New Year, Ozoni, UH-UGA Sugar Bowl
Another new year rings in, surprised how time flies. Made my annual version of ozoni, decided to mix things up a bit and got some steamer clams (instead of little necks) from whole foods. They were actually cheaper by the pound, and ended up tasting really good. Kind of felt back for the little guys when I took them out of the fridge, their nozzles were sticking out of the shells looking for salt water. Still recovering from my finals, still don’t know how I did, but this time around I’m surprising very much at peace with all of it. maybe I’m just a little numb to going through this 6,7 times already, but I can honestly say the stress level is a lot easier to stomach as time goes by.
Meanwhile in football distractions on the New Year, UH pretty much got destroyed by UGA in the Sugar Bowl, 41-10, really it felt more like more like 41-3 since the last touchdown was scored against UGA’s scout team. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for all the UH fans that made most likely some of the most expensive travel plans in a long time to fly from Honolulu to New Orleans. All week long there were a lot of new stories in the local media talking about the clash of cultures, happy times, and overall anticipation of the upcoming game. When it came down to it, it was painfully obvious how mediocre an otherwise prolific quarterback can seem when his offensive line is outmatched by an athletic defensive front, and with virtually no running game to balance the offense out. After a few series I noticed the Georgia players dropping 7-8 players back, their front 3-4 were able to get to Brennen with no problem, either sacking him, or rushing his throws. with 7-8 linebackers or corners, Georgia could double team all of Hawaii’s star receivers pretty much all night. Hawaii’s defense did pretty good at first, but after about a quarter it was obvious who the better team was.
Not to be too cynical, but the whole ordeal was a reminder of reality in the differences in facilities, recruiting budgets and overall caliber that Hawaii has against many mainland colleges. After a certain point, believing in yourself, dedication and hard work cannot make up for lack of talent, or more importantly, the missed opportunity to harvest and develop that talent into it’s full potential. Hawaii is a very good team no doubt they prove it by winning their conference and going undefeated during the regular season and beating everyone and anyone who was willing to play them and didn’t chicken out like Michigan. The game just showed how much better a #2 or #3 team in a BSC conference can play, especially in a prime time bowl game on national TV. Case in point, earlier today Wisconsin lost a close battle to Tennessee in the Outback bowl which didn’t get nearly as much spotlight as the Sugar Bowl. Even though the Badgers lost, they were in it until the very last drive, and last pass. At least they were able to compete and keep winning the game a possibility. UH clearly had no chance whatsoever.
The whole affair actually did remind me of another team that I’ve been following that has been pretty much dedicated to the pass attack. One that has so far kept an undefeated season alive and well. At least New England has an offensive line, and a few solid running backs in the backfield when it needs to change things up. Looking forward to the playoffs.
