UH familiar with trips to unfamiliar territory

HADLEY, Mass. >>

The GPS tells you there’s a stadium 0.3 miles down the country road.

It’s hard to believe, since all you still see are farms. No wonder when they started playing football here in 1879 the name of the school was Massachusetts Agricultural College.

You go around a bend, and there it is. Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium seats just 17,000 fans, but it’s a spiffy little joint with new locker rooms and training areas that were part of a $20-million renovation within the past five years.

That allowed UMass to move up from FCS to FBS. But the Minutemen are just 10-50 since 2012. They were 2-10 last year; that includes a season-ending loss at Hawaii, which they host Saturday.

This area of western Massachusetts and UMass in particular is known more for its basketball history than that of football; this is the school of Dr. J and where John Calipari first made his mark as a head coach. The Warriors were scheduled to visit the basketball hall of fame in Springfield today.

Old-timers will remember UMass quarterback Greg Landry went on to a long career with the Detroit Lions, and younger fans recognize Victor Cruz as the most notable current NFL standout who was formerly a Minuteman.

But the poets who were from this scholarly area — Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost among them — are at least as famous as most of the top athletes.

If we’re talking baseball, it’s a war-zone of passion. Especially a few miles south, in the Springfield and Hartford environs, allegiance is nearly equal for the Red Sox and Yankees.

“It’s the same with the Patriots and the Giants,” said Mike Lavato, born-and-raised and still living in Springfield.

In Hartford, for those who hold grudges there’s reason to lean far away from the Pats. Remember, back in the late ’90s, there was what seemed to be serious talk about the Patriots moving to Hartford? Robert Kraft’s team eventually did get a new stadium, but it was in Foxborough, where the franchise remained and thrived. Connecticut’s then-Gov. John G. Rowland was among those who felt used.

The Minutemen played in the Patriots’ new home, Gillette Stadium, while McGuirk underwent its renovations.

Especially since the students aren’t back yet, no one expects a huge crowd for Saturday’s season-opener against the Rainbow Warriors. Sports bar discussions Wednesday were more about whether the Celtics got the better end of their deal to attain Kyrie Irving from the Cavs.

But this is one of just five “Week Zero” games, as UMass and UH are among 10 teams getting a head start on the college football season. That could be a big advantage when they have a game under their belts next week against opponents making their debuts.

“It’s good for both programs,” said Minutemen coach Mark Whipple. “A win-win for both, although it is a little rougher on the (players) opening a week early.”

The Rainbow Warriors spent Wednesday shaking off the jet lag, but some said the bus ride to Springfield from New York was more taxing than covering around 5,000 air miles to get from the middle of the Pacific Ocean to the East Coast.

UH is used to this, though … last year it opened the season almost the same number of miles in the opposite direction, in Sydney, Australia.

Logistically, this trip isn’t easy, but it’s monumentally simpler than traveling to a foreign country where football means something else altogether.

Still, this is new ground for nearly all of the Hawaii traveling party. Linebackers coach Sean Duggan is among the exceptions, since he played at Boston College.

And head coach Nick Rolovich was the offensive coordinator at UMass for about five minutes after the 2011 season.

“And I had an Arena game up here against the New York Dragons,” said Rolovich, who is from California. “Other than that, the northeast is pretty foreign to me. Come to think of it, I’m much more familiar with Samoa.”

Overnight rain left this part of New England balmy Wednesday with a trace of a light breeze, keeping things just right. The near-perfect weather is expected to hold up through game day.

So at least one thing should be familiar for the Rainbow Warriors as they kick off another season far from home.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.