Hawaii
YES, it was nice seeing a clean-cut group of women representing U.S. soccer beat China for the World Cup. But no, it's not going to make soccer the No. 1 sport in America, even if it is in the rest of the world. In many countries, soccer (which costs virtually nothing in the way of equipment) is the only game they can afford to play. Soccer not No. 1
with everyoneFor years, I've had a running battle with Jack Sullivan, the localite who fancies himself the greatest soccer fan in Hawaii -- even his license plate reads "SOCCER" -- and before he flew off to attend this year's World Cup, he left a message on my voice mail with this scenario: The U.S. would score a goal in the first 10 minutes, then China would retaliate in the next 15 and the U.S. would score yet again, the game ending 2-1.If only I'd been there to answer his call I would have predicted a "nil-nil" finish to be won by one or the other team in a penalty kick. He'll even admit I'd say that, since my contention has long been that low scores are the bane of the game, thanks to "turnovers" and a lack of offense. But euphoria still reigns, temporarily at least. On the "Today" show yesterday, Colleen Dominguez reported, "This story has legs." And Katie Couric chimed in that she liked that line. Had a man said it, he'd surely have been called a sexist. If scoreless ties are your cup of tea, so be it. The ABC News anchor that night called it "excruciating to watch." I think he meant "exhilarating," but then you never know ...
Such a deal!
STAR 101.9 has been running its own version of "Let's Make a Deal" at Gordon Biersch and on Thursday evening Steve Hott, lead singer for Joe Rock Star, called the mono-monikered D.J. emcee Hudson on stage and sang, "If Only You Could See," by Tonic. He followed it by asking for her hand in marriage. She chose Door No. 1, which is to say the one with him behind it, and said "Yes." The singer showed up on her morning show the next day and they called their respective mothers with the news. No date has been set, but I'm still waiting to hear if she'll now go by the alliterative Hudson Hott ...PEOPLE who dropped by O'Toole's Saturday night to take in the Irish Hearts got a bonus. Dropping by the place after their show at Andrew's Amphitheater was the group Gaelic Storm, and it didn't take a keg-full of Guinness to get them onstage to jam with the local Irish band until 2 a.m. The two groups had met during the Storm's appearance here last year ...
Bastille Day
JULY 14 is best known around the world as "Bastille Day," but a number of other events also took place that day, as noted in various lists found on the Internet. There were also some noted people who died on July 14 (King Faisal II of Iraq, announcer Westbrook Van Voor his etc.) and a long list of births. A friend of Dr. Norm Goldstein sent him a list (doctored?) that began with painter Andrea del Sarto in 1486 and proceeded through such July 14 babies as authors Irving Stone and Isaac Bashevis Singer, Terry-Thomas, Woodie Guthrie, Gerald Ford, Ingmar Bergman, John Chancellor, Polly Bergen and in 1934, murderer Leo Joseph Koury Pitts from the FBI's most wanted list, and "Norman Goldstein, noted dermatologist, civic leader, philanthropist." I should talk -- I share the same day, month and year of birth with Margo St. James, head of San Francisco's hooker's union, C.O.Y.O.T.E. -- "Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics." ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
His columns run Monday through Friday.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com