Linda Yamada found it pays not to agree with her boyfriend. Disagreement agrees with
Star-Bulletin staff
Fever winner YamadaEvery time she and Alan Matsui get together to fill out their Football Fever entry blanks, Yamada says she picks the team Matsui thinks will lose.
"That's how we get along," she said with a laugh.
This time, the 34-year-old Yamada, head chef at the Beach House Restaurant in Poipu, Kauai, proved her guy wrong on nine out of 10 picks. That qualified her to win the $500 weekly Football Fever prize and puts her in contention for the Grand Prize of $5,000 and the First Prize of a trip for two to the Hooters Hula Bowl Maui.
Yamada managed to get into the week's drawing by posting a better score than that of the top Football Fever panelists, two of whom were 6-4.
She said she wished she could have given the University of Hawaii the benefit of the doubt in its game with Wyoming but she's a realist.
"It's the nature of my business: reality always comes through," Yamada said. "At least they scored."
She said she'll enjoy using the money when she gets a break from her exhaustive chef duties. She's preparing dishes from 10 to 12 hours a day, up to six days a week.
Ginelle Palau, an outside hitter for the University of Hawaii at Hilo's women's volleyball team, was chosen as the Pacific West Conference Player of the Week. Pac West
cites Hilo’s PalauThe 5-foot-9 junior led the Vulcans to a split with Hawaii Pacific last weekend. She had 32 kills and 22 digs in the two matches.
HONOLULU MARATHON 18th: The Honolulu Marathon, with 24,359 finishers, was the 18th largest foot race of any length in 1996, according to a list just compiled by USA Track and Field.
The Great Aloha Run was ranked 29th. USATF notes that the 18,000 finishers reported for that race is an "estimated" figure because no official figure was available.
The largest race in the world in 1996 was Cursa El Corte Ingles, a 12K run in Barcelona, Spain, with 58,322 finishers.
The compilation of the comprehensive world rankings requires so much time that it can not be released the same year.
The event will have 12 teams playing for a $50,000 prize. Former University of Hawaii star Karrie Poppinga and Punahou graduate Danalee Bragado will be among those competing.