Hawaiian Music Lyrics Sing Aloha to your Ohana – Colt Brennan, June Jones and UH Football Warriors

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 college locker room men, who had hoped so long 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!

The Hawaii Warriors did not win the Sugar Bowl, the score was 41-10, but they did indeed 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 to the entire state of Hawaii he became a hero. Every child knows his name. Hawaii also considers Colt Brennan and the Warrior soccer team part of their ‘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 Warriors players feel about each other, but also how the state feels about them.

“This is everybody’s team, which I knew would happen if we got it going. 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 to be noted 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 swapping team players, while Hawaii couldn’t. All of those Hawaii players played their hearts out throughout the entire game.

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

“I’m proud of him and the career he 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’ within football 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 as 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 others 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 waited so long for the state of Hawaii, sang Aloha and made us proud!