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Friday, December 29, 2000

Tiger and Livai
share spotlight in
Hawaii in 2000

Woods whirled his way to
two victories in Hawaii; Livai
coaches Kahuku to prep
state football title

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By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

ONLY in Hawaii ...

... could Tiger Woods and Siuaki Livai end up in the same sentence, let alone in the same paragraph.

But here they are. Two men who achieved the remarkable -- and, to some, the unthinkable -- in the same year. And in the state.

Woods' had an extraordinary 11-month run on the pro golf circuit. Kahuku High School, coached by Livai, ended an extraordinary 14-year run by St. Louis to claim the 2000 state prep football championship.

The two share similar characteristics: grace under pressure and humbleness in winning. The two share in the Star-Bulletin's Top Local Sports Story of the Year.

Woods bookended an amazing golf season with victories in Hawaii. He opened with a win in the Mercedes Championship at Kapalua and closed with two odds-defying eagle putts, including one in a sudden death playoff, for the PGA Grand Slam of Golf title at Poipu.

Within the past few weeks, Woods has picked up almost as many trophies off the course as he did on it. On the strength of nine tour wins, six consecutive victories and three straight majors, he was named the Male Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press and Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated.

If he takes the Masters in April, Woods will have won all four majors in a row.

It won't constitute a true Grand Slam -- since it won't occur in the same calendar year -- but most would consider it a Grand Slam Dunk.

What's in store for Woods in 2001? More money and more wins, beginning in a few weeks at Kapalua.

It will be a few more months before Kahuku thinks about spring football. Perhaps by then, the euphoria of the 26-20 victory over St. Louis on Dec. 1 will have worn off.

Perhaps not.

The Red Raiders did something no other team since 1986 could do. Beat the Crusaders when it mattered most.

And how about 2001?

A football, by its very design, takes funny bounces.

Key Kahuku players will graduate, to be replaced by members of the equally successful junior varsity team. No doubt the talent will be there, but will there be the right combination of skill, luck and chemistry to repeat?

As St. Louis coach Cal Lee would surely tell Livai, it's harder to stay on top than to get there. Check back in November when the playoffs start.

Woods has raised the bar so high in golf that few dare to think it will ever be cleared.

Livai's Raiders raised the bar to a level where the rest of the state high school football teams now dare to think they, too, have a chance to win a championship.