Hawaii
THIS past weekend was one of the busiest in memory for sports fans, and by extension, among the busiest for sports bars. Don Murphy, who has taken over the running of the previously underutilized All Star Cafe, has to be tired just from counting the take in the register. On Friday, basketball fans jammed the place for the Lakers drubbing of the New Jersey Nets, repeated on Sunday for game three. Then on Saturday morning racing fans gathered to watch the third jewel in the Triple Crown, the Belmont, won by the longest shot in history. A little known horse named Sarava paid $142.50 for a $2 bet. If you'd plunked down $20, you'd have won $1,425. The All Star Cafe action really heated up when they showed the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson fight live. The $30 cover went to promoter Tom Moffatt, but food and booze was moving at a record pace. Most in the crowd seemed to be rooting against Tyson, so were happy when Lewis knocked him out ... All-sports weekend keeps
sports bars hale and heartyAND while many people care little for soccer, Murphy says it was a slam dunk Sunday night when the U.S. played South Korea to a tie in the World Cup action. He had to reorder beer bigtime ... And if all the above wasn't enough to draw you out to where the sports and conviviality go hand in glove, baseball currently is having interleague play so if you're a Dodgers or Giants fan, say, you could cheer for the No. 1 in the American League East Boston Red Sox to beat their main competition in the National League West, Arizona Diamondbacks. You'd have had a long wait -- the Red Sox lost three in a row, helping National League fans to claim their league is tougher ...
Woofers and treaters
AFTER the Humane Society's Eve Holt read here about KHNL's Diana Ako taking her dog, Kona, to work, she hurried to flash the news that June 18 is Bring Your Dog to Work Day, urging everyone to join Ako and her mutt in the office. (Of course, restaurant owners are to be forgiven if they don't bring their dogs, giving customers wrong ideas.) Britt Riedl of KGMB is apparently a cat person, because after switching channels and seeing the husband and wife news team of Gary Sprinkle & Pamela Young on KITV with kittens from the Humane Society, she gently ordered husband Rob Young to go to the shelter that evening to get a specific kitty she fancied. Alas, the kitten wasn't going to be available until the next morning, but when the Humane Society opened the next morning, Reidl was already waiting, and now "Nalo" has joined the family ...
Hungry for victory
PORTIONS of the annual Dixie Grill Crabfest go to the UH athletic department, so UH basketball coach Riley Wallace was joined by two assistant coaches, Scott Rigot and Jackson Wheeler in a "Bust yo Belly" eating contest, whereupon they have to eat a giant two-pound burger and fries. Joining the competition was Jim Kerr of KRTR, BYU and Heald College instructor George Mateaki and Starbucks Pupukea GM Robert Steen. Mateaki, looking like a Green Bay Packer, nearly won but was topped in the final moment by Starbucks' Steen, who's tall and thin. Coach Wallace, after downing his two-pounder, was joined by wife Carol in downing a platter of desserts while the others looked on, amazed ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com