Friday, October 26, 2001
[ UH WARRIOR FOOTBALL ]
For Sal’s sake ON the surface, it appears Hawaii junior linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa has turned some magical corner recently, and because of that, he can achieve seemingly anything he wants on the football field and in life.
Hawaii's Pisa Tinoisamoa learned a
lot about life through his uncle's death,
and he's starting to learn about
responsibility after some rocky
years as a teenagerBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comBut the side of a dying young man's bed, 12 years ago when Tinoisamoa was 8, is where he says his future was most profoundly affected.
"Only one turning point in my life really comes to mind," Tinoisamoa says. "My uncle got sick and he asked us to come to Colorado."
The uncle was Sal Aunese, the Colorado star quarterback who died of cancer in 1989.
Tinoisamoa, his two brothers and his mother were with Aunese the last few weeks of his life.
"My brother Sal was very close to my sons," says Ruta Aunese-Tinoisamoa. "Even when he went to Colorado he called all the time to check on them. He was the favorite uncle. Sal was always there for them and looked out for them like a father. He talked to them about football, but more importantly about life."
Ruta was already in Colorado caring for Sal when he asked for Pisa and his brothers.
"Even though I was young, his requesting that we be there kind of touched me," Tinoisamoa says. "I wanted to be like him. He affected a lot of people in a positive way. It was something that made me want to do positive things with my life."
As his story received more and more national attention, Aunese was reported to be less than an ideal citizen at times, especially after the media latched onto the fact that he had fathered a child with the daughter of Colorado coach Bill McCartney.
But to an 8-year-old nephew, Aunese remained a loved one reaching out in a time of need, as well as a source of inspiration as a hometown hero.
"He was always in the newspaper and everybody always talked about him in Oceanside (Calif.)," Tinoisamoa says. "It was right before I started playing Pop Warner football. It created my entry to the game."
In a fairy tale or a made-for-TV movie, Aunese's death would inspire Tinoisamoa to always be a good boy, a good student, a team player. He would deftly avoid every problem of growing up with one parent in a neighborhood that has its share of rough spots.
But in real life, Tinoisamoa found trouble as a teenager, or trouble found him. Not constantly, but enough to jeopardize his promising future.
"Basically, I've been a single parent since 1981," says Aunese-Tinoisamoa. "I raised my boys, I think I raised them well, with the help of some other family members. But we had some moments."
The worst came while Tinoisamoa was being recruited to play college football after a prep career at Vista High School in which he was one of California's best players.
Aunese-Tinoisamoa says Pisa was put on probation in 1998 for spray-painting graffiti on public property. Later, because of the probation, he was jailed for intervening in a fight to help his brother, Mike.
Hawaii coach June Jones didn't back off on recruiting him, believing the brushes with the law to be out-of-character for Tinoisamoa.
So far, that turns out to be true. Tinoisamoa has had no such problems since.
"Hopefully, he's learned and grown from his hardships. It looks like he has," Jones says. "Basically, it was him as a person and his family, that's really the reason we stood by him. He has character and it's starting to come out."
The transition wasn't totally smooth and immediate, though.
Although he qualified academically, Tinoisamoa was not allowed to play as a freshman two years ago because of one high school class that did not meet NCAA requirements.
When Tinoisamoa could finally play last season, he showed glimpses of his potential. He was named the Western Athletic Conference player of the week once, but his performance was inconsistent.
That wasn't the problem as much as his attitude; he was at times critical of teammates although his play wasn't always good.
"I distanced myself (from the other players), but I was outspoken in certain aspects. But I had no position to talk because I wasn't doing what I had to do," Tinoisamoa says. "I was disappointed in myself. How could I expect them to listen to me when I had gotten arrested and was bad in school? I wasn't leading by example."
He is doing so now, on the field and in the classroom.
Tinoisamoa leads the WAC in tackles and the Warriors in handing off credit to others.
"I noticed a big-time change in him," defensive end Laanui Correa says. "He really got in shape over the summer and he has one of the best attitudes on the team. This year everything from him is 'yes coach, no coach.' His relationships with the other players is a lot better, too. We all hang out a lot. Not just partying, but going out and doing little stuff together. That's what builds the team."
When Hawaii lost at Fresno State last year, some Bulldog fans called him "Tiny Samoan," making fun of his name.
"I didn't appreciate that," he says with a laugh.
He sees the humor in that now he actually is tinier, playing at around 210 pounds rather than the 255 pounds of last season.
"It was working out and dieting. I eat what I like, but I watch the amount," he says. "In the summer I ate twice or sometimes only once a day."
There was concern that Tinoisamoa might not be as disciplined in the classroom and fail to make it academically for this season. But he earned good grades in summer school and says he learned a lesson about learning his lessons.
"If I didn't make it I think that would have shattered everything for me," he says. "I don't look at it the same way now. I don't want to cut it close anymore."
Tinoisamoa says Jennifer Matsuda and Sara Nunes-Atabaki of the athletic department's student academic services have helped him manage his time better.
"I think he's maturing. It's a nice process to see," Matsuda says. "The good part of it is he's coming to that realization on his own. We have tremendous resources here, and he, like other student-athletes, is genuinely making use of them. It can be a tough transition to college, especially when you're an athlete. You have to balance the energy you put into your sport with the large amount of work that is expected of a college student."
Pisa Tinoisamoa's favorite word this fall is "responsibility." He speaks often of playing "responsible football."
The concept seems to have spilled over into other aspects of his life.
"I've developed a lot as a person this year," he says.
Aunese-Tinoisamoa gets game tapes from a friend in Hawaii, Randy Hiraki, so she sees the on-field progress. But it's the rest of it that makes her most proud.
"He's getting me teary eyed," she says.
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