Sidelines
Pressure wasn’t just
on NebraskaWELL, now this Wahine squad has its invitation to New Orleans and its place in the volleyball final four, which is as it should be.
But the comments after Saturday's match were a bit puzzling: that it was Nebraska that had all the pressure on it, that Nebraska was the team that was playing nervous, that the Wahine were the ones with no worries, and nothing to lose.
Yes, many thought that the Huskers, with their home crowd and home floor, had a slight advantage, and had to be considered slight favorites.
Maybe you could call it a mild upset.
But no pressure on Hawaii?
Yes, Nebraska has tremendous tradition, but not like this, not in terms of what it means to the state. Yes, Nebraska has fans, but not like this. Yes, Nebraska has expectations, hanging over them from outside the program.
But nothing like this.
And the ladies in red had players the volleyball world is familiar with, prep stars and All-Americans. But they didn't have Lily and Kim.
This team has had a run at a national championship penciled in since Lily Kahumoku announced she was coming back. Anything less than the final four would have been a huge letdown.
Good thing there was no pressure.
>> IF RILEY WALLACE has said it once, he's said it a thousand times: "Haim is the key."
Zero points for Haim Shimonovich at San Diego State means a big loss in a big game.
Tough opponent. Long trip. But they all are, when you're trying to make the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row. The Cinderella story is over for UH. These days, everyone expects better than this.
Shimonovich, the key, has to have a big game every game. Mark Campbell has to score this season. If Carl English is going to be the star, then he has to be the star.
Of course, nobody knows this more than they do. Especially now.
>> Said Tulane coach Chris Scelfo, in my new favorite newspaper, the student Tulane Hullabaloo: "I've never met a bowl I didn't like."
>> The Hawaii Bowl only needs about 30,000 more like him.
>> What's the over-under for actual okoles in the seats on Christmas Day? What's the final attendance number that either alarms or assuages ESPN?
>> I wanted to know what the Tulane fans were thinking about this bowl, so I went on one of those wacky Internet fan boards. The first message I found was the following, attributed to "TheWave":
The north-shore have the highest and biggest Waves! Black sand beach, the garden island and the island of Kahula (the big island to the locals), is the most highly significant emotional events in Hawaii! Hawaii is highly significant to have an emotional event, the eruptions are out of this world! The Wave will be Feeling it!
Slight pause, and then, in the words of Lawrence Taylor: Which brings me to my second point, kids. Don't do crack.
>> Depending which Iowa State team shows up -- and it's been a Jeckyll and Hyde season -- Boise State could score an impressive win over a Big 12 team in the Humanitarian Bowl. Or it could take a Big 12 pounding.
>> If any of you recruit-aholics missed Jason Kaneshiro and Dave Reardon's Sunday season-opener, get on the computer and look it up.
>> We know the guys at ESPN.com love Wallace and June Jones. The latest to jump on the UH bandwagon is "gonzo" writer Hunter S. Thompson, a cult figure portrayed in the movies "Where the Buffalo Roam" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."
The, um, famously heavily medicated Thompson describes a weird interview with his "old friend" Jones in which Jones reveals that one of the biggest problems facing the UH team is, uh ... dogs.
But then Thompson tends to ramble with a beautiful insanity, writing strange and darkly eccentric things. The ESPN.com column was headlined "Honolulu Marathon decadent, depraved."
Thompson goes on to predict greatness for UH as "a major football power." If only Jones can keep the dogs at bay.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com