Hula Bowl
The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually in Hawaii, usually in January. First played in 1947, it was held annually until 2008. It was revived following the 2019 season, with the first Hula Bowl in 12 years played on January 26, 2020, at Aloha Stadium in the Halawa district of Honolulu. During its history, the game has also been played at Honolulu Stadium, and at War Memorial Stadium on the island of Maui.
History
In late 1946, the first Hula Bowl was organized by Paul Stupin and Mackay Yanagisawa as the Hula Bowl All-Star Football Classic. When the inaugural game was played on January 5, 1947, the teams were composed of mainland college players pitted against a local team of graduates of Leilehua, a local high school in Wahiawa, Hawaii—the mainland team won, 34–7. The teams played a two-game series every January until 1951, when the format was changed to allow National Football League players to join the Hawaiian all-stars, in an effort to create a more competitive environment. From 1960 onward, the game featured only collegiate players, and game results are listed in NCAA records. In its later format, the Hula Bowl pitted an all-star team of players who attended college in the eastern United States against a team of players from the western United States. Players were rostered into Aina and Kai teams, the Hawaiian words for land and water.The game was originally played in Honolulu Stadium in Honolulu through the 1974 playing, then moved to Aloha Stadium in neighboring Halawa. In 1997, the then-mayor of Maui County, Linda Lingle, obtained authorization to spend $1.2 million to improve War Memorial Stadium in the town of Kahului on the island of Maui, which then hosted the game for the 1998 through 2005 playings. However, due to poor attendance and reduced revenue, the Hula Bowl returned to Oahu for its 2006 game and stayed at Aloha Stadium through the 2008 playing.
The game has mostly been played in January, following the conclusion of the college football bowl season, which allows players who competed in bowl games with their collegiate teams to participate. The game has been held in December once and in February twice.
For many years, the Hula Bowl was distinguished from a similar event, the Senior Bowl, by playing by collegiate rules rather than professional rules, and by being amateur, which at one point was very important for those wishing to remain eligible to compete in collegiate or other amateur sports. At one point the longest-running sporting event in Hawaii, it was considered a premier venue to launch professional careers in the NFL.
Changing direction
On July 1, 2006, it was announced that the American Football Coaches Association would end its ten-year relationship with the Hula Bowl due to "philosophical differences" over the future plans for the game, including proposed changes for the 2007 game — such as reintroducing the "Hawaiian Islands versus Mainland" matchup used from 1947 to 1959. University of Hawaii head coach June Jones expressed a willingness to coach a potential Hawaiian Islands team, which would have a mix of Hawaiian and Polynesian players and, bowl organizers hope, would draw more fans to the game. The Hula Bowl had also discussed the idea of allowing junior status players to participate in the game and bringing over college football players from Japan, something the game had done in the recent past. Game officials also discussed awarding a national "Hula Bowl Player of the Week" to college players during the regular season; the winning players would have been invited to play in the Hula Bowl and been able to direct a $1,000 donation to a charity in their state.Dormancy
After the January 2008 playing, the bowl remained dormant. Organizers searched "for opportunities to reintroduce and reimagine the historic bowl game", and in November 2016, announced their intent to restart the game in North Carolina in January 2018. However, in March 2017, additional news reports indicated that a revival of the game was unlikely, as a key supporter of the proposal, North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, left office at the start of that year.Revival
On October 29, 2019, it was announced that the Hula Bowl would be revived; the 2020 edition was played at Aloha Stadium on January 26, 2020. It featured "NCAA college football players from all divisions, along with international players".Game results
;Venues;All-time series
MVPs
| Year | Name | College |
| 1947 | John Johnson | UCLA |
| 1948 | Dick Hagen | Washington |
| 1949 | Jerry Williams | Washington State |
| 1950 | Dick Kempthorn | Michigan |
| 1951 | Sonny Grandelius | Michigan State |
| 1952 | Vic Janowicz Don Coleman | Ohio State Michigan State |
| 1953 | Tom Stolhandske | Texas |
| 1954 | Bobby Garrett | Stanford |
| 1955 | Carroll Hardy | Colorado |
| 1956 | Bob Davenport | UCLA |
| 1957 | Paul Hornung | Notre Dame |
| 1958 | John David Crow Lou Michaels | Texas A&M Kentucky |
| 1959 | Bob Ptacek Sam Williams | Michigan Michigan State |
| 1960 | Richie Lucas Larry Grantham | Penn State Ole Miss |
| 1961 | Fran Tarkenton Mike Ditka | Georgia Pittsburgh |
| 1962 | Lance Alworth Merlin Olsen | Arkansas Utah State |
| 1963 | Kermit Alexander Dave Watson | UCLA Georgia Tech |
| 1964 | Peter Liske Dave Wilcox | Penn State Oregon |
| 1965 | Larry Elkins Jeff Jordan | Baylor Tulsa |
| 1966 | Steve Juday Carl McAdams | Michigan State Oklahoma |
| 1967 | Charlie Brown Dave Williams | Missouri Washington |
| 1968 | Larry Csonka Harry Gunner | Syracuse Oregon State |
| 1969 | Bill Enyart Tim Buchanan | Oregon State Hawaii |
| 1970 | Bobby Anderson Floyd Reese | Colorado UCLA |
| 1971 | Jim Plunkett Jack Ham | Stanford Penn State |
| 1972 | Jerry Tagge Walt Patulski | Nebraska Notre Dame |
| 1973 | Greg Pruitt Jim Merlo | Oklahoma Stanford |
| 1974 | Norris Weese Lucious Selmon | Ole Miss Oklahoma |
| 1975 | Condredge Holloway Rubin Carter | Tennessee Miami |
| 1976 | Cornelius Greene Lee Roy Selmon | Ohio State Oklahoma |
| 1977 | Tony Dorsett Ron Crosby | Pittsburgh Penn State |
| 1978 | Dave Turner Ricky Odom | San Diego State USC |
| 1979 | Rick Leach Ted Brown | Michigan NC State |
| 1980 | Billy Sims Steve McMichael | Oklahoma Texas |
| Year | Name | College |
| 1981 | Samoa Samoa Kenny Easley Blane Gaison | Washington State UCLA Hawaii |
| 1982 | Walter Abercrombie Leo Wisniewski | Baylor Penn State |
| 1983 | Dan Marino Paul Soares | Pittsburgh Navy |
| 1984 | Jim Sandusky Freddie Gilbert | San Diego State Georgia |
| 1985 | Al Toon Freddie Joe Nunn | Wisconsin Ole Miss |
| 1986 | Doug Gaynor Rogers Alexander | Long Beach State Penn State |
| 1987 | Chris Miller Louis Brock | Oregon USC |
| 1988 | Aaron Cox Dennis Price | Arizona State UCLA |
| 1989 | Anthony Dilweg Deion Sanders | Duke Florida State |
| 1990 | Cary Conklin James Francis | Washington Baylor |
| 1991 | John Langeloh Derrick Brownlow | Michigan State Illinois |
| 1992 | Derrick Moore Steve Israel | Northeastern State Pittsburgh |
| 1993 | Lamar Thomas Ron Carpenter | Miami Miami |
| 1994 | Andre Coleman Chris Maumalanga | Kansas State Kansas |
| 1995 | Kordell Stewart Robert Baldwin | Colorado Duke |
| 1996 | Winslow Oliver Regan Upshaw | New Mexico California |
| 1997 | Archie Amerson Andy Russ | Northern Arizona Mississippi State |
| 1998 | Chris Howard Eric Ogbogu | Michigan Maryland |
| 1999 | Kevin Daft Ricky Williams Brad Scioli | UC Davis Texas Penn State |
| 2000 | Bashir Yamini Todd Husak Brian Young | Iowa Stanford UTEP |
| 2001 | Jonathan Beasley Reggie Germany | Kansas State Ohio State |
| 2002 | Nick Rolovich Chester Taylor | Hawaii Toledo |
| 2003 | David Kircus Kassim Osgood | Grand Valley State San Diego State |
| 2004 | Wes Welker Fred Russell Colby Bockwoldt | Texas Tech Iowa Brigham Young |
| 2005 | Ronald Stanley Derrick Wimbush | Michigan State Fort Valley State |
| 2006 | Brent Hawkins Brad Smith | Illinois State Missouri |
| 2007 | Will Proctor Chad Nkang | Clemson Elon |
| 2008 | Bernard Morris Angelo Craig | Marshall Cincinnati |
| 2020 | Reggie Walker Niko Lalos | Kansas State Dartmouth |
Hall of fame
In 2019, Hula Bowl executive director Rich Miano announced the creation of a Hall of Fame, with an online ballot from which the top vote-getters would become the inaugural inductees, with results to be announced in January 2020. Selected as the inaugural inductees were:- Eric Dickerson
- Anthony Miller
- Junior Ah You
- Mike White
In popular culture