But in the tedious days leading up to Super Sunday, Hawaii's Pio Sagapolutele said his thoughts are wandering back to a night in November 1986 when he sat on the steps outside the Mid-Pacific Institute gym. His face is in his hands, he cried his eyes out.

"It was because we'd lost the last game of my high school career (to St. Louis)," said Sagapolutele, who started three years as a defensive end for Pac-Five. He hated to lose.

"I remember Coach (Don) Botelho coming over and sitting down next to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and told me everything was going to be OK, and that it was time for me to go to the next level. I never forgot that."

Botelho, who recently finished his 33rd year as a prep head coach, gave Sagapolutele a critical shot of reassurance when he needed it most.

"Coach Botelho's the reason why I'm up here," said Sagapolutele from his hotel room in New Orleans. "It was the way he treated me. He had faith in me."

Memories like that seem to come in handy when you're up against heavy Las Vegas odds.

"Gosh, to have him remember that incident reminds me of why I'm coaching," Botelho said.

Botelho said that when the 6-foot-6, 295-pound Sagapolutele was a junior playing in Pac-Five's 56-7 Prep Bowl victory over Waianae in 1985, he was a "beanpole" - 6-5, 180.

Sagapolutele is wondering if the Superdome P.A. announcer will introduce the Patriots' starting defense.

"If they do, when they call my name, I'm going to flash the 'shaka' sign to the camera," he said.

But Sagapolutele isn't sure his name will be pronounced correctly. Nobody ever does on the mainland.

Those who manage to connect the syllables fail to give his name the correct Samoan pronunciation.

So, he just tells everyone, "Call me Pio."

Sagapolutele said his brothers, Peter and Josh, arrived Wednesday in New Orleans.

Josh played ball at Farrington High School with Al Noga and Peter, who is the younger, played at Tafuna High in American Samoa.