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Press Box Dave Reardon |
Hawaii in
a golden age
of sportsYES, it was a coincidence that Tyler Yates and Jerome Williams -- the two products of Hawaii high schools who are in major league rotations -- started on the same night. But the fact that both pitched well and both won is symbolic of how athletes from the islands are beginning to make marks like never before, in numbers like never before.
Sorry Jasmine, but our real American Idol contestants were on pitching mounds Monday in New York and San Francisco. Never mind that it took an AI-like number of phone calls by Felipe Alou to the bullpen to save Williams.
The Show is not really a show, it's no popularity contest. It's a tough business where young men like Yates and Williams combine grit with talent to survive. But the two young pitchers are just part of a bigger story brewing, a story that begins at local playgrounds and gyms and culminates at world-class competitions.
Here are just a few examples. Travis Lee: national champion college wrestler. Ashley Lelie: first-round NFL Draft pick. Derrick Low: off to the Pac-10 in basketball. Dennis Lajola: potentially the best tennis player ever to call Hawaii home. Michelle Wie: ditto in golf.
Here it is. Unfolding, on the verge of exploding. Right before us. The prodigies are maturing and beginning to live up to their potential.
This state has had other so-called "golden" eras in sports, but nothing like what we are beginning to see. And if the youth of the local athletes leading the charge is any indicator, Hawaii should have a lot to be proud of from its athletic sons and daughters for quite some time to come.
There was a time when many of the best boxers and swimmers in the world came from these shores ... world champions and Olympians.
It used to be that the University of Hawaii quarterback was automatically the most high-profile athlete in the state. And with Tim Chang chasing records with every pass, an argument might be made for that to be true again in the fall.
But right now, a 14-year-old high school freshman is the state's most famous athlete. Wie is precociously adept on golf's biggest stages ... as well as "60 Minutes."
She isn't the first teenager from Hawaii to excel in her sport and charm the world. Diver Keala O'Sullivan -- like Wie now, a Punahou student then -- won a bronze medal in Mexico City in 1968.
The difference is the shelf-life of a diver compared to that of a golfer is like that of a glass of milk vs. a can of corned beef. Wie could conceivably play competitive golf for 50 more years.
There have been some disappointments from recent local sports heroes. Lelie's job could be on the line this fall. Benny Agbayani's 15 minutes ended when his clutch hitting was deemed not worth his outfield butchery. Golden boy boxer Brian Viloria has underachieved since (and including) the Olympics four years ago. Volleyball star Lily Kahumoku -- once thought of by some as the perfect representative of a bullet-proof program -- is now appearing at a court of a different kind.
And it remains to be seen if Hawaii's athletes of today and tomorrow will match the accomplishments of people like Duke Kahanamoku, Sid Fernandez, Russ Francis and Jackie Pung.
But the army of achievers quickly spreading from these shores certainly has numbers on its side.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Dave Reardon is a Star-Bulletin sportswriter who covers University of Hawaii football and other topics. His column appears periodically. E-mail him at dreardon@starbulletin.com