Thursday, February 26, 2009

BOLLA GOING, GOING ...

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

As details continue to leak out regarding why the University of Hawaii placed Jim Bolla on administrative leave in the middle of the season, it's evident that he will not be returning as head coach of the struggling women's basketball program.

Regardless of the outcome of a probe on the latest allegations against Bolla, the options appear to have been reduced to only two:

Either he is fired for cause, which would save the cash-strapped athletic department some money, or he is fired for performance, which would entitle him to a buyout of the remaining two years of an annual $120,000 contract.

At the heart of his current suspension, for the lack of a better word, are allegations that Bolla kicked a current player.

And there are reports that Bolla has a history of getting physical and/or verbally abusive with players both here and during a previous head-coaching streak at UNLV. In fact, UH had to deal with verbal abuse issues prior to the current season.

On the performance side, Bolla has never come close to approaching the success he enjoyed during 14 seasons at UNLV, where he won 300 games and qualified the Lady Rebels for seven NCAA tournament appearances.

By comparison, the UH is currently a dismal 6-20 overall and 3-10 in the WAC in Bolla's fifth season on the job. Bolla's record at Manoa was 61-75 at the time he was placed on leave.

UH is currently under the direction of associate head coach Pat Charity. The Rainbow Wahine conclude their home schedule with games against Idaho on Friday and Boise State on Sunday.

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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

UH HOOPS COACH UNDER FIRE

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Rainbow Wahine basketball coach Jim Bolla is under fire, and it's not just for another season of dismal results on the court.

Bolla was placed on indefinite paid leave last week for undisclosed reasons, although reports have since emerged that the cause of the action is an alleged physical confrontation with a player that recently came to university's attention.

Associate coach Pat Charity was in charge of the team during the past week, when UH suffered road losses to Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State.

The setbacks dropped the Rainbow Wahine's records to 5-19 overall and 2-9 in the WAC.

Bolla is in his fifth season as the Rainbow Wahine's head coach. After this season, he has two more years remaining on a contract extension.
Bolla was the subject of an internal investigation following last season, when some players complained that he engaged in verbal abuse of team members. But he returned to job, nevertheless, although he did receive a written reprimand for the athletic department.
The men's basketball team, meantime, will try to bounce back from a gut-wrenching 47-46 home loss Saturday night to Nevada, who outscored the Bows 8-0 over the final 2:14.
Hawaii will take marks to 12-12 overall and 4-8 in the WAC for its next game – a road showdown with Fresno State on Thursday that will be nationally televised on ESPN2.
In men's volleyball, Hawaii is off this week following back-to-back road losses to Long Beach State, dropping its records to 3-8 overall and 1-6 in the MPSF. UH next plays host to Stanford on Feb. 26 and 27.

The Rainbow Wahine opened the softball season in impressive fashion, upsetting sixth-ranked Oklahoma 8-5 in the opener of the Paradise Classic. But they lost their other four games.

Over the past weekend, they again went 1-4 during a 22-team tourney hosted by UNLV. UH lost 6-2 to Northwestern, 8-0 to Kentucky, 3-2 to Oregon, spanned a seven-game skid with an 8-3 win over St. Louis and then lost 8-0 to UC-Davis.

UH is now 2-8 going into a game tomorrow at Loyola-Marymount.

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Friday, February 13, 2009

SEABURY ADVANCES TO SEMIS

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Living up to its No. 1 seed, Seabury Hall eased into today's semifinals of the state boys Division-II soccer tournament with a decisive 3-0 victory over Honokaa yesterday.

The Spartans, who captured the unofficial MIL overall title by posting a 10-1-1 mark despite its small-school status, will face fourth-seeded Kapaa of Kauai in a 3 p.m. match today at the Waipio Soccer Complex.

Seabury struck early and often, scoring all of its goals in the first half. Freshman Willy Harris struck in the 14th minute, with Kevan Blount scoring in the 31st and Jacob Sandoval in the 32nd.

A victory over Kapaa, which advanced with a 3-0 win of its own at the expense of Waialua, would enabled Seabury to reach the final against the winner of the match between second-seeded HPA and Mid-Pacific.

Things didn't turn out nearly as well for MIL D-I winner Kamehameha-Maui, which never recovered after conceding a goal just 15 seconds into the match in an eventual 4-0 loss to Kapolei.

King Kekaulike bounced back from an opening 3-1 loss to Kalaheo with a 2-1 consolation bracket victory over Kaiser with Logan Bantilan accounting for both Na Alii goals.

Kamehameha meets meets Roosevelt today while Kekaulike will play for seventh place against Moanalua on Saturday.

Both of Sunday's finals will be televised OC-16.

TEIXEIRA INVITED: The opening of major-league spring training camps is right around the corner and we knew that two players from the Valley Isle would be in attendance.

They are, of course, center fielder Shane Victorino of the reigning World Series-champion Philadelphia Phillies and catcher Kurt Suzuki of the Oakland Athletics.

But we now can add another name to the list. Reliever Kanekoa Teixeira has been invited to the big-league camp of the New York Yankees, who acquired the hard-throwing right-hander as part of an off-season trade with the Chicago White Sox.

Although his chances of sticking with the big club are remote, it's still a great opportunity for Teixeira – who has pitched well at every stop during a brief minor-league career -- to make a positive impression with the team's on-field and front-office staffs.

WIE STARTS WELL: Michelle Wie got off to an impressive start in the SBS Open, a season-opening event behind held at Turtle Bay on Oahu's North Shore.

The now 19-year-old Wie birdied the final three holes for a 6-under 66 to gain a share of second place in her debut as a full-fledged member of the LPGA Tour.

Wie and 2008 rookie of the year Yani Tseng were one stroke back of Angela Stanford, who shot a bogey-free 65 to take the first-round lead.

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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

PREP SPORTS TAKING BIG HIT

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

The landscape of prep sports is being altered all over the country, as the continued economic downturn continues to force school districts and states to make some tough financial decisions.

We saw it in Hawaii last year, when an effort to cut junior varsity sports was barely averted. But the times have gotten tougher since then. With state departments forced to make major budget cuts, it's inevitable that the funding for prep sports again becomes a political issue in the Aloha State just as it has across the nation.

In New York, the group that oversees public high school athletics recently approved shaved-down schedules next school year as a cost-cutting measure. Baseball teams that play 24 games will be trimmed to 20; football teams will go from 19 games to nine or even eight.

A school district outside Cleveland has discussed dropping all sports. Oklahoma has already shortened seasons to save money. Mississippi has voted to cut schedules by 10 percent, except for the beloved moneymaker, football.

Schools in Idaho are considering a reduction. And while a season-reducing proposal was rejected in Maine last month, officials there set rules that will result in fewer teams qualifying for playoffs.

Closer to home, the Maui Interscholastic League faces some difficult and unique challenges. Two MIL members (Molokai and Lanai) are located on separate islands, and another (Hana) is located in a remote location.

The general feeling – both in Hawaii and nationally -- seems to be that it's better to make across-the-board cuts than to eliminate entire sports. Not an ideal solution, but desperate times sometimes call for desperate measures.

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Friday, February 6, 2009

KEKAULIKE GIRLS REACH SEMIS

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

The King Keakulike girls' soccer team won't have much time to rest on their laurels.

A pair of early goals by Mia Minkler lifted Kekaulike to a 2-1 victory over fourth-seeded Hilo on Thursday and earned Na Alii a berth in the semifinals of the state Division-I soccer tournament.

Kekaulike faces a huge challenge in today's 5 p.m. match against three-time defending champ and top-seeded Kamehameha-Kapalama, which eased to a 3-0 quarterfinal victory over Kapolei.

In other Division-I action yesterday, MIL champion and third-seeded Kamehameha-Maui jumped out to a quick lead on Jalisa Chong Kee's goal less than two minutes into the match.

But Punahou responded with a series of unanswered goals – including a pair by Karli Look -- for a 4-1 victory.

Punahou meets second-seeded Mililani in tonight's other semifinal match while the Kamehameha-Maui meets Kaiser in a 3 p.m. consolation game.

Both of the MIL's entries in the D-II tournament are out of the competition after suffered their second losses in as many days. And both teams went down via penalty kicks after playing their opponents on a even terms in regulation.

Rachel Uehara accounted for St. Anthony's goal in regulation, but the Trojans were outscored 5-3 in the tie-breaker as Mid-Pacific posted a 2-1 win. In another consolation match, Waianae edged Seabury Hall 1-0 by outscoring the Spartans 3-0 in the tie-breaker.

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Wednesday, February 4, 2009

FOUR MAUI PLAYERS SIGN LETTERS

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

If you agree with the theory that recruiting is the lifeblood of any successful college football program, then you can make a strong case that this is the most important day of the year on the college football calendar.

It's the first day that a new crop of talented high school seniors can sign binding national letters of intent .

Taking part in that process were four players with local ties. But the big news coming out of the Aloha State was highly-touted Punahou linebacker Manti Te'o picking Notre Dame over USC and UCLA. Te'o was ranked as the nation's top linebacker and the seventh overall prospect in this year's recruiting class by rivals.com.

Baldwin defensive end Mana Rosa, despite recently taking several visits to other campuses, is firm on his previous verbal commitment and will sign to play at Oregon State.

Fellow Baldwin defensive end Jordan Pu'u Robinson is bound for Washington State.

Defensive lineman Kamaloni Vainikolo, who took a longer route through junior college, will formally accept a scholarship from Utah State. The former Maui High standout played two seasons of junior college bowl in California, most recently at El Camino.

And Simione Vehikite, who started his prep career at Lahainaluna before transferring to Kapolei High on Oahu, is headed to Pac-10 powerhouse USC, where is projected to become a fullback.

Although the University of Hawaii has focused on recruiting in-state talent this year under a more proactive approach by head coach Greg McMackin, none of the projected newcomers will come from the Valley Isle.

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Tuesday, February 3, 2009

UH TEAMS REVERSE TREND

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Last week, I was grumbling about the winter woes of University of Hawaii teams, who – at that time – had lost a combined 18 games.

Wouldn't you know it? Each of those teams ended their respective losing streaks since then.

None more impressively than the men's volleyball team. Off to a 1-6 start and in the midst of a six-match skid, the Rainbows stunningly swept a pair of matches against second-ranked Cal State Northridge.

Joshua Walker had 19 kills, nine kills and four blocks in Saturday's 30-26, 21-30, 32-30, 30-26 win at the Stan Sheriff Center. On Friday, the Bows outlasted the Matadors in five games.

The men's basketball team stopped a five-game skid and nine-game road losing streak with a win at LaTech on Thursday on a last-second shot by Petras Balocka.

But UH reverted to form on Saturday, suffering an 82-72 loss at New Mexico State despite a 27-point effort by Roderick Fleming. UH is now 10-11 overall and 2-7 in the WAC.

The UH women finally won a game, on the road no less, defeating Utah State 63-61 on Megan Tinnin's layup with 17.5 seconds left to end an eight-game skid. UH then suffered a 66-50 loss to Idaho on Sunday despite a career-high 17 points by Tara Hittle. UH dropped to 4-17 overall and 1-7 in the WAC.

STATE SOCCER: SOCCER: Four MIL teams will be taking part in the state high school girls tournaments that kick off tomorrow as Oahu's Waipio Soccer Complex.

Leading the way is Kamehameha-Maui, which edged out King Kekaulike for the MIL Division-I title and earned a No. 1 seed at states.

The Warriors posted an 11-1-2 league mark and will draw a first-round bye before opening its bid at 3 p.m. Thursday, facing the winner of the first-round game between Punahou (9-0-3) and Pearl City (9-4-2).

Kekaulike (11-2-1) will open against surprise qualifier Kahuku (6-6-4) at 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

The top seed in D-I went to three-time defending champ Kamehameha (10-0-2). OIA champ Mililani (14-0-1) was seeded second and Big Island champ Hilo (10-1-2) was seeded fourth.

In D-II, the MIL also qualified two teams, although neither has a particularly impressive record. As a result, neither was seeded into the tournament and both will have to play at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

St. Anthony (3-10-1) faces Radford (5-3-4) at 3 p.m. and Seabury Hall (2-10-2) will meet Honoka'a (8-4-1).

The D-II seeds went to No. 1 Kailua, No. 2 Kauai, No. 3 Pac-Five and No. 4 defending champ Kamehameha-Hawaii.

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Monday, February 2, 2009

SOBERING SETBACK FOR PENN

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but Hawaii's BJ Penn was not mightier than Georges St. Pierre, confirming the old sports adage that a good big man almost invariably beats a good little man.

Historically, that's been the case in boxing, with a long list of light-heavyweight champions who have gotten their clocks cleaned when bidding to move up in weight.

And it was again the case on Saturday night in Las Vegas, as Penn sustained a frightful beating at the hands of the Canadian St. Pierre before the bout was thankfully – and rightfully -- stopped after the fourth round on the advice of the ringside doctor.

The welterweight bout was billed as the best matchup in UFC history, and Penn – the reigning lightweight champ -- enjoyed the support of most of the nearly15,000 fans at the MGM Grand.

Instead, it turned out to be an utter mismatch as Penn came up hugely short in his bid to hold UFC titles simultaneously in two weight divisions.

The two men met three years ago, with St. Pierre pulling out a narrow split decision. This time, it wasn't even close.

After an uneventful first round, St. Pierre took command of the bout from early in the second round, repeatedly taking Penn to the canvas and pummeling his opponents with heavy blows over the ensuing rounds before the bout was stopped.

Penn was taken to a hospital immediately after the fight and did not attend the post-bout press conference. In the end, this was all about the bigger, stronger man dominating a game, but smaller opponent.

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