The next 48 hours will have a profound impact on the Hawaii football program for the next four or five years. Key visits for
UH begin tonightBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.comAround 15 potential Warriors begin their official on-campus visits tonight. Five are among the state's top 10 prospects: They are defensive lineman Tolifili Liufau (1), wide receiver Jason Rivers (2), offensive linemen Michael Lafaele (8) and Jeremy Inferrera (9), and linebacker Timo Paepule (10). All are from state-champion Saint Louis School except for Lafaele, who is from Farrington.
Lafaele is the only one of the group to select UH so far, and Pac-10 schools are courting the uncommitted.
"It's a big weekend. We've got a bunch of guys coming in," said UH assistant coach Ron Lee, who coordinates local recruiting. "Guys from the mainland and here."
NCAA rules prohibit Lee from talking about specific recruits. But he spoke a little bit yesterday about selling Hawaii, the university, to young men who already live in Hawaii, the state -- young men who may have already eaten at Sam Choy's, been to a UH volleyball game and seen the bikinis at Waikiki Beach.
"The most important things are they visit the facilities and get to know the coaches and players," Lee said. "Many of them are not really that familiar with the campus, so we want to be sure they know what we have to offer athletically and academically. We want them to know they'll get a good education, so we introduce them to faculty. We also want them to get to know the guys who would be their teammates so they feel comfortable with them."
Warrior notes: Linebackers Isaiah Alameda and Watson Hoohuli have returned to school at UH and could play in the fall, defensive coordinator Kevin Lempa confirmed yesterday. Hoohuli played as a backup as a freshman in 2001 and Alameda started last year's spring scrimmage as a sophomore. Both left school for personal reasons last year. ... Wayne Hunter, last year's starting left tackle, officially made himself available for the NFL Draft prior to Wednesday's deadline and is training in Phoenix. ... Offensive lineman Vince Manuwai and linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa are getting good reviews from scouts at Senior Bowl practices. The game is tomorrow in Mobile, Ala.
On the trail: Palomar JC (Calif.) linebacker Mike Tinoisamoa, the brother of Pisa, will probably not be offered by Hawaii. Palomar safety Willie Tagoai, however, will visit UH this week. ... Foothills (Santa Ana, Calif.) running back Mike Liti (who visited UH last week) is slated to play in Kingdom Bowl II, an all-star game featuring players of Tongan descent, in Tonga on July 5, game organizer and Kahuku coach Siuaki Livai said. Last year the Hawaii team beat the Mainland squad 28-0. ... Centennial (Corona, Calif.) cornerback Ray Bass has canceled his Jan. 24 visit to Kansas in favor of one to Washington State. The speedster is still scheduled to visit here Jan. 31. ... Aiea offensive lineman Brandon Rodd is narrowing things down to Arizona State, Hawaii, Oregon and San Diego State. ... Livai said an Internet report yesterday that Kahuku offensive lineman Joseph Napeahi and defensive lineman Quin Ah You had committed to Hawaii was erroneous. Ah You has been offered by UH, but Napeahi has not to this point.
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It was hard to say what had Chris Riley more excited after yesterday's opening-round 65 at the $4.5 million Sony Open in Hawaii -- the fact he was tied for third or being partnered with Fred Couples and Tom Lehman. Riley hopes to finish as
strong as he starts this timeBy Paul Arnett
parnett@starbulletin.comAs a youngster, the 29-year-old once wrote a letter to Couples telling him he used the same brand of clubs as his PGA Tour hero. And while he never got a letter in return, being partnered with Couples and Lehman for the first time had the Las Vegas resident still giddy by round's end.
"I wanted to show them what I can do," Riley said. He bested Lehman by three shots and Couples by six. And while he doesn't hold any ill will toward Couples for not writing him back, "I do answer the little fan mail I get."
The threesome teed it up again today. Riley can only hope he doesn't do what he did a year ago after opening with a 65 to share the 2002 lead with Kenny Perry. He trailed by four shots after the second and third rounds, but shot a woeful 72 the final day to finish tied for 13th, six shots off the pace set by winner Jerry Kelly.
"I like this course," Riley said. "I was shaking like a leaf on the first tee of the Mercedes Championships last week, but I was focused today, not really nervous, it being the second week. My game is going in the right direction. I had fun today playing with Lehman and Couples. This is a difficult course in the wind."
Close friend Tiger Woods called Riley after he saw an interview of him at the Mercedes on the Golf Channel last week.
"He thought some of my answers were funny, I guess," Riley said. "He told me to go out there and win it. I like when Tiger is out here. He is my favorite player, except for myself of course. The knee won't affect him. He is awesome."
Pride enjoys ride: Dicky Pride is not that well-known in the grand scheme of the PGA. The 33-year-old pro has entered 251 tournaments, finished in the money 87 times and managed nine top-10 finishes along the way for $1.6 million in career earnings.
Still, he had to qualify Monday at Pearl Country Club just to make this week's field. And he had to go an extra five holes after 18 just to do it.
"I felt like I played in a tournament just to make it here," Pride said, then smiled. "But I played a very solid round of golf today. I did not take advantage of the par-5s and I missed an 8-footer for birdie on 16, but everything else was great."
Pride finished with a 4-under 66, good enough for the early-morning lead. He wound up in a tie for sixth, some two strokes off the pace set by Perry and South African Retief Goosen. But when considering what Pride went through last year with his health, he's lucky to still be playing competitive golf.
He missed four months of the 2002 season due to an attack of gall stones and pancreatitis that laid him low at the start of March Madness.
"I thought I would be in the hospital for one week," Pride said. "I thought, 'Well, this is OK because I can sit in here and watch all the basketball tournament games.' But after Alabama (his alma mater) went out early and I learned I'd be in there longer than I thought, it wasn't that great."
In fact, Pride remained hospitalized another few weeks after having his gall bladder removed. He was fed through a tube for two months and was fortunate to be in Orlando, Fla., on the PGA Tour, instead of New Zealand for the Nationwide Tour.
"If I hadn't received an exemption for Bay Hill, I would have had this problem in New Zealand, so I was very lucky," Pride said. "My health is good now."
And so too is his golf game. At least after one round.
Locals struggle: There are seven players in the field with local ties, but after today's round, there might not be any.
Douglas Bohn, Ron Castillo, Regan Lee, Kirk Nelson, Dean Wilson and amateurs Royden Heirakuji and Joe Phengsavath teed it up during yesterday's opening round. Only Wilson is a full-fledged member of the tour. He shot 4-over 74 and will not likely survive the cut.
Lee and Nelson were one shot better at 73, but with the projected cut at even-par, it will be difficult for either golfer to sneak in. Phengsavath and Heirakuji shot 76 and 80. Bohn had a 79 and Castillo fired a 78.
Solid shooting: There were 60 golfers who broke par during yesterday's opening round. The scoring average for the field was 70.111. The hardest hole was the first. The 144 players in the field managed only three birdies by Lehman, Corey Pavin and Mark Wilson on the 488-yard par-4.
By contrast, there were 51 bogeys, four double bogeys and two triples by Castillo and Heirakuji for a scoring average of 4.431. The second hole was the second-most difficult with an average of 4.333. The easiest was the par-5 ninth. That 510-yard hole yielded 21 eagles, 85 birdies and nothing worse than par for a scoring average of 4.118.
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Coming into the season, all coaches agreed that the key to winning the Pacific West Conference was stealing games on the road because winning at home was a given. Road wins
becoming commonBy Jerry Campany
jcampany@starbulletin.comAt least until last Tuesday.
Hawaii Pacific broke Montana State-Billings' 38-game home winning streak -- which was the longest in the nation -- but people could see that coming. What was not expected was that Chaminade would beat Hilo in Hilo, adding to Brigham Young-Hawaii's road win over Western New Mexico to give the PacWest a day when all three games were won by the road team.
The only team not surprised about it was the Sea Warriors, who lost to Brigham Young-Hawaii by only three points in the Cannon Center before leaving on the trip. HPU gets another shot at the Seasiders in the Cannon Center -- where Hawaii's longest home winning streak (12) lives -- when they return next week.
The Sea Warriors are living on momentum, but that is not the only thing that allowed them to break the string. They gave the Yellowjackets a taste of their own medicine.
"Just a couple of days ago they played three games in Hawaii, and we wanted to take advantage of it," Hawaii Pacific coach Russell Dung said. "We wanted to turn the travel around on them and run because that's our strength. No sense in saving our energy. As the game wore on they looked kind of fatigued."
The Sea Warriors also did it without their top player. Shooting guard Nic Walters sprained his shoulder in the game against BYUH and will not play during the entire road trip and is questionable for the rest of the season. Walters has an idea why his team was able to beat the Yellowjackets in Billings for the first time since 1999, which was the last time MSUB lost a conference game.
"This year is different," Walters said. "We don't go in there expecting to lose now. Before we would go in there hoping to stay close and steal it at the end."
Banner day: Brigham Young-Hawaii raised three more banners to the roof of the Cannon Activities Center yesterday, bringing the total of national championships to 19.
The school did it during a morning devotional meeting, recognizing national championships won by the men's tennis team, the women's tennis team and volleyball team this year.
Tree ceremony: The Hawaii Pacific softball team will hold a ceremony on the field at the school's windward campus Feb. 2 to honor its 1993-94 team.
At the conclusion of that season, a 34-10 year in which they lost in the NAIA national championship game to Athens State, each member of the team planted a tree outside the outfield fence in Howard Okita's first year as coach.
The team will reunite to put commemorative plaques at the base of each tree.
Hilo hits the jackpot: Doug Zimmerman, the father of Hawaii-Hilo baseball player Joel Zimmerman, won the lottery last Thanksgiving and donated $25,000 to the Vulcans' baseball program. Add that to John Gifford's pledge to match any donations and Hilo became $50,000 richer in one week.
Job search: Hawaii-Hilo athletic director Kathleen McNally hopes to have a volleyball coach in place by Feb. 15, but has not been able to advertise the opening because she has not gotten the new job description she proposed back yet. She believes that once she does advertise it, she will have no problem filling the position. Although she has fielded calls from people interested in the position, she will not begin the formal process until next week.
Current assistant Kawaaileleohi'ilawe has been running the program in the interim.
