CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Orlando Jones, right, filmed a commercial with Tampa Bay's John Lynch, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks yesterday at the Ihilani Resort, where the NFC practiced.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers docked in Hawaii on Wednesday night and the five Pro Bowl representatives of the Super Bowl champions attended their first NFC practice yesterday. With bleary eyes and big grins, John Lynch, Mike Alstott, Brad Johnson, Derrick Brooks and Simeon Rice walked the walk of champions and accepted congratulations from the best in their business. Champions strut
Toma greens the Hula Bowl
into Pro BowlBy Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com"Showing up as the world champs is something special," said Lynch, the perennial Pro Bowl safety. "This is my fifth time, and I remember every year watching the champs walk in and just thinking, 'Wow, I'd love to do that someday.' And it happened. When we left Tampa the place was going nuts. It's great to come here and relax a little bit. I love Hawaii. I love the people of Hawaii and everything it has to offer and I love being here at this game."
Rice, who will start at defensive end, took the place of injured Warren Sapp as the most quotable Pro Bowl Buccaneer.
"Everything right now is still sweet. We're still smelling the roses," said Rice, minutes after filming a commercial with Orlando Jones (the 7-Up guy) and Jennifer Love Hewitt (who will perform at halftime of Sunday's game at Aloha Stadium).
Rice was fresh off a guest spot on "Last Call" -- hosted by Hewitt's former beau, Carson Daly.
"Crazy how that works, huh? Backstabbing the guy who just had me on his national show, hanging with his girl," Rice said jokingly.
Jeff Kamis of the Bucs' media relations department said he had fielded hundreds of requests for interviews and appearances since Sunday's 48-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders.
Lynch was asked if he'd gotten any sleep since the game.
"None. You can tell by my voice. We had a great time, and rightfully so," he said.
Yesterday was special for the Bucs because it was their first real exposure to their colleagues.
"I think one of the neat things is the respect you get," he said. "You competed real hard against them and there are some intense rivalries. But it's kind of an unwritten rule in this league where you show your respect to the champs and everyone has and it's been great."
But Rice knows the smiles last only so long. It won't be long before the Bucs become the ultimate target for 31 other teams.
"We understand what we accomplished and what is in store for us next season," he said. "At this level you can never be satisfied. The belly's full, but we're still hungry."
Book 'em Donnie: Chargers linebacker Donnie Edwards shared his love for books with students at Kaleiopuu Elementary School on Wednesday. He was joined by San Diego teammate LaDainian Tomlinson and New England's Larry Izzo in a read-aloud session.
"I love Dr. Seuss and I love interacting with kids," said Edwards, who is well-known for his good works in San Diego, his hometown.
Edwards is a frequent visitor to Hawaii, often appearing at football camps put on by Iolani graduate Greg Andrasick, his teammate at UCLA.
Won't go there: Normally accommodating Colts quarterback Peyton Manning isn't used to making "no comment" responses. But he did the smart thing when asked for his take on disparaging remarks about his leadership by teammate Mike Vanderjagt, the Colts' kicker.
"How do I say it?," Manning said. "You don't really expect me to comment on it, do you?"
Madison replaces Surtain: Dolphins cornerback Patrick Surtain dropped out of the Pro Bowl yesterday because of a knee injury and was replaced by teammate Sam Madison.
The undisclosed injury gives Madison a fourth consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl. Madison had 31 tackles and three interceptions last season, a year in which he criticized himself for not playing to his standards.
Surtain, making his first Pro Bowl, had been a starter for Sunday's game. Instead, Houston's Aaron Glenn and New England's Ty Law will start for the AFC squad. Madison will be the lone reserve at cornerback.
The Dolphins have seven players in the Pro Bowl, including defensive tackle Tim Bowens, safety Brock Marion, linebacker Zach Thomas and running back Ricky Williams.
Short yardage: Hawaii assistant coaches Mike Cavanaugh, Ron Lee and Kevin Lempa took a short break from the recruiting wars to attend the NFC's practice yesterday. ... NFL officials did not know last night if the game was a sellout yet. If it is by today, the local live TV blackout will be lifted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
BACK TO TOP |
WAILUKU >> Perhaps the grass isn't always greener on the other side. But if George Toma has anything to do with it, any grass he is involved with will be perfect, from color to texture to playability. Toma turns TV screens
the right shade of greenBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comToma is so good at what he does that the NFL gave him a title: Artificial & Natural Turf Consultant. That is why, when War Memorial Stadium needed an upgraded grass field for tomorrow's game, Toma got the call.
The new grass was installed last spring. It has received several extra waterings this week with the passing rain showers.
To keep the field looking good for tomorrow's nationally televised game, the Hula Bowl practices have been held off-site. Yesterday's practices were on the soccer field across the street from War Memorial Stadium with today's practices scheduled for the field next to the Lahaina Aquatic Center.
By the numbers: Since the Hula Bowl began in 1947, a total of 184 colleges and universities have been represented. The school with the most players appearing in the Hula Bowl has been Hawaii (141), which has six on the roster for tomorrow's game.
Behind Hawaii in Hula Bowl participants are: UCLA (114), Southern Cal (112) and Michigan (84). Oklahoma (79), Washington State (76), Notre Dame (72), Ohio State (71), Cal (65), and Navy and Nebraska (63) round out the Top 10.
This year, there are 33 schools represented on the Kai team, and 32 schools represented on the Aina team. Included are five Japanese universities: Meiji, Waseda, Kobe, Konan and Doshisha.
Head of the class: Kai defensive end Demoine Adams graduated from Nebraska in three years with a degree in political science and five minors. He played the last two seasons as a graduate student. ... Kai safety Calvin Carlyle was the first non-science major at Oregon State to be awarded a summer fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He is doing research on bacteria in OSU's microbiology department and his article will soon be published in a science journal.
Seeing double: There are two Chris Browns on the Kai roster, the 6-foot-1 Alabama-Birmingham cornerback and the 6-1 linebacker from Hawaii. Even with a program, fans won't be able to tell them apart. The wrong photo for the Warriors' Brown was used, with that of Notre Dame tackle Jordan Black in its place. ... UH's Brown is a cousin of Chad Rowan, the retired yokozuna known as Akebono.
Coaches corner: Larry Kehres, finishing his 17th season at Mount Union College, is back for his sixth coaching stint in the Hula Bowl in seven years. His Purple Raiders won their seventh Division III national championship last month, earning Kehres the invitation to again be on the bowl staff.
Mount Union is 110-1 under Kehres in the past 11 regular seasons. The Purple Raiders have won 13 conference titles and 11 undefeated seasons since 1986.
Kehres will be on the Aina staff, while Brian Kelly, head coach at Grand Valley State, is on the Kai staff. Kelly's Lakers went 14-0 en route to the 2002 Division II national championship.
Off the field: Four players in this year's game have overcome illness and personal tragedy en route to all-star recognition.
Miami kicker Todd Sievers and Rice defensive end Brandon Green have battled diabetes since childhood. Sievers ranks second all-time on Miami's career scoring list with 310 points. Green, who has required daily insulin shots since he was 10, is the Owls' record holder in sacks (25) and is second in tackles-for-loss (44).
Ohio fullback Chad Brinker missed most of his junior season while recovering from surgery to remove an arachnoid cyst in his skull. This past season, he became just the eighth player in school history to gain more than 1,000 yards in a year.
For Ohio State's Chris Vance, the Buckeyes' great season was put into perspective in early November when his brother Percy Burton was murdered in Florida. Vance was told the news prior to the kickoff of the Minnesota game; he chose to play against the Gophers and caught a 30-yard touchdown that he dedicated to his brother's memory.
To the rescue: Southern California's Bernard Riley helped saved the life of a female student in September after she fell out of her apartment window and was impaled on the spikes of a security fence. The defensive tackle and teammates Steve Stevenson, Malcolm Wooldridge and Kyle Matthews received national attention for coming to the woman's aid.
Short punts: Arriving yesterday to participate in yesterday's Heisman Hula Bowl Golf Tournament at the Dunes at Maui Lani was former Hawaii football coach Bob Wagner. Wagner is the athletic director at the new Kamehameha Schools campus in Keaau on the Big Island. ... Also attending this week's festivities is Duane Akina, the secondary coach at Texas. Akina was on Hawaii's staff from 1981-1985 before moving on to Arizona with former UH head coach Dick Tomey. ... The players enjoyed a shopping outing after yesterday's practice and a pizza party last night.
