? Because in Hawaii the ‘aloha spirit’ is indeed the most important thing. These young Warriors have learned something that cannot be compared and that is love for their neighbor and all that that entails. Hawaiian music lyrics often talk about aloha because the spirit of aloha IS Hawaii. The voices of these college locker room men, who expected so much for the state of Hawaii, sang Aloha and made us proud!