A little announcement to make!
I’ve seized on some of this extra stay-at-home time and started up a podcast (gasp!).
“Court Sense” will be weekly, with guests, and mostly about basketball (UH, NBA).
You can find it now on
@Spotify
and
@Stitcher
.
San Jose State coach Brent Brennan rocking the retro jersey of his cousin, the late
#HawaiiFB
quarterback Colt Brennan, at the
@HawaiiBowl
week intro press conference.
Walk-on Leonard Lee, who has emerged as a starting safety for
#HawaiiFB
, was surprised with a scholarship this week.
He describes the journey from being removed from the team after speaking out against Todd Graham, to being invited back under Timmy Chang, to this.
#HawaiiMBB
’s Kamaka Hepa, who got some NBA pre-draft workouts, showed enough to land a spot on the New Orleans Pelicans’ NBA Summer League roster in Las Vegas.
Vegas action begins July 7.
The Greece/Cyprus Mediterranean connection with
#HawaiiMVB
’s Dimitrios Mouchlias, James Anastassiades, Spyros Chakas and Long Beach State’s Sotiris Siapanis.
Woke up this morning as a former employee of the
@StarAdvertiser
, among the 12 layoffs to hit the newspaper along with my sports colleagues
@Cindy3Luis
and
@nick_abramo
.
I’m fine, but the industry isn’t. I urge you to support your local paper, wherever you are. It’s important.
Here’s the
@SpectrumNewsHI
writeup on the passing of a Hawaii sports legend.
Jim Leahey was a special talent with the instincts of a teacher. He went out of his way to mentor so many coming up in the business behind him — myself included. R.I.P.
Word to the wise for
@BigTenNetwork
: References to individuals/groups from the islands should be "people of/from Hawaii" and not "Hawaiian," which is reserved for people of Native Hawaiian ancestry. Important distinction.
In a twist of fate, the last two AVCA Players of the Year will team up.
Former-
#HawaiiMVB
setter Jakob Thelle and ex-Long Beach State standout Alex Nikolov are now teammates in Italy.
Some personal news -- today is my first official day with
@SpectrumNewsHI
as a digital sports reporter.
Very excited to get back in the day to day of local college and high school sports.
I'll be writing original content, while tying in coverage with
@specsportshi
and
@oc16tv
.
FINAL: No. 1
#HawaiiMVB
returns last night’s favor on No. 4 Long Beach State, taking out their rival in straight sets.
LBSU hits .247, down significantly from last night’s .484
FINAL:
#HawaiiFB
27, Air Force 13
I’m not sure what team this is, but it just seized the Kuter Trophy after forcing four fourth-quarter turnovers.
UH improves to 4-7, 2-2 Mountain West. Air Force (8-2) takes its second straight loss, and first in the MWC.
#HawaiiFB
assistant Chris Brown, a former hard-hitting ‘Bow known for his fierce play from 1998-02, talks about his ethos of coaching linebackers, which he calls the “Lion’s Den.”
Kahuku linebacker Liona Lefau can play offense, too.
He came down with this one-handed TD against triple coverage and the Red Raiders are running away from unbeaten Kapolei, up 35-0 in the fourth.
Caught up with June Jones after he coached in the 2022 Polynesian Bowl tonight.
Jones said of new
#HawaiiFB
coach Timmy Chang: “He’s one of the great kids I coached at the university and I have a lot of aloha for him, he has a lot for me.”
Here’s something I’m sure you’re going to see more clips of: Marcus Mariota gets choked up when asked about the reception he gets from youths in Hawaii.
That was a truly impressive performance by a team that looked complete. No small thing for a group of guys who grew into new and expanded roles after a bunch of All-Americans left.
#HawaiiMVB
The late, legendary Jim Leahey is played off by the University of Hawaii band with the Manoa fight song and Hawaii 5-0 at his celebration of life at his alma mater, Saint Louis.
A personal update: Starting today, I’ve got a new challenge, covering finance, retail, tech and transportation at
@pacificbiznews
.
I’ll still be tweeting about sports, mostly hoops, and doing an occasional podcast.
#FridayNewsDump
Scary moment at this morning’s
#HawaiiFB
practice. R-FR DB Kona Moore was in a player collision crossing middle in a red zone drill. Remained down stiff and an ambulance summoned. Moore is being taken to an ER.
Team solumn. HC Timmy Chang said concussion is best-case scenario.
FINAL:
#HawaiiMBB
68, UC Riverside 67
UH’s Big West quarterfinal drought is OVER as the ‘Bows clamp down on the Highlanders in the second half.
Junior Madut 17, Jerome Desrosiers 14, Amoro Lado 12.
UH vs CS Fullerton in semifinals 6:30 HST Friday night.
Timmy Chang on how he envisions
#HawaiiFB
game days:
"An all-day event where families ... young ones can come, and they're running around the university. There are vending machines everywhere. They're just having a great old time."
What a marketing opportunity for
@drpepper
.
Toronto assistant and former
#HawaiiMBB
guard Phil Handy wins his second NBA championship.
Kailua native and 'Iolani grad Bobby Webster wins his first ring as Raptors general manager.
Chang in UH release: "I'm back. I'm home. In my heart, I've never left. Like I've always done, I'm ready to give my all for Hawai'i. The highest privilege in coaching is the right to represent an institution as a head coach. This is beyond indescribable..."
Amy Atwell continues to beat the odds. The former
#HawaiiWBB
star is fully rostered by the
@LASparks
, which UH’s Laura Beeman called one of the proudest moments of her coaching career.
It’s a big week for
#HawaiiFB
’s short-yardage specialist quarterback Dalen Morris.
The U.S. Naval Academy graduate and active service member stationed in the Islands will face Air Force on Veterans Day on Saturday.
He talked about pulling double duty with UH and the Navy.
New
#HawaiiFB
OC and quarterbacks coach Ian Shoemaker has been a vocal presence at spring ball as he puts the Rainbow Warriors through the paces of a new offense.
Saturday’s practice, the first open to fans, will now begin at noon at the Ching Complex.
#HawaiiFB
fifth-year senior tackle Ilm Manning (
@ilmstreet
) talks to
@SpectrumNewsHI
about why he decided to stick around at UH through two coaching changes.
He’s a big part of the Rainbow Warriors’ most experienced unit with 47 career starts.
New “Play Like Champs” tunnel mural for two-time defending Big West tourney winner
#HawaiiWBB
on the way to the locker room, just in time for first full practice of 2023-24 preseason.
Chevan Cordeiro reunites with former
#HawaiiFB
teammates on the Ching Complex field after leading San Jose State to a 35-0 win over the Rainbow Warriors on homecoming night.
Bishop Gorman defensive back Elijah Palmer had an interception and a pass breakup in a 56-14 win against Saint Louis on Friday night.
BG’s Palmer, LB Jamih Otis and DL Aidan McComber all committed to
#HawaiiFB
this summer.
Palmer gives his thoughts on what’s next.
#HawaiiFB
center Eliki Tanuvasa describes the offseason moment, amid considerable player attrition, that key members of the line made a pact to stay.
“The O-line, we do all the dirty work so we might as well do it on and off the field.”
Stanford guard Anna Wilson was taken on a stretcher via ambulance to a hospital from the Stan Sheriff Center. some 30 minutes after the No. 8 Cardinal beat
#HawaiiWBB
81-59. She is the younger sister of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
Just in: Hawaii falls to Michigan at the Little League World Series semifinals, 2-1. HNL will face South Dakota in the third-place game, which begins at 4 a.m. HST on Sunday on ESPN.
Many thanks to my Hawaii sports media peers and the
@NSMASportsMedia
for the consideration.
I’m appreciative to
@SpectrumNewsHI
for the opportunity the last couple years after a bit of a career detour, and it’s special to see Spectrum’s
@KanoaLeahey
recognized at the same time.
CONFIRMED.
#HawaiiFB
beats Colorado State 27-24 on Matthew Shipley’s winning boot. UH completes game-winning drive with 54 seconds to end 2023 season 5-8 (3-5 Mountain West).
Shipley is carried off the field.
There it is. Hawaii completes one of the most dominant runs in the history of the Little League World Series, defeating Curacao 13-3 in four innings via the mercy rule.
Fourth
#LLWS
championship for Hawaii, tied for second most among states (California 7).
I may have made fun of the vacant UH student section a time or two in the latter Aloha Stadium days and even last year at Ching.
So, it’s only right it gets some shine when it’s like this more than an hour before kickoff.
#HawaiiFB
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi presents the key to the city to
#HawaiiMVB
coach Charlie Wade.
“To do this back to back is absolutely incredible,” Blangiardi says.