Friday, December 26, 2008

MONEY DOESN’T BUY TITLES

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Money, as the Beatles reminded so many years ago, can't buy you love. And, as we have repeatedly found in the most free-market of our sports leagues, money can't buy baseball titles, either.

Take the New York Yankees, as prime example. Baseball's freest-spending franchise routinely carries a an annual payroll of $200 million, but it's been eight years since the Yankees last won a ring.

During that championship drought in the Bronx, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals have won titles and the likes of the Tampa Bay Rays and Colorado Rockies have reached the Fall Classic.

A more recent example of how money alone doesn't guarantee titles is the Detroit Tigers. Many instantly conceded Detroit the AL Central crown after acquiring both slugger Miguel Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis. Those signings pushed the Tigers' payroll to $137 million and slightly over the luxury-tax limit.

It took a while for Cabrera to get going. He finished with team highs of 37 homers and 127 RBI, but by the time he got hot the Tigers were dust.

The Tigers got off to a 2-10 start and never recovered, staggering to a 74-84 mark and a last-place finish in the five-team division they were supposed to dominate.

Willis was a total disaster. The left-hander appeared in just eight games, averaging three innings per start, while compiling an 0-2 record with an astronomical 9.38 ERA. Willis earned a demotion to the minors for a significant part of the season.

So don't concede anything to the New York Yankees yet. All together now: Money can't buy you love … or guarantee a title.

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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

TRIO ON RECRUITING RADARS

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

At least three current high school seniors with Maui ties appear to be in line to receive Division-I football scholarships for next season.

Baldwin defensive end Mana Rosa has verbally committed to Oregon State and has told us he intends to enroll at that school despite offers from several other colleges – including Colorado, Utah and UNLV.

The 6-2, 240-pounder gave an excellent account of himself during last week's Hawaii/Polynesia vs. Mainland Bowl game at Aloha Stadium. Rosa had three tackles, all for losses and including one sack, and forced a pair of fumbles.

Simione Vehikite is starting to attract attention. A standout linebacker and fullback, Vehikite transferred from Lahainaluna to Kapolei last spring.

An impressive showing in the all-star game, during which he registered five tackles, caught the eye of USC linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr., who said the Trojans will make a pitch for the 6-1, 243-pounder.

Vehikite made 119 tackles this season, including 10 sacks and 12 tackles for a loss. He also averaged 10 yards per carry.

After being overlooked early in the recruiting process, Baldwin defensive end Jordan Pu'u-Robinson has recently received scholarship offers from the likes of Washington State, Utah State, Wyoming and Idaho.

Topping Norton's and USC's list of local recruits, of course, is Punahou linebacker Manti Te'o, who has scheduled visits to BYU, Stanford and USC. Te'o – ranked No. 7 overall and the No. 1 linebacker in the national recruiting ratings -- previously visited Notre Dame and UCLA.

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

TRANSFERS BOOST BOWS

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

After compiling an 11-19 debut record following his belated hiring as head coach last year, Bob Nash is showing what he can do if given the time and opportunity to recruit.

The University of Hawaii basketball team improved to 5-3 last night and, again, a pair of talented newcomers from the junior college ranks played a key role in the victory.

The most celebrated of the pair is 6-foot-7 swingman Rodney Flemings, a highly touted prep player who spent one season at Oklahoma State before earning JC All-America honors last season.

Flemings was initially hampered by a tender ankle, but he's been living up to the hype as he has gotten healthier.

On Saturday, Flemings erupted for 37 points in a 75-55 romp past Eastern Washington, making 16 of 23 shots from the field. Last night, Flemings he scored 20 on 7 of 14 shooting and added seven rebounds in Hawaii's 85-75 win over Chicago State.

But the biggest star for Hawaii was forward Petra Balocka, who had 21 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Balocka's story is also interesting. A native of Lithuania, he moved to the state – not the country – of Georgia to play his prep hoops and spent two seasons as a standout player at a Texas JC.

Hawaii now has an eight-day break before returning to action on Dec. 23 against UC-Riverside.

The Rainbow Wahine, meantime, are in the midst of a long layoff. UH won for only the second time in nine games on Dec. 7, defeating UC Irvine 74-46, and don't play again until Friday night against Washington State. Sophomore point guard Keisha Kanekoa led the way with a 19-point, 11-rebound, six-assist performance in the victory and was named to the all-tourney team.

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Monday, December 15, 2008

WAHINE ROUTED; BOWS ROMP

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

In what only can be described as a humbling and sobering setback, Stanford made easy work of the Rainbow Wahine in Saturday's regional final.

The second-ranked Cardinal routed the seventh-seeded Hawaii in emphatic fashion, needing just 89 minutes to demolish UH 25-19, 25-9, 25-18, dominating every aspect of this mismatch in Fort Collins. Colo..

Stanford advanced to the Final Four, which starts Thursday in Omaha. UH goes home with a 30-4 record that included a comeback four-game win over Purdue on Friday.

Stanford will meet third-seeded Texas in one national semifinal match, while top-seeded and unbeaten Penn State will take a 36-0 record against No. 4 Nebraska in the other semi. The Nittany Lions have yet to lose a set all season.

While things ended poorly for the Rainbow Wahine, things went very well for the UH men's basketball team thanks to a stunning offensive performance by newcomer Rodney Flemings later in the evening at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The highly-touted junior college transfer surpassed the hype by scoring 37 points in leading Hawaii to a 75-55 win over Eastern Washington.

A 6-foot-7 swingman, Flemings made 16 of 23 shots from the field, displaying a varied game that include gravity-defying dunks, dazzling moves to the hoop and a surprising soft left-handed shot from the perimeter.

The win improved UH's season record to 4-3 going into tonight's home game against
Chicago State. The tip-off is set for 7:05 p.m.

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Friday, December 12, 2008

TOUGH TIMES? NOT FOR CC, K-ROD

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

As most of us know, from listening to the news reports and watching the value of our homes and 401(k) accounts shrink on a daily basis, we are in the midst of tough economic times.

Even the NFL, the gold standard by which all American pro sports leagues are measured, is not immune to the recession. The league is cutting 10 percent of its headquarters staff, eliminating about 150 of its 1,100 employees.

Earlier, the NBA, Major League Baseball and NASCAR announced layoffs.

And there are reports that the Arena Football League, which has grown in popularity and attendance during the past decade, is contemplating the cancellation of its 23rd season in 2009 with an eye of working toward a more economical single-entity business model in 2010.

But some baseball teams appear to be immune from – or are ignoring -- the difficult financial times.

Earlier this week, the Yankees made a seven-year, $161 million offer to land free-agent left-hander CC Sabathia and have followed that up with a five-year, $81 million offer in an effort to secure the services of free-agent right-hander AJ Burnett.

The Mets signed closer Francisco Rodriguez to a three-year deal worth $31 million, plus incentives. And the lowly Washington Nationals have offered free-agent first baseman Mark Teixeira an eight-year $120 million contract.

Recession? What recession?

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

CC CASHES IN WITH YANKEES

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

After all of the talk about CC Sabathia wishing to remain in the National League and staying close to his West Coast home, it came down as it almost invariably does – in both business and sports -- to money.

I don't say that as a criticism or any sort of indictment. It was just proof positive, once again, that money talks and just about everything else walks.

The most prized pitcher in this year's free agent class is going to end up in pinstripes. To put it simply, the Yankees made Sabathia an offer he couldn't refuse.

After initially offering him a six-year, $140 million deal, the Yankees sealed the deal by adding another year and bumping the value of the contract to $161 million – by far the biggest contract for a pitcher in baseball history. And the contract allows Sabathia to opt out of the deal after three years.

Those numbers dwarf the six-year, $137 million package the New York Mets gave another talented lefty, Johan Santana, last off-season.

So much for returning to Milwaukee. So much for San Francisco's late bid to lure CC back to his Bay Area roots. And so much for general manager Ned Colletti's comments about Sabathia telling him over the weekend about his desire to play for the Dodgers.

The Yanks aren't through with their off-season free-agent shopping spree. They also are expected to make serious bids for the likes of AJ Burnett and Ben Sheets in addition to making a one-year, $10 million offer to retain Andy Pettitte.

Burnett reportedly has been offered a five-year, $85 million by the Yankees, who also are rumored to be on the verge of offering Sheets a one- or two-year deal. And did we mentioning that New York has made a one-year, $10 million to retain Andy Pettitte?

Can a team buy a World Series title? The Yankees have done it before and, quite obviously, they're seeking to do it again.

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Monday, December 8, 2008

TOUGH SETBACK FOR HAWAII

By Fred Guzman
ESPN.550.com

This was going to be one of those victories that University of Hawaii football fans were going to be talking about for years.

But a not so funny thing happened to UH en route to an apparent win over a team that already had assured itself of a berth in a BCS bowl game.

Depending on your perspective, either 13th-ranked Cincinnati rose to the challenge or Hawaii simply collapsed down the stretch.

Either way, the Bearcats rallied for 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to make up a 14-point deficit for a 29-24 win at Aloha Stadium.

After just about everything that could go right did for UH en route to a 24-10 lead after 45 minutes: Quarterback Greg Alexander was on the mark with his passes. The defense was containing Cincinnati's attack.

And then, just about everything that could go wrong did during the decisive four quarter.

The play that triggered the turnaround came with 5:05 left in the game and UH leading by four. On first down deep in its own territory, UH inexplicably called on Daniel Libre to run the ball wide to the left. Libre fumbled and recovered the ball in the end zone, giving Cincinnati a safety and forcing UH to give the ball right back on a free kick.

Cincinnati promptly scored a touchdown and, as a resulted, will be taking an 11-2 record into its New Year's Day showdown against ACC champion Virginia Tech in Miami.

UH did receive a consolation prize, of sorts: A chance to play against Notre Dame in the Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve. But for the moment, that's small consolation, isn't it?

WAHINE ADVANCE The sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine swept their way through Los Angeles. Next stop in their itinerary: Fort Collins, Colorado.

Hawaii roared into the regionals of the NCAA women's volleyball tournament with a pair of impressive victories in the sub-regional rounds..

On Friday, the Rainbow Wahine opened with a 25-19, 25-11, 25-22 romp past Atlantic Sun Conference champion Belmont.

On Saturday, UH pounded out a 25-21, 25-18, 25-22 win over 12th-ranked and sub-regional host USC. Jamie Houston's 17 kills and freshman Kanani Danielson's double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs led Hawaii, which improved its record to 30-3.

Friday's turnout was about 200; Saturday's was 1,019, with a surprisingly large portion of the crowd rooting for the visitors from Hawaii. Hawaii applied for and was denied the opportunity to host a sub-regional, despite again leading the nation in average attendance with well over 5,000 fans per game.

UH will next play against 10th-seeded Purdue (26-8) on Friday. Second-seeded Stanford (28-3) will face 15th-seeded Florida in the other regional semifinal.

HOOPS UDATE: Things haven't gone as well for the UH women's basketball team this season, although the Rainbow Wahine did improve their record to 2-7 last night with a 74-46 rout of UC Irvine in the third-place game of a tournament in Tempe, Ariz. Sophomore point guard Keisha Kanekoa led the way with a 19-point, 11-rebound, six-assist performance in the victory and was named to the all-tourney team.

The UH men, winners of three straight, face a major basketball challenge tonight on the road against Illinois of the Big Ten.

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Thursday, December 4, 2008

BIG REGULAR-SEASON FINALE FOR UH

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

In a lot of ways, this Saturday's regular-season finale against Cincinnati is a de facto bowl game for the University of Hawaii football team.

The Bearcats will roll into Aloha Stadium with a No. 13 national ranking, a 10-2 record and -- as the champion of the Big East conference – are assured of the first BCS post-season berth in school history.

On a related note, Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly, who has attracted a lot of attention for various vacancies, earlier this week declared that he's not going anywhere.

Kelly had already become a hot coaching prospect after turning Central Michigan into a contender during a three-year run at that MAC school after having guided Grand Valley State to a pair of back-to-back Division-II national titles.

Cincinnati finished with 10 wins and a No. 17 national ranking in his first year last season and has lifted the football program to unprecedented heights this year.

But all of that said: Who will UH play in the hometown Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24th?

The Hawaii Bowl has a tie-in with the Pac-10 for that conference's sixth choice. But only five Pac-10 teams are currently eligible. If Arizona State beats Arizona this week, the Sun Devils will earn a trip to Hawaii.

If not, organizers of the event will have to do some scrambling to attract an attractive opponent. Not many of those exist. A team from the MAC, or Conference USA, or the Sun Belt isn't likely to excite many local fans.

But Notre Dame, even with a mediocre 6-6 record, would. Just a little something to think about … and hope for.

LITTLE GUYS: There's more to the BCS than just determining which two teams will meet in the national championship game. There are four more big-time bowls – the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta – that sort of use the BCS system to determine their pairings.

If – and only if – a team from a second-tier conference happens to go unbeaten and finish in the Top 12 of the BCS rankings, will it get a whiff of the glory and money from one of those major bowl games.

That's how Utah, Boise State and, most recently, Hawaii ended up in a major bowl game.

The picture, however, has been complicated this year as four of the nation's Top 12 teams, according to the BCS rankings, come from second-tier conferences.

But the BCS largesse goes only so far. Only one of those unbeaten schools will get a chance to eat the at the BCS table reserved for the big boys from the major conferences.
That distinction will belong to No. 6 Utah of the Mountain West.

The other two -- No. 9 Boise State of the WAC and No. 12 Ball State of the MAC – will have to settle for eating at the kiddie table.

Boise State will play either in its hometown Humanitarian Bowl or against No. 11 TCU of the Mountain West in the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.

No. 12 Ball State, which still has to play Buffalo for the Mid-America title on Friday, will probably end up playing in either the Motor City Bowl or the GMAC Bowl.

There had been talk of matching up Boise State and Ball State, but the Cardinals didn't want to concede the home field advantage to the Broncos.

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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

RAINBOW WAHINE ON THE ROAD … AGAIN

By Fred Guzman

Anyone who follows women's volleyball – and, in Hawaii, that's more than any other place in the country – it didn't come as a surprise that the Rainbow Wahine will again be on the road for the start of this year's NCAA tournament.

Disappointed, perhaps, but not surprised.

Despite being seeded seventh in the 64-team field and again leading the nation in average attendance, UH was assigned to the USC sub-regional.

So, Hawaii will be the only seeded team in the country that will not be hosting a sub-regional when it takes a 28-3 record on the road for Friday's opening-round match against Atlantic Sun champ Belmont, which comes in with a mark of 25-7.

Unseeded USC, with a 16-11 record, will be hosting a sub-regional for a sixth straight year. The Trojans will open against the San Diego, which won its third straight West Coast Conference crown and finished with a 23-4 mark.

The reason why UH was again snubbed in its bid to host a sub-regional? The cost-conscious NCAA selection committee doesn't want three teams traveling to the middle of the Pacific.

As a result, UH has been shipped off Colorado State, Texas, Long Beach State and Louisville in each of the previous four years. Not surprisingly, UH hasn't reached the final four since hosting the first two matches in 2003.

Going to LA is better than being assigned to play out East and running top-ranked and unbeaten defending champion Penn State sooner rather than later. For that, I guess, we should be thankful. I guess.

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Tuesday, December 2, 2008

BCS SYSTEM: WHAT A MESS!

(Dec. 2): I've never been a fan of the BCS system, stating on many occasions that a more accurate description would be the BS system. This week is one of those times.

To be fair, an unprecedented concentration of power in the Big 12 South has created a mess that no one could have predicted.

The human element in the BCS formula – the USA Today and Harris polls -- vaulted Texas into second place with a slight lead over No. 3 Oklahoma.

But the six computer ratings that constitute one-third of the formula, sided with Oklahoma, after the Sooners posted a 61-41 road win over Oklahoma State. What makes this so weird, of course, is that Texas earlier beat Oklahoma 45-35.

Because the Big 12 opted to use the BCS poll as the tie-breaker in the case of a three-way tie for first place in one of its divisions (remember that seventh-ranked Texas Tech beat Texas to create the logjam), that means the Longhorns have been left out of this week's Big 12 title game.

That also means Texas must pray for Missouri to upset Oklahoma to have even a remote chance of playing in the BCS title game. Emphasis on the word remote.

This is not the first time that a highly-ranked team winning a head-to-head game was left out of the national title picture.

Florida State has twice been the beneficiary of such scenarios. In happened in 1993 when the 'Noles lost to Notre Dame but finished ahead of the Irish in the polls and it happened again in 2000, when Florida State lost to Miami and finished ahead of the Hurricanes.

In other words, it's a flawed system. Let's get rid of it.

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Monday, December 1, 2008

HAWAII WILL BE HOME FOR HOLIDAYS

(Dec. 1): It wasn't the prettiest of games. But in a season that started in such ugly fashion, Hawaii's 24-10 win over visiting Washington State was attractive enough.

For one thing, the victory clinched a berth for UH in the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl. For another, it enabled Hawaii to finish in a three-way tie for second place with Nevada and LaTech in the WAC standings.

Not bad for a team that lost all of its key offensive players and its head coach, was picked to finish fifth in the WAC and faced four teams that were or are ranked in the Top 25.

In the process, Boise State claimed yet another WAC title – finishing its perfect regular season by erupting for 48 points in the second half in a 61-10 rout of Fresno State. Nevada beat LaTech 35-31 to create the logjam for the runner-up spot.

As a result, Hawaii's date this week with No.13 Cincinnati will serve as an appetizing regular-season finale instead of must-win game against the recently-crowned Big East champ.

Leading Hawaii against Wazzou was Greg Alexander, a JC transfer who started the season-opener against Florida, lost the job, won it back and is now firmly entrenched as the team's QB for the immediate present and the future.

Alexander threw for 315 yards and a pair of touchdowns in addition to rushing for a team-high 43 yards on 14 carries. Defensively, Hawaii held the Cougars to 196 yards as the linebacking tandem of Solomon Elimimian and Adam Leonard each
registered 10 tackles.

LUNAS OUSTED: Although their school is located literally right down the road from Aloha Stadium, the Radford Rams spent the first two weeks of the state football tournament doing some serious island-hopping.

Thanks largely to a sensational first-half performance by Shawn Putman-Curry, the Rams – following trips to Kauai and Maui -- will be making the shortest of
bus rides for Friday's Division-II championship game against defending champion Iolani, which advanced with a 24-8 win over Campbell.

And, as a result, Lahainaluna – last year's runner-up – will be staying home following a 33-27 loss to the Rams.

Putman-Curry is a 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior with excellent size, speed and hands. And he put all of those on display Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.

He put in a full night's work in the first half alone, making eight catches for 126 yards and accounting for all three of his team's touchdowns – two on receptions and another on a run – for a 21-7 lead at intermission.

Lahainaluna scored a pair of late TDs on passes by Jake Manning to make things interesting down the stretch. But an onside kick was recovered by – who else? – Putman-Curry and the Lunas closed out their season with a 7-3 record.

In the D-I final, it will be defending champ Leilehua versus top-ranked Punahou. Leilehua, which eliminated Baldwin last week, rallied to beat Kahuku 17-10 in overtime. Punahou barely held on for a 34-28 win over Farrington.

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