Tsai-ko
Autobiography: Dara Young
(2/09: PowderPuff)
Name: Dara Young High School: Kaiser Tsai-ko Lunch Size:
N/A Tsai-ko caricature:first row, 4th from left Other:
From the Warrior
Beat blog July 3,
2008: ST's Intro: Know that little voice in the
back of your head? For those who cover UH football, that voice belonged
to Dara Young, who was a member of the stat crew. Her knowledge of
football is vast, her commitment deep. She once got married in the
morning, then kept stats that night. Here's Dara:
Football is like air to me – which is why I suffocate between February
and August. My wonderful father, bless his heart, probably thought his
eldest was going to be a boy. But, he still watched sports in my
presence, and I asked him a million questions about sports. As a
4-year-old, my favorite players were Alex Kaloi and (gasp!) O.J.
Simpson! I LOVED Joe Moore as the KGMB sports anchor, and even asked
for Joe’s autographed photo for my 5th birthday. I got my wish, by the
way.
Remember those Troll Book orders in elementary school? Well, I ordered
all the sports ones: “Ten Great NFL Quarterbacks,” and the list goes
on. Dan Fouts, Ken Stabler, Tony Dorsett, Terry Bradshaw, Franco
Harris….they were all in the books I ordered. Then when I was 8, I got
another gridiron thrill: my dad took me to the first NFL Pro Bowl in
Hawaii!
As an Eastside rat who went to Kaiser, Scott Chan was my P.E. and
health teacher. I had heard he was a pretty darn good player in the
1970s; he was a great teacher too. I dragged my girlfriend (a football
hater) to the Kaiser games…then when we moved on to UH-Manoa, I somehow
persuaded her to buy Super Rooter tickets with me. She was a quite a
trooper and even stood in the rain with me and watched Jason Elam and
the Rainbows beat Iowa!!! Think the rain did her in, because after
that, I was on my own with UH football.
I got lucky and ended up working part-time in the UH Athletic
Department first at the business office, then at the SID Office with
Eddie Inouye, Thomas Yoshida, Lois Manin and Markus Owens. Great, great
people – and UH still has fabulous people in that Athletic Department.
I was a shy, quiet student who tried to soak up all I could under the
“seasoned” students: The Advertiser’s own Dayton Morinaga and Henry
Yamamoto, who served as the Wahine Volleyball P.A. during the Klum
Days. After that, I became a UH Athletic Department barnacle – they
just couldn’t get rid of me.
In between my job at the best hotel in Hawaii, I get to enjoy each UH
home football game in person – sitting right behind Mr. Tsai, our
beloved blog host. I’m lucky to be part of a great stats team who’s
seen the lows and the highs. One of the most memorable games has to be
the UH double overtime win over Fresno State in 1999…what a thriller!
And then there was 2007. What a season, what a finish. I just had to be
there to join the Hawaii contingent in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl
because it was one of the few opportunities I had to scream my head off
(can’t do that during the games in the press box) for the Warriors.
Following the Sugar Bowl and the administrative changes, I decided it
was time to step it up and really put my money by my mouth and support
the program. On the day that Coach Mack was named head coach, I sat
there watching the press conference putting down my deposit for 2
season tickets. Although I won’t be sitting in those seats, I’ll still
be screaming loudly…to myself.