HondaReport.com - Sweet ride to Waianae

Townies get spoiled by the short drives. Sure, a drive across the island can be tiring on a daily basis, but once in a while, nothing soothes as nicely.

As a kid, in a family without a car, i had no concept of what driving to faraway places was about. All I knew was that the Polynesian Cultural Center was on the other side of the island and that the long drive caused me to puke on my friend JJ's lap on the way there.

Waianae? I went my first 15 years of life without setting foot on the Leeward Coast. Seriously. When our basketball team at Boys Club played a squad from Makakilo, it might as well have been a squad from Tibet.

Now, the drive to Waianae on a traffic-free day feels like sweet chill time. Unlike those merciless voyages across the Big Island I grew used to in the 1990s, there's always something to see, somewhere to stop (if necessary) on the drive to Waianae. That's why it was cool to go back there last Monday to talk story with, perhaps, the best linebacking corps in the state for a Star-Bulletin feature.

The first time I visited Waianae, our basketball team had a preseason game there. I still remember the smell (some might say, aroma) of the nearby pig farm as we ran up and down the floor.

The following year, we hosted Waianae in a preseason game at Kaimuki. I expected a physical game. It wasn't. Waianae beat us in a quick-paced game. It was the next night, against the much smaller Waialua Bulldogs, that my teeth got accidentally bashed in. (That's another story.)

The second time I visited Waianae was with my girlfriend, when I was a freshman in college. She lived in the valley with her foster family. I still didn't have a car, so it was a hell of a bus ride.

It wasn't until many years later that I finally got to eat at Tasty Freeze (now known as Waianae Drive In). A close friend had told me about their unreal french fries (and mustard-mayo sauce) when we were kids. He grew up in Maile and missed those fries as we grew up in town. He was right. I stop by there every chance I get to enjoy those fries. The secret to their success, though, isn't just the sauce. The fries are cut in-house.

What stands out most to me about Waianae, though, is the love for football by the community. While town schools tend to get lost in the maze of busy lifestyles of alums, programs like Waianae still draw the heart and soul of fans, former players, faculty, families who have been at the core of Searider football for generations. It reminds me totally of Neighbor Island communities like Honokaa, Konawaena, Waimea, Lahainaluna ... I'm just glad I don't need to get on a plane and rent a car to enjoy the atmosphere and spirit.

Waianae isn't alone, of course, in community support. Kahuku has been a beacon among programs statewide. There's strong pride at Leilehua, Mililani, Campbell, Kapolei, Castle, and on and on. People still laugh when I say this, but it's true. Offer me a ticket to a pro game or one to a Saturday afternoon kickoff at bucolic Hawaii Prep, and I'll take the latter.

Pro football is great, but nothing grabs my heart like an afternoon football game between two historic rivals on the slopes of the Kohala mountains. Especially when old friends are nearby.