Finals
It’s final-exam week, which means:
> USC quarterback Max Wittek, who is planning to transfer, should be soon indicating his next school. Wittek needs to earn a degree to transfer without restrictions. USC’s final-exam period is through Wednesday, with the school’s spring commencement ceremony on Friday. A Pac-12 defensive back also should be making his decision soon. His school already has completed its spring semester.
> This is the last week as UH students for two of the football team’s good guys. Offensive lineman Ben Dew, who earns a bachelor’s degree this week, is heading to the other UH — University of Houston — for his final two seasons. Dew, whose family relocated to Texas, aspires to be a pastor. Receiver Allan Sampson, who has been injured most of the past three years, will complete his college career at Nebraska-Kearney.
> Barring large walk-up sales for baseball’s final series — against UC Riverside on May 22-24 — UH will have a somewhat clear assessment of the athletic department’s revenue for this academic year. It is what it is.
Good morning Tsaikos! Good luck to Ben and to Allan in their futures!
GOOD MORNING HAWAII!
Sorry to lose Ben Dew and Allan Sampson – but best wishes and thank you for being a Warrior.
It was unfortunate that Sampson was never healthy. It would have been fun to see all of that speed in action.
So, a guy from Florida repeats as the world fire-knife champion.
Which brings up this question: What is the Polynesian population in Florida?
And then this follow up: Can UH recruit Florida-raised Polynesians?
Wittek to the warriors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yep, revenue is what it is.
Think basketball revenue should see in an increase this year, though.
Good morning Tsaikos!
Best wishes to the former Warriors with aspirations of playing at the next level.
Best wishes to Mr. Dew and Mr. Sampson in their future endeavor.
And, last, but not least, good luck to all the students in their finals!
ST, did mvb see in an increase in revenue, too?
Screecher is home!
Mr. Tsai,
I live in North West Florida (Lower Alabama) we do occasional BBQs with the rest of the Polynesians in the area, I can tell you that round 70 show up, estimate about 150 in our town of about 50K.
Additionally, I have been to the Orlando Area quite a few times… There is a lot of Polynesians down there. They even have a little “polytown” where they generally live at, near the “china town” area. Because of that there is a Asian Market that sells, frozen Poi, lau lau, and other local gridz.
GO WARRIORS!
Apparently I was way off on the population, only about 20k.
Guud Morning Tsaikos…bootiful day.
Good Luck to the departing Warriors…..Mahalo for your efforts.
I would be absolutely shocked if Wittek chose Hawaii.
A duck wants to transfer, see: http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/index.ssf/2014/05/oregon_backup_quarterback_jake.html#incart_river_default
Ducks like rainbows right??
It is what it is, it will be what it will be!
Best wishes to the transfers.
Welcome home Screecher!
12. I wouldn’t… He hasn’t accomplished anything.. I think his name, being a former USC QB holds more popularity than his actually QB skills. The kid wants to play. He is going to choose a school where he has the highest chance to play.. Which is obviously Hawaii given the fact neither of our back up quality QBs are holding a grasp on the #1 job.
15.
I’m not shocked because of his ability. I don’t think he’s all that great either. I just think that he’s been spending an awful lot of time at Texas and seems to be hinting more at going there.
And the Texas QB situation isn’t exactly settled yet either.
is it an EGO trip for Wittek? {deciding where to play after graduation}
OR, are certain posters making a mountain out of nothing?
BTW, was he the starting QB for USC or did he share time as the starting QB? If he was a keeper, why is the USC staff not chasing after him?
some has posted that he didn’t look good against UH and that he “lost” his starting role during the season – so why should UH pursue him?
16. I bet he wants to go there… But I doubt they are telling him he’s the front runner to start. Versus Hawaii where we have walk on caliber guys… David Ash might be hurt, but I think he’ll be ready in time. He’s not great either but he has started for 2+ seasons I think.
BTW, 2014 NFL draft was the first time since 1936 that the University of Texas did NOT have any player drafted.
UH-Maona football program reminds me of the current NY Yankees – unable or unwilling to work with younger players and always go after the “veterans” for big bucks
Yankees, in the past 25 years, have not worked with a “rookie” and brought him up to the “big league” – I remember Mickey Mantle as a young rookie in the early 50s out of Oklahoma playing a year in the minors before being called up
One good thing about finals is the onset of less traffic.
A-house, does Derek Jeter ring a bell?
Rodney…I am so proud of you. you finally spelled his name correctly. that just might tip the scales in our direction.
Can’t forget the just retired Mariano Rivera.
the subliminal message may very well be more evident than some of you guys think…
max goes thrice to texas and yet has not declared them as his choice.
what does that spell for you?
does he just enjoy steaks and potatoes?
chow has shown that he will put up the best man to run the ship. that means open market for any would be qb hopeful.
hopefully, taz stevenson graduates and returns to hawaii.
while you think that the yankees have been buying their team rather than developing them, nearly every mlb team has a boatload of free agent “transfers” on their roster.
it is the sign of times.
the swinging door is not only relegated to the manoa campus.
it may appear to you that it is because you have not made yourself aware of what is happening throughout the nation’s colleges.
it happens in every school at all levels of all sports.
parents create that attitude from when a kid is in little league baseball, soccer, and the like. then it continues in high school. you’d be surprised how many geographical exceptions occur these days in the public schools and not to mention that inspite of the penalties so too does it occur in the ilh schools.
and many are now leaving the state in high school to either seek greener pastures or the chance to gain national exposure.
UH baseball is pathetic. Last year started the season 0-16. This year, only 3 wins in the Big West, in the cellar. Starting pitching has been good, but bullpen is horrific. The hitting has been the last 2 years, terrible. What’s the problem? Is Trapasso still going to be retained?
I think Hawaii baseball fans deserve better, a lot better. I refuse to watch this team in person, because you just know we are going to lose, and secondly with the work on the freeways the traffic is bad, and three, I’m disabled so I get tired. I love baseball so I do watch the games on OC16. Long for the days of a Derek Tatsuno and Glenn Braggs, etc. It’s not the same. It’s just too bad we can’t get Lenn Sakata to coach. He can be a manager in the professional ranks with experience, but he can’t coach in college. It’s doesn’t make a lot of sense.
good luck and best wishes to all uh students during finals. may the gods be with you.
ok, maui high bb in this pm against kaiser. go sabers.
29 Derek, I remember that Glenn Braggs was at one-time dating Dietre Collins, boy, they could have created some crazy baseball players….
Good afternoon everyone!
Good luck to all during finals week and after graduation!
#29 I agree that Len Sakata would have been a terrific coach for our UH baseball team and hopefully would have been able to keep some of our better local players home. I think Len never got a college degree which left him out in the cold.
hawaii has always had talented baseball players, but they somehow are not recruited by UH in recent times. imho, hc has no contacts on the outer islands, asst coaches have no contacts on the outer islands, and UH baseball has no interest in players outside of Oahu. there are exceptions and basically, that’s what it is, exceptions. at one time in the past, many of the players in the AJA, Puerto Rican. and Hawaii Major leagues on Oahu were made up of outer island players. and many of those players were major league caliber.
whitey you ever watch games at wells park…n seen the muu muu dude from waikapu pitch…
he was pretty good…n puunene camps had more then their share of excellent players in all sports…many great ones came out of those camps…
Did Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera come up thru the Yankee minor league system? I don’t think so.
al, if that’s the case, why hold a MLB draft? It’s like creating a false wonderland for the high school kids and most college BB players who will languish in the minor leagues for ever.
Yet, they, players, have great visions of seeing their names in highlights year after year.
MLB should institute a rule that no player can be drafted until he completes 3 years of playing college ball. For those who do not have the “grades” to enter college, create a developmental league for HS grads.
#29 and #32:
it’s unfortunate that certain “stuffy shirts” would not even consider Sakata’s many years in the major league including a world series ring as a “underlying” substitute and given him a chance to finish his degree – heard that he was short by some 10 – 12 credits.
so tunneled vision it hurts!!!!!!!!!
A-house….if you look up tunnel-vision….you will see it was invented at UHAD….many years ago…
and still holds supreme yet there today….be nice to have a ‘new’ dude up there soon….along with a ‘new fresh approach’ governer…
A-house, not a fan of misinformation but Jeter was drafted out of high school by the Yankees and played in their farm system. Rivera was signed out of Panama and also played in their minor league system. You can also add Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte though the latter did play for the Astros a few seasons but came back to the Yankees.
Ok. Why not hire Sakata with the proviso that he will get his 10-12 credits at UH to get his degree.
A-house, not everyone can make it to the big time but for some their dreams come true. Just to name a few of the high schoolers from Hawaii:
Sid Fernandez, Shane Victorino, and Jerome Williams
Maybe Sakata likes being a manager in the minor league.
derek jeter, mariano rivera, andy pettite, jorge posada, bernie williams… all came up through the yankees…either by draft or undrafted free agent signings. and more recently alphonso soriano…who was traded away for that guy that dated madonna.
1st round draftees always sign with million dollar bonuses.
35.
A coach doesn’t have to have strong local ties to recruit here. If he can recruit well enough they will come. Not to mention a lot of local kids look to go to the mainland for the experience and you can’t fault them for that.
whitey – just got back from a weekend on Maui and took in a couple of Pony (13-14 year old) baseball games at Kahului Elem. school field. Was very impressed by the talent displayed on Saturday and I’ve been around Pony Baseball on Oahu for over 15 years. Saw some outstanding pitchers and kids who could run and hit with size and athletic ability. Some were already freshmen in high school and would easily be on some Oahu high school varsity rosters right now. A couple of them will be here for the State Tourney starting tomorrow with Maui and Baldwin High. Many of the bigger kids were only in the eight grade but looked very mature physically. A large catcher who is headed to King K a pair of twins who easily stood over 6′ who were a lefty and righty P/OF with very live and accurate arms . Also should be noted that Kauai won this year’s AJA baseball tournament. Don’t remember that ever happening.
Hawaii’s top three QBs were recruited and signed with D1 programs as follows: Taylor Graham- Ohio St (2010); Jeremy Higgins- Utah St (2010); Ikaika Woolsey- Hawaii (2012).
I do not know people’s academic situations, but every time somebody says he’s one class short of graduating, it usually means one year. If it’s 10-12 credits, it’s usually a lot longer than that.
Several years ago, there was somebody who claimed to be a credit short of a UH degree. A bunch of us approached the UH president, who agreed to give the person a credit for his life experience. As it turned out, the guy was not one credit short.
49. ST
Does your brother still teach at KCC? I had him for English bout four years ago.
He does.
Or did you have me?
I believe in:
> Open-book tests. In the real world, if you don’t know the answer, you look it up. School should prepare folks for the real world.
> No homework. In journalism, you have a certain amount of time to write a story. It’s easier to do that in a classroom.
> Eating in class. Hey, it’s hard to function on an empty stomach. People should be allowed to eat in class … in church …
You would make a good professor of Tsaikology. Or Tsaience.
52. I definitely saw the resemblence. I would definitely sign up for your class in that case.
I’m not sure whether a sociology degree, be it a BA, MA or Ph.D, or a philosophy degree would be much help in someone wanting to be a baseball coach – maybe the latter if he should have a big losing streak.
Does anyone know why Sr outfielder
Conner George doesn’t play much?
Had 2 hits,last night.
My son once had a teacher who listed all the ways that students could lose points.
I always thought it should be the other way. That teachers would consider it a success if every student did well. The goal is for everyone to learn; not just a curve of students.
Another problem with Trepasso is that he does not recognize talent even on his own team. In the past he played his favorites even though his assistant coaches thought others should be playing. It’s catching up with him.
Yeah right Trap is sitting some potential .400 hitter in favor of everyone else who just happens to be hitting well under .300 because winning and losing is not as important as playing his guys. I don’t buy that for a second. If you really believe that then name the guys he should be playing and over which guys. Now there can be discussion. Conner George had his chances and aside from errors in the outfield he simply doesn’t hit. Started ok at the plate then lost it. I would be a happy camper to see UH move on from Trap but I have yet to see better players not getting opportunities and sitting on the bench. Players struggle and are taken out and when others struggle they are given another chance. I don’t know why Hanawahine plays, can’t hit and never has but even he has been taken out and given multiple chances.
Sakata was, er, “one credit shy of graduating from college”, therefore did not meet the minimum qualifications.
sa trojan, baseball was something I truly enjoyed growing up in Puunene. i used to go to all the games at baldwin park on sat and sun and if little league season, so to the games at the old fairgrounds. i use to do the scoreboard lights for a lot of games and mr junso seno was the announcer. the umpires were true characters and one of my favorite was “bright eyes” agena. he was doing things umpiring which eventually the major league umpires started doing. when he called strike, it was not strike, it was sttttttttrrrriiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkke with all the animation. had great players who went on to japan professional league, andy miyamoto, john sardinha, and to the dodgers, robert martin. many went on to oahu and played in their big leagues.
turfwar, you are right, it has been a long, long time ago when Kauai won the AJA championship
re #55 – I got an e-mail asking me what’s my point.
Nothing really, other than I don’t know why you need a degree to coach. It may make the people in Academia happy but a degree does not automatically make you a good coach.
counselor, maybe because apple is an apple, and orange is a color. hahahahaaaa
Did mr. von appen have a degree…that could be used as an example…if a degree
is needed to coach…..
Compared to coach Les….who was appointed part time coach with…get this…
no players….no scholarships…n no field…look what he accomplished….no degree..
Or DS…..4 national wahine titles….started 1975….Les started 1971….
Dave had at the very least a place to practice….amazing what they both accommplished..
One of my golf friend was a teammate of Sakata at Kalani, who by the by won a State title. he said Sakata would love to coach UH. Now, as time has flown by over the years I don’t know if his opinion has changed. He is now working in the San Francisco Giants organization.
What happened to Steven Rivers(Phillip Rivers’ brother)? Wasn’t he in the mix of transferring here. Or is every college QB transfer left waiting to see where Wittek will go?
rivers was never a consideration at first. i thought he was headed to vanderbilt.
tom, i think all coaches must have a b.a. or b.s. as a mininum prerequisite.
I don’t know how true this is but it is my understanding that Traps contract stimulates that he must have a certain number of local players. This clause came about because in the beginning of his coaching career at UH, he did not actively pursue the local talent and turned off a number of recruits along with some of the UH supporters. This was stated to me several years ago so I’m just throwing this out because this could have been an erroneous rumor.
st. anthony trojan…i believe that coach les murakami graduated from santa clara university.
oldtimer808…that was the jim donovan edict that you speak of.
Mahalo Al so I guess this is true if Donovan activated that clause.
There is no correlation of a coach with a degree and one with out. You either know the game and can coach or you can’t…..Einstein probably couldn’t coach squat….imho.
I think JD edict included the recruiting of more local players, improve his schedule with tougher competition, increase attendance, and I believe more community interaction.
Kolten Wong’s group was about the time the edict from JD was made.
the degree has more to do with nice to have an educator (or coach in this case) of our student athletes be a good role (imagery) model. he who is in charge of and responsible for the student athlete lead by example, that of having a college degree does. leading by example if you will.
Noticed former UH QB Sean Schroeder in throwing sessions with Marqise Lee on ESPN’s Draft Academy.
i was hoping schroeder gets a shot.
stand corrected …al…if so…did not see that in wikipidia…
just from midas n carthright field to uh…he he he
Interesting..
1 we have a troll trying to imitate me…
2 theres a loser named the deep trying to post about me… guy needs to get a life….
82
???…jeezy, I wondered about that, too.
AL: I understand the rationale behind the coach having a college degree (i.e. setting a good example).
But I am wondering about whether a person coaching, say basketball, should have an archaeology degree with emphasis on (Mexican) Aztec studies. The Aztecs used to shoot hoops (so to speak) with either rubber balls or human heads!
In short, whether the degree held should have something either to do remotely with the sport or with education in general. (Coach Chow has a Ph.D in education).
67. Phillip Rivers’ brother, Stephen, transferred to Purdue last I heard.
85. Correction: Al’s correct, Rivers did transfer to Vanderbilt.