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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
The Jones deal, Tony’s
mo-ped and Mr. WieNICE to read, in yesterday's Star-Bulletin, that a new contract for June Jones might actually finally be in sight.
Of course, this would also mark the first time a five-year contract actually took five years to negotiate.
But this is good news. Good for Hawaii. Good for Jones. Very good for Herman Frazier, too.
Sure, we all knew this was coming (what was Hawaii going to do -- let Jones go? What was Jones going to do -- leave?). But making it official would be a very big deal. And a sign that Frazier is a man who can get things done.
It is the biggest thing on his calendar, after all. It had to have been his No. 1 priority. Crossing this one off would be a big sigh of relief.
Now all he has to do is sell out Aloha Stadium, walk UH through the conference alignment high-wire act and stamp that "H" on everything in Asia.
Good luck.
>> The quote that stuck with me from that story:
"We've been under the radar purposefully," said Herman "Stealth" Frazier.
>> A suggestion: "Here is your next column: Tell Tony Ching to buy one car."
Those mo-peds may be perfect for the college life, but after all the minor injuries and near-misses in recent years it was only a matter of time before something serious happened. I still shudder thinking about the time I could have cleaned out Ashley Lelie when his two-wheeler zipped out from out of nowhere on Lower Campus Road.
Thank goodness Ching, the national champion volleyball player, is OK.
>> And for goodness sake, give the boy his puppy back!
>> If I were Michelle Wie's dad I would have been running around town all day Friday scooping up those Star-Bulletins with the front page story that said his daughter could make up to $50 million in endorsement deals. I have this image of him frantically throwing armful after armful of newspapers into a dumpster. Would you want your teenager to know something like that? Talk about trying to cut a kid's allowance ...
>> Just walking across that FieldTurf last week I felt faster.
>> Unfortunately this year's graduates still have to suffer through another season of the dreaded AstroTurf.
>> That Aloha Stadium project turned out to be a much bigger job than many people realized. This is no cookie cutter operation, but a custom, first-of-its-kind undertaking with a number of imperfect variables. Good thing it's being done now and not over a weekend. Good thing George Toma and his crew are on the job.
Oh, and in case you missed it, George says the players are going to love this field.
>> Remember when I was always complaining that UH didn't use Jones enough to court national publicity? What a difference a year or two makes. Can you believe Isaac Sopoaga is officially a preseason Outland Trophy candidate?
Hawaii's football and sports information offices should take a bow.
(And they've got to use the Isaac quote that he's just trying to make "Mr. Jones" proud.)
>> The KFVE rebroadcast Friday night (and yes, I'm that sick that this is what I'm watching at home) of UH's incredible comeback Rainbow Classic win over Butler hammered the reality home in the hardest fashion yet:
I don't care how good he becomes in football -- it's profoundly sad that Tony Akpan's first priority won't be hoops.
That guy was magic.
>> And speaking of KFVE, they get to broadcast, what, a game and a half next football season?
>> There's nothing to make a guy feel all 1998 again like watching Steve Kerr make big baskets at crunch time.
Nets in seven.
>> Here's something to chew on as we head into the dreams of summertime: Going through some old notes I came across the line from UH receiver Jeremiah Cockheran in the postgame jumble that followed the 2002 Alabama game:
"We're good, too," Cockheran said, after UH had threatened to pull off an upset against one of college football's royal families. "Who said we wasn't?"
That's the kind of attitude you want from a guy who ended the season threatening to become a breakout star.
And hey, not me. Not with Timmy Chang in his fourth year in the program and Jones in his fifth. Not with receivers galore and a secondary intact and a defensive line loaded with greyhounds and cement blocks.
Let the dreaming begin.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com