Dear AD Donovan, Ass’t AD McNamara & Coach Mack,

Congrats to the UH Football team for doing their part in keeping their Hawaii Bowl dream alive.  Two more huge “home” games against 2 great opponents to go.  With some help from the “12th man”, I believe the Warriors will be up for the challenge!

Need to Pack the Aloha Stadium the next two games & work with Hawaii’s sports media to promote the games & any UH promotions (more than usual).  Any chance of calling for “GREEN OUT” games for the last 2 games?  (I know that it has been asked previously by UH, but Hawaii fans respond better if you say that “this game” is a “GREEN OUT“).  Also, any chance of making the Navy & Wisconsin tickets “one price for both games”? If you have any promotions that would draw more UH students to the game, now is the time to do it (free semester’s tuition, free books, Christmas spending money, Iphones, laptops).  Also, two sell out games would really help UH’s Athletic Dept’s 2009 finances.

The Warriors will Protect Their House, but it would be a HUGE confidence builder if they knew that their fans were behind them 110%

B E L E I V E ~ Go Warriors!!!

thanks for your ear,
“G”

***

For players and coaches, a win is a win. Right?

But for you, the fans, does Hawaii’s 17-10 victory over San Jose State on the road inspire confidence? It was a gutty overtime win, UH’s third victory in a row and the Warriors are now 5-6. The defense played very well. But it was against a 1-8 opponent.

Does this bode well for the final two games against bowl-bound Navy and Wisconsin?

–By Dave Reardon

Back channel chatter says Norm Chow or Brad Anae could be the next head football coach at UNLV.

***

One thing is clear after the University of Hawaii basketball team’s 2-1 start: forward Bill Amis is a big loss. Amis isn’t great at any one thing, but he is a consistent scorer and rebounder and a steadying influence on the floor.

Hopefully he will recover fully from his foot injury in time to help the Rainbows in the WAC conference season.

***

Reader Tom Haynes submitted this letter about Keith Amemiya, the HHSAA executive director who is stepping down next spring.

A very nice — and talented and more — individual.

At first, it came as a surprise — but in quick reflection, not so much.  Keith’s taken the HHSAA and high school sports in general about as far as humanly possible in one lifetime — given the landscape in these here parts.

Going out on the big wave of SOS success is perfect timing, too.  About the only thing he was really allowed to do, given the way the HHSAA is set up, was to use his clout and connections to deal with crisis anyway.

Of course, the biggest “left undone” thing was to wrest control of classification — away from the OIA’s asinine “formula”n for individual teams, in particular — and change it to a true school classification (and not let the big OIA tail wag that medium-sized dog whenever it wanted).  Enough of that.

Someday I’d like to see the bumpersticker:  AMEMIYA & MURPHY — those are the only two guys who seem to get things done around here.  I’ve told both Keith and Don, at different times, that “You could, and should, run for governor!”

Hawaii now has a two-game winning streak after beating the Aggies of Utah State and New Mexico State, and the Warriors are 4-6. UH must beat San Jose State on the road and then Navy and Wisconsin here to finish the regular season with a winning record and get into the Hawaii Bowl.

I think they win next week at San Jose State, but lose to the bowl-bound Midshipmen and Badgers. The Warriors played their best game of the season on defense last night, but I don’t see them stopping the running games of Navy or Wisconsin.

Your thoughts please. Also, thoughts on the big plays from last night’s game.

–By Dave Reardon

Keith Amemiya is stepping down as the HHSAA executive director. Speculation is that he’ll be involved in Mufi Hannemann’s gubernatorial campaign.

Who do you think can, should and will replace him at the job he’s excelled at since 1998?

I think Blane Gaison is a good candidate because of his leadership skills and experience in Hawaii high school sports. Lenny Klompus has the know-how when it comes to fund-raising. Dana Takahara-Dias would’ve been good, but she just took the UH women’s basketball job.

Others?

–By Dave Reardon

The New Mexico State offensive coordinator is Timm Rosenbach. I always remember him because of the interesting spelling of his first name — and because he played quarterback for Washington State when it beat Houston in the 1988 Aloha Bowl.

Rosenbach returns to Aloha Stadium on Saturday when the underdog Aggies (3-6) take on Hawaii (3-6).

***

In yesterday’s column we report on another attempt at launching an ABA team in Hawaii, the Honolulu Pegasus. Coach Shawn McDaniel said most of the right things when I talked with him the other day (but considering playing games in Klum Gym is not among them), and I hope he succeeds. He has a schedule, a few players, and, he says, financing for at least two seasons.

Tryouts to fill out the the roster are this weekend. The first game is Dec. 4, here against Seattle. Site to be determined (and that is one reason to not get too excited yet).

We’ve seen so many pro sports teams fizzle or not even get off the ground here in recent years that it’s impossible not to be skeptical. But that doesn’t mean we can’t hope for its success, especially when McDaniel sounds sincere when he says one of his priorities is to have a positive impact on Hawaii kids, and has some solid ideas in that area.

The tryouts are at the University of Hawaii. See the honolulu-pegasus.com  Web site for more information.

–By Dave Reardon

Finally, Hawaii comes up with a victory. Nearly 700 yards in offense, numerous big plays on defense, taking a big counter-punch in the third quarter and re-taking the momentum.

Lots of big plays. Tell me your favorites.

***

Bill Amis is a huge loss for the UH basketball team. Might be better in the long run for him and the team to take a redshirt year; but you can’t blame him for wanting to play this season, with all those other seniors.

Now, the ability of Brandon Adams and Paul Campbell to contribute consistently becomes huge for the Rainbows.

–By Dave Reardon

This looks like an evenly matched game tonight at Hawaii hosts Utah State. I’m thinking Hawaii breaks out in a big way as long as it avoids turnovers.

The Warriors’ homefield advantage comes into play tonight.

Sorry for the long time between postings; laptop issues prevented me from filing for a few days.

-By Dave Reardon

This is a topic that comes up a lot: Why isn’t Miah Ostrowski on the University of Hawaii basketball team?

Well, the short answer is that he’s a slotback on the football team — and football is where he has his scholarship.

But he’s a third-string slotback. And the basketball team is short of healthy guards.

The 5-foot-9 former Punahou star attended basketball practice this morning, strictly as an observer.

Afterward, he said he is interested in playing hoops (but not at the expense of football). He hasn’t spoken with football coach Greg McMackin of this desire. Basketball coach Bob Nash said he would welcome Ostrowski, but only with McMackin’s blessing.

A problem would be that the football and basketball teams now practice at the same time. Ostrowski was able to attend this morning’s basketball practice because he is not on the travel roster for the football team, which is in Reno for Saturday’s game at Nevada.

–By Dave Reardon

I think these teams are quite evenly matched, but will go with the Yankees because I feel their starting pitching is a little bit more solid and A-Rod has been playing like what he is — the best player of his generation.

***

Services for Punahou sports legend Dave Eldredge are Sunday, Nov. 8 at the school. 11:30 a.m. and then 3 p.m. in the gym.

***

Monday’s weekly media gathering with UH football coach Greg McMackin was relatively uneventful.

Coach McMackin did say for the record that he is “not considering” any changes in staff or their assignments.

He said that will be evaluated a the end of the season.

–By Dave Reardon

Is there any hope of pulling out of the throes of a 2-5 start to the season for the University of Hawaii football team?

Five losses in a row. Injuries mounting. Tough road game at Nevada looms.

What now?

–By Dave Reardon