ALEXANDER GETS STARTING CALL

(Oct. 31): In the spirit of the recently concluded World Series, here's our take on the quarterbacking situation with the Hawaii football team.

Coming out of the bullpen and delivering a sensational outing in a relief role last week, UH right-hander Greg Alexander earned the starting job for tomorrow's game at Utah State. After platooning starter Inoke Funaki and Tyler Graunke at QB, head coaach Greg McMackin opted to give Alexander a shot against Nevada.

The junior JC transfer delivered in a big way. Alexander completed 17 of 22 pass attempts for 205, including a game-winning 24-yarder to Malcolm Lane with 20 seconds left, in a 38-31 win over the Wolfpack. As an extra reward, Alexander was named WAC player of the week for his efforts.

Funaki, who has started six games this season, will also play against the Aggies, according to McMackin. An offensive package has been designed for Funaki, who is a more talented runner than he is a passer. But Alexander showed he could run the ball a bit, as well, against Nevada.

In another position-related development, the versatile Ryan Mouton will start at slot back after making five catches for 58 yards last week. Mouton's, the team's standout starting free safety, is now scheduled for 10 to 15 snaps as a nickel back in selected situations.

UH is a seven-point favorite on the road against a Utah State team that last week suffered a difficult 30-28 loss to visiting Fresno State on a 58-yard field goal as time expired.

UH will remain on the mainland following Saturday's game, traveling to El Paso to prepare for next week's game against New Mexico State, located 42 miles up the road.

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SHANE VICTORINO: CHAMPION!

(Oct. 30): Shane Victorino is a champion, and those of us who llive on the island and state he so proudly calls home, couldn't be prouder in return.

When closer Brad Lidge struck out Erik Hinske for the final out of the protracted Game 5, securing Philadelphia's 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay, it marked the first time a player from Maui won a World Series.

As is the came with so many of you, I have many memories of Shane. He was a restless kid who could never stay still. Every mental picture I have of Shane as a kid is of him running somewhere … fast.

Victorino learned to channel that restless energy into sports. We all knew he was an amazing athlete – as good as any to come out of the Valley Isle – following a career in youth and prep sports during which he excelled at anything and everything he tried.

Football. Soccer. Track. And, of course, baseball. He didn't shoot hoops in high school, but he was unstoppable in the menehune ranks..

But did anyone really expect this? Shave Victorino: starting center fielder and a clutch performer for a team that ended 28 years of frustration by capturing the World Series in five games? And particularly after a rocky start to a career he began directly out of St. Anthony.

Victorino had to negotiate some detours and potholes on the road to last night's victory in his sport's biggest and brightest stage. But Shane always believed in himself, even when there were times of serious doubts and discouraging career setbacks.

Thanks for the memories, Shane Victorino. And for providing all of us with an example of the values of perseverance and good, old-fashioned hard work .

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DON'T BLAME BUD FOR GAME 5 SUSPENSION

(Oct. 27): Poor Bud Selig. Among certain members of the media and many fans, baseball's commissioner can never do anything right. If absolutely anything goes wrong in baseball, the knee jerk reaction is to blame Selig for the mess.

Think I'm kidding? What's up with the criticism of Bud in the wake of his decision to suspend play in Game 5 of the World Series.?

Hello, Bud-bashers: The man had absolutely no other alternative but to initially try to get the game in and, later, to suspend the contest because of the torrential downpour.

Really, now: Would you allow the outcome of a potential decisive game of a World Series to be shortened by rain? Of course not. And neither did Bud.

So the two teams will try to resume the game today, weather permitting – and the initial forecast is not favorable.

The Phils jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a bases-loaded single by Maui's Shane Victorino.

But the Rays rallied as their two most noted sluggers – Evan Longoria and Carlos Pena – broke out of prolonged slumps by each driving in a run. The pair came into the game with a combined 0-for-29 drought with 15 strikeouts between them.

If and when play resumes today, the Phils will pinch-hit for ace Cole Hamels.

If the Phils post a series-clinching victory, all will be forgotten. If they don't, and the Rays somehow manage to come back to win this series, we may be talking for years about how Mother Nature threw the Phils a curve.

And some will simply blame Bud.

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BEARS KEEP STREAK ALIVE WITH MIRACLE WIN OVER LUNAS

(Oct. 26): Seldom do highly-anticipated sporting events lived up to the pre-game hype. On Saturday night before the biggest crowd of the season at War Memorial Stadium, the football showdown between Baldwin and Lahainaluns – in the words of my broadcast buddy, Barry Helle – surpassed the hype.

In the years to come, the Bears and their backers will fondly recall how they overcame an11-point deficit to rally past the Lunas for a 29-28 victory thanks to a 75-yard punt return by Mikey Webb with 51.9 seconds left.

The Lunas, and their loyalists, will painfully remember this game as a victory that got away. Lahainaluna has now lost six straight to the Bears, a skid dating to 2004. Many of those game have come down to the wire, with Baldwin finding a way to pull out a close victory.

Saturday night's game was no exception. As has become a habit their habit this season, the Bears again overcame a slow and mistake-prone start to pull off a comeback win. This time, Baldwin put itself in a hole by throwing five picks in the final half alone – two of them returned for touchdowns by Bryson Williams and Cole Loewen – and trailed 25-10 at intermission.

But Baldwin's defense picked up the pace in the second half. Webb forced a fumble with a mega-hit on Lunas QB Jake Manning that Wyatt Burns returned 45 yards for a score late in the third quarter..

A 39-yard field goal Ivan Delaney gave the Lunas a 28-17 edge with 3:04 left. The Bears responded with a 33-yard scoring hookup between QB Buta Wilhelm-Ioane and receiver Sheldon Leong to pull to within 28-23 with 2:04 remaining.

The Lunas were forced to punt after three plays, setting the stage for the play of the season. Webb, benefiting from some great blocking, streaked up the left sideline on a 75-yard dash, allowing Baldwin to extend its MIL unbeaten streak to 35 games in addition to clinching the league's Division-I title and a berth in the state tourney.

The Lunas' loss kept alive Kamehameha's D-II title hopes. Lahainaluna is 4-1, but the Warriors right behind at 3-2 going into this Saturday's game against the Lunas at War Memorial Stadium. Kamehameha tuned up for the big game with a 49-3 romp past the Trojans. In other weekend action, King Kekaulike defeated Maui High 33-19.

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FORMER MIL SOCCER STANDOUTS ENJOY BANNER SEASONS

(Oct. 21): Things haven't gone nearly as well for the Rainbow Wahine soccer team as most folks expected going into this season.

With nine starters and 16 players back from last year's 15-5-2 NCAA tournament squad, Hawaii was the overwhelming favorite to defend its first WAC title. Instead, UH is currently 5-5-4 overall and 1-1-1 in the WAC.

But the one consistent factor throughout an up-and-down, injury-riddled season for Hawaii has been the play of senior forward Taryn Fukuroku, who leads the team with four goals and five assists.

The Maui High grad assisted on one goal and scored the sudden-death game-winner in overtime on Sunday, lifting UH to a 2-1 win over San Jose State. For her efforts, Fukuroku was named WAC offensive player of the week for the second time this season.

Fukuroku is just one of several former MIL standouts enjoying banner seasons at the college level. Here's a few others:

Seabury grad Tye Perdido leads Gonzaga with five goals and recently was named MVP of the Gonzaga Nike Classic.

Baldwin grad Blake Nunes is the leading scorer for Sacramento State and has twice been named to all-tourney teams. His brother, Brady, also plays for the Hornets. Ex-Baldwin goalkeeper Erin Ichimura is having a solid season for Pacific of Oregon.

Maui High's Sammy Akinaka is at BYU-Hawaii, while Baldwin's Chad Nishikuni and Jensen Takiguchi, along with Kamehameha's Josh Nitta, are starters for Chaminade.

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DON'T BELIEVE THE PRO FOOTBALL HYPE

DON'T BELIEVE THE PRO FOOTBALL HYPE

(Oct. 15: I loved the way the three most over-hyped storylines imposed on us by the talking heads this NFL season took a beating last week.

Over-hyped storyline No. 1: The NFC East is by far the best division in pro football. Really? So how do you explain all but one of its four teams managing a victory against inter-divisional opponents in Week 7.

Washington was beaten by previously winless St. Louis. Dallas lost in overtime to long-time punching bag Arizona. And, on Monday night, the New York Giants were clobbered in Cleveland.

Only Philly managed to win, and the Eagles actually had to rally for an eventual victory at San Francisco.

Over-hyped storyline No. 2: This is the Cowboys' year. Really? Following a promising 4-0 start, some Dallas has lost its last two games – first at home to Washington and next on the road against the Cardinals.

And, to make things painful worse, starting quarterback Tony Romo could be out for up to a month with a broken pinkie on his throwing hand and cornerback Adam (Pacman) Jones has been suspended for at least four games because of another off-field incident.

Over-hyped storyline No. 3: The invincibility of the defending Super Bowl-champions. Really? To quote the denizens of the Dog Pound, who serenaded the Giants as Cleveland closed in on a 35-14 victory: Over-rated! Over-rated!

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SHANE AGAIN PLAYS STARRING ROLE FOR PHILS

(Oct. 14): Shane Victorino was at it again last night.

The kid from Maui continued to shine on baseballs brightest stages with another big-time performance in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series.

Shane's two-run homer with one out in the eighth inning, enabling the Phillies to tie the score at 5-all.

Matt Stairs then capped the four-run outburst with a two-run shot of his own, lifting the Phillies to a 7-5 win over the Dodgers and a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series for the National League title.

Although small by big-league standards at 5-foot-9, 180 pounds, Victorino has swung a hugely productive bat during the post-season. In fact, his 11 RBI is the most by anyone in the playoffs, two more than L.A.'s Manny Ramirez.

In an earlier series against Milwaukee, Victorino hit a memorable grand slam homer against CC Sabathia.

The post-season hot streak is actually a carryover from Victorino's sizzling showing down the home stretch of the regular season.

During his final 15 games, Victorino went 26 for 59 at the plate for a .441 average while collecting five doubles, three homers, scoring nine and driving in seven.

And he was at it again last night, helping the Phillies pull to within one victory of reaching the World Series for the first time since 1993.

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UH WINS IN TUNEUP FOR BOISE STATE

Were it not for a turnover-filled home loss to San Jose State a few weeks ago, this Friday's nationally televised game at Boise State would have been for first place in the Western Athletic Conference.

Instead, a seemingly improving University of Hawaii football team faces a must-win situation if it harbors any serious hopes of defending its WAC title. And, as history has shown, visiting victories on the Smurf Turf are a very rare occurrence, indeed.

Hawaii evened its season record at 3-3 and improved to 2-1 in the WAC with a well-balanced, 24-14 home victory over LaTech. The nationally 15th-ranked Broncos are 5-0 overall following a 24-7 win over Southern Miss.

Inoke Funaki appears to be growing into his unexpected role as starting quarterback for UH. In Saturday's victory, Funaki threw for a career-high 224 yards and two touchdowns while also running for another. But this was not about Funaki alone.

The defense forced four turnovers and rushed LaTech's starting quarterback into completing 11 of 29 passes. The special teams were magnificent. UH blocked a field goal attempted and forced a fumble on a kickoff return that eventually led to a touchdown.

UH is definitely showing signs of improvement. But has improved enough to challenge Boise State on the road? We'll find out this Friday night, won't we?

In other weekend games involving WAC teams: New Mexico State posted a surprising 48-45 road win over Nevada, San Jose State eased to a 30-7 win over Utah State, Fresno State dominated Idaho 45-32.

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HISTORIC WIN MAKES UH RELEVANT IN WAC

(Oct. 6); At a time when many of its fans were fearful of the worst, Hawaii responded with one of the best wins in the football program's history.

Hawaii rolled into Bulldog Stadium with a 1-3 record and as a 22-point underdog against 22nd-ranked Fresno State. UH left "The Valley" with a stunning 32-29 victory as Mike Kelly converted a 33-yard field goal in overtime. The result marked the first time Hawaii had defeated a ranked opponent on the road while it knocked the Bulldogs out of the national rankings and dealt a serious blow to their WAC title hopes.

After squandering a potential win at home the previous week against San Jose State by committing six turnovers, UH capitalized on five turnovers this time around to again become relevant in the WAC.

Hawaii's special teams came through, big time, with Ryan Mouton scoring on a 90-yard kickoff return and Kelly making four field goals.

But this upset victory belonged most to maligned quarterback Inoke Funaki and a coaching staff that obviously tweaked the UH playbook to capitalize on Funaki's strength as a runner. Funaki scrambled for 79 yards on 14 carries. More importantly, he made no major mistakes while completing 17 of 25 pass attempts for 170 yards and two touchdowns.

A road win over Boise State in two weeks, given Saturday's performance, is now not entirely out of the realm of possibility. But first, UH must get past Louisiana Tech this Saturday night at Aloha Stadium.

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SHANE DELIVERS ON GRANDEST STAGE

(Oct. 3): Some of us remember him as a high-strung kid, scampering all over Iron Maehara Stadium on any day his older brother, Mikey, was playing ball.

Many of us remember him as a multi-talented standout at St. Anthony, where he starred in football, soccer, baseball and track. He still holds state sprint records, despite limited training because he was playing baseball at the same time.

But now all of us will remember Shane Victorino for he did last night in Philadelphia.

The pride of Maui soared when Victorino, who earlier had doubled, hit a grand-slam homer off CC Sabathia in the second inning, propelling the Phils to a 5-2 victory.

Victorino added another double and stole a pair of bases in leading his team to a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five National League playoff series.

Quite a day for the 5-foot-8, 180-pound center fielder, who has emerged as one of the most popular players among demanding Philly fans because of his intensity, hustle and production.

The fact is that he's been on a tear for awhile the past three weeks.

He came into the playoffs in the midst of a 15-game binge during which he closed out the regular season by going 25 for 55 at the plate – a .455 average – while collecting nine extra base hits, scoring nine runs and driving in seven. He also stole four bases and had six multi-hit games over that span.

But yesterday, Maui's Shane Victorino delivered on his grandest stage yet.

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QUARTERBACK QUANDARY AT UH

(Oct. 2): One of several things that puzzle me about the UH football team his season is how decisions have been arrived regarding the quarterback position.

The part about Tyler Graunke being suspended, I understood. The kid wasn't taking care of business in the classroom, and needed a kick in the pants to get him back on track academically.

But how things have played out since then are befuddling, to say the least.

JC transfer Brent Rausch was named the starter two weeks before the season-opener at Florida, but was scratched because of an injury. Another JC transfer, Greg Alexander, got the start and predictably struggled. So did Rausch in a relief role, with returning junior Inoki Funaki finishing out with an adequate showing against the Gators' reserves.

On that basis, Funaki started against Division-I-AA Weber State, but it was Gruanke who rallied UH to its only win of the season. Graunke then started, but left early with a hand injury, in a lopsided road loss against Oregon State.

With Graunke still not fully recovered, Funaki started and played well early in last week's loss to San Jose State. But Funaki tossed three second-half picks and suffered a fumble before being pulled for Gruanke, who couldn't deliver a victory this time.

UH plays this Saturday at 22nd-ranked Fresno State, and Funaki again is the scheduled starter with, I imagine, Graunke the likely backup.

But if Rausch and Alexander were at one time deemed to be the top two quarterbacks in the program, why have they become forgotten men? Just wondering?

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INEVITABLY, KIFFIN FIRED BY RAIDERS

INEVITABLY, KIFFIN FIRED BY RAIDERS

(Oct. 1): The inevitable end to a strained relationship was initially wrapped up in a one-sentence press release: Lane Kiffin has been released as head coach of the Oakland Raiders for cause.

Later in the day, Raiders' owner Al Davis held an unusual and unprecedented press conference during which he categorically built a case for Kiffin's dismissal, accusing him of "disgracing the organization" and repeatedly calling his former coach "a flat-out liar."

The point of the exercise was to show why the Raiders should not be held liable for paying the balance of Kiffin's contract, with Davis repeatedly noting that Kiffin was fired for cause and not performance – although the young coach compiled a 5-15 record during his brief stay in Oakland.

I don't who is right and who is wrong in this mess, but I do remember a favorite saying of my father: You have your story. He has his story. And the truth is usually somewhere in between.

So, for the moment, offensive line coach Tom Cable ascends to the head job, seeking to turn around a team that is 1-3 after squandering leads of 12, 13 and 9 points over the past three weeks,

More from the NFL: Going into Week 5 of the season, there are only three unbeaten teams left standing. They are: the reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants, Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans.

On the other end of the scale are four winless teams. They are: the Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans and St. Louis Rams.

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