Sidelines
Hawaii fans know
national powerhousesTHE urgent press release was well-meaning, but mistaken:
"The Hawaii High School Athletic Association announces a Saturday, Sept. 21, 2002, football doubleheader at Aloha Stadium involving the St. Louis Crusaders, the Kahuku Red Raiders, and two national prep football powerhouses."
No.
Not quite.
Make that FOUR national prep football powerhouses.
Let's not be afraid to say it. No shame. Let's not sell Hawaii football short.
Especially when the records -- a few of which aren't just won-loss, but also the "Guinness Book of" variety -- speak for themselves.
Yes, Long Beach Poly and De La Salle are great. They've got publicity and streaks and high school all-Americans and players in the pros. They're on regional television. They're nationally known. They've got the hype, they've earned it, and they back it up.
But St. Louis' history as Hawaii's latest dominant football dynasty has been pretty good as well. St. Louis has been ranked in the Top 5 nationally, made all those fantasy mythical lists, been in USA Today, had three Division I quarterbacks at once, you know, all that stuff "national powers" do.
Did you recognize the starting NFC center in the Pro Bowl this weekend, for example?
People can say these mainland schools are a step above, on another level, and perhaps they're right. But for now, those are just numbers on paper, words on a page, opinions in the wind. How do they know? Who decides this stuff? Who is to say, really?
They've never played.
But Kahuku and St. Louis have, and so we now know Kahuku is up there, too, and still rising fast. We've seen it. You watched it happen step by step. They have arrived.
We've got two national prep football powerhouses right here.
The college football recruiters know it, all the raters and rankers and Internet analysts have caught on, too. And now it appears the California schedulers are right with them.
Finally.
And that's what this doubleheader bonanza is all about, after all.
The names are enough now, Hawaii's reputation is such that for the prep powers of the world, the return is worth the risk, a win would be worth the trip, a loss -- perish the impossible thought -- wouldn't be that devastating. The overtures and phone calls are suddenly taken seriously, and (like magic!) a spot on their schedules are unexpectedly open after all this time.
As they say on ESPN, "affirmation." Welcome to the big time, boys. We'll just have to wait and see just how big you make it.
Hawaii high school football is on the game's biggest stage.
This game has been on deck for 10 years. But it's even better now, because now there will be two games, Hawaii has two teams, St. Louis and Kahuku, a worthy opponent each for the likes of De La Salle and Long Beach Poly.
It finally happened, their chance to show us all.
Two games, four national prep powerhouses.
Kalani Simpson's column runs Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays.
He can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com