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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Hawaii needs a positive
end to its seasonAND to all a good night ...
>> It may not seem like a big game, but this Hawaii Bowl has more riding on it than you'd think. This, as we saw with last year's bowl game, puts a stamp on the offseason and its effects can even linger into next season. Timmy Chang has to play well Thursday. Hawaii has to end this year on a positive note.
This is a year -- despite a nice record and a great win over Alabama -- that could use a positive note.
This is a very big game.
>> I love the historic/symbolic significance of this matchup. Houston is the hometown of the run-and-shoot offense, in much the same way blues music was born on the Mississippi Delta, but is now associated with Memphis and Chicago.
The run-and-shoot was invented in Ohio, came of age in Portland and is currently playing in Hawaii, but Houston (Gamblers, Oilers, University of) is where they'll put the hall of fame.
>> What happened to UH (the other one) using the position of "superback"? I loved that.
>> Hawaii Bowl events that would make me happy (but probably won't happen): 1) An Andre Ware sighting; 2) An ESPN announcer using the word "gout."
>> It's sad that the long, strange trip that has been Travis LaBoy's career at Hawaii had to come to an end like this.
If he didn't hold up his end he has no one else to blame. But it's still jolting to see a guy cut loose and cast out.
>> Too bad he didn't get the job, but the shock of seeing Dick Tomey in UTEP orange just wouldn't have been right.
If new Miners coach Mike Price can go to the Rose Bowl from Pullman, Wash., then maybe winning at El Paso isn't impossible.
Roll, Tide.
>> With all the praise coming Haim "Haim is the Key" Shimonovich's way during the Rainbows' impressive recent run comes the memory of this preseason observation from Phil Martin: "Haim is the center ... and he's the center."
Deep.
>> I love the way JC Carter plays. "He has the quickness, and that's what I've been harping at him," Riley Wallace said last week. "He has great quickness. Use it."
This two-headed point guard thing just might work.
>> And the Rainbow Classic is suddenly a lot more attractive.
>> For those with fleeting memories, Dave Shoji has won four (count 'em, FOUR) big ones.
>> Which is exactly why you can't call this great bunch the best team in school history. Maybe, if you could put this team in a time machine, it might beat some of those championship teams (and maybe it might not). That doesn't matter. The fact is 1979, '82, '83 and '87 got it done. And that, as this current team itself has been telling us all year, trumps all.
>> But it was a great ride while it lasted.
>> Sunday will mean our preps guy Nick Abramo will no longer have to worry about me bothering him all the time for sneak peeks at the Star-Bulletin's football All-State team.
>> Bowl season has officially started. Hold my calls.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com