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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
English, Sosa’s cork
and lots of spinIT turns out that the UH program really does prepare you for pro basketball. It could be that a few of those foreign languages Carl English was exposed to may come in handy ...
Hey, we'd all love to see the Bleached Bomber get drafted -- hopefully by the Denver Savos. (And English is apparently playing pretty darn well in Chicago, had another double-digit instant-offense game the other night to improve his stock.) But there are 66 guys at the Pre-Draft Camp. And these are only the ones on the bubble, the guys with something to prove.
No Carmelo Anthony here.
No Kirk Hinrich.
No Dwyane Wade.
The scouts like Carl's hustle? All those guys better be hustling.
(My favorite early entry into the NBA Draft pool is the guy from the community college of Beaver County, Pa.)
We'll see if the big league thinks he's a point guard. Or if a guy named English might end up speaking something else.
>> Despite all the fun we've had thanks to Annika Sorenstam lately, Michelle Wie should qualify if she's going to play in a local pro event. Two reasons: 1) I think she can do it; 2) You can't have someone try to qualify (at last year's Sony Open) and fall short one year, only to give her a sponsor's exemption the next; 3) There aren't that many sponsor's exemptions to throw around, according to media and all-around good guy for the Sony and other events, Bill Bachran. ... Wait, that's three reasons.
>> I may be the only person in America to believe Sammy Sosa's batting-practice-bat explanation, but the telling thing is the way the Chicago writers are killing him. It seems those guys have a different picture of the man than Sammy's good-guy image, and have been waiting for the chance to do a little batting practice of their own.
>> So, we read in Thursday's paper, surfing is the last sport left without official adult control and adult coaching and official school-sponsored league team competition.
Good.
Kids should still do something just for fun. It's not a bad thing to be the last of the pure pursuits.
>> The Hawaiian Islanders' new quarterback didn't play high school football, didn't play college football and spent six years in the Marine Corps.
This guy I've got to see.
>> It was less than a year ago that UH was saying that better results needed to be forthcoming or it might end its much-heralded marketing agreement with Leigh Steinberg and Co.
"It hasn't been the greatest return on our investment," Hawaii spokesman and VP Paul Costello said then, "and we need to say that it can be."
Yikes.
Now that the agreement has not been renewed, the story is that this was the plan all along, that June Jones' agent's corporation would only oversee things for a few years and then step aside.
I like that story better. Much better.
That Herman Frazier and Steinberg were able to negotiate this potentially rocky terrain and spin it as a win-win speaks well for both of them.
And that is a win-win.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com