Hawaii, Georgia Players Take Sip Of New Orleans

"This is a great group of kids and I am not worried we are going to do anything we would be ashamed of," Hawaii coach June Jones said Thursday.
And with that his Hawaii Warriors, set to take on the up-the-street Georgia Bulldogs on Jan. 1, descended on the Crescent City. "It's OK with me to let them experience something they may never get to experience again," Jones said.

Curfew had been established, but so had rites of passage during the season. The players know that nothing stupid must take place - even on Bourbon Street.
"I've been trying to prepare these players for the media and the hype surrounding a game of this magnitude," Jones said after arriving at Louis S. Armstrong International Airport. "It's going to be a Super Bowl-like atmosphere. I don't think they have any idea what they're getting into."
Jones' team got a bit of a taste when they were greeted by a brass band, per Sugar Bowl tradition, as they disembarked from the plane.
Wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen said he's been to New Orleans once - when he was in first grade.
"I've heard about Bourbon Street, so maybe we'll check it out," Grice-Mullen said. "I don't think my parents took me there. We went to see some of the Mardi Gras, but it was during the day. I guess that's the kiddie Mardi Gras."
"To be able to go to the Sugar Bowl every other year would be pretty exciting," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt said. "We've been able to do that the last six years. It's so good to be back here and see the city up and running again.
"We probably have more coaches' kids here than we have players. The families will have plenty of opportunities to enjoy themselves."