Sidelines
Kalani Simpson
THE silence you heard was me nodding. Trying to look
good on the radioReally, I was there. It was exciting, Thursday night, the inaugural "Star-Bulletin Press Box" radio show on 1420-AM.
We even got some phone calls. (One, calling me on not having followed through on an apparent e-mail promise two years ago to write a column about Damien grad Chris Truby.)
I was out of practice, having not done any radio shows in a few years. I needed work. I was not witty, or suave. The host, Scott Robbs, asked me how I would describe my writing style.
"Writing style?" I said.
Luckily, Dave Reardon and Paul Arnett were ready. They were garrulous and smooth. They even brought us out of the station breaks like seasoned pros.
I mostly nodded a lot.
Then, we had celebrity groundskeeper legend George Toma on to talk about the Aloha Stadium Fieldturf project. A veteran of countless interviews, he knows how to turn a single question into a 45-minute anecdote.
I nodded more.
But the hour ended before we knew it. There were no FCC violations. No NCAA violations. No parking violations. In spite of having not said one intelligent thing, I felt like I was back on the bike.
Move over, Tony Kornheiser.
This should be a fun show, when we get the hang of it. Notice I didn't say "good." But fun. We're independent, unfettered. We'll be different from what you've heard on most local sports radio shows.
Don't touch that dial.
>> This current Rainbow road trip will be a test of Mike Trapasso's leadership.
Earlier this season, Rice knocked Hawaii so far off course the Rainbows might still be recovering. This time, the games are in Texas, and afterward, UH is on the road for a long, long time.
This is where coaching comes in.
Sometimes it isn't so much teaching the game but in getting players to keep their heads up, and to believe. And this could be one of those times.
We'll see what these guys have got in them. And what Trap has, too.
>> Tony Akpan could play football. Anybody can. Anybody who is tough, and smart, and hard-working, and persistent and aggressive, and Tony is all of those things. Plus, he's an absolute rock of a physical specimen and the kind of guy you'd want on any team in any sport.
But his basketball future is too bright to be fooling around with this kind of stuff.
I'd like to see him learn one sport at a time.
>> I would ask for some of that old AstroTurf to put on my lanai, but the inevitable knee injuries and killer infections scare me.
By the end of last football season, if I even drove past Aloha Stadium, I would get out of the car with a limp.
>> The way I understand it, Carl English has simply made a decision to make a decision.
We'll see what that actual decision is, when he finds out more. Right now he's a lot more optimistic about his being drafted than I am.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com