If you’re my Facebook friend, or encountered me in person in the past couple of weeks, you may have already seen, read or heard some of my thoughts about Joe Francis, my P.E. teacher at Pearl City High School and — little did I know at the time 35 years ago — a Hawaii sports legend. So I apologize if I’m repeating myself, but there’s some new stuff here, too. Mr. Francis passed away from prostate cancer on April 15, […]
What does your team need? Are you happy with who it picked? Does the lack of top-level quarterbacks take the luster out of this draft? Where and when do you think Manti Te’o gets picked? Address these topics and whatever else regarding the draft here.
It’s been nearly 40 years since Rick Pitino was an assistant basketball coach at the University of Hawaii. But some UH fans still have a bad feeling about Pitino, who was recently inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame and leads Louisville into the Final Four today. When the NCAA put UH on probation for two years in 1977, Pitino was implicated in eight of the 64 violations cited. When I met him at the 2001 NCAA Tournament, Pitino was […]
University of Hawaii athletic director Ben Jay and Stephen Chinen, the man who is trying to save the Rainbow nickname for UH men’s sports, met in person for a half hour on Tuesday and came to an agreement. “We agreed to disagree,” Chinen told me. Jay repeated the same thing. “We had a good meeting,” Jay said. “He’s very passionate, but I explained our position. We just agree to disagree.” Chinen said he asked Jay what would have him change […]
I still think it’s too late; months, if not years too late. But Stephen Chinen’s plans for an organized protest to keep the nickname Rainbows for University of Hawaii’s mens sports are gaining some steam. “Rally 4 Rainbows” is set for May 3, 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Bachman Hall. Those supporting Chinen and committed to attending include some former UH football players. Chinen is also circulating a manifesto and petition, and said that athletic director Ben Jay has agreed […]
It’s one of the most debatable situations in baseball — whether to try to advance base runners with a sacrifice bunt or swing away and hope for a hit (or take and hope for a walk). Many factors come into play. In the ninth inning Thursday, Hawaii trailed by one with runners on first and second and no outs. Conner George — one of the Rainbows’ hottest hitters — was asked to bunt. He failed in two attempts and then […]
Are we supposed to feel sorry for LeBron James now because he didn’t like how hard he was fouled in his Miami Heat’s streak-ending 101-97 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday? Nah. Not me, anyway. But James might have made a smart move by voicing his displeasure. Will officials now tend to call flagrant fouls against defenders that go after James aggressively? Or maybe it works the other way. _______________ Maui Invitational @EASportsMauiInv26m Congrats to the Marquette Golden Eagles @muathletics […]
There’s nothing quite as humbling as participating in an NCAA basketball tournament pool … especially a big one. My rank is 3,079,773rd in the ESPN Tournament Challenge after the first week of March Madness. As usual, I’m toast, picking too many early upsets. But I’m just one round of 64 miss behind the president, tied with Dick Vitale and one ahead of Joe Lunardi. Anyone still have all of their Final Four teams still alive? I’ve got three: Louisville, Miami […]