Thursday, May 27, 2010

Ching left off US World Cup roster

By Fred Guzman

ESPN550.com

 

As a fan of the sport I was disappointed and more than slightly surprised that Hawaii's Brian Ching was not included on Bob Bradley's final 23-man roster for the US World Cup team. 

 

Granted, Ching was coming off a hamstring injury, but the hard-working, hard-nosed forward played well earlier this week as a second-half substitute in a 4-2 exhibition loss to the Czech Republic. 

 

Ching's scrappiness, work rate and knack for scoring on half-chances gave the US a much-needed element. All of the other forwards are runners rather than fighters. 

 

Sadly, this is Ching's last shot at playing in the World Cup.  He turned 32 on Monday and there's no way he'll be under consideration when the next WC rolls around in four years.  Ching was the US roster four years ago, but never got on the field.

 

The US plays Saturday against Turkey in Philly before departing for SA.  The US will play a friendly against Australia in on June 5 before playing England on June 12 in their Word Cup opener, and complete group play against Slovenia and Algeria.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Ron Lee out as UH grid assistant

By Fred Guzman

ESPN550.com

 

Although insisting that his resignation had nothing to do with his demotion from offensive coordinator to assistant, everything Ron Lee said during interviews yesterday pointed to that, indeed, his decison had everything to do with his reduced status on Greg McMackin's University of Hawaii football staff.

 

Lee's resignation goes into effect June 15, but McMackin apparently knew about his desire to step down since February.  According to Lee, he was asked to stay on through spring camp, and he did.

 

Lee lost his play-calling duties to Nick Rolovich after the first game of last season and was relieved of his coordinator title prior to spring drills.

 

Lee, who served as receivers coach for nine seasons under June Jones and two seasons as coordinator under McMackin, on one hand said it was time to relax and, on the other, said he intended to coach during the coming season.

 

Mouse Davis, credited with originating the run-and-shoot offense, said he will apply for the vacancy on the UH staff.   Frankly, I would be surprised if the 78-year-old Davis is seriously considered for the job.

 

Ron Lee's brother, Cal, remains on the UH staff.  Cal Lee remains the most legendary prep football coach in state history, following a wildly successful run at St. Louis School.  Cal Lee also was demoted from defensive coordinator to assistant following last season.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Hawaii advances to softball Super Regional

 

By Fred Guzman

ESPN550.com

 

The slugging prowess of the Rainbow Wahine wasn't merely a product of playing in a second-tier softball conference.

 

Hawaii generated another impressive power surge yesterday and, as result, advanced to play top-ranked Alabama in the best-of-three NCAA Division-I Super Regional this Friday and Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

 

The Wahine hammered five solo homers en route to a 7-1 win over Texas Tech of the Big 12 to claim the Stanford Regional.  Going deep for UH were Kelly Majam, Traci Yoshikawa, Melissa Gonzalez, Jenna Rodriguez and Katie Grimes.  Rodriguez also had a two-run single

 

Pitcher Stephanie Ricketts, who grew up just 20 miles south of the Stanford campus in San Jose, allowed six hits, while striking out six and walking three, helping UH improve its season record to 47-13. 

 

Hawaii also increased its home run total to 149, a D-I single-season mark that is 15 better than the previous record.

 

UH swept through the double-elimination regional with victories over UC Davis, Stanford and the Red Raiders.  Majan, a freshman centerfielder, increased her personal home run count to 29.

 

Another softball team from the Aloha State also is making big noise during the post-season.  Hawai'i Pacific rode the right arm of 6-foot senior right-hander Sherise Musquiz in posting back-to-back wins over Chico State by scores of 11-2 and 5-3 on Saturday to secure a berth in this week's eight-team national Division-II tournament at St. Joseph, Mo.

 

NA KOA:  The Victoria Seals scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, rallying to a 6-5 home win over Na Koa Ikaika Maui.  Na Koa had taken a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth on Fehlandi Lentini's second solo homer of the game.  It was Lentini's third homer of the young Golden Baseball League season. 

 

The five-game season-opening series continues Monday, with Victoria holding a 2-1 edge following a 5-2 loss on Friday and a 14-3 romp on Saturday.  Coverage of Monday's and Tuesday's games will begin shortly before 4 p.m. on AM 900 and espn550.com.  Na Koa's lengthy road trip will include stops in Calgary and Edmonton before playing their home opener against Tijuana on June 8 at Iron Maehara Stadium.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Popularity of UH logo sparks concerns

 

By Fred Guzman

ESPN550.com

 

Imitation, we are told, is the most sincere form of flattery.  If that's the case, the University of Hawaii has plenty to be flattered about.

 

It turns out that UH's distinctive green, silver and black kapa "H" logo has become popular with several prep teams around the country.  The problem is that those schools are using the logo without authorization.

 

Most notable among them is Hightower High School, a Texas football power based near Houston.  The Hightower Hurricanes' school colors are green, silver and black, so the UH logo worked perfectly.

 

The issue came tlo light, according to the Honolulu Advertiser, when a UH fan on the mainland e-mailed photos of the Hurricanes' uniforms to the university noting the striking resemblance.  

 

But Hightower is not alone.  Hillcrest High in Utah and Hoxie High in Arkansas also have adopted the UH logo without permission or providing UH with any sort of remuneration for its use.

 

The kapa "H" has been the university's sports logo for more than a decade and has been formally registered as trademark, which means using the "H" must be approved by the school's licensing office.

 

My hopes is UH works out some sort of an agreement by which the respective high schools recognize the university's legal ownership of the logo and pay UH a nominal licensing fee. 

 

The key word here is "nominal."  After all, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, isn't it?

 

UH ROUNDUP:  While the University of Hawaii's softball and baseball teams were  preparing for games on the mainland, the men's basketball team continued to make news during its off-season.

 

The Rainbow Wahine is facing UC Davis in the opening round game of in the Stanford Regional.  Friday's game will start at noon, Hawaii time, and UH would appear to be a clear favorite over a team that compiled an unimpressive 26-27 overall record.  By comparison, Hawaii is 44-13, is ranked No. 21 nationally and has set an NCAA D-I record this season with 141 homers. Host Stanford and Texas Tech round out the regional cast in the 64- team tournament field.

 

The baseball Bows, meantime, open a key four-game WAC regular-season-ending series at San Jose State on Friday.  UH is 26-24 overall following a 5-1 non-conference loss at Stanford earlier this week.

 

Then, there's basketball team, which shed itself of yet another holdover from the squad that went 10-20 last season.  The latest to be nudged out by new head coach Gib Arnold was enigmatic guard Dwayne Williams, who actually appeared in only 13 games in his only season at UH, missing the remaining games because of injuries, suspensions and a leave of absence.  

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Wahine open vs. UC Davis in softball regional

 

By Fred Guzman

ESPN550.com

 

The slugging Rainbow Wahine, who have hit a national record 141 homers this season, are the 16th overall seed and will open against UC Davis on Friday in the NCAA Tournament's Stanford Regional.

 

Also in the double-elimination regional are host Stanford and Texas Tech. Alabama is the No. 1 overall seed in the 64-team field.

 

Hawaii would appear to be a huge favorite against UC Davis, which is making its first tournament appearance and finished the regular season with a modest 26-27 record to earn an automatic NCAA berth by winning the Big West Conference title.  UH, meantime, is 44-13 overall and ranked No. 21  in one national poll after winning the WAC regular season and tournament titles.

 

Hawaii beat UC Davis 8-5 earlier this season. The Rainbow Wahine also split a pair of games with Stanford, losing 2-0 and winning 11-5 in a season-opening tournament in Manoa.  Stanford, which competes in the powerful Pac-10, is 36-16.  Texas Tech of the Big 12 is 37-17.

 

Hawaii has overpowered opponents.  Leading the way are a pair of freshman.  Centerfielder Kelly Majam has a national-best 28 homers while batting .409.  Shortstop Jessica Iwata is batting .404 with 17 homers.  Melissa Gonzalez has gone deep 23 times with a .399 average.  Four more reached double digits in homers:  Amanda Taulii with 16. Jenna Rodriguez 14, Alexandra Aguirre 11 and Katie Grimes 10.

 

UH HOOPS: No one really knows for sure whether the University of Hawaii basketball team will be better next season, although – following a 10-20 campaign that cost coach Bob Nash his job – that shouldn't be too much of an accomplishment.  But we do know that the makeup of the team under new coach Gib Arnold will be dramatically different.

 

The extreme makeover of the Rainbows under Arnold continued when highly touted junior college point guard Anthony Salter signed a national letter of intent following a weekend visit to Honolulu.

 

The 5-11 Salter starred at Iowa Western Community College last season, leading the team in scoring, assists, steals and free throw percentage.  He originally signed to play at Auburn in November. Salter  requested — and was granted — a release after coach Jeff Lebo was fired in March.

 

Salter played prep ball in Florida.  He was pursued by Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Charlotte before agreeing to become the eighth new recruit to sign with Hawaii for next season.

 

The other newcomers are guard Bo Barnes, forward Dominick Brumfield, guard Jordan Coleman, forward/center Vander Joaquim, point guard Bobby Miles, forward Josten Thomas, and forward Trevor Wiseman.