Hula Bowl

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The Hula Bowl's 60th Anniversary logo.

The Hula Bowl is an independently administered post-season invitational college football game held each year in Hawaii, currently at Aloha Stadium in the Hālawa district of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. The longest-running sporting event in Hawaiʻi, it has been considered a premier venue to launch professional careers in the National Football League. Today the Hula Bowl is a trademarked institution of the Downtown Athletic Club, of Heisman Trophy fame.

In its current format it pits an all-star team of players who attended college in the Eastern United States against a team of players from the Western United States. In the past, a North vs. South format has been used and in some years, the teams were split into the Aina and Kai teams, the Hawaiian words for land and water (designating "East" and "West", respectively). For many years it was distinguished from a similar event, the Senior Bowl, by playing by collegiate rather than professional rules and by being amateur, which at one point was very important for those wishing to remain eligible to compete in collegiate or other amateur sports in the future, but is less relevant today. The game, and especially the practice sessions leading up to it, are attended by many professional scouts, and can have an important bearing on where a player, particularly one from a lesser-known school, is drafted by the NFL.

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[edit] History

The Hula Bowl was established in 1946 by broadcaster Mackay Yanagisawa as the Hula Bowl All-Star Football Classic. It was originally played in the Honolulu Stadium in Honolulu before the bowl was moved to the Aloha Stadium in neighboring Halawa. In 1998, then-Maui County Mayor Linda Lingle convinced organizers to move the game to the War Memorial Stadium in the town of Kahului. However, due to poor attendance and reduced revenue, the Hula Bowl returned to Aloha Stadium for its 2006 game, the 60th Anniversary contest, and Cornerstone Financial Services became the titlular sponsor as the game was renamed the "Cornerstone Bancard Hula Bowl".

[edit] Future direction of the Hula Bowl

On July 1, 2006, it was announced that the AFCA would end its ten-year relationship with the Hula Bowl due to "philosophical differences" over the future plans for the game[1], including proposed changes for the 2007 game — such as reintroducing the "Hawaiʻian Islands versus Mainland" matchup used from 1947 to 1959. University of Hawaiʻi head coach June Jones expressed a willingness to coach a potential Hawaiʻian Islands team, which would have a mix of Hawaiʻian and Polynesian players and, bowl organizers hope, would draw more fans to the game. The Hula Bowl had also discussed the idea of allowing junior status players to participate in the game and bringing over college football players from Japan, something the game has done in the recent past. [2]

Game officials have also discussed awarding a national "Hula Bowl Player of the Week" to college players during the regular season; the winning players would be invited to play in the Hula Bowl and be able to direct a $1,000 donation to a charity in their state.[3]

Despite proposed changes, the 2007 game continued the East-West series, with West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez and Georgia head coach Mark Richt leading the Aina (East) squad, and Fresno State head coach Pat Hill and Houston head coach Art Briles directing the Kai (West) team.

[edit] Past Hula Bowl results

Year Winning Team Losing Team
1960 East 34 West 8
1961 East 14 West 7
1962 East 7 (TIE) West 7
1963 North 20 South 13
1964 North 20 South 13
1965 South 16 North 14
1966 North 27 South 26
1967 North 28 South 27
1968 North 50 South 6
1969 North 13 South 7
1970 South 35 North 13
1971 North 42 South 32
1972 North 24 South 7
1973 South 17 North 3
1974 East 24 West 14
1975 East 34 West 25
1976 East 16 West 0
1977 West 20 East 17
1978 West 42 East 22
1979 East 29 West 24
1980 East 17 West 10
1981 West 24 East 17
1982 West 26 East 23
1983 East 30 West 14
1984 West 21 East 16
1985 East 34 West 14
1986 West 23 East 10
1987 West 16 East 14
1988 West 20 East 18
1989 East 21 West 10
1990 West 21 East 13
1991 East 23 West 10
1992 West 27 East 20
1993 West 13 East 10
1994 College Stars 28 Hawaiʻi Stars 15
1995 East 20 West 9
1996 East 17 West 10
1997 South 26 North 13
1998 South 20 North 19
1999 South 34 North 14
2000 South 28 (TIE) North 28
2001 North 31 South 23
2002 South 45 North 28
2003 Aina (East) 27 Kai (West) 24
2004 Aina (East) 26 Kai (West) 7
2005 East 20 West 13
2006 East 10 West 7
2007 Aina (East) 18 Kai (West) 10

All-Time Series: North 9-7-1; College Stars 1-0; East 16-11-1; Aina 3-0

  • When the inaugural Hula Bowl All-Star Football Classic was played on January 5, 1947, the teams were comprised of mainland college players pitted against a local team of graduates of Leilehua, a local high school in Wahiawā, Hawai'i. The teams played a two-game series every January until 1951, when the format was changed to allow NFL players to join the Hawaiian all-stars in an effort to create a more competitive environment. In the 1960's the Hula Bowl changed formats again, limiting play to only collegiate athletes.

[edit] Past Hula Bowl MVP's

Year Name College
1947 John Johnson UCLA
1948 Dick Hagan Washington
1949 Jerry Williams Washington State
1950 Dick Kempthorn Michigan
1951 Sonny Grandelius Michigan State
1952 Vic Janowicz
Don Coleman
Ohio State
Michigan State
1953 Tom Stolhandske Texas
1954 Bobby Garrett Stanford
1955 Carroll Hardy Colorado
1956 Bob Davenport UCLA
1957 Paul Hornung Notre Dame
1958 John David Crow
Lou Michaels
Texas A&M
Kentucky
1959 Bob Ptacek
Sam Williams
Michigan
Michigan State
1960 Ritchie Lucas
Larry Grantham
Penn State
Ole Miss
1961 Fran Tarkenton
Mike Ditka
Georgia
Pittsburgh
1962 Lance Alworth
Merlin Olsen
Arkansas
Utah State
1963 Kermit Alexander
Dave Watson
UCLA
Georgia Tech
1964 Pete Liske
Dave Wilcox
Penn State
Oregon
1965 Larry Elkins
Jeff Jordan
Baylor
Tulsa
1966 Steve Juday
Carl McAdams
Michigan State
Oklahoma
1967 Charlie Brown
Dave Williams
Missouri
Washington
1968 Larry Csonka
Harry Gunner
Syracuse
Oregon State
1969 Bill Enyart
Tim Buchanan
Oregon State
Hawaii
1970 Bob Anderson
Floyd Reese
Colorado
UCLA
1971 Jim Plunkett
Jack Ham
Stanford
Penn State
1972 Jerry Tagge
Walt Patulski
Nebraska
Notre Dame
1973 Greg Pruitt
Jim Merlo
Oklahoma
Stanford
1974 Norris Weese
Lucious Selmon
Ole Miss
Oklahoma
1975 Condredge Holloway
Rubin Carter
Tennessee
Miami (OH)
1976 Cornelius Green
Lee Roy Selmon
Ohio State
Oklahoma
1977 Tony Dorsett
Ron Crosby
Pittsburgh
Penn State
1978 Dave Turner
Ricky Odom
San Diego State
USC
1979 Rick Leach
Ted Brown
Michigan
NC State
1980 Billy Sims
Steve McMichael
Oklahoma
Texas
1981 Samoa Samoa
Ken Easley
Blane Gaison
Washington State
UCLA
Hawaii
1982 Walter Abercrombie
Leo Wisniewski
Baylor
Penn State
1983 Dan Marino
Paul Soares
Pittsburgh
Navy
1984 Jim Sandusky
Freddie Gilbert
San Diego State
Georgia
1985 Al Toon
Freddie Joe Nunn
Wisconsin
Ole Miss
1986 Doug Gaynor
Rogers Alexander
Long Beach State
Penn State
1987 Chris Miller
Louis Brock
Oregon
USC
1988 Aaron Cox
Dennis Price
Arizona State
UCLA
1989 Anthony Dilweg
Deion Sanders
Duke
Florida State
1990 Cary Conklin
James Francis
Washington
Baylor
1991 John Langeloh
Derrick Brownlow
Michigan State
Illinois
1992 Derrick Moore
Steve Israel (football)
Northeastern State
Pittsburgh
1993 Lamar Thomas
Ron Carpenter
Miami (FL)
Miami (OH)
1994 Andre Coleman
Chris Maumalanga
Kansas State
Kansas
1995 Kordell Stewart
Robert Baldwin
Colorado
Duke
1996 Winslow Oliver
Regan Upshaw
New Mexico
California
1997 Archie Amerson
Andy Russ
Northern Arizona
Mississippi State
1998 Chris Howard
Eric Ogbogu
Michigan
Maryland
1999 Kevin Daft
Ricky Williams
Brad Scioli
UC Davis
Texas
Penn State
2000 Bashir Yamini
Todd Husak
Brian Young
Iowa
Stanford
UTEP
2001 Jonathan Beasley
Reggie Germany
Kansas State
Ohio State
2002 Nick Rolovich
Chester Taylor
Hawaii
Toledo
2003 David Kircus
Kassim Osgood
Grand Valley State
San Diego State
2004 Wes Welker
Fred Russell
Colby Bockwoldt
Texas Tech
Iowa
Brigham Young
2005 Ronald Stanley
Derrick Wimbush
Michigan State
Fort Valley State
2006 Brent Hawkins
Brad Smith
Illinois State
Missouri
2007 Will Proctor
Chad Nkang
Clemson
Elon

[edit] See also

List of college bowl games

[edit] External link

[edit] References

  1. ^ AFCA Ends Relationship with Hula Bowl
  2. ^ Hula Bowl tries to reinvent itself, The Honolulu Advertiser, July 29, 2006.
  3. ^ ibid.