I lived in fear of Liz Chun.

Not because I didn't want to “;lose”; to a woman ... I didn't want to lose to anyone, period. I feared her because she had no fear and plenty of good sources. She knew how to break stories, and was often ahead of me and the rest of the pack because she worked so hard. A born competitor, a gamer.

And she had no problem pulling the trigger. We all get at least a little nervous on the verge of what might be a big scoop, especially with anonymous sources. It had better be right, because you might be out there all alone with it for a long time.

But Liz often showed she had the guts and skill to break big stories as well as or better than anyone in our market—electronic or print.

The one I remember most is Jerry Glanville joining the Hawaii coaching staff. Huge story, and Liz was out in front. It was tricky because UH couldn't officially “;hire”; right away due to silly state law. Technically, there was no hiring to confirm. But Liz knew she had it, and she went with it. The rest of us caught up, eventually.

Yeah, you could say Liz threw more than her share of softballs at UH press conferences. But that's OK, she always got the coaches talking and that's what everyone really needed, anyway, and there was usually a jerk or two like me around to sneak in the so-called “;tough”; questions.

Liz was more than scoops and a pretty face. She was a grinder, too. You have to be one to work in TV sports these days. Sure, it's a glamor job, but when they keep cutting staff and budgets and piling on more work, it gets tough. And you can't complain; no one's going to feel sorry for you.

But over the years I've learned to respect my colleagues in TV for many reasons. I feel their frustration when their cameras get called away to a different fire right before Blaze Soares goes off with another four-alarm quote that would've been an even better sound bite.

It seems weird to write about Liz Chun in the past tense. She hasn't been on the air recently, and told me yesterday that she'd resigned from her job as sports director/weekday anchor at Hawaii News Now. She'd been there and at KGMB before it for 15 years, but she's still a young woman.

She said the recent death of her No. 1 fan, her father, Ernest Chun, put things in perspective for her.

“;Dad was a very devoted Christian and talked to me about a balance of life,”; she said. “;It's time for me to take a break.”;

Liz said she doesn't know what's next for her, and doesn't rule out a return to sportscasting.

“;I still love sports, so we'll see.”;

I, too, lost a close relative recently. My uncle Pat Ho left us yesterday after more than a year of health complications. I will always fondly remember things like him and his brother, my uncle Mike, taking me to football games after my dad died when I was young. Uncle Pat let me live with him when I needed a place to stay, and we spent countless hours watching and debating sports—everything from high school to pros.

Uncle Pat mostly enjoyed his work as a salesman and was good at it, but he was always more about his relationships with family and friends. He never let his work consume him.

He would completely agree with these wise words Liz Chun said to me yesterday:

“;I want my job to fit my life, not my life to fit my job.”;

Reach Star-Bulletin sports columnist Dave Reardon at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), his “;Quick Reads”; blog at starbulletin.com, and twitter.com/davereardon.