I know what you’re thinking. What am I doing in Ferd Lewis’ old space?

Well, the man retired. It was no joke, even though it was on April 1.

And even though I worked with that guy for more than 40 years and miss him, as I do all the others who left us, we have to move on. We’ll have a new column format and the unveiling of it is the focus of today’s entry.

Well, that’s only partially true.

How can I not talk about the uplifting happenings in Columbus, Ohio, where the University of Hawaii men’s volleyball team blasted BYU silly in the NCAA championship?

Because beating those guys made this so much sweeter, kind of like the Red Sox beating the Yankees, the Lakers beating the Celtics or anybody beating the Dodgers.

After all it was BYU that handed Hawaii so many soul-crushing defeats.

I remember them well — Jim McMahon’s left-footed punt that pinned UH near its goal line and proved to be a turning point in a nationally televised daytime game, Walter Murray’s dropped pass in the end zone, former Radford star Peter Kendrick pitching both games of a doubleheader (7 innings, then 9 innings) and beating UH twice in the WAC championship.

So, it’s so gratifying that Hawaii can add another epitaph on BYU’s tombstones.

Remember this, BYU?

>> Trevor Ruffin fueling a UH comeback from 14 down in Provo, Utah, to win the WAC basketball title;

>> Tes Whitlock’s iconic highlight-reel buzzer-beater;

>> Garrett Gabriel helping break the football curse, not once, but twice, including outdueling Ty Detmer on the day he won the Heisman Trophy;

>> The June Jones/Nick Rolovich-led demolition of the unbeaten and No. 4-ranked Cougars 72-45, where Craig Stutzmann had the greatest drop-the-mic moment in UH football history, punting the ball into the stands after scoring a touchdown, in the third quarter no less.

Thanks to the UH men’s volleyball team, Rainbow fans can add another visual to their memory bank.

Yes, writing about this rich UH-BYU rivalry would have been up Ferd’s alley.

Which brings us back to how we plan to occupy this space.

Replacing an icon in Hawaii journalism won’t be easy. So, it won’t be one person. It’ll be an ensemble cast of talented writers with varying opinions and viewpoints.

You’ll be seeing many familiar faces and some exciting newcomers in this space.

It’ll look like this:

>> Rotating on Mondays, you’ll read opinions from our sports production staff — the inside men of assistant sports editor and “Jeopardy!” aficionado Sjarif Goldstein, design/copy editor/grinder Jerry Campany and yours truly, a former sports writer turned page designer and forever an NFL Draft junkie.

>> On Tuesdays, you’ll get offerings from the witty and irrepressible Stephen Tsai, a long-time University of Hawaii beat writer.

>> On Wednesdays and Sundays, Dave Reardon, a sports writer/columnist turned Crave writer, will return, bringing along his institutional knowledge.

>> Thursdays will be devoted to diversifying our sports section with more-than-capable female voices. Some will be familiar to you, while some will be new to the sports page. You’ll be reading prose from retired newspaper sports writers Cindy Luis and Ann Miller. They’ll be joined by Star-Advertiser staffers Mindy Pennybacker, a city reporter, and Celia Downes, a wire editor.

Cindy and Ann were pioneers in Hawaii sports journalism, breaking the barrier by becoming among the first females in the male-dominated domain called a sports department. Cindy was Hawaii’s first female sports editor.

Mindy is an ocean enthusiast who’s had many stories on the front page. (So, is she taking a step back to be on the sports page?)

Celia, I’ve known since her high school days. I was an editor when I judged a Sportswriter for a Day contest, which was co-sponsored by the NFL’s Pro Bowl.

The contest asked high school students to submit a sports essay. Winners and their parents were invited to the Pro Bowl press conference and the students were introduced and got to meet coaches such as Jon Gruden and players such as DeAngelo Hall.

Celia, then a Sacred Hearts Academy student, was chosen as one of the winners. She wrote about a basketball game, describing the action in detail as if she were writing about Jalen Suggs hitting that half-court buzzer-beater.

Celia would chuckle years later when I showed her the picture of her, along with the other winners, posing with Gruden.

You might notice another change.

At the top right corner of this section, you’ll be seeing a trivia question — unless there’s an ad up there, of course. The staff will be generating and researching the questions, hoping to educate and enlighten you. But if you have one you feel will stump the readers, just submit it to sports@staradvertiser.com and we’ll give it consideration. We’ll give you credit for submitting them, provided you credit the source of your information.

Well, that’s it for me. I’ll be writing for you again in a few weeks.

I hope you’ll be looking forward to what these new columnists have to say going forward.

I am.