WHEN I heard that Kawika Ordenstein was being charged with attempted murder in a beating last weekend, I was as stunned as anyone locally. Remembering better
times for OrdensteinYou're innocent until proven guilty in this society, but reports out of the University of New Mexico have painted a pretty ugly picture.
I don't know what would cause anyone to administer the kind of beating track athlete James Marin allegedly suffered.
We often read about college athletes getting into trouble for a seemingly endless variety of offenses: drugs, rape, assault (usually against women). It seems easier to dismiss these when it involves someone we don't know.
But I'm afraid Ordenstein is someone we do know. He's a person who played in our midst and who let us see him at his best -- on and off the field of play.
In 1995, when he led St. Louis to the state prep basketball finals (losing to Kalaheo), he made people care. Even if you weren't a St. Louis fan, watching this barely 6-foot-2, thick-necked kid with the intense, deepset eyes scrap ferociously for and win rebounds against much bigger players made you identify with him.
He was everybody's player and nobody's superstar. Not tall, not graceful, not good enough to be cocky. But hard-working enough to be successful in a spectacular way.
He was an unforgettable "little engine that could."
I remember the special warmth with which Kalaheo coach Pete Smith embraced Ordenstein after the Mustangs had beaten St. Louis in the state final. It was easy to see that Smith was going to miss this relentless badger.
"He plays a lot bigger than his size," said Smith in a January 1995 Star-Bulletin feature about Ordenstein.
If you could've looked into the deeply saddened eyes of a former teammate of Ordenstein's, fresh off the plane yesterday from a weekend NFL mini-camp, you could see how much of a tragedy this is.
It would be easier for this reporter if he had not witnessed Kawika Ordenstein at his best. But I did, and I don't apologize for remembering him that way.
KENYAN men certainly are as dominant as ever in distance running. But on the women's side, the Irish aren't doing badly themselves.
In March, Sonia O'Sullivan captured both the short and long course world cross-country championships in Morocco.
Then on Sunday, marathoner Catherina McKiernan won the London Marathon in 2 hours, 26 minutes. It was her second superb showing in only two marathon efforts. You might remember she had the fastest marathon debut ever for a woman last year in Berlin with a 2:23:44 clocking.
Many believe McKiernan could be the one to overhaul the women's world marathon best of 2:20:47 that Kenyan Tegla Loroupe set in Rotterdam two weeks ago.
DON'T waste any tears on the University of North Carolina basketball program. Losing Antawn Jamison to the NBA won't hurt as much as you think.
Three, and possibly four, of USA Today's Super 25 players will be in the fold next season. Jason Capel, the versatile 6-7 guard-forward from St. John's at Prospect Hall (Frederick, Md.) and Kris Lang, 6-10 forward from Hunter Huss in Gastonia, N.C., have already signed basketball letters. And Ronald Curry, a 6-3 guard from Hampton (Va.), has signed a football letter with the intention of also playing basketball.
Al Harrington, a 6-9 forward from St. Patrick's High in Elizabeth, N.J., considered by some the best prep player in the nation, is on the fence right now but is considering committing to the Tar Heels.
Pat Bigold has covered sports for daily newspapers
in Hawaii and Massachusetts since 1978.
