Some of my favorite local sports stories this year featured the achievements of young athletes like Carissa Moore, Jerome Williams and Kolten Wong. They, and others, added some joy to what was too often a year of contention and disappointment. It was also a year of change and optimism, though, as Gib Arnold, Norm Chow and others give fans renewed hope.
My top choice for locally produced athlete to keep an eye on in 2012? Bryan Clay. If things go right for the Castle grad this year, he could become the first three-time medalist in the Olympic decathlon.
The best event that I covered in 2011? Easy. The UH basketball season opener Nov. 15, when the Rainbow Warriors beat Cal State Northridge in the wee hours as part of ESPN’s around-the-clock marathon. It showed that the Manoa students still can indeed get behind their team if the conditions are right.
But the main reason this tops my list was a performance by someone who didn’t even play in the game (but was a fine athlete in his day). Jimmy Borges sang the national anthem, extending his streak of doing so at UH basketball openers to 39 years.
And he did it just a few weeks after surgery for liver cancer.
Jimmy also provides the annual pet peeve, the widespread cliche or other abuse of the language that we vow to avoid like the plague (easy, did that one on purpose).
"Mano-a-mano," says Jimmy. "So many times, when two athletes are squaring off head-to-head, be they fighters or quarterbacks or pitchers, the announcer will say, ‘They are going mano-a-mano,’ implying that it means man against man. The actual meaning of mano-a-man is HAND TO HAND! It only makes some sense with boxers. Please clarify this at some time if possible."
Consider it done.
Here is my annual month-by-month look back and look ahead at the Hawaii sports scene:
JANUARY
2011: Mark Wilson won the Sony Open. … UH football/basketball player Miah Ostrowski turned in an inspirational performance in an overtime hoops loss to Utah State just days after the sudden death of his father, Kui.
2012: Last Pro Bowl in Hawaii, maybe forever?
FEBRUARY
2011: Kahuku’s Chris Kemoeatu played in his third Super Bowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers. … Micah Christenson led Kamehameha to the boys state basketball championship. … Baseball pioneer Wally Yonamine died.
2012: Let’s see what kind of recruits Norm Chow comes up with.
MARCH
2011: Brigham Young-Hawaii flew its Jet (Chang) to the Division II national final. … UH men’s basketball played in the postseason for the first time in seven years.
2012: The UH men’s volleyball team will have to make do without its star of the past two seasons, Jonas Umlauft.
APRIL
2011: Warriors Alex Green, Greg Salas and Kealoha Pilares felt a draft.
2012: Which UH defensive tackle will be get picked higher, Vaughn Meatoga or Kaniela Tuipulotu?
MAY
2011: The best was saved for last as Jim Leahey and Pal Eldredge called an incredible Hawaii baseball comeback win over San Jose State in KFVE’s final UH sports telecast.
2012: Look for the UH baseball team to make a run at the WAC championship.
JUNE
2011: Kolten Wong was picked in the first round of the MLB Draft, by the St. Louis Cardinals.
2012: Jerome Williams continues his comeback story with the California Angels, who have loaded up with Albert Pujols and perhaps the best rotation in the American League.
JULY
2011: Carissa Moore won the ASP women’s world surfing championship. … Brandon League of the Seattle Mariners made it to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
2012: Another All-Star Game for Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino.
AUGUST
2011: OC Sports 12 made its debut televising UH sports. … Kahuku football coach Reggie Torres was suspended, but came back to lead the Red Raiders to a state championship.
2012: Bryan Clay will try to make Olympic track and field history in London.
SEPTEMBER
2011: The Warriors started with a win against Colorado, but inexplicably lost at UNLV and started the season 2-2.
2012: New UH coach Norm Chow’s first games include road tests at the two schools he’s most associated with: USC and BYU.
OCTOBER
2011: MMA star B.J. Penn retired — or did he?
2012: The UH football team takes on some old rivals in the Mountain West, while the volleyball team does the same in the Big West.
NOVEMBER
2011: Three losses in a row, especially one at home to Utah State, had many calling for the ouster of UH head football coach Greg McMackin. The university’s report to law enforcement and the NCAA of an anonymous allegation of point-shaving didn’t help the program’s image.
2012: Don’t be surprised if the UH soccer team shines in the postseason in its second year under coach Michele Nagamine.
DECEMBER
2011: UH football finished 6-7 after losing to BYU. Chow replaced McMackin as head coach, after McMackin and the school negotiated a $600,000 buyout for the fifth and final year of his contract. Chow’s annual base salary is $550,000. … The Wahine volleyball team hosted a regional, but lost in five sets to USC in a thrilling round of 16 match.
2012: The Warriors, who end their season against South Alabama, will likely need a strong stretch run to avoid the first back-to-back Hawaii Bowls without UH.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or at 529-4783.
