By Paul Honda
paul@hondareport.com
Monday, Jan. 15, 2007

Look, I have absolutely nothing against the Northwest. I've been to Seattle. Watched the Final 4 in '95. UCLA won it, but what I remember most is that most of their fans didn't show up for the semifinals. The powder blue shirts didn't really show up in the Kingdome (what a cryptic tank that place was) until the finals.

Visited Bruce Lee's grave. Saw some jazz acts. Didn't see Pike's Fish Market, though.

Corvallis, Oregon? You know it's cold there. Inland. Gray. Wet. Green, too, I suppose. And as of this moment, the number of local football players who are in the Oregon State football program is now 16.

With the verbal commitment of Kamehameha cornerback Brandon Hardin and Waianae defensive end David Paaluhi III to the Beavers yesterday, two more talented local players have given our beloved Warriors of UH the proverbial stiff-arm. They do it nicely, but it's still a rebuke of all that fans like me cherish.

Hey, I caught the bus as a 12-year-old and paid a lot of money (10 cents) to get to Aloha Stadium. Then I paid a huge sum ($2.50) to sit in the end zone as Dick Tomey's Rainbows gave good and not-so-good teams all kinds of heck on that evil AstroTurf. It was an experience to behold, live football at Aloha.

Is that what makes me loyal to UH? I don't know. I do know that as a former UH student, now a fan of both the school and the athletic program for three decades, there is no substitute for being a Warrior. As a fan, I look at a former UH player — All-American or fourth-string walk-on, it doesn't matter — far differently than I do a local kid who plays on the continent. Nothing negative.

It's just a different feel and appreciation. No kid owes anybody anything when it comes to college. It's the one time in life, as Doris Sullivan makes abundantly clear, when a kid can actually, genuinely be selfish and should be selfish about the choice of school.

So why does it bother me that there are now 16 kids from the islands taking up quarters in cold, land-locked Corvallis? I'm surprised. Slightly heartbroken, yes. Brandon would've been the top local cornerback recruit in recent memory at Manoa. David could have become one of the best outside 'backers out of Waianae ever to play at UH. There's huge potential in both players.

There's the educational factor, both in the classroom (David loves the engineering school at OSU) and the environment. To that I say, take a vacation to the mainland every summer. Do a road trip with your buddies. Soak it all in for a month. Then get back to UH and enjoy the pride and comfort of being near family.

But the reality is, no matter where in the world you may go, there's a time when boys not only want to become men, but they want the transitional phase. Native Americans of the past, and some in the present, are famous for their ceremonies, the ones where a youngster goes out into the wild for a long period of time to discover himself. It's a matter of survival and death is a possibility.

Most kids don't want or need the fear factor, but they still want something that marks their evolution into manhood. For a lot of kids, cutting ties with family and home — not mentally or spiritually, but physically — is a must.

It's not like UH doesn't go after the top kids, either. Of the 14 who are currently at Oregon State, about half can be considered starter material. Al Afalava graduated from Kahuku two years ago, but was on the field for the Beavers as a true freshman. UH wanted him, no question. He never indicated to me that he really wanted to stay home. He wanted the continent.

And, from everything Brandon and David have indicated to me, there was no desire to avoid the mainland. They're both careful, articulate and considerate young men. They know very well that UH is pushing hard to recruit defensive talent, but the pull of the Pac 10, Corvallis, the new experience outweighed any desire to represent UH.

I have absolutely nothing against Corvallis. But if somehow, some bizarre way, the Beaver football program shuts down, those 16 island boys would do just fine in dark green and silver.

Previous Article: Defensive fortress
Next Article: E-mailbox: From a fan of Solomona Aigamaua

Comments