LOS ANGELES » Chris Fowler will be calling the Rose Bowl for ESPN on Thursday. The veteran sportscaster also hosted the Heisman Trophy announcement where Marcus Mariota became the first Hawaii player to win the award.
During the show, Fowler made a mistake almost any non-Polynesian could make when he thought Mariota was speaking Hawaiian when it was actually Samoan.
But it didn’t matter, as the message resonated — not just in Hawaii, but throughout the nation of college football fans watching the ceremony.
Mariota said "fa‘afetai tele lava" near the end of his speech, which means "thank you very much" in Samoan.
"It was the most powerful part of the speech," Fowler said. "It gave a side that Hawaii knows but not the rest of the country."
Local tie for Seminoles
Yes, Oregon has plenty of Hawaii connections, but its Rose Bowl opponent, Florida State, also has at least one.
Seminoles starting linebacker Terrance Smith is related to the Hallums family of Oahu.
David Hallums — the former University of Hawaii and Brigham-Young Hawaii basketball player from Pearl City and Waianae — recently learned from Smith’s grandfather, Terry Smith, of the relation. Hallums’ grandmother, Gertrude Hallums, and Terrance Smith’s great-grandmother were sisters.
No Ducks for Everett
Neil Everett is the rare person disappointed to be going to New Orleans. The ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor from Oregon and Hawaii and based in Los Angeles has been assigned to cover the Sugar Bowl on Thursday and leaves L.A. on Wednesday.
That means the Oregon graduate won’t get to see his Ducks play in the Rose Bowl.
Three into Rose Bowl Hall
Knute Rockne, Dick Vermeil and Ki-Jana Carter were inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
Rockne coached Notre Dame over UCLA 27-10 in the 1925 Rose Bowl. Notre Dame never appeared in another bowl game until 1970, the Cotton Bowl.
Vermeil coached UCLA to a 23-10 upset of previously undefeated and No. 1 Ohio State in the 1976 Rose Bowl.
Carter rushed for 156 yards and three touchdowns for Penn State in its 38-20 win over Oregon in the 1995 game. He is the first Nittany Lions player enshrined.
