ALL THE WAY HOME
Sea Warriors take 2
Host Hawaii Pacific swept two games in a doubleheader against Chaminade yesterday 5-1 and 2-1 at the HPU Windward Campus.In the first game, Sea Warrior pitcher Jessica Parra gave up just three hits and improved her record to 14-6 on the year. She also received some run support from teammate Kim Fukumoto and Holly Garcia who contributed with two RBIs apiece.
The second game was a bit closer as HPU scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth. Chaminade had one last chance in the top of the seventh, but was held scoreless by Sea Warrior pitcher Malia Sullivan, who upped her record to 17-6.
UH water polo triumphs
The fifth-ranked UH women's water polo team topped the 16th-ranked Pacific Tigers 11-1 at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex yesterday. The Wahine are now 19-7 overall and 3-6 in MPSF play.Seven different Wahine scored on the nigh and goalie Christa Tackaberry recorded 13 saves. Hawaii plays its final regular season game on Sunday at 6 p.m.
GETTING A LIFT
18 qualify for triathlon
Eighteen athletes from Hawaii have qualified for the Isuzu Ironman California Triathlon, May 19, at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.The event includes a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile marathon.
Qualifying from Honolulu are: Paul Chandler, Collette Hane, Steven Kent, David Kerr, Donald Koslosky, Maria Noble, Stuart Chambers and Cliff Walker.
Also, Patrick Dougherty, Turner Todd and Karl Glaeser from Kailua; Jon Clark from Mililani, Kapolei's Ed Regan, and Wahiawa's Paul Grynkiewicz.
Qualifying from Kailua-Kona are Jeremy Fortney and Randy Caddell. Also entered are Peter Lopez of Haiku and Justin Costa from Makawao.
QB Club tomorrow
University of Hawaii strength coaches Mel DeLaura and Trey Johnson, Na Koa Football Club president Don Murphy and former Honolulu Quarterback Club president Chris Faria will be the speakers at tomorrow's 11:30 a.m. Honolulu Quarterback Club meeting at the Pagoda Hotel.
Hawaii's own
Benny Agbayani, Mets: Hit a double and a solo home run in a rehabilitation assignment with the Norfolk Tides. The Tides lost 11-3 to the Louisville Riverbats.Mike Fetters, Dodgers: Did not pitch in Los Angeles' 4-2 win over the Padres.
Chris Truby, Astros: Went 0-4 with a strikeout in Houston's 9-2 loss to St. Louis, leaving three runners in scoring position. The hitless day dropped his average to .214 on the year.
[WE GET LETTERS]
Merry Monarchs
Reading your article ("Press Box," by Ben Henry, April 15) brought lots of memories back from my high school years. Back then we didn't win any championships in football, either -- although our freshman football team (Jesse Sapolu was on that team) went undefeated.We also had our share of embarrassing losses. But I remember one glorious night at Aloha Stadium when we DID beat St. Louis. I didn't play football but ran cross country, swam and played in the band. But it was an awesome feeling and one that I won't forget.
I remember (Damien teacher) Brother (Pat) Sullivan taught me a lesson that I'll never forget. He said that it's always important to never give up and to strive to be the best.
"If you're going to be a beach bum, then be the best beach bum," he said to me one day.
That's a lesson I'll never forget. To me that's the measure of true success. When even though you get kicked around, you never, ever give up. It's those things that make up a true "winning tradition," not how many championships you have.
Gene Saulibio
Class of '79
Damien Memorial High School
Lessons from losing
Your article ("Press Box," April 15) reminded me of playing on the school soccer team and winning only two games in four years.We had a couple of ties and that was cause for celebration, especially when it eliminated teams from the (league) playoffs. What it has taught me was to be humble, be persistent and to persevere. As our school motto states, "Viriliter Age" -- act manfully. It really made us grow up ... we just didn't know it back then.
Belden Hee
Damien class of '84
Big Red kine
Nice column ("Big Red sticks to the shoe," by Kalani Simpson, April 17). I'm from Hawaii, but presently living in Oklahoma City ... OU territory ... Ahhhg!I graduated from Nebraska in 1993 and met some really nice people while I was there. I even managed to find a small group of Hawaii people and had small-kine get-togethers. Reading your story made me think back to those days -- what fond memories I have of good ol' Nebraska -- walking to school in the frigid weather during winter and in the nasty heat during the summer.
Go Big Red ... and Warriors, too!
Darren Cravalho
Seeing red
Kalani, welcome to the Big Red Family. We will welcome you with open arms. Heck we don't even require you to know the words to "Hail Varsity," although it would be nice.The only requirement is that you wear red on every Saturday in the fall with some form of Nebraska logo on it. Just so you know, you have to wear red on the Saturdays that Nebraska may have off, just so everybody knows your allegiance.
Your story brought back fond memories of my childhood. I remember being dragged to the store with a parent on game days in North Platte, Neb., and the pre-game would be blaring over the store speakers. Notice I said pre-game. You must never miss a game if it's available on radio and never -- and I mean never -- miss a game that's on TV.
If you find yourself on the mainland and within a 10-hour drive or discounted airfare, you have to attend the game.
Brandon Rodgers
Albuquerque, N.M.
Write on, legend
Great column from a Hawaii sports legend ("Pen Pal," by Pal Eldredge, April 16). It's the first thing I read every Tuesday morning when I get into work.Since I'm in California, I read the Star-Bulletin online.
Matt Sakai
Benefits of tennis
That was a very nice, informative article and photos ("Like Try?," by Linda Aragon, April 15) on tennis.We need to do more to promote tennis and other sports to the youth of Hawaii. The community needs to provide opportunities to keep the kids off the street and to keep the retired exercising on the tennis courts and away from the TV.
Many parents don't realize that tennis can provide a wealth of social, health and economic rewards for youth.
George Asato
Makiki
Tennis and us
Thank you for the great article on tennis in Hawaii!Our local adult league players have won several national championships, and our junior players also compete very well on the national level. They all began on public courts at the local level. Hopefully, through articles like these, more people will get out on the court and receive the numerous benefits from this wonderful game.
Chris Oda
President
USTA/Hawaii Pacific Section
Makawao, Maui
[WINNERS & LOSERS]
Barry Bonds: The San Francisco Giants' slugging rightfielder became the 17th major league player to join the 500 home-run club, doing it Tuesday against the Dodgers. Bonds, who has homered in seven of his last eight games, became the third player to reach the milestone as a Giant, following Willie Mays, who is Bonds' godfather, and Willie McCovey. Since Tuesday, Bonds has added two more dingers to his career tally. [WINNERS]
Mid-Pacific baseball team: The Owls beat the Pac-Five Wolfpack, 7-0, yesterday to capture the Interscholastic League of Honolulu regular season baseball title. Ricky Bauer faced one more batter than the minimum in throwing a two-hitter for the Owls at Ala Wai Field. The win clinched a berth in next month's HHSAA tournament for Mid-Pacific.
UH baseball team: The Rainbows, not known for being road warriors, won a three-game Western Athletic Conference series at No. 4 Rice. Hawaii was carried by strong pitching performances from starters Jeff Coleman -- in a 4-2 win Thursday -- and Chad Giannetti -- in a 7-3 victory yesterday. The series win was UH's first against Rice.
Kevin Malone: The former Dodgers general manager was forced to resign, five days after challenging a fan to a fight. [LOSERS]
"He does have a tendency to put his foot in his mouth," Dodgers chairman Bob Daly said.
During Malone's two-plus seasons, the Dodgers were 170-168, despite one of the highest payrolls in the major leagues.
Patrick O'Keefe: The former Utah football player was sentenced to a year in jail for beating a teenager on the head with a baseball bat at a party last fall. The assault left 17-year-old Nathan Pehrson with multiple skull fractures, bleeding within the skull and several broken teeth.
O'Keefe, 19, apologized, but Judge Paul Maugham said that was insufficient. "You have unalterably changed the life of the victim and his family," Maugham said.
XFL: The league celebrated its first championship game last night, but because of poor ratings, NBC will probably not continue broadcasting games, according to league founder Vince McMahon. As for NBC maintaining its 50 percent share of the business interest in the league, McMahon said, "That's something we'll have to sit down and talk about."