Yankees cash in for 27th title

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

The wailing began moments after second baseman Robinson Cano fielded Shane Victorino's routine grounder and threw the ball to Mark Texeira at first base for the final out of the New York Yankees' clinching 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

And the familiar cry of "Damn Yankees!" will continue to be heard for the coming days, months and well beyond.

The Yankee haters will point to an inflated payroll of about $210 million as the reason why New York nailed down its 27th World Series title last night at the expense of the defending champion Phillies.

There will be plenty of talk about the need for some sort of a salary cap to even the playing field.

There will be lots of grumbling about how the lack of competitive balance is killing baseball.

There will be the usual outrage about how New York went out and brought itself yet another championship at the expense of the small-market teams.

Money, indeed, has always played a critical role in the Yankees' success over the years, going back to the days of Babe Ruth.

During the previous off-season, New York signed the top three free agents – Texiera, lefty CC Sabathia and right-hander AJ Burnett – to contracts worth more than $423 million.

But money alone isn't the only reason for New York's victory, otherwise the Yankees wouldn't have had to wait nine years between titles and six years between World Series appearances.

In the end, however, the brightest star of this World Series was not one of the big-money new free agents, or the mega-salaried likes of Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter.

That distinction belonged to designate hitter Hideki Matsui, who drove in six runs on three hits in Wednesday's clincher. Matsui became the first Japanese player to win the World Series MVP award after hitting for a sizzling .615 average by going 8-for-13 with three homers and eight RBI.

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Big challenges await MIL football teams

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

The two teams have already clinched their respective divisions of the MIL going into Friday night's regular-season finale at War Memorial Stadium, but both are well aware that they face formidable challenges in their opening round games of the state football tournament.

Let's just say that the seeding committee didn't do either Baldwin or Lahainaluna any favors in the pairings that were announced Tuesday.

As the third seed in the Division-I tournament, Baldwin will be at home for a Friday, Nov. 20, quarterfinal game against the loser of this week's OIA-Red title game between top-ranked Kahuku and defending state runnerup Leilehua.

The Lunas were seeded No. 4 in the D-II tourney, and have been assigned to play on the road on the same night against the loser of the OIA-White showdown between Moanalua and Aiea.

The temptation for Baldwin and the Lunas is to play things close to the vest in an effort to rest players, guard against injuries and not show too many of their cards to their future opponents.

That, in my view, would be a mistake. Local bragging rights are on the line for the two teams that have dominated MIL football over the past decade.

Just as important, taking the foot off the pedal isn't going to properly prepare the MIL teams for OIA teams that are getting battle-tested in a playoff format leading up to the state tournament.

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Hawaii’s football skid reaches 6

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Things began on a promising note for Hawaii, which jumped out to a 14-0 lead less than eight minutes into the game as Bryant Moniz hit on scoring passes of 18 yards to Kealoha Pilares and 71 to Jovonte Taylor.

But it was all Nevada after that as two familiar problems – a porous defense and a mistake-prone offense – resulted in yet another loss on Saturday as the hometown Wolf Pack rallied to a 31-21 victory.

Colin Kaepernick – a 6-foot-6 quarterback combining 4.5 speed and a fastball that's been locked at 94 mph – put his diverse athletic skill son display, sending UH to its sixth straight setback.

Against Hawaii, he was12 of 21 for 184 yards and two TD while adding 114 yards on 12 carries and two more scores, helping his team to its fifth straight win and a 4-0 mark in the WAC.

UH QB Bryant Moniz completed 29 of 49 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns, but suffered a pair of picks – including one in the end zone -- to kill off a drive that might have kept UH in the game.

After the game, Moniz put the loss on his shoulders. But he is not deserving of the self-imposed blame.

Hawaii dropped three passes. Two punts traveled 7 and 10 yards. A holding penalty nullified a TD. A 42-yard field goal sailed wide.

Defensively, UH was unable to contain Nevada's ground game. Not only did Kaepernick run for triple-digits, but its tailback tandem of Vai Taua and Luke Lippincott combined for 211 yards.

In short, Hawaii's latest loss was truly a team effort.

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Baseball no long fan favorite

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

The NBA season tipped off Tuesday on the eve of Game 1 of baseball's signature event, the World Series.

Although I don't have the statistics or ratings readily available to quantify my point, it's become increasingly clear that baseball is a game that appeals to a much older demographic than does basketball.

Then, there's the NFL, whose appeals crosses all demos and clearly reigns supreme as the king of American pro sports.

How do I arrive at these conclusions without the benefit of hard statistical evidence? By the number of calls we receive during our mid-day talk show.

The way the show is structured is that we encourage listeners to set the agenda by calling about the stories, games, topics and personalities that most interest them.

Oh, we had our modest share of calls regarding the World Series. But would that number have been that high if not for Shane Victorino's key presence on the Phillies? My guess? Probably not.

Meantime, the volume of calls about the NFL and NBA kept rolling in.

Only a late – and spirited – discussion regarding the struggling UH football team and its head coach distracted our callers from their overwhelming interest in pro football and pro hoops.

It's a trend that has been steadily growing for years. And it's something that has to concern those who run what we once called America's past-time because baseball's time has passed as America's favorite sport.

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McMackin not going anywhere, for now

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

A growing number of University of Hawaii fans, frustrated by the team's 2-5 record and five-game losing streak, are starting to believe that head coach Greg McMackin is not the man for the job.

Maybe, their theory goes, UH would be better off dumping McMackin and finding a better and less expensive coach.

My response to those fans: It isn't going to happen for three reasons: Money, money, money. McMackin is only in the second year of a 5-year contract that pays him $1.1 million annually.

Given the cash-strapped status of UH's athletic department, with an accumulated debt of $6 million, Hawaii lacks the financial resources to buy out the nearly $3.3 million remaining on McMackin's contract and then coming up with the additional money required to land a successor.

So, for better or worse, UH fans have to hope that McMackin can turn things around.

Hawaii is coming off a 54-9 thumping at the hands of seventh-ranked Boise State and could be looking at another lopsided loss at Nevada this week.

The schedule softens after that, with games versus traditional WAC also-rans Utah State, New Mexico State and San Jose State, before regular season-ending home games against Navy and Wisconsin.

In other words, injury-depleted and turnover-prone Hawaii appears highly unlikely to win five of its remaining six games to become bowl eligible this season.

UH NOTES: QB Brent Rausch returned to practice yesterday after missing six weeks with a broken pinky on his throwing hand. He will be one of three quarterbacks included on the 64-player roster for this week's game at Nevada. Bryant Moniz, who inherited the job when Greg Alexander suffered a season-ending knee injury, suffered a concussion in last week's 54-9 home loss to Boise State and had to leave the game early. His replacement, Shane Austin, went 22 of 36 for 174 yards and one TD on a late 10-yard hookup with Jon Medeiros. But he was also picked three times, including once in the end zone.

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Lunas take D-II; Bears beat Na Alii

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

Lahainaluna clinched its third straight MIL Division-II football title and a berth in the state tournament by defeating Kamehameha-Maui 21-13 in a Saturday afternoon game at the Lunas' on-campus field known as "The Imu."

The win improved Lahainaluna's MIL mark to 5-2 with one game left, a much-anticipated rematch with Baldwin on Nov. 6.

The Warriors went down with a fight against the Lunas, who forced five turnovers to preserve the victory as Kamehameha rolled up nearly 300 yards in total offense.

Baldwin, meantime, took control of the D-I race with a 14-6 win over Kekaulike, as the Bears' defense held on four plays inside its own nine to preserve the win and avenge an earlier loss to Na Alii.

The Bears took the lead on their first offensive play, but the offense struggled before Baldwin unveiled its version of the Wildcat.

Sheldon Leong – who was on the receiving end of Brock Shishido's early 23-yard TD pass – shifted to the tailback spot and put on an excellent performance.

But moments after the Bears took a 14-0 lead three minutes into the second half, Charles Spencer put Kekaulike back in the game with an electrifying 95-yard kickoff return.

Baldwin improved its league mark to 5-1 and needs one more win in its final two games to clinch the D-I title. Kekaulike dropped to 4-3.

In this week's action, Baldwin hosts Kamehameha on Friday while Kekaulike visits Maui High on Saturday. The Lunas are idle.

STATE EVENTS: Seveal state prep competitions are on tap this week – starting with air riflery, which begins tomorrow at the Blaisdell Arena.

The girls volleyball D-I and D-II tournaments start on Wednesday at various campus sites, before moving into the Stan Sheriff Center for Saturday's final round of matches. Kamehameha-Maui is seeded fourth in D-I, with Baldwin also earning a berth.

In D-II, Molokai is seeded second and Seabury Hall also qualified. Bowling is set for Thursday and Friday at the Schofield Bowl on Oahu. And the cross country meet is set for Saturday on Kauai.

BOISE ROUTS UH: Those 24 points the oddsmakers were giving, as it turns out, weren't nearly enough of a spread for Saturday's mismatch at Aloha Stadium as injury-riddled and mistake prone Hawaii suffered a humiliating 54-9 spanking at the hands of Boise State.

Offensively, UH turned the ball over six times, all of the giveaways resulting in scores by the seventh-ranked team in the current BCS poll.

Defensively, Hawaii had no answer for versatile quarterback Kellen Moore, who threw four scoring passes, including three to the speedy Titus Young, and ran for another. Kyle Brotzman kicked four field goals as the Broncos, who led 34-0 at halftime, improved to 7-0.

Hawaii suffered its fifth straight loss, its worst stretch since the winless season of 1998, falling to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the WAC.

Making matters worse, UH quarterback Bryant Moniz, who inherited the job when Greg Alexander suffered a season-ending knee injury, suffered a concussion and had to leave the game early.

His replacement, Shane Austin, went 22 of 36 for 174 yards and one TD on a late 10-yard hookup with Jon Medeiros. But he was also picked three times, including once in the end zone.

Greg Salas had catches for 90 yards, but fumbled the ball deep in UH territory to set p another short-field scoring drive for the Broncos.

Things don't get easier this week. UH travels to Nevada, which rolled up 484 rushing yards in a 70-45 win over Idaho. In case you haven't notice, Hawaii isn't very good defending the run … or anything else.

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Victorino homers in Phils’ clincher

By Fred Guzman
ESPN550.com

The Phillies are returning to the World Series after again flexing their muscles in a 10-4 win over the Dodgers to win the National League Championship Series in five games.

The Phillies collected four homers in last night's game, including a pair by Jayson Werth, and their star slugger, Ryan Howard, was named the MVP of the series.

But you could have made a strong case for Shane Victorino being equally deserving of the individual honor.

The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Howard batted .333 by going 5 for 15 with two homers and eight RBI against the Dodgers. But Victorino's numbers were just as impressive.

On Wednesday, he went two for four, scored once and drove in three runs. During the series, he batted 7 for 19, a 368 average, to go with two homers and six RBI.

For the current post-season, he's batting .361, going 13 of 36, to go with three homers, eight runs and seven RBI. And in 26 career post-season games, Victorino has six homers and 21 RBI.

Those are not the type of power numbers normally associated with a guy listed at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds.

But that's the kind of production Shane has provided for the Phils, who await the result of the American League series between the Yankees and Angels, with New York holding a 3-1 lead going into today's Game 5.

MAIAVA'S BIG CHANCE

In the NFL, it's called "next up." Briefly, in a sport where injuries are a way of life, every and any player on a roster never knows when it will be his turn to fill in at a moment's notice.

It now appears as if former Baldwin star Kaluka Maiava is next up for the struggling Cleveland Browns.

Maiava is the top candidate to replace star linebacker D'Qwell Jackson in the starting lineup when the Browns host Green Bay this week.

Jackson, who led the NFL in tackles last season with 188, has been declared out for the season after suffering a shoulder injury in the first half of last week's 27-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

As a result of Jackson's injury, Maiava – a rookie fourth-round draft pick out of USC – saw his first extended action at linebacker in the second half of the game.

Maiava made the most of his chance by registering six tackles and forcing a fumble. Up to then, Maiava had seen virtually all of his action on kick coverage units, posting four tackles and forcing a fumble.

Another rookie linebacker with Hawaii ties, former UH standout David Veikune, is also a candidate to see additional playing time.

Meantime, former UH linebacker Jeff Ulbrich, a 10-year veteran, who has spent his entire career with the 49ers, is out for the season after sustaining yet another concussion. The 32-year-old said is considering retirement after suffering more concussions than he can count.

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