Sidelines
CLAY Benham grasped my hand and looked me in the eye and talked about doing the right thing. Benham left without seeing
his ambitious plan come trueHe had a plan he wanted me to see, probably a plan he'd shown to many others, probably a plan he'd been planning for decades.
"It's time," he said.
Time to get back together.
Time to put differences aside.
Time to repair the rift.
As it turned out, he didn't live long enough to see that happen.
But Clay Benham believed that it would, and perhaps that's what we should be thinking about today.
I don't pretend to know exactly what led up to the great schism of 1970, or precisely why the Interscholastic League of Honolulu and Oahu Interscholastic Association haven't gotten back together since. Recruiting. Redshirts. Personalities. There are probably as many hurdles to overcome as there are people involved.
But Benham was still trying to find a way. In his last year, at 81, he still had ideas and proposals to make it all work out, to overcome history.
"We have to," he said.
As a public school guy, as a neighbor island guy, I admit I am ambivalent about the possibility of an ILH-OIA merger. Private schools have so many competitive advantages over public schools (and when they don't, I don't feel too sorry for them). How can they possibly play each other?
But maybe it would help. Maybe in this case all those old wounds need to be healed. Maybe the lingering animosity could be wiped away by clean, hard competition and magnificent Friday nights.
And those old rivalry days were golden and glorious, everyone agrees on that.
Clay Benham remembered them well.
It was time to put old arguments aside, he told me that day, keeping my hand in a long handshake, not letting me avert my gaze.
Time to come together, he said then. Today, he's a reminder to think about it again.
HAWAII BASEBALL might have been lucky that "spring game" events aren't usually part of television packages.
If you're a UH fan sitting at home, which would you rather see -- baseball, or the Wahine facing down Logan Tom and defending national champ Stanford in the "Return of Lily"?
Baseball was an enjoyable game, the Rainbows beat Fresno.
Good thing there wasn't a choice.
CINCINNATI IS Robert Grant's best chance to make it in the NFL.
Cincinnati is anybody's best chance to make it in the NFL.
It's great that all these ex-Hawaii players are getting free-agent contracts in pro camps thanks to June Jones recommendations, but now the pressure is really on.
It's up to them now to keep a June Jones recommendation at its current value, and not ruin this great opportunity for future UH football alums.
IN A PERFECT WORLD, a new Hawaii bowl would have a contract with "major" conferences -- with an out-clause for UH as an "at-large" team when circumstances warrant. Something like the arrangement Notre Dame has with the BCS bowls.
The WAC may not be the most appealing football conference to television, but ESPN is starting to really, really like Hawaii.
VOLLEYBALL is good.
Rally scoring is evil.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com