MIL BASEBALL: SABERS, BEARS ON TOP

(March 31): Perennial baseball arch-rivals, Maui High and Baldwin, find themselves in familiar positions – deadlocked atop the MIL Division I standings with 6-0 records.

But there's a lot of baseball remaining between now and when the front-runners tangle in a regular-season-closing two-game series on April 18 and 19.

With Peter Ibanez and Jacob Babauta combining on a three-hitter, Maui High knocked Kamehameha out of the unbeaten ranks with a 1-0 win on Friday. Mitch Crim's sacrifice fly in the third accounted for the only run.

The Sabers followed that up with a 6-4 win over the Warriors on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Baldwin beat defending overall champion Saint Anthony 4-2. The Bears face Kamehameha at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Saint Anthony's loss, coupled with Molokai's pair of lopsided victories over Kaahumanu Hou., dropped the Trojans to 2-2 and a half-game behind the 3-2 Farmers.

From the diamond to the track:

Jessica Davis, a sophomore from Highland High of California, stole the show at the Yamamoto Invitational track and field meet by shattering three meet records. She was clocked in 11.99 in the 100, 24.75 in the 200 and 57.41 in the 400.

Baldwin's Kalei Kamahele set new marks in the 100 in 11.04 and 200 in 22.16, while teammate Joey Amescua won the 800 in a record time of 2:02.13.

King Kekaulike's Reid Hunter brple the 1,500 mark in 4:15.33 – some 13 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at mail.pacificradiogroup.com

LOW DOWN: UNC SPANKS COUGARS

(March 28): The college basketball career of Derrick Low came to a sobering, but not surprising, conclusion last night in Charlotte.

Low and his Washington State teammates were soundly beaten, 68-47, by top-ranked and No. 1-seeded North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen round of the Big Dance.

The Tar Heels got off to a slow start, trailing 12-10, with 11:33 remaining in the half. But UNC picked up its offensive pace while the Cougars struggled with their shooting.

Low finished with 14 points, but made just 6-of-16 from the field and 2-of-9 from behind the arc. His shooting woes were reflected throughout the Wazzou lineup. The Cougars made only 31 percent of their attempts and just 2 of 16 – or 12.5 percent – from 3-point range.

Led by Tyler Hansborough's 18 points and 9 rebounds, North Carolina eased to its third straight lopsided win in the tourney.

The Tar Heels will next face third-seeded Louisville on Saturday.

The Cardinals advanced with a decisive 79-60 victory over No. 2 Tennessee, limiting Vols' star Chris Lofton to 15 points on 3-of-15 shooting. Louisville put on a clinic on how to defend the 3-poiint shot as Lofton went 2-of-11 from behind the arc and his team a combined 5-for-20.

In the West Region, Kevin Love scored a career-high 29 and grabbed 14 rebounds in leading top-seeded UCLA to an 88-78 victory over Western Kentucky.

The Bruins will next meet Xavier on Saturday. The third-seeded X-Men were extended into overtime before subduing No. 7 West Virginia 79-75.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at mail.pacificradiogroup.com

UPDATE ON MAUI'S BIG-LEAGUERS

(March 27): Both of Maui's big-leaguers – Philly center fielder Shane Victorino and Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki – will start for their respective teams.

Playing mostly right field last season, Victorino batted .281 with 23 doubles, 12 homers, 78 runs scored and 37 steals. He was also among the National League leaders in outfield assists.
In short, he was a contributor to Philly's stunning late-season run to overtake the collapsing New York Mets in the NL East.

His strong play essentially allowed Philly the luxury of letting Aaron Rowand pursue free agency and install Victorino in his place.

Although the A's have a few more exhibition games left on their spring schedule, Oakland already played a pair of regular-season games this week against Boston. The A's split the series in China and Suzuki went 3-for-8.

Suzuki became Oakland's starter last June in what amounted to an audition. Kurt won the starting role on a permanent basis by batting .249, with 7 homers and 39 RBI in 68 games.

Things aren't looking so sunny for Kauai product Tyler Yates. Atlanta traded the 30-year-old lefty to Pittsburgh yesterday for a minor-league pitcher. Because the Pirates have a surplus of relievers, Yates could end up starting the season in Triple A.

And Kamehameha grad Dane Sardinha, a catcher, is in the running to make Detroit's roster as a backup to Pudge Rodriguez.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at mail.pacificradiogroup.com

SUZUKI OFF TO HOT START

(March 26): Initially, I had no issues with the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics opening the major-league baseball season with games in Japan.

Upon further review, the idea stinks. It has not only detracted from the opening of our league, but it has stolen substantial thunder for the opening of the Japan League, as well. A lose-lose proposition, if you ask me.

Normally, I would make a point of watching the first big-league game of the season, regardless of who is playing. And particularly if a local kid, as is the case with Oakland catcher Kurt Suzuki, is playing in the contest.

But there's no way I was going stay up until midnight to watch the start of this year's campaign.

Kurt, by the way, went 2-for-3 – including a double – and scored a run in Oakland's 5-1 win over the defending World Series champs as Rich Harden allowed three hits and struck out nine over six innings, giving Oakland a split of the series.

After another productive spring, Suzuki is off to a 3-of-8 start at the plate.

Although the season has technically started, here are my picks for the campaign that truly begins this weekend:

In the American League, Boston beats out the Yankees in the East, with New York claiming the wild card. Detroit takes the competitive Central and the Angels beat out Seattle in the West.

In the National, the Mets out-duel Philly and Atlanta in the East, while the Cubs take the Central and the San Diego wins the West. Philly is my wild card pick.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at mail.pacificradiogroup.com

FULL PLATE FOR INCOMING A.D.

(March 25): Jim Donovan officially began his duties yesterday as the University of Hawaii's athletics director, and he has plenty on his plate.

A key issue Donovan must resolve quickly is a new TV contract, which is linked to resolving his biggest challenge – balancing a budget that is believed to be between $4 million to $6 million in the red.

Revenues from UH's appearance in the Sugar Bowl will cut into that deficit, reducing it by an estimated $2.5 million.

That's where the TV contract comes in. The likelihood of UH returning to a BCS bowl game isn't likely to happen anytime soon. But the TV deal will continue to generate revenue over the life of the contract.

UH is negotiating with K5, which has carried UH sports since 1984. K5 carries about 120 UH sporting events annually, and produces 19 of those for pay-per-view. Oceanic Time Warner, which operates OC-16, has indicated interest in bidding for the TV rights.

Hawaii earned more than $2.5 million for telecasts of 2007 games, including a big increase in pay-per-view revenue.

The school collected $794,000 as its share of pay-per-view compared to $400,000 for 2006. That's despite late-season games versus Boise State and Washington being carried on ESPN and not the pay-per-view distributor.

Adding local TV rights of about $1.7 million, UH's total TV take was $2.5 million.

But how much value is there in pay-per-view when ESPN can cherry-pick the best games? Four are planned for this season, with a possibility of up to seven.

UH also is negotiating radio rights with ESPN 1420, which paid $1 million over three years.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at mail.pacificradiogroup.com

UPSETS GALORE IN BIG DANCE

(March 24): My bracket is in tatters. So, most likely, is yours. If not, you're either the luckiest or the wisest of basketball fans. And I'll go with the former.

Consider that of the more than 2.5 million brackets submitted to ESPN's Tournament Challenge, only two of survived the opening weekend of the NCAA tourney with a perfect record.

That's what happens when four unheralded teams crash the Sweet Sixteen, as was the case with Davidson, West Virginia, Villanova and Western Kentucky.

Granted; all four of the top seeds survived. But while North Carolina and Kansas cruised through their opening two games, UCLA and Memphis were fortunate to advance.

UCLA needed a overtime as well as clutch performances by Darren Collison and Kevin Love to subdue Texas A&M on Saturday.
Memphis, again showing there's nothing free about them, struggled at the line and to a 77-74 win over Mississippi State yesterday.

Although all four of the top seeds advanced, a pair of No. 2s bit the dust as Davidson shocked Georgetown and West Virginia ousted Duke.

The center of the Upset Universe was Tampa, where – for the first time in tournament history – all four of the lower seeded teams won their first-round games, producing second-round match-ups involving No. 12 Villanova vs. No. 13 Siena and No. 12 Western Kentucky versus No. 13 San Diego.

So the road to the Final Four is already littered with upset victims. Let the madness continue.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at mail.pacificradiogroup.com

ELAM'S DAYS IN DENVER NUMBERED

(March 20): The Denver Broncos and veteran place kicker Jason Elam appear close to a parting of ways after 13 years.

The former University of Hawaii standout has been one of the most reliable kickers of his era. But he spent the past week in meetings with the Atlanta Falcons after his negotiations for a new deal with Denver stalled.

The Broncos apparently are holding firm on a three-year offer they believe is comparable to, if not better than, the current deals for other aging kickers.

Ironically, the 38-year-old Elam is coming off a season in which he registered four walkoff game-winning kicks – the most by an NFL kicker since 1990.

In fact, his game-winners accounted for more than half of Denver's seven victories.

And he finished the season by making his last 15 field goal attempts.

In case you had forgotten, Elam was born and raised in Georgia, adding credence to reports he's be doing his kicking in the Georgia Dome this year.

It's the latest twist in an off-season of instability for the Broncos.

They released wide receiver Javon Walker and linebacker Ian Gold during the off-season. They experienced turnover at both coordinator positions for a third straight year.

And, to top things off, head coach Mike Shanahan, who doubles as Vice President of Football Operations, fired general manager Ted Sundquist, a veteran of 16 years with the organization.

So a lot of things are up in the air in mile-high Denver, including the likely departure of their dependable kicker.

________________________________________________________________
Sent via the WebMail system at mail.pacificradiogroup.com