BOISE — Boise State’s game Saturday evening at Hawaii poses plenty of on-field challenges.

There’s the aggressive Hawaii pass-first offense to deal with, and the humidity will be around 71% come kickoff time, with temperatures in the low 80s.

Then there are the off-the-field challenges, starting with a plane ride that will exceed six hours from Boise to Honolulu, the four-hour time change between the two cities, and — well, the sand and the surf. Beautiful beaches are only 2 miles away from Hawaii’s stadium at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, and the tropical paradise can be a little distracting.

“They’re going to have an hour or two to go walk on the beach and hang out,” Boise State coach Spencer Danielson acknowledged Monday. “I tell them it’s big boy hours around here.”

The Broncos (4-1, 1-0 Mountain West) will fly to Honolulu on Thursday in preparation for the game against the Rainbow Warriors (2-3, 0-1), which will kick off at 9 p.m. Mountain time — which is 5 p.m. local time, the sun still shining in Hawaii.

It’s the type of game that brings a host of logistical problems for the Broncos to manage and distractions that not many other game destinations provide. Danielson said he’s well aware of the excitement surrounding traveling to Hawaii. Some players might not have been to the beach before or visited a tropical island, and this game doesn’t roll around every other year.

The last time Boise State played at Hawaii was 2020. The first-year coach is happy to let players indulge in some of the joy of the Aloha State when they have the chance, which is what makes flying out on Thursday for a Saturday game important.

“That’s the college football experience, too, when they go places like this,” Danielson said. “A lot of our players have never been to Hawaii before. I want them to experience it; it’s a phenomenal place.”

As for other challenges, the Broncos aren’t changing too much. Boise State faced a major time difference this season when it traveled to Statesboro, Georgia, to face Georgia Southern in its opening game. And the weather that evening — for a game the Broncos won 56-45 — was a balmy 92 degrees, with the humidity reading at 62%.

Of course, the Broncos are heading the other direction this time, which means their inner-body clocks could still be telling them it’s 9 p.m. at kickoff.

Danielson said the team won’t change practice times in the lead-up to the game, but he said that in addition to some free hours for fun, leaving Boise a day earlier than usual is vital to get acclimated. There’s also the fact that the Broncos’ thinking it’s later than it is at kickoff wouldn’t be a big deal — two recent home games kicked off at 8 p.m. Mountain time.

“It’s not a huge difference in regards to when kickoff is, but how we handle the mornings and our practice because it is a difference,” Danielson said. “We’re going to be intentional, especially when we get over there, to handle some of those things.”

The coaching staff has the serious business covered, and the players still have plenty to be excited about.

Junior defensive tackle Braxton Fely and redshirt senior safety Kaonohi Kaniho both have family from Hawaii — Kaniho was born and raised in Kahuku, Hawai’i.

Redshirt senior safety Rodney Robinson said he received an offer to play football at Hawaii.

“After we get our work in and do the things that we need to do there, it’s definitely going to be good for us to just relax and enjoy the scenery and everything like that, but all while staying focused on the mission,” Robinson said this week.

As for the long flight and time difference?

“I’m probably gonna be sleeping on the plane,” Robinson laughed.

HAWAII VS. BOISE STATE

When: 9 p.m. Mountain time, Saturday

Where: Clarence T.C. Ching Complex (15,194, Turf)

TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Robert Turbin)

Radio: KBOI 670 AM/KTIK 93.1 FM/Sirius XM Ch. 160 or 201 (Bob Behler, Pete Cavender)

Records: Boise State 4-1; Hawaii 2-3

Series: Boise State leads 15-3

Last meeting: Boise State beat Hawaii 40-32 in 2020

Vegas line: Boise State by 20.5 points

Weather: High of 85, low of 75, humidity 62%, partly cloudy skies, 6% chance of rain

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After 17 years, a popular Honolulu hot dog stand is closing down for good; despite the popularity of these gourmet wieners and burgers, Hank’s Haute Dog will serve its last order on October 17th.

“So I’ve been looking at retirement for a while. In fact, I was looking at that before the pandemic, but I didn’t want the pandemic to shut us down, so we pushed through that. And now, I just turned 70, so it’s like, you know, I think I’m going to kick back a little bit, said owner Hank Adaniya.

And once Hank made this announcement last week, loyal haute fans have been rushing in to get their fill of their favorite items on the menu.

“I always come every now and then, and because they’re closing, I especially made a special trip because I’m leaving for the mainland tomorrow.” said Lei Hilton of Makakilo.

“We came here because they’re closing, which makes us sad,” said Marci Reeves of Honolulu.

Just by looking at what’s being served, it’s easy to see why Hank’s is such a big hit. These are no ordinary hot dogs; remember, they’re “haute,” which means fancy in French.

“All the different ways they prepare it, I think, you know, you don’t have that at any other place,” said Hilton

“It tastes amazing. They are probably the best hot dogs we’ve ever had, really,” said Reeves.

All of this pre-closing activity has also been a way for loyal customers to come by and say a big mahalo and aloha to the big dog himself, Hank Adaniya.

“You now, it’s overwhelming. We just thought we’d exit quietly,” says Hank. “To see this outpouring of love, appreciation, and patronage is just heartwarming.”

As the end of this hot dog adventure draws near, I learned this from Hank: He may be retiring, but don’t count him out altogether.

“I still love this; I’m going to miss it. So, I’ve talked to a few people. It’s like maybe we’ll pop up here and there and just, you know, from my own personal satisfaction, you know, give a people a chance to taste it again,” he explains.

And that, no doubt, will have many saying “hot diggity dog” to having another Hank’s Haute Dog in the future.

Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, the next game from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, was originally a concept called Like a Dragon: Tuna where original protagonist Kiryu Kazuma was a fighting fisherman.

RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama revealed the origins in a PlayStation Blog post discussing Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii ahead of its February 28 release date. The game stars the fan favorite Majima Goro as he wakes up on a beach with no memory and, in a sea-faring alternative to his yakuza roots, becomes a pirate.

It wasn’t originally going to star Majima at all, however. “For quite some time, I wanted to make a game called Like a Dragon: Tuna, where Kiryu Kazuma, as a tuna fisherman, sets off to sea to fight against fishing boats,” Yokoyama said.

“Long story short, it never came to fruition, but keywords like ‘ship,’ ‘sea,’ and ‘fighting,’ which had since then been engraved in my head, evolved into the concept of pirates.”

Kiryu has had plenty of fishy experience over the years through the myriad fishing minigames sprinkled throughout the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series. He’s also resorted to beating the rowdier ones up with his fists, like in the shark boss fight from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth that’s practically the end of Jaws.

Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is a spin-off to Infinite Wealth, the eighth mainline entry in the Yakuza series (or ninth including Yakuza 0). The series underwent a name change from Yakuza to Like a Dragon upon its release, made more confusing by the seventh game being called Yakuza: Like a Dragon and starring new protagonist Ichiban Kasuga.

The Yakuza Games In (Chronological) Order

Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii grew into its own thing during the development of the latest game, however. “Around June or July 2023, long before the release of Infinite Wealth, the dev team was already mulling over the idea of an Infinite Wealth spin-off,” Yokoyama said.

“Even if we were to make Like a Dragon 9, we knew that wouldn’t be enough to capture and tell the story. During the end of the Infinite Wealth development, we began percolating the idea of a spin-off that stars characters who are not Ichiban Kasuga. It was almost as if we were creating a blown-up sub-story for Infinite Wealth.”

Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii was revealed in September as a half Yakuza, half Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag-looking entry. A lengthy reveal trailer showed Majima washed up on the beach of Rich Island, near Hawaii, looking worse for wear and helped by a child with a pet tiger (who is bizarrely played by Ichiban voice actor Nakaya Kazuhiro).

This will be the first time in a while Yakuza fans have had to wait an entire year for a new release, with Infinite Wealth having arrived in January and Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii not launching until February. While this is fairly normal for most game franchises, RGG Studio is known for its rapid release schedule.

In the last five years, for example, it has released Yakuza 4 Remastered, Yakuza 5 Remastered, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Judgment Remastered, Lost Judgment, Like a Dragon: Ishin, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, alongside three Super Monkey Ball Games and an enhanced remaster of Virtua Fighter 5. That’s 12 games in total.

Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will therefore add to that list, but the next mainline game (and a mysterious trademark called Yakuza Wars) are yet to be revealed. In our first preview of the incoming entry, IGN said: “Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is ship-shaping up to be a seaworthy spin-off with a fin-favorite at its helm.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.