For a rare instance, sportscaster Bobby Curran struggled for words.
During a phone call notifying him of his selection to the University of Hawaii’s Circle of Honor, Curran recalled saying … nothing.
After a long pause, he recalled, “I actually asked, ‘Are you kidding?’ I thought they wanted to make me feel good. But it wasn’t. It took me a second to wrap my head around it. I just thought it was the coolest thing ever.”
Curran, who is in Arizona recovering from a double-lung transplant performed two months ago, is among five inductees of the Circle of Honor’s 2023 class. The other inductees are:
>> Nani Cockett, who is No. 2 on the Rainbow Wahine basketball program’s career scoring list.
>> Barbara “Bobbie” Perry, who played for the United States volleyball team in the 1968 Summer Olympics.
>> Katie Spieler, a two-time, All-America beach volleyball player who competes professionally and runs a beach volleyball club in Santa Barbara, Calif.
>> David Matlin, who is retiring as UH athletic director this June.
The inductees were chosen by a panel that includes alumni, community leaders and the media.
The 2023 class will be honored in a banquet in March at the Sheraton Waikiki.
Curran said he hopes to receive medical clearance to attend the event.
Curran, 67, was the play-by-play announcer for UH basketball and football games for 32 years. He also was host of a popular morning radio show on KKEA, 1420-AM. But Curran, who was a long-time smoker before quitting 17 years ago, went on hiatus from his radio jobs after being diagnosed with an aggressive stage of emphysema last year.
In June, Curran was told he needed a double-lung transplant. In October, with his health deteriorating, Curran was told that without the transplant his life expectancy probably would not exceed this past Christmas.
After a rigorous screening process, including an evaluation from a 30-person committee and several invasive tests, Curran was approved as an organ recipient. A donor was found, and Curran underwent the transplant on Nov. 17 at St. Joseph’s Hospital &Medical Center in Phoenix.
Curran passed two markers — his body accepted the transplanted lungs and they fit his chest cavity.
After several setbacks, including injuries he suffered during a fall, he has made a remarkable recovery. “My pulse ox(imetry) — which is your oxygen saturation — is 100%,” Curran said. “Before I had the surgery I was at 88%, and that was on 5 liters of oxygen.”
Curran, who has to remain in Arizona during his recovery, had set a goal of attending his youngest son’s high school graduation in May. After that, he hopes to resume as host of the morning show and to call UH basketball games.
Curran, who grew up in Long Island, N.Y., recalled wanting to pursue a career in broadcasting sports soon after moving to Hawaii in 1983 to complete his studies. Curran, who is a UH graduate, started as a once-weekly host at KTUH, the school’s student radio station. He eventually met Rick Blangiardi, whose television station had the rights to UH sportscasts. Curran called twice a week for four months before Blangiardi responded. The offer: 20 hours a week, $1,000 a month, all the knowledge Curran could absorb. That eventually led to Curran’s long ties in radio.
There have been days, Curran recalled thinking, “I can’t believe I get to do this. It’s been a dream job for me.”
