Hide Article Text (OCR)
Hula Bowl no joyride for promoterHONOLULU i UP! — While employes of the new Aloha Stadium prepared the playing field for next week s Hula Bowl, Mackay Yanagisawa, founder of the nationally televised spectacular reminisced about the early years when he had to mortgage his home - not once but three times — to keep his ‘ dream aliveThe Huia Bowl, going into its JOth edition Jan 10, wasn t always the success it is today with its live television (ABCTVi audience of some 45 million win-terbound viewers on the mainland and another 50 000 sitting in at Aloha Stadium.The tirst few years, starting in 1947. were anything but a joyride for Yanagisawa. whose hope was to bring together the best collegiate football players to Hawaii for an all-star game f§f f||f | 1 sHaving conceived the idea, he tackled the project alone without the usual manpower backing of civic and charitable organizations In short, for the first 28 years of the Hula Bowl. Yanagisawa. with the help of the late Paul Stupin of UCLA and a few local friends, served as sole financial backer, recruiter ticket taker, drum-beater — you name it - to get the game off the drawingboardsTwo years ago. he turned sponsorship of the game to the Gannett Newspaper Foundation with the un derstanding that all monies derived from the game, as in the past, be used for various charities in the 50th State I had a great dream.’’ Yanagisawa recalled as he w aved to an employe working in the end zone of the new stadium “! like to be No 1 in everything 1 do and the Hula Bowl was no differentT started a a one man gang in the first years I took it on myself in 1946 to bring the best players here for a game with the hope of it eventually becoming the nation s No 1 all-star attraction 1 think that s beendoneHe can smile about it now, but in three of the first seven years. Yanagisawa sustained considerable financial losses because inclement weather kept attendance down at c ramped Honolulu Stadium.I had some disappointing early years, but many rewarding ones since, he said “It was suggested that I drop the game after losing money, but I'm not like thatI m not one to quit* I had to mortgage the house three times to finance the losses, but like in any kind of business, it’s difficult to be an instant success It took a while, but 1 sincerely fee! that the Hula Bowl offers the best entertainment That's why I feel I can Step dow n now.i know the Gannett group will perpetuate the highstandards I've set for staging the game V Yanagisawa can look back and point to the enormous success of the Hula Bowl by merely mentioning that the game has hosted 19 Heisman Trophy winners including the 1975 recipient — Ohio State s Archie Griffin — along with more than 400 consensus All-Americas Players have come from every geographical sector ofthe country, representing 105 colleges and universitiesincluding the three major military academies And the game is a gathering place for National Foot ball League scouts, too - v‘The Hula Bowl, by far. gives us a better opportunity to look at prospective draft choices because they are playing against the best seniors.” said one veteran scout “Just go down the roster and you can quickly see that When you put the best against the best, the final deter mination is made that much easier “To show how the Hula Bowl has pyramided in stature Yanagisawa. when he started, set aside a budget of $2 with another $10,000 placed m escrow to cover tran sportation of the original group of 18 players - 13 from UCLA, including All-America end Burr Baldwin and quarterback Ernie C ase This year, there’s a $150,000 requirement for theplayers transportation alone“We started fresh so we had a little difficulty in getting name players at first.'’ he said “Today, there s no problem•‘Players who come here are our ambassadors Theyback and tell other players about the Hula Bowl operation. Besides, the coaches who come here to work the game find our operation first class “The game also has its educational advantages for the players, many of whom have read and heard about Hawaii but never had an opportunity to visit Its a great trip and experience Yanagisawa emphasized the game is made more attractive because the participants are not taken out of their collegiate positions “The Hula Bowl selects players on performances as a collegian, especially during his senior year, he said. “We re not concerned about what position they’ll be moved to in the professional ranks “Some all-star games select players on that basis and 1 don’t think it’s fair to the fans, who have read and seen players at a certain position In our game, we want to see what an All-America halfback can do against an All-America defensive lineman I think that's only fair “1 naglass riiajRadial Tir*33AR78-13 Whitew all and Old Tire Regular $45OyaagtAft* 1 Guardsman Radial 'and old tire |Regularp-jrehue* ailSalePriceHfellrw allHiKleinAR78-I3*45. mi*33.00*1.BR78-13**.00*33.73*2.ER78-14*55.00*40.50*2.FR78-14*58 00*42.75*2.GR78-14*62.00*45.75*2.HR78-14*66.00*48.75*3GR78-15*64.00*47.25*2.HR7-15*68 00*50 25*3.1J178-15*74.00I *54.75*3.
Newspaper Details
Port Arthur News
Port Arthur, Texas, US
Sun, Jan 04, 1976
Page 19
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 12 Jan 2020
Other Publications Near Port Arthur, Texas
Port Arthur Community Post
Port Arthur News Community Post
Port Arthur News
Port Arthur Daily News
