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Sports Watch
IT was a great Hula Bowl game last Saturday on Maui. So people tell me. I wouldn't know. TV or no TV?
Hula Bowl’s
cable questionI wanted to watch it live on ESPN after the conclusion of the third round of the Sony Open at the Waialae Country Club. But I didn't get the opportunity to see it, along with everyone else on Oahu, because the game was blacked out.
Funny, though, the people on Maui -- where the game was played -- got to see it live. As did cable viewers on the Big Island and Kauai.
Not on Oahu where 80 percent of the population lives.
It would be funny if it weren't funny. Actually it was downright absurd when you think about it.
Even now, nobody seems to know how the bizarre cable mix-up occurred. Except that it happened.
Somebody got their cable signals crossed or flipped the wrong switch.
Perhaps the most chagrined were Lenny and Marcia Klompus. The Hula Bowl's their baby.
"Nobody was more surprised than we were," said Marcia Klompus. "I was floored when I found out what happened," she said.
It was in the third quarter when someone told Lenny Klompus that, "Hey, the game's on live on Maui."
The game was supposed to be blacked out on the Valley Island, but certainly not on Oahu, which has the population numbers to give the Hula Bowl at least a blip in the ratings.
Marcia said she told someone at ESPN, "We have 700 tickets left. It might not be a sellout, so let's black out the game on Maui but not Oahu."
Just the opposite happened.
"We had never blacked out the Hula Bowl on Oahu since moving to Maui four years ago," she said. "Certainly, the game should have been shown on Oahu. It was our intention to show it."
"It would be stupid for us not to show the Hula Bowl live on Oahu," Lenny Klompus said.
"It doesn't make sense. I want people to see what we've done. And it was a great game."
A great game that everybody on Oahu didn't get to see.
BALD TRUTH: Some people think Hawaii men's basketball coach Riley Wallace looks cool bald.
Sure, he might have first shaved his head when his challenge to any player getting a 4.0 GPA was met by Lane O'Connor.
Riley's hair grew back, but he liked being air-cooled so much that he cropped it close again. Nearly bald.
Actually, if you pin him down, he did it so he wouldn't have to pull out his hair by the play of his Rainbows at times.
Take last Saturday night's game against San Jose State. Well, the Spartans almost did.
UH went scoreless in the final 5:19 to send it into overtime before winning. Talk about a close shave.
"It could have destroyed us mentally," Wallace admitted.
His Rainbows are 8-8 and hard to get a handle on so far. They've been more dreadful than good.
The problem is Wallace has no dependable point guard. Ricky Terrell isn't the answer and Jeep Hilton's not ready.
Wallace tried Mike McIntyre, but without success. If anything, it made Mac less of a threat from 3-point range.
It hasn't helped that Predrag Savovic, who can be on a different planet at times, has lost his touch shooting free throws. An 80 percent shooter last year, Savo's now only converting at a 67 percent clip.
It has been no life of Riley for Wallace so far this season.
