Rainbow Notebook

Ankle injury may
keep Kemfort
out of opener

Hawaii outside linebacker Robert Kemfort suffered a grade two ankle sprain during yesterday morning's practice and will likely miss the season opener against Southern California.

"It was kind of strange," head coach June Jones said. "He was engaged in a block and it looked like his ankle just rolled up on him."

The UH medical staff believes Kemfort will miss at least two weeks. He is the second outside linebacker to go down this fall.

Fellow backup Bo Espinoza remains sidelined with a bad hamstring pull and is doubtful for the game with the Trojans. Jones said starting linebackers Anthony Smith and Yaphet Warren will see a majority of the snaps against the Trojans. Freshman Keani Alapa could also play.

"We've been very fortunate so far injury-wise," Jones said. "We just can't afford to lose anybody."

Defensive lineman Tony Tuioti continues to work his way back into the starting lineup. The senior tackle has been held out of most fall workouts with a bad back. He had surgery to repair a ruptured disc in the off-season.

Jones said he may use Tuioti for as many as 15 plays, but Tuioti said he won't come out of the lineup willingly.

"Once I'm on the field, I'm not coming out," Tuioti said, then smiled. "I just want to take it easy right now, so I can go all-out in our game with USC. I want to be a part of this turnaround. I think we'll shock people this season."

Garland back on field

Wide receiver Jamal Garland was back on the field yesterday after his junior college transcripts came in. Such is not the case for talented wideout Attrice Brooks, who missed his second consecutive practice. Jones said he's still waiting on San Francisco City College to send his summer school grades.

"We think he's going to be OK, but until we have his transcripts in our hands, there's nothing we can do," Jones said.

Tickets selling fast

Aloha Stadium officials reported yesterday that they have sold 6,000 individual game tickets for the season opener with USC, bringing the actual number of tickets distributed for the game to about 30,000. For ticket information, contact Aloha Stadium officials. Their office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Ho-Ching making a move

Fifth-year senior Daniel Ho-Ching swears he is now a linebacker, but Jones isn't ready to make that transformation a lasting one.

"He looks like he's playing linebacker in our nickel packages," Jones said. "But Daniel is still a defensive back."

Not so, according to a smiling Ho-Ching.

"I'm a linebacker," he said. "Don't I look like a linebacker? I do like the nickel package. It's a lot of fun coming off the edge."

Practice time moved

Jones has moved practice time up to 7 a.m. from 7:30 to help make sure players get to class on time.

"Some of our guys had classes at 10:30 and they barely made it," Jones said.

"We had team meetings starting at 6:30 a.m., but we moved those to the afternoon, so we could get started a little earlier on the field."

Most of the players say they love the morning workouts.

"It's good to know that you don't have to practice in the afternoon, then try to do homework," Ho-Ching said. "I love not having to practice late. I get to bed a lot earlier now."

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By Paul Arnett