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Sidelines Kalani Simpson |
Thoughts while in charge
of Wahine hoopsIT'S a running joke that happens about once a week: I am in the sports department earlier than most of my colleagues and our dawn-patrol ace Randy Cadiente is heading out the door at pau hana time.
"You're in charge," Randy says, and we both laugh. This is my chance to seize power -- nobody else is in the office!
I bring this up because the Rainbow Wahine basketball office doesn't have any coaches right now. And I could just as easily pretend to be in charge there ...
» It's official: Michelle Wie is the real deal. But she's not the only teen who is. And her "No. 1 prodigy" clock is ticking.
» It hurt at first, but it's probably good in the long run that Wie cried at the end of the Public Links. It showed her (and us) that she really wants to win and not just be famous. It showed her (and us) that this ride is a lot tougher when you add pressure (and she's had little of that, so far, despite all the thrills) to the equation.
» So Russell Shimooka and OC 16 have "The June Jones Show" again. I can only hope Russell shows the same enthusiasm he displayed during Oceanic's broadcasts of Hawaii's NIT run. At one point (and this was after Nebraska's Brian Conklin had made what must have been his 35th 3-pointer in a row), Shimooka erupted, "He's unconscious! He's un-CONKLIN!" And as I nearly fell out of my chair courtside, he grabbed my arm and screamed into the microphone, "That's right, I said he's un-CONKLIN!"
If there is at least one unconklin episode per show, I'm tuning in.
» I am one of Jim Leahey's biggest fans, but I have to admit this Oceanic stuff has been interesting ...
» Some have said that Jones won't get paid for appearing on the show. Uh ... not quite. "Appearing in a coach's show is part of Jones' contract," our paper accurately put it.
In fact -- and this revelation blew my mind, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't believe it -- Jones only gets half of his salary for coaching football. The other half, according to his contract, is specifically for stuff like "performance, participation or appearances in speaking engagements, community service events, promotions, sponsorships, or broadcasts. Including without limitation, endorsements, radio and television programs, media events, public appearances, advertisements, Internet Web sites, films or videotapes, and other similar enterprise in any and all media that is negotiated, produced or authorized by the University. ..."
Which means that he's getting paid more than $400,000 to do the coach's show! (Oh, and also to do things like Na Koa meetings, postgame radio interviews and to put up with idiots like me.)
And we thought Shimooka was going to be excited ...
» Darn that Herman Frazier. It never fails. Every time his "get fit/stay active" commercial comes on I'm eating ice cream straight from the carton.
» Again, I liked Evan Dobelle personally, but "It cannot be about me." ...
» It might have been a little bit about you. I know it always is with me.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com