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More – lots more – from Kurt Suzuki

By Dave Reardon on January 15, 2014

A half-hour interview with Kurt Suzuki provided lots of interesting stuff that couldn’t fit into today’s column. Here’s the rest of it: On being the right fit for Major League Baseball as a defense-first catcher in the post-steroids small-ball era: “From a player’s standpoint (low-scoring) games become a technical match up where every little detail could come into play in determining the outcome. In a 3-2 game, a pitching and defense matchup, teams have to figure out ways to manufacture […]

Letter from a UH basketball fan

By Dave Reardon on January 7, 2014

Greetings Dave – I read your column and appreciate your commentary. However, I suspect that as a sportswriter with clout (and access to ideal seating at games,) it occurred to me you might not understand some of the frustrations for the common UH fan. My husband and I pour the majority of our (limited) entertainment dollars into UH sports.   We held UH Men’s Basketball season tickets for 10 years. This year we gave them up, with sadness – because […]

Tigers or Noles?

By Dave Reardon on January 6, 2014

Who do like in tonight’s BCS national championship game? Auburn or Florida State? Most of my friends from Gainesville, Fla., have an easy answer. Neither. Loving the Gators usually means hating the Tigers and the Seminoles. For the rest of us, it’s an intriguing matchup … Auburn, an apparent team of destiny coming up with two miracle finishes at the end of the SEC season with two of the biggest plays in college football history. … Florida State, the team […]

Judgment

By Dave Reardon on January 2, 2014

I recently had an email exchange with James Burns, retired state judge and former University of Hawaii athletics booster club (Koa Anuenue) president. Here are some of his thoughts on the current state of UH sports, specifically its financial status:  Is pay per view revenue enough to make up for the lost Koa Anuenue ticket and parking money and the lack of live spectators? All decisions follow the answer to one question.  How good will the team be for the predictable […]

A few local sports thoughts for 2014

By Dave Reardon on January 1, 2014

What are your sports hopes and expectations for 2014? Here are a few of mine: 1. That Norm Chow realizes how important it is to have at least one assistant coach on staff who was a player and student at the school you are trying to recruit to. With the release of Tony Tuioti, there is no regular coaching staff member who played for UH. Lance Samuseva and Richard Torres should get strong consideration as  hires for the defensive staff […]

More Q and A with Brian Ching

By Dave Reardon on December 28, 2013

Questions and answers from my interview Thursday with retired MLS star Brian Ching from Haleiwa and Kamehameha, who is here for the ProXtreme Camp at Waialae Iki Park. Q: How excited are you about working with these kids this weekend, especially since it’s your home state? A: I’ve been doing this camp the past 12, 13 years. It’s an opportunity for me to give back. I think the Bulls have done a fantastic job elevating soccer here in Hawaii. It’s […]

Will Gregory trying to return to UH football

By Dave Reardon on December 27, 2013

Running back Will Gregory is trying to get back into the University of Hawaii. I spoke with UH’s leading rusher of two seasons ago on the phone recently, and he said he has put forth an appeal for readmission after spending the fall semester at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif. He played in 10 games for Mt. SAC, and was second on the team with 382 rushing yards and three touchdowns in 91 carries.  He also caught six […]

Couple of quotes from UH’s big hoops win

By Dave Reardon on December 24, 2013

Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett was not in a very good mood after Hawaii edged his team at the buzzer in a Diamond Head Classic game on Monday night. Can’t say I blame him — some of the first -half calls that got his team in foul trouble were a little sketch. Regardless, a great win for UH which made the plays when needed. The Rainbow Warriors are a very entertaining team that will make noise in the Big West […]