AN excited group of junior high kids bobbed up and down in front of the Cooke Field fence to catch a glimpse of the University of Hawaii football team practicing several hundred feet away. Local sports won’t be
same without KekaulaSuddenly, a couple of the kids recognized the big man with the colorful aloha shirt standing by the gate, privately pondering his uncertain future.
On this Monday night nearly two weeks ago, only a handful of people were aware of the plight of popular sportscaster Robert Kekaula. His suspension was three days old, but the local-boy-made-good knew the announcement of his firing was soon to come.
He did not let his young and enthusiastic admirers -- who quickly forgot about the football team -- know that life as he knew it was over.
Instead, he talked to each kid who was brave enough to ask this imposing figure what it was like to be him. Their eyes were bright with recognition; their admiration real.
How do you explain to them what happened to Kekaula and what it says about the politically correct society we live in?
Kekaula was wrong to get physical in an Oct. 10 incident with a producer, a man who also has been relieved of his duties.
And yes, KHNL-TV officials had to punish their sports anchor and University of Hawaii football analyst for his newsroom assault, which he has publicly apologized for several times.
But firing him wasn't it.
KEKAULA was an integral part of the fabric of local society. He wasn't a member of the cookie-cutter, ESPN crowd of pretty boys with clever sayings, nor did he want to be.
He knew mainland travelers were put off by his unorthodox delivery. But unlike local viewers, they didn't watch him every night.
KITV sportscaster Shawn Ching, who succeeded Kekaula at Channel 4 after he left to join the new staff at KHNL News 8 two years ago, learned a lot from Kekaula. Ching's mixing and matching of local and national stories is so close to Kekaula's style, it's tough to tell the two apart.
Kekaula was also a respected reporter. If a University of Hawaii player from an island prep school had a decision to make, he often called Kekaula before talking to his own parents. Like the young kids clamoring around him at Cooke Field, they trusted and believed what Kekaula said.
Now that's all over. And KHNL and sister station KFVE (Channel 5), owner of the television rights to UH sports, are the poorer for it.
The station executives have lost a man who spent his summer vacation at Barbers Point, learning the new offense and defense the Rainbow coaches planned to unveil this season.
VIEWERS are missing one of the few reasons to tune in and watch a Channel 8 newscast. Even with Emmy Award-winning shows such as "ER" and "Law and Order" as lead-ins, the station trails the field in the television news ratings like a longshot at the Kentucky Derby.
It will be interesting to see what effect Kekaula's absence has on the sweeps period next month. It can't be good.
By then, maybe KHNL general manager John Fink will see the error of his ways. Without Kekaula and veteran broadcaster Jim Leahey, who is still recovering from cancer, the station is faced with an identity crisis.
It's not exactly what a station mired in last place needs. Nor is it what UH wants as the two partners begin the first year of a contract worth $6.2 million.
Hopefully someone will come up with a plan that includes Kekaula. He doesn't deserve such a fate. Nor do the local people who see Kekaula as their spokesman.
Paul Arnett has been covering sports
for the Star-Bulletin since 1990.
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