Hawaii’s Pro Bowl Yuckles

After attending the first two NFL Pro Bowls in Honolulu, ‘way back in 1980 and 1981, I gave up my tickets. Although the Pro Bowl was a novelty and a sensation in Hawaii once it settled here after its wandering days, I’d had enough.

When I was in newspaper work in Los Angeles, I used to get free tickets to the Pro Bowl, which was always played at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Granted, the seats were ‘way up there in the ozone layer, but that was okay because attendance was always light and we could meander down to better, unoccupied seats.

Back then I was an ardent LA Rams fan, so it was fun to watch my favorite players together at one time on the field – classic players, like Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, Roman Gabriel, Merlin Olsen, Bart Starr, Mike Ditka, Deacon Jones, Johnny Unitas and Fran Tarkenton. Now, those were all-stars.

Plus, the game was played after the championship game, so all of the league’s top players were there.

I was reminded of today’s game this morning when I read Ferd Lewis’ column in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, in which he talked about some memorable moments at Aloha Stadium. My favorites from his Top 10 List:

1981: “Men, our goal this week is to be on the beach at 11:30, and I’m just here to play golf, so get to know your assistant coaches.” – John McKay, AFC coach.

1993: Troy Aikman left the game at half-time to catch a flight back home; consequently, NFC coach George Seifert couldn’t put him in.

1995: “Damn, I didn’t want to go to Honolulu. Already been there 16 times.” – Barry Switzer, NFC coach.

2002: Rich Gannon (AFC Oakland Raiders) won the MVP, but somebody forgot to bring the trophy, so they hustled up a bowling trophy and gave that to him instead.

I kid you not.