From prose to pros
If English major Solomon Elimimian gets his wish, he won’t be available to attend his UH graduation ceremony. The Buffalo Bills, for whom Elimian had a tryout this past weekend, are conducting a mini camp during the same time frame as the graduation ceremony. After a successful tryout, Elimimian is seeking a free-agent contract from the Bills. He will complete work on his bachelor’s degree this week.
* * *
Congrats to Stephanie Ricketts, who today was named the WAC’s Softball Pitcher of the Week.
* * *
Don’t know much about water polo, obviously, but it does seem odd that the eight-team national championships will be held in Mayland. Let’s see, five schools from California, one from Hawai‘i ..
COMMENTS
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1st?
2nd or 3rd
top 5!
cheepono out.
good morning everyone!
awesome boxing match this past saturday! 🙂
morning all
Good luck Solly!
if solly doesn’t get a contract for next year i think he would be a great addition to the coaching staff as a GA if there is a spot available…..would be perfect to have him, he must have a great understanding of the defensive concepts since he was always in the right place at the right time on the field………..i still hope he gets that contract though
ST ~ Who’s the guest on the WB show Tuesday?
at least pacquiao made up for the disappointment of our basebows getting their tails handed to them this weekend. and to think they were one Kmac 2 out HR away from losing 7 straight in the wac.
pacquiao/pretty boy floyd – should be boxing’s biggest fight in years.
Best of luck to Sol, hopefully he can land on the Bills’ roster. But he will be receiving a college degree, and that is a victory in itself. Don’t let T.O. be filling your head with some nonsense up there! He likes to get all the younger players in his corner because they don’t know any better.
Tragedy in Dallas over the weekend. Prayers to the coaches and staff who were seriously injured when the practice facility collapsed. Thank goodness no lives were lost but some lives were changed forever.
Good Luck Sol!
I hope Solly gets his wish…good luck
Tomorrow’s guest is Craig Stutzmann.
One of the twins already has been notified.
Top 15!!
Good luck to Solly. Even if he doesn’t walk, he still has that piece of paper and that’s the most important thing!!
I was hoping I could make Top 20!
Why haven’t you notified the other twin?
It’s Sophie’s choice. I had to pick a twin.
Craig has a twin???? LMAO
Good morning everyone!
…well, under these circumstances, I hope that Solly misses his Walk. But congrats on the degree!
Work today…BBL
Good morning.
Hope that Genie grants Solly his wish.
Top 100!
Good Luck Solly!
Was the notification done via a sign in your window as she drove by this morning?
top fitty babeee!!!
Ugh… Monday… Ugh…
On a brighter note, Congrats are in order for Wahine Stephanie Ricketts for earning another “WAC Hitter Of The Week” honor!
What did Ricketts hit?
Howzit gang-
Hooooo that was a tough lost to watch yesterday by the BBows. But, what made it bearable was watching it with fellow Tsaikos.
Good fun.
small note: PowderPuff is a Bona Fide Heckler! Spooky her! No mercy! No shame! Good ting neva have kids around us.
brought over from the last blog:
Does anyone else have an opinion on the “small ball” mentality of the Bows? I know it can be effective when executed properly, but I just get the feeling that we end up sacrificing too many bunts and flyouts which ends up as a sacrifice of the game. I’d rather see the hitters hit.
re small ball – i don’t really care for them. i like da BIG ball. das why i like cc and j (j). bwhahahahahaha.
Small ball is ok if you want to get a run here or there and when it’s usually a pitcher’s duel. But LaTech can hit and you need to score runs in a bunch against them.
Hi, again, gang.
Thats the trouble with being slow, I was typing away on the last blog, by the time I finally hit submit, the new blog was up, lol. Should have known better.
Good morning, afternoon, everybody.
hi ted
good to see you up and at em.
GO SOLLY!
CONGRATS STEPHANIE!
ALOHA KAKAHIAKA!
HIHO!
Whoosh!
Excuse me… Case of the Mondays is effecting me.
I’m meant Stephanie Ricketts got WAC PITCHER of the week, not hitter.
Homey,
That’s what happens when people type without thinking…
Kazz:
That’s OK, at least you have it only on Mondays – heck, I get it 7-days a week – much less if Mrs A-House peeking over my left shoulder as I am typing.
Eye-hand coordination going to the dogs!!!!!!!!!!! Hey, I forgot mental too!
Great to hear that Solli did well over the weekend at Buffalo.
Any word on Adam Lenoard? Saw a clip, but he was just standing around!
Colt tidbit: if this whole football thing doesn’t work out for him, he will dominate the ranks of any Dodgeball league in the history of the universe.
From Redskins.com blog:
“Jason was our most improved dodgeball player out there,” he said afterward. “Colt [Brennan] is the most valuable dodgeball thrower, with the possible exception of Coach Zorn.” This was also undeniably true; Brennan was winging those dodgeballs like it was his mission in life.”
I have a different take on playing “small ball” by the Rainbows.
If done effectively, like the Bows of the late 70’s and early 80’s, they hit well, ran the bases well, had a few power HRs, and pitched well.
Small ball can be very effective in scoring runs and watching the 4 games this past weekend was not a good example of playing small ball. Instead of “going for the wall”, well placed singles and doubles would have scored a lot of runs with all the runners on base. A good, recent example was Japan in the World Baseball games – few HRs, but a heck of a lot of singles and doubles. La Tech did a hell of a job of hitting the singles and doubles.
Jack Flash
Ahh…from what I’ve seen and heard this season, there hasn’t been much “small ball”. The bunt with no outs and a runner on first has not been a hard rule they’ve gone by. At the earlier part of the year, they were having a very difficult time getting a good bunt down and started swinging away more often. Recently, they’ve bunted much better, but the clutch hitting hasn’t been there. The whole team must be pulling out their collective hair right now.
BG
One thing that Coach Les would always tell the players was you must learn to hit to the opposite field to make you a complete batter.
If all the under classmen return, UH should have a really good team next year.
Likewise for La Tech if all their Frosh pitchers return next year. It will be very interesting!
BTW, any news of baseball recruits for next year and beyond? Get too caught up with football.
I heard Shoji had 2 or 3 recruits lined up for next year.
A-House – If UH hit singles and doubles then they wouldn’t need to play small ball.
Roosevelt played small ball (well placed bunts) against Mililani this past weekend. Congrats Roosevelt!
Since embarking on their road trip to Las Cruces, the bowboyz have dropped 7 of 9!
During that span they have yielded 99 runs and scored 54.
What is unsettling, 2 pitchers were suspended at the beginning of that road trip for team-related violations and our young-staff was whacked for 70 runs in 5 games.
Three of those games were 10 run-rule shortened.
Obviousily our pitching has gone from penthouse to out-house in 9 games.
While our pitching was souring our bats started to bipolarize too.
Coach Trapasso has attempted to compress his batting lineup by shifting the hot bats to the top-six and experimenting with a trio of starters at RF…Roguemore, Torigoe and Johnson to hit in the #8 or #9 spots.
Except for Johnson’s 2 run HR on Sunday these bats are comatose.
Coach shifted a streaking Moreford from the bottom in the order to #2, than #1 cuz Ryan found Jobu.
Except for Vinnie, Kolt, McD and occasionally Hernandez, our team BA was pitifully under the Mendoza line, yet we were able to win through clutch -hitting….not in these last 9 games….in the four-game series against LaT, Hawaii batters stranded 38 on the bases or 9.5 per game….yikes!
Yes, weak arms and cursed bats have added up to 10 for a Perfect Storm of 9 losses in the last 11 qames….not only are our boyz struggling to break surface but they are also drowning in their attempt to qualify as one of six teams in the WAC tournament field.
Good gads, this is depressing…but so are non-redeeming comments that speak about urinating in public.
homey:
sorry, my definition of small ball includes bunting which I note that the Bows have been awful the past 5 years.
player mentality has bee HR,HR,HR – yikes!!!!!!!!!
bee = been
I guess sometimes the ball just does not bounce your way huh? Like that dribbler to 2nd yesterday that ended up giving LaTech the go-ahead run, or our last at-bat 7 or 8 foulballs with one almost fair. Ugh!
A-House – that’s ok, small ball for me is advancing the runners either with steals, bunts, walks, hit and run, sac flies, putting the ball in play going the opposite way…small kine differences.
BTW, the Wahine recruits for VB in 2010 include:
Emily Hartong, Kaela Goodman, and Mita Uiato. Not sure if they changed their mind but did give a verbal…
Howzit, gang!
Howzit Mrs. C.
Anybody for Richie’s Drive Inn this Thursday for lunch?
Hi PRIDE!!!
Where’s Richies?
Is there a cc Tuesday?
homey…that’s a maybe for me….
Hi Big C….
BIG C – Across the post office on King St. in Kalihi.
curveball – According to al there is.
(J)J – I hope it’s a positive maybe. BTW, I need energy!
Meet at the drive thru window Homey?
Howzit, JJ…out of your cage today? Or just taking a breather?
Tanx, homes….I think I know….
BTW….is it SATURDAY yet…..I’m ters-teeeee….
ahouse
i guess you missed this article………
http://sports.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090301/SPORTS0203/903010367/-1&template=UHSports
Pride. – If no can find parking then we just order drive thru and wave goodbye to each other.
curveball
bulla posted cc for the return of the beast.
tuesday noon
camellia mccully
richie’s?
haven’t gone there in years.
richie’s the rainbow drive inn clone. of course you know the owner did work at rainbow drive inn for some time.
Big C – I thought your were 42…oh, you said thirsty…oops, my bad.
hahaha…not even close, homey…..not even close……
Yup, I’m always thirsty….
al ™:
May 4th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
curveball
bulla posted cc for the return of the beast.
tuesday noon
camellia mccully
OK
Homey ~ Keep it up and MamaC-Ta goin’ push you thru da drive-in window!
Kekoa – She does look young for her age…
al:
thanks for the article – there seems to be a “mist” swirling about telling me that I read the article, but 3/1/09 was a long time ago!
like what I read!!
fuud?
homey — I can probably make Ritchie’s on Thursday.
Still not sure I can get off work tomorrow for Camellia. Must have the afternoon off to recover after having a Camellia lunch… 😐
Very strategic pitching change by the La Tech coach to get that last batter. I’m not sure coach Trap is utilizing his pitching staff as he should. I always thought that because of his pitching background, he would have his bull pen ready to insert a righty or a lefty at a critical juncture.
That is just one of many key problems with a team that is floundering. I hope coach Trap will get the team back on track to pull them out of the rut, before time runs out.
A-House – No worries, we’ll remind you on 7/1 about the recruits again.
Ok, Thursday, I’ll be at Richie’s around noonish. If can can, if no can…lose money.
I think the fat lady is warming up in the bullpen.
Right now Richie’s on Thursday sounding more likely than CC on Tuesday….but tomorrow is still a Game Day decision.
Morford’s bunt attempt was mystifying (at best)!
Kekoa,
IIRC the last pitching change was due to injury although the guy was already warming up at the time.
homey,
You shouldn’t talk about Mrs. C that way….
d1 – you taking about my #64 post? 😆
#69 (how ironic)
THANK you Kekoa and d1!! hahaha…
I WAS gonna say that I would run him OVER while passing thru the drive-thru, but thought about it and realized that if he lays down, my car may be (is) too wide to run him ova! Looks like he’d fit right between the width of my Suburban’s tires…….
d1島:
Morford’s bunt attempt was mystifying (at best)!
I guess you used that word (mystifying) because we are not suppose to cuss…….
curveball,
We’re not supposed to but I certainly was at that point! 👿
Howzit, curveball!
HUH? We not supposed to cuss here???
Oh $#IT!****
Bwuahahahaha..just kidding….
homey..sent you some energy this morning….
Whoooss ters…teeeeeeee….at first I thought Big C said something about Thursday…oops…my bad…LMAO
Kekoa,
Don Robbs was right, Simoneaux was making me think more and more about Jim Dietz of SDSU. Can’t say that I always “appreciated” his rapid-fire pitching changes but there sure was a bunch of gamesmanship in those moves back then!
You wear Suburban tires for slippers? You are BIG! BWAHAHA
Thursday sounds good..its on my way home.haha..
Looks like the possibility of a little rain in Central Oahu might clear up the vog….better go outside fo’ check…
mixed plate gravy all over except on the mac.
yah, gravy on the mahi is okay too.
oh and one side chili no rice, i am on a diet.
(jus practicing for thursday)
Sup tsaikos.
Re richies
I off thursday. Will pick up mrs c then meet u guys at richies.
Mrs c tell boss u taking lunch thursday.
Question is whether C wears the tires like Asian girls (high to make them look taller than 3′) or wide like everyone else to fit the lu’au feet.
Howzit Everybody,
Homey gotta agree and she starting to sing kind of loud. Hopefully the boyz can shut her up for a little while.
Go for it Sol!
Oh, and, Hi!
Watch Replay of World Boxing Title Fight Now on the NET
RT World Champion Title Fight Boxing Las Vegas …Video see Hatton vs Pacquiao at http://tinyurl.com/cmtuk6
Mr C – It’s a date! BTW, I said nothing but good things about Big C today!
RT World Champion Title Fight Boxing Las Vegas …Video see Hatton vs Pacquiao at http://tinyurl.com/cmtuk6
playing now ….click on link….
Ten Que
wafan: I’m a BIG (according to homey) tita, so I get da lu’au feet….especially when I’m hapai..those buggahz get so big, I could squish homey with one foot!
Mr C, we’ll “c” ….hahaha..get it?? get it?? Okay..you had to be there….hurry up, chili and chicken almost ready…And no buy snacks for da kids again, eh? I going tell Love’s Bakery stop sellling to you in da afternoonz….
HKiko (CL) – Never gets tired of seeing Pacquiao feint with the right and throw the left from his hip to Hattton’s head.
C . . .
Kind of reminds me of the elephant and native joke.
Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Mrs c
Ok. Would it be better if lunch was 11am?
Waiting for choir to pau.
Mr. C – How about 11:30 then?
HawaiianKiko:
BEEEEG kine mahaloz for that clip!
LOVE IT!!
Homey 11 30 good.
No matter, leave um as is…its al and homey’s call. Its not the time, its my workload (seeing as I took the day off today…..)
If can, can, if no can…I staaav…..which wouldn’t hurt my curvacious figure…Bwauahahahaha…..
hahaha..SHUDDUP whoever is thinking of making any sort of remark to that……
100
Wow. C shouted for everyone to “SHUDDUP” and everyone did.
Those lu’au feet must be extra big!
She has little spikey things in her slippa’s…..
Hate to be be the poor sucker who would try slappin’ on da rump during a Tsai-ko karaoke…
——————-
Brawl breaks out during karaoke at Ore. restaurant
PORTLAND, Ore. – Authorities arrested seven people involved in a fight that broke out early Sunday during karaoke at a restaurant. Sheriff’s Sgt. David Thompson said the brawl ignited when a man became upset that his wife got slapped on the buttocks while singing a song.
Thompson said beer bottles and chairs were thrown during the melee while restaurant security used pepper spray on the fighters and upward of 100 people tried to exit.
Those arrested were charged with riot and disorderly conduct. Five were taken to the county jail and the others first went to the hospital.
SailorBlue,
That kine stuff happens during the mic check at the KK’s! 😯
Wafan
I never shut my mouth, I just in traffic and it sucks. I am used to loud noise.
Sailor blue
That mainly happens indoors in the mainland. I been to few brawls during work and told bruddahs who fight take it outside.
Local boyz, Parker McLachlin and Dean Wilson will be teeing it off at The Players Championship Sawgrass in Ponte Verde Beach, Florida, this THURS.
Both slipped in the FedEx Cup rankings to #151 and #109 respectively, but playing at the Sawgrass Island has to be the most intimidating par 3 on the PGA Tour.
The 137 yard 17th has been made famous by Tiger’s commercial that has an alligator gulping his clubs after it accidentally slips from his caddie’s grip into the dark waters surrounding the heart-shaped island.
Stephen Ames once exclaimed when asked how he plays the ‘island’, “just pray you get it on land and can 2-putt provided you are the right level”.
Sawgrass is a dream course and owned by the PGA Players and every hole constructed with mounds for spectator viewing.
Among the best I have attended….and for less than $400 you can purchase tickets for 4 days plus a weeky parking pass–if you love golf and want to see the best play on a spectacular and challenging course–this is golf’s version of disneyland–truly a must-see.
Sailor blue
Believe me, I’ve seen local ladies fight there own battles here, and husbands just stand by so no one jump in.
Mr C:
Is it assault with a deadly weapon when hit by a slippa….
Curveball
Its called discipline, depending what part of the island you from.
I guess everyone out of their office going home.
mahalo HawaiianKiko(Chief Lurker):
i think hatton is still walking about in a daze.
al…the order goes like this…
Mixed plate, chickens katsu, teri beef, pork cutlet, extra salad, gravy over everything…including the salad….oh, and a diet coke….
Hi Tsaikos
We just bought a new Tacoma for the boys. It’s standard. Shelton is out teaching them to drive it on Alewa Hills. I luv that man. Better him than me.
If you live in the area, stay off the roads. Ha.
James — don’t forget the rolls with extra butter… 🙂
Nalani:
Dang.. what color is it 😉
Black on black; 09 XRunner. Young boyz car.
Standard?
Alewa Heights?
Teaching how to drive?
😯
Did you get the one with the extra clutch job thrown in?
j/k….Congrats to the boyz! 🙂
isn’t Alewa heights hilly, safer to learn in a large parking lot. Imagine your son driving down Alewa heights and running up hill is James with Koamahu in hot pursuit, can the kid and Shelton keep their eyes on the road?
D1 – sounds like you’re speaking from experience?
BTW rims come in 2moro. Pono’s exact quote “this car is dead sexy”….uh oh.
Ralph #120 – now that is quite a visual.
The horror! The horror!
Bwahahahaha!!!!!!
good afternoon tsaikos. just for info, if you get a call from (402) 982-0669, do not return the call. it is some kind of scam or trying to get phone info. originating from omaha, nebraska.
hey what shaking gangie? had a good work day, played nice, worked smarter while enjoying your work mates company. if not well it done and only 4 more day till the weekend 😆
SailorBlue – re #103 – I actually avoided “adult beverage establishments” all my life until I met the Tsai-kos. For as much fun as we have, even an N/A , DD person of the female persuasion is completely safe and comfortable when surrounded by the Tsai-ko ohana. That’s pretty cool!
Of course, there are those who have experienced the wrath of Auntie Tita Leadfoot. But that is another story….
WHoosh!
I’ve posted my brief summary of events (UH-related) before. So with Wahine Softball wrapping up the regular season here is my humble recollections of the 2009 regular season (hope I am accurate):
-Team looses Olympian pitcher Justine Smethurst as she sends an e-mail to Coach Coolen at the “11th hour” to tell him she won’t return to UH. (My personal disappointment as I was looking forward to seeing her in action this season as I was not able to see any games in person at the stadium in previous seasons.)
-Team looses prized recruit Kelly Majam due to injury.
-Courtney Baughman gets penciled in as the starting pitcher and opens strong with a win against Oklahoma this season.
-Baughman starts experiencing pain in her shoulder and is out.
-True freshman Stephanie Ricketts has to take the spot at #1.
-Team struggles on the road during early season tournaments and ends up with a 3-11 record that is not fitting of a typical Rainbow Wahine Softball team under Bob Coolen.
-Team struggles at bat, again it is not the typical Wahine Softball team.
-Brief “merry-go-around” at pitcher with three true freshmen Stephanie Ricketts, Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu, and briefly Sarah Robinson to no avail.
-Ricketts solidifies her spot as the #1 pitcher.
-Amanda Tauali’i and Tanisha Milca lead the way at the plate to some more wins to start bringing the Wahine back to .500 on the year as they both bat well over .300, while the rest of her teammates still struggle at the plate, including top Aussie star Clare Warwick even though her play at 3rd base is arguably the best in the WAC. Another true freshman Dara Pagaduan shows big promise early on, but starts slumping a bit at the plate. Batting order changes multiple times and the line up itself changes at least 25 times as Coach Coolen tries to find something that works.
-Issues at short-stop and adjustments at 2nd base following Richie-Ann Titcomb’s injury seem to contribute to some loses with many stolen bases by other teams. (Most damage done and visible against Cal-Berkley).
-Ricketts continues to improve, but Wahine continue to have issues closing out close games with the lead. Many of the losses this season were close ones.
-Open WAC play on the road in Ruston, LA. Win series 2-1. Ricketts earns WAC “Pitcher of the Week” following this series.
-Starting WAC play at home same issues with closing prove to be too much as Wahine drop home WAC opener against Nevada as they dropped a lead late in game one.
-Wahine go to Fresno and win series over then ranked #22 Fresno State. Momentum in the WAC starts.
-Ricketts finds herself more and more with each passing game and is carrying the team on her shoulders at this point with the overall team batting average still struggling. Milca and Tauali’i continue to carry the Wahine offense. Pagaduan solidifies her spot at 2nd base.
-Tanisha Milca earns WAC “Hitter of the Week” (week of Feb 23 – Mar 1).
-Mid-way into WAC play short-stop position is solidified with Tracy Yoshikawa. In field play improves and Clare Warwick continues to play almost perfectly at 3rd base.
-Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu starts producing earning her first WAC honor as hitter of the week (week of Mar 30th – Apr 5)
-Last stretch of WAC games, Coach Coolen has seemingly found a good batting order as Kanani Pu’u-Warren starts producing and Clare Warwick starts to re-discover the All-American performer she is. Audrey Andrade also starts picking up her game late in to WAC play.
-Stephanie Ricketts starts developing an identity as the pitcher. She was “forced” into finding that “second” gear in which she CAN help the team finish close games. Her mental stability is as tough as it can get as a true freshman pitcher at the D1 level. Ricketts finishes the regular season as only the 5th Rainbow Wahine to record 20 plus wins in a season. Courtney Baughman also starts to show she can finish her UH career as an effective pitcher following her injury and subsequent struggles to return to the mound afterwards.
-Team finishes “3rd” with a 15-6 WAC record and above .500 overall. FSU at 1st place is only 15-5 as well as Nevada at second with a 15-5 record.
======
Right now all indications show a Wahine team that has “grown up” through the trials and tribulations early on in the season and through the middle of the season.
I believe that they are “battle-tested” at this point and their “3rd” place seed is nothing but a statistical issue as they have shown that they can win conference games on the road and now they can truly rely on Ricketts to close out games when needed.
The bats are coming alive at the right time. Freshman Makani Duhaylonsod-Kaleimamahu can be relied upon and Dara Pagaduan still bats over .300 with people on base. Kanani Pu’u-Warren and Audrey Andrade add more batting depth behind top hitters Amanda Tauali’i and Tanisha Milca as they both finish the season as the only two Wahine players batting over .300.
At the plate, I personally feel that Clare Warwick will be a “wild-card” of sorts. She has picked up her game as of late and that senior leadership from such a decorated student athlete is the kind of leadership this team will need to feed off on during the tournament. It will already supplement the current nucleus that is keeping this team moving forward into the WAC tournament.
Anyone that has followed this team from beginning to end can appreciate the hard work the Wahine and their coaching staff has done to get this team to finish strong despite the slow start, injuries, and struggles with senior members of this team. Good job to the freshman that have contributed well to start their UH careers! The seniors of the 2009 class stepping up in the second half of the season was a big key in keeping “the ship right”. These seniors all had major impacts in the memorable run in 2007 and they know what it takes to win.
Overall, I enjoyed this season. A lot of freshman to look forward to over the next three years. As well as the juniors that will be the leaders next season for this team. Ricketts proved to be a gem of a pick up for Coach Coolen and she is playing like a damn sophomore or a very seasoned junior at clutch moments. Not to be out-done though is the word (from Lori Santee during the television broadcast) about a left-handed Aussie pitcher supposedly committing to UH next season. Stephanie Ricketts is awesome on the mound, but to know there is good “insurance” behind her will be a key to making advancements towards another competitive Rainbow Wahine team in 2010.
The future continues to look good for Wahine Softball.
Kudos to Coach Coolen, Coach Wisneski, Coach Yoshizawa, and Coach “Naks” (-as referred to by the players) on a strong finish to a regular season that didn’t start out so well. Best wishes in going forward to earning another WAC Championship and NCAA tournament berth!!!
(Hopefully, the Wahine will continue to march into post season play so that I may have MORE to add to this “summary” of the 2009 season!)
I will concur withLizk having first foot experience. Had to increase my alcohol consumption to ease the pains in my foot. bwhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Dara Pagaduan is Kahai’s classmate from Kamehameha c/o 2008. Nice kid. Fantastic athlete. Varsity lettered in several sports for 4 yrs. We wish her well.
kazz, mahalo for your input and update on the wahines, now if only the kanes could do the same.
speaking of kanes, while growing up on maui, at the end of each hs football season, they would select a maui all star team to play on a yearly rotation the keiki aliis or keiki kanes from oahu. the shriners club sponsored the games. talk about the giants of oahu football.
Whitey,
For me it’s still “new” to me. I’ve attended Rainbow baseball games much longer than the softball games, but I guess since I was clamoring to just get to the softball games over the past three or so seasons, I was really paying more attention (or tried to) than I thought I would this season.
The softball team had an interesting dynamic to it this year. “Book-ended” as Coach Coolen once described it with a large group of seniors and a large group of freshman.
I think they got a nice mix that has the strong potential to take them far into the WAC tournament barring any injuries or sudden mental errors.
FSU and Nevada doesn’t even bother me at this point considering the Wahine took care the lady bulldogs on their home field at Fresno and the one game that we had on Nevada that we should of won was lost off of the “inexperience” at some positions on the field early on in the season.
The team advanced and improved greatly since our regular season match-ups against WAC leaders FSU and Nevada that it’s all a wash at this point should we encounter these teams during the tournament.
As for baseball… I don’t know what the hell happened… You’re not supposed to take a nose-dive when it counts at the end. We played like we were jet-lagged or just didn’t care. The young bullpen that showed so much promise earlier in the season is bottoming-out and there was no real drop in the “curve” of performance to indicate such a “meltdown”. It felt like it happened over-night.
Like night and day at the end of the WAC regular seasons for the softball and baseball teams. Not to mention both teams somewhat shared similar issues with their batting performance over the course of the season, but one prevailed. Sure it took Coach Coolen to change his line up about 25 times, but he still got it done and as a result there is better depth in the Wahine batting order. The amazing thing is the order changed a lot, but obviously the personnel didn’t.
With the Wahine, you can see the gradual improvement as the season went along. With the Bows, all it took was one fateful road trip. If things started to fall apart before that, it wasn’t obvious, at least to me. Of course I remained “vigilant” and cautious about the spotty performance at the plate outside of Hernandez, Vinny, Kolt, and McDonald, but I didn’t see what led to the pitching staff falling to pieces…
This is all on Coach Trap’s shoulders now to see what kind of team he can inspire and adjust with in these last few conference and non-conference games.
I’m starting to get those 2008-09 Rainbow Warrior Basketball feelings when leaving UH after a baseball game… Not good. But damnit, I’ll still be there and I’ve got my WAC tourney tickets in tow!!!
Kazz,
Great reporting and summarizing. To deliverered the whole Wahine season in a nut shell, great job.
What’s going on with the Mens BB Team? The started out so good and now completely tanked. Any experts ideas?
For those putting pressure on Coach Trap again, maybe we need to think outside the box here.
Don’t call for his firing. Call for him to get more responsibilities!!!
I’m just throwing this out there…
Maybe if we scale down on the maintenance staff at Les Murakami and assign the duties of groundskeeper and custodian to Coach Trap things may change for the better???
As we all know, there is one coach that already does this and he doesn’t seem to have a problem keeping his team afloat during good times or doesn’t seem to have issues with bringing his team up and running during the bad times. 😉
Just throwing this out there…
kazz, we will all be cheering for both wsb and mbb and hope to see them win the wac, then go on to the regionals. it looks like coach coolen truly understands what the wahines can do and they in return perform for the coaching staff. thanks for your insight and updates.
uh is doing an excellent job in spring athletics and hopefully the womens water polo and mens tennis will go to the finals. i think uh is in a good position to win the wac award for all team sports in 2008-09. go bows!!!
kazz, thinking outside the box for uh mbb, should we change the asst coaches???
FloridaTed at post #132 I wonder about the baseball issue too. I haven’t missed a series yet. Through out the season though, the batting remained spotty and timely which accounted for many wins, but so did the pitching.
All of a sudden, without what seemed like a downward sloping “curve” to indicate future issues, the young pitching staff that helped lead us to victories disappeared. As far as injuries go, I think Connor Little, who was a big favorite of mine in the beginning of the year, had the nail in his big toe ripped off which caused him to miss a minimal amount of games, but I cannot remember or recall if he returned to the line up. I know that Sam Spangler had some tweeks but seemed ok to return. Unfortunately for Jared Alexander, he just never returned to form at all this season, despite a brief glimmer of promise upon his first two 4-inning performances.
I don’t know jack about what makes a pitcher great, but I assume something about that road trip that started in Arizona and then onto Las Cruces had to do with the collapse in the bullpen.
Nalani…go to that hill right by the mini park/BWS station…you know, the hill with the house with the tiger outside….that’s where you get the true lesson in driving a stick…my dad used to take me up there when I learned….LOL
Interesting. Funny you mention that. Listening to the spattering of comments at Murakami Stadium, a lot of people, especially on the 3rd base line, seem to have it in for Coach Komeiji. I recall the Loyola series in which he called for our runner at 2nd to make a mad dash to home following a shallow base hit into the left field, I believe it was Kolten Wong. Wong then found himself playing tag with the opposing team with Komeiji looking at the madness unfold… Oh it wasn’t pretty…
I believe something similar happened in the past series against LaTech in which Easton Torigoe was called into home by Komeiji following a shallow base hit into right field. Not even Brian Clay, C.J. Hawthorne, or a healthy Ryan Mouton would have made it into home in time off that call.
D-1 ~ Just now able to answer your earlier post about the pitching change. Yes, of course I realize it was more so for an injury that he was replaced. (weird timing)
What I was referring to was exactly what you alluded to in a later post about the gamesmenship involved in changing pitchers throughout a very contensious ball game. Very clever coaching. Heheheh!
WF2 brings about another part of the tweaking that Coach Trap has done, and that is the batting line up. Something every coach lies awake nights trying to figure out what woud work best. Frustrating sometimes, and not an exact science. That’s prolly why WF2 mentions working the Mojo angle, with a thousand eyes watchin’ over the results.
Long as we Tsaiko’s continue to show up to cheer the team, everything will be auuryite!
ST ~ Water Polo in Maryland? Ask SailorBlue if the Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD had anything to do with the choice of the location. If they did, we need to remind them that we have Pearl Harbor and *Cabana A* would provide us an excellent venue near Richardson Pool.
Was I yelling?…I wasn’t yelling! Who pushed the bold button?
spam, spam, I like fried spam, but not computer spam!!!
I am your fah-ther, Luke…
Garret…if you’re around…I sent an email to you earlier today…BUT I can’t remember if it showed the correct return addy. If you don’t mind, just call me in hawaii (381.9334). I noticed your ETA for the Vegas game and had some very short questions. Warning…I could be asleep by 2230!
Post #142 I’ve filed a complaint with Ebay that your are violating their TOSS by spaming our Warrior Beat site. Go quietly into the night!
In my experiences, regardless of sport, whenever a team starts slow and becomes very good, it’s coaching.
Ditto for the other way around, see Mens BB Team, it’s coaching.
A good Coach always has his finger on his players pulse, especially with freshmen.
KAZZ (#127)
Whoa! You just amazed me! Great account of the season from a perspective far more informative than mere statistics.
Kazz = Passion for the game
BG,,,what’s 2230???? MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
dang, that was a long trip.
I’ve avoided even reading anything about the Rainbows…it was so disappointing. For me, not reading or talking about it made it easier to resist grumping around and pointing fingers. I finally settled down and started thinking of how devastated the young men were today. Going to school was probably the very last thing they wanted to do. I wish I could run into some of them and tell them that life will serve them lemons from time to time. The true measure of success is how we turn those lemons into lemonade. Or, as A-Joe says, getting up 8 times after being knocked down seven. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, take a deep breath, and get back in the fight! Pick yourself up one more time than you’re knocked down. If you do that, there’s no guarantee you’ll win a championship, but I guarantee you’ll have my respect and support…and you’ll be a winner in life. Yep, wish I could tell them that.
(J)J
Guess you don’t keep your watch on 24 hr mode!!! The downside is that when your watch stops running, its right only ONCE a day.
BG:
You just did…………………
Hi cc! did u like my ‘gift’ to u?!?! it was ur fav panty…da puka one. sorry neva have time to wash em.
BG,
I got your e-mail and responded to it a little while ago, then I saw you posted your number on the blog too. I’ll call you tomorrow since it is getting a little late–I can do a little blogging and then I should get to sleep. Today was a *long* day, but very productive.
Free play link time. Please ignore my next 5 posts if you do not want to read the off-topic stuff.
Startup Skyline Solar emerged from stealth mode after spending 8 months to go from prototype to product…the technology they introduced is said to be 10 to 50 times more efficient than today’s solar energy technology at a fraction of the cost.
Preliminary studies found that the swine flu’s proteins result in the virus being weak and that it falls into the “comparatively benign” category of flu strains…but remember, the results are preliminary and the virus could mutate. Still, it is nice to read.
Robot is being developed with artificial skin to investigate how robots can help children with autism learn about social interaction.
Garret…sounds great! It’s my cell. If I don’t pick up, I’ll call you back when I can.
Dutch police are using a mni-helicopter to locate pot by its smell. They don’t need a warrant because they aren’t entering buildings–the helicopter takes air samples out of ventilator shafts and chimneys. Only 10% of the pot grown in the Netherlands is sold legally in their coffee shops–the rest is sold illegally after being smuggled out of the country. Here is another article:
http://www.dutchdailynews.com/dutch-police-hunt-cannabis-hemp-growers-with-canna-chopper/
Google rents goats to mow their fields to reduce fire hazards. The rental costs about the same as using lawnmowers, and saves the gas the lawnmowers use and avoids the pollution from the lawnmowers.
Free play links pau.
FloridaTed
Wow! You’re up late/early! So wonderful to see you blogging again! One victory at a time!
kazz – what are your views on issues such as global warming, arlen specter switching political parties, the impending retirement of supreme court justice david souter and the financial impact of the h1n1 virus on mexico’s economy?!?! please share. bwhahahahaha.
Dinner tonight was a new item from Rubio’s–they are a chain of Mexican restaurants here that are known for their cheap fish tacos. They have a new menu item that is going to be on their menu starting tomorrow, but somehow Lori got certificates for 4 free “All-American” tacos for us to eat today. It was pretty unique to me–a soft taco crossed with a hamburger. The two I had were pretty good, but I think the fish tacos are better.
Lori is getting 6 free fish tacos from Rubio’s for our lunch tomorrow. We could get the hamburger/tacos instead, but we think the fish tacos are better.
KFC now has grilled chicken and Mexican restaurants are doing their version of hamburgers. The nice thing about all of this is that they are giving out a TON of free food here to get people to try out their new stuff!
With all the success of your company.
Why are you still taking the freebies?
Why not take the freebie food and donate them to the homeless?
Just thinking out loud.
Thinkingoutloud: Probably because you cannot donate food to the homeless unless you have prepared it yourself. Health laws prohibit the same.
Have you made your donation to the Hawaii Foodbank yet or this sort of thing doesn’t apply to you?
Thinkingoutloud,
We donate cash to a variety of charities, that is more effective than picking up free food from a variety of places at night and then finding some way to donate them to someone else. I think that our way is more practical–how are we supposed to get the food to others, especially considering we have just one car and have to put our girls to bed early?
If you really are Thinkingoutloud, I’d like to hear suggestions for that. I’m serious about that because if there is a better way for us to do this, I’d like to know.
I want free food. Now I’m hungry. Thanks a lot Garret. 😀
I haven’t watched the Daily Show or watched a Michael Moore movie lately, so like a lot of people my age, I haven’t had the opportunity for funny psuedo-intellectual comedians and or musicians make my opinions for me.
Actually I have been reluctant to offer critique, prefering instead for Coach Mike & staff to work it out themselves…but it hasnt leveled-out and our bowboyz have their backs pinned against the wall….so here goes.
Pitching: every series should be approached in tournament mindset.That means, priority is given to winning the first game. Coach Trap has a tendency to economize his pitchers so he can stretch his assests over a four-game series.
Look, every win against Fresno will make it more difficult for SAC or the ‘dogs to catch us. These are are final 4-games.
Take each day like a single game elimination and throw your best. Period!
Q for the Wac-T and live another day to win it!
FSU is at SAC to end both their WAC regular season run.
If Hawaii can take 2 games from the ‘dawgs, we will Q for the WAC tournament.
Go for it Coach Mike and put the priority on the front-end with Jayson Kramer and Matt Sisto.
Fresno State is not hitting like the other WAC teams (.271), we must beat them by out-hitting them (possible) and throwing our best arms in the first 2 dayz.
Sisto needs to work his curveball more effectively to survive.
Matt has good location and control but his fastball is not lively enuff to sustain. He will eventually get timed and knocked. Mix-it up and be sharp–if not–gotta yank him.
He needs to get into a tempo fast.
Jayson is a work horse and the best we have.
He needs runs to support him. Jay battles and has short memory. Id would be reluctant to hook Kramer unless his location was eractic. He is the most consistent hurler.
Hitting: I like Sean Montplaisir #2 in the BA, move Garcia to #9 and keep the streaking Morford at #1.
Landon Hernandez needs a slight swing adjustment.
He is consistently makin contact under the ball and popin or flying out. Coach Ko will know what to do to level is swing.
betw Roguemore and Johnson it is the kid from Aiea.
Xtian makes contact more consistently and gets more bang with his hits. he can disappear and comeback with a vegence–his bat is always dangerous in the clutch.
Xtian is hits bigball.
Ditto between VanDoornum and Roguemore.
Matt is a D player, we need bats!
So here is the Batting order:
1. Moreford, 2b
2. Montplaisir, Lf
3. Vinnie, 3b
4. McD, 1b
5. Kolt, Cf
6. Hernandez, C
7. Johnson, Rf (DH)
8. Van Doornum, DH
9. Garcia, SS
Nalani,
That’s a great resume. It should be no surprise that she plays WAY outside of her physical appearance. For someone 5’2″-ish, she plays as if she were 7 feet tall!
kazz – what are your views on issues such as global warming, arlen specter switching political parties, the impending retirement of supreme court justice david souter and the financial impact of the h1n1 virus on mexico’s economy?!?! please share. bwhahahahaha.
JMHO:
gloal warming- ask wafan and djmitcho
specter- no loss for GOP; pass along the grief to Dems
souter retirement- appointment of someone like Sotomayor merely for political expedience (a woman just for the sake of being a woman, an activist liberal) will cause a stir but by itself may not be that impactful
h1n1 financial impact on Mexico- how much closer to bankrupt can you go?
“Mexican Economy” = oxymoron
Is It Saturday Yet?
Oyasumina-tsai
Kazz — I might be taking you out of context here, but when I first read the last paragraph, my first impression was: “…way back in the years when I roamed the campus, there was a coach who did all those things by necessity in the lower campus. He literally built the baseball field, I hear. The UH stadium is named after him”.
Hiya!
KAZZ! You never cease to AMAZE!!!
Speaking of “is it Saturday yet”, I know Sunday is Mom’s Day… but anyone up for a brunchfast call at Nancy’s before I go fly home at 1something???
continuing on about thinking outside the box, maybe the mbb team should consider eating the breakfast of champions, saimin, before a game.
Na Wahine held their basketball banquet tonight…Hopefully there was a good crowd to honor them, the girls worked hard and considering the drama with e bolla they played as well as can be expected with the issues they had on their plate….
The Washington Times:
“Quarterbacks Part of Backup Plan”
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/05/quarterbacks-part-of-backup-plan/
Article on the Redskins’ backup QBs, Todd Collins and Colt.
“…If Campbell, whose contract expires next winter, doesn’t return, either Collins or Brennan would be the early favorite to start in 2010 given a lack of quality free agents and how few rookie passers are ready to be NFL regulars. “
SteveM,
Your recollection was a little before my time.
I was just making a hidden reference to the Coach Trap’s troubles as of late and Coach Coolen’s continued success.
Jason, if you are still hungry, do not click on my name and look at my blog…
Thanks, oxtail soup!
Liz ~ More than likely, I’ll be at Ku’uleialoha’s Memorial Service at Queens Beach Sunday morning. After that I may be spending with Diana at a Breakfast Brunch while there in Waikiki. Not sure what the others have planned…
Ok, it’s late and I am bored…
Can someone verify that the players themselves actually choose the music they walk out to when they are walking to the plate?
Honestly for both the baseball and softball teams, the music they walk out to doesn’t not leave much to the imagination… Well for most.
Ryan Morford’s “Tricky” by Run DMC is by far the best on the baseball team as it, well, sounds the best out of the other stuff players walk out to and Clare Warwick’s AC/DC song seems like the best musical piece that identifies that player (both Warwick and AC/DC are from Australia).
With more “thinking outside the box”… let’s allow the players to dig into their iPods and give the sound guy either their actual favorite song or the best song that boosts a player’s personality/image to the crowd.
I mean seriously… Vinnie Catricala coming out to “Kriss Kross”??? IT’S 2009 FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! A player like Catricala deserves better music than lame-o 90’s gimmick kiddie rap!
my box has expired, so need to rest. g’nite.
Kazz
I like Landon’s piece..My Life Be Like by Grits!
If you listen to the whole song…it’s got a lot of meaning too.
By the time the song gets to “My life be like…” I’ve already started yelling “LAAAANNNNNNDDDOOOOONNNNN!!! 386!!! BRADDAH!!!!!!!!! TREE AYYYYYTTTEEEE SIIIXXXX!!!!” from my mid level seats. 😆
But yeah, his song is ok too. I just question some songs, but not all of course.
Good morning!
See you later!!!
NMSU just scheduled Georgia for 2011–they are getting a nice payday.
I think that this might have been already posted, but it is great to see John Estes as the #1 ranked center for 2010 draft prospects.
Greg Alexander is #33 for QBs right now on this list.
The database even has 2011 prospects.
Article about how the experience by the OL is a predictor of success.
Good Morning Tsaikos! Hope everyone has a good day.
Great Morning All!
“Ferd”‘s column may help the attendance at future Rough Rider Re-onions…nothing helps to stir the Alumni than a few championships.
Congrats to the Shoji Ohana for their A-A sons.
Hey! Info on the WB on the front page suggests that the Twins may be disappointed around noon today. (not that Tony Tuioti is disappointing, by any stretch)
Happy Boys’ Day!
It’s Cinco de Mayo
Have a great day erryboddy!
HiHo…
Good Tuesday Morning D-1!
Happy Cinco De Tsaiko Everybody!…Aarriba!…Aarriba!..Muchachos!
Hi, nice post. I have been wondering about this topic,so thanks for posting. I will probably be subscribing to your site. Keep up the good posts