Hawaii vs. Washington: Some memorable scraps

Rick Blangiardi appreciates sports reporters. As general manager of Hawaii News Now, he even employs them.

But when it comes to trusting their ability to pick football outcomes …

"The only guys who know what’s going to happen on Saturday are really the players," said Blangiardi, who will serve as the University of Hawaii football team’s honorary captain for the season opener against 25th-ranked Washington at Aloha Stadium.

"With all due respect to the sportswriters, the oddsmakers, everybody else, even the fans themselves, nobody knows," Blangiardi added. "It happens on the field of play. That’s the way it’s always been. It’s always been a matter of who wants it more."

Blangiardi was on the sideline as UH’s linebackers coach when Hawaii upset Washington, 10-7, in Seattle on Sept. 15, 1973. That was Blangiardi’s 27th birthday and his first game as a full-time assistant coach.

UH coach Norm Chow said Blangiardi was a "natural" choice to serve as captain this week. "He was there," Chow said of what was considered one of the most astonishing victories in UH football history.

Blangiardi said he remembered watching television at the hotel before leaving for Husky Stadium that day in 1973. Blangiardi recalled commentator Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder saying: "In the Far West, in a laugher for the University of Washington, it’ll warm up against the Rainbows of Hawaii, 50 points or better."

Blangiardi said the prognosticators "gave us no credit at all."

The Warriors had a solid defense — led by Cliff Laboy, Simeon Alo, Harold Stringert and Jeris White — and confidence. Blangiardi recalled the Warriors forcing five turnovers and making four goal-line stands.

"When you have a great defensive battle," Blangiardi said of the Warriors’ 10 points, "that’s all you have to do."

Blangiardi, who will deliver the pregame speech on Saturday, will resurrect the theme from 1973.

"We knew how hard we worked to get to that moment in time," Blangiardi said. "All we had left was to show it to all these people, none of whom, except us, believed we could win. That’s exactly what it was all about."