Warriors' chant for charity

By Stephen Tsai
Staff Writer,
Honolulu Advertiser

The University of Hawai'i football team's chant — eo na toa, eo na toa e — is going global.

Plans are finalized to sell logo merchandise on the Internet (www.warriorsrespond.com) and at stores across the country. The launch will be announced at a news conference today.

For now, the products include T-shirts, tank tops, polo shirts, caps, visors, dog tags and wristbands.

All proceeds go to HUGS and the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Hawai'i for severely ill children. The June Jones Foundation is handling the distribution.

The UH football chant, played before and during games, originated from a discussion between Jones, the Warriors' head coach, and Emmy Award-winning composer Mike Post, who crafted the themes for such television shows as "L.A. Law," "Hill Street Blues," "Law & Order" and "NYPD Blue."

During a dinner at the Waialae Country Club three years ago, Post told Jones: "You've got to find something that is so Polynesian that it relates to your football team. You need a slogan, words to live by, whose meaning is hyper specific to Hawai'i."

Post called Kanalu Young, an associate professor at the Kamakakakuolani Center for Hawaiian Studies.

Young suggested this phrase, eo na toa, eo na toa e, which, according to the Web site, translates to: "Respond fellow Warriors, respond with one's heart to the challenges that lie ahead of us."

"I passed the phone to June," Post recalled. "His eyes got big. He said, 'I'll never have to give another speech in my life.' "

Post scribbled the phrase on a place mat he still possesses. He went to Los Angeles to tinker with some tunes.

"I came down here, and I got a bunch of real Polynesian chanters and drummers and musicians in a little studio above Salt Lake, and we recorded a bunch of music that's specific to Hawai'i and Polynesia," Post said.

Post donated the rights to the music to UH and the June Jones Foundation.

"The rights belong to Hawai'i," he said. "It's ancient. I'm happy to have a house here and have a life here and have friends here. This is part of giving back. A lot of people come to Hawai'i and take away. I wanted to come to Hawai'i and give back. This place helped me. My job is to pay back and not take away."