Press Box
Sports brought
Benham’s crew togetherTHEY did what friends do -- go to sports events, hit a club now and then, play tennis. Sometimes just hang out and talk story.
Many were among their circle. But the core included a part-Hawaiian in his 80s, an Italian-American transplant from New Jersey nearly two decades younger, another local guy a few years younger yet, and a haole originally from Oregon who is a generation junior to the second man.
The kid from Oregon moved away, but returned often and stayed in touch.
Inter-racial groups of friends are among Hawaii's many joys, and this one is proof that sports brings together people of diverse backgrounds.
But have you ever seen pals that cross generations like this? Clay Benham, Tony Sellitto, Russell Dung and Neil Everett were more than 40 years apart chronologically, but inseparable as friends.
Hence, Sellitto's dilemma when Benham died Monday.
This week, Benham, Sellitto and Dung were to meet Everett at the Kentucky Derby.
Benham had told Sellitto he wanted him to do the eulogy at his funeral, and the services are tomorrow at Central Union Church. But the man who ran the Interscholastic League of Honolulu didn't leave a contingency plan for this situation.
Benham's widow, Marian, solved it.
"She said we'd better go (to Kentucky)," Sellitto said. "That's what Clay would have wanted."
And in this group, Benham was the general.
"Clay was the leader of the pack. The rest of us just kind of fell in behind," said Everett, the former KGMB sports director who is now an anchor for ESPN. "The roses have certainly wilted, but Clay will be with us in spirit."
BENHAM became ILH executive secretary in 1970, the same year the public schools ran for the hills. That has worked against his image ever since. To some, Clay Benham was the designated villain of Hawaii high school sports. For 32 years the ILH has been the overdog, and for 32 years Benham was its leader.
But if you knew him, you knew of his warmth and sense of fairness that never abandoned him; this despite losing a son before his time.
This should be Benham's Hawaii sports legacy: He was an agent of reform. Especially in his later years, he did his best to resolve differences with the public school leagues -- differences that are not unique to Hawaii, and not created by Benham. The evidence is ILH rule changes aimed at curbing recruiting.
Sometimes, it seems everybody in sports thinks they've been slighted, snubbed or disrespected, and fingers get pointed at those in power.
The ILH is an easy target. The Davids go after this Goliath with rocket launchers rather than slingshots.
But if Clay Benham didn't have a heart for the underdog, why would Tony Sellitto be his best friend?
That same Tony Sellitto who didn't even have a gym when he coached basketball at tiny Maryknoll.
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail Dave: dreardon@starbulletin.com