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Monday
Evening QB
WE graduates of Pearl City High School don't have a whole lot of athletic tradition to boast about. But our band is one of the best in all the land. And it always has been, as long as most of us can remember. Let’s limit high
school bands, tooThe PCHS Marching Band is either at the Rose Bowl parade or the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade seemingly every year. It plays at halftime of University of Hawaii football games, and everybody comments about how it is bigger and better than most college bands. It recently returned from Alabama, where it performed at halftime of the Blue-Gray all-star game.
No other high school band in the state -- perhaps the nation -- can touch the Chargers.
This musical dynasty has been going on for quite a long time, back to when I was in high school in the '70s, when disco music and ugly polyester clothes were popular for the first time -- way before Cal Lee's St. Louis football teams started winning Interscholastic League of Honolulu championships and Prep Bowl titles every year.
SO when I heard that the ILH principals voted to limit the number of football players who can suit up for a football game to 65, I got to feeling guilty.
If the Crusaders' football team -- with a roster of more than 100 last year -- has to pay a penalty for being way better than the rest, I guess my alma mater's marching band must, too.
Yes, it is time for this totally out-of-control extracurricular activity to be reined in.
Isn't it grossly unfair to other schools that the Pearl City band has so many members performing? It must be so intimidating to the other bands when they see the scores and scores of Chargers executing their steps and playing their instruments with perfect precision.
Just like in football. Kamehameha was so totally in awe of St. Louis in a game last year that the Warriors forgot they were supposed to lose.
Gee, could it be that the Kamehameha players were fired-up, and played their best against the best -- leading to a win? Nah, couldn't be.
Of course, none of the other bands, nor their individual members, are ever inspired by the Pearl City band to improve their own performances, either.
IT'S time to level the marching field. How many trombonists do you really need to put on a show, anyway?
Oh, by the way, we're not saying that Pearl City can't have as many kids as it wants in the band. We're just going to put a maximum on the number that can march and play at a game. The Chargers can have all the student-performers they want above the max. But the extras have to stand on the sideline in street clothes while the first-string performs.
You know what, while we're at it, let's slap some sanctions on the Iolani and Punahou water polo teams. They are way better than the rest of the teams in the state, and they are helping too many kids get into college, just like the St. Louis football team does.
Hey, you can play baseball with only nine guys, so maybe the Molokai Farmers should have their roster cut in half for winning the state championship last spring.
And the Moanalua girls have to wrestle with one hand tied behind their backs all next season. Let's see if they can win another state title that way.
But back to the matter at hand, the Pearl City band and how it is wreaking havoc on competitive balance.
Now, I have no proof that the Chargers recruit hotshots from around the island to join their merry band. But if they do, shame, shame, and they should stop.
Same for St. Louis football.
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail dreardon@starbulletin.com