I hope this entry finds everyone getting into the swing of summer and the "light" sports schedule.  But as we celebrate graduations, let's take a look back to enjoy some of the top games from the 2008-2009 high school sports year.

Starting this Friday (June 5) and the following nine Fridays, OC16 will air "encore" showings of our most requested and top-rated sporting events.  We tried to take a variety of games from the entire year to showcase as much diversity as possible.

Here's the lineup of games:

• June 5          HHSAA Softball Championships
• June 12        HHSAA Baseball Championships
• June 19        OIA Baseball Championship
• June 26        HHSAA Boys Basketball Championships
• July 3           HHSAA Boys Basketball Semifinals
• July 10         HHSAA Girls Basketball Championships
• July 17         HHSAA Boys Soccer Championships
• July 24         HHSAA Girls Soccer Championships
• July 31         OC16 Senior Volleyball Invitational
• August 7       OIA Football Championships
• August 14     HHSAA Football Championships

Start times will vary depending upon the length of the game or games involved with that night.  But you can count on times like 5pm, 6pm, 7pm and so on.  Just check your TV guide or on-air guide via your Oceanic Digital remote.

The 10 weeks will lead right into the first football game of the "new" season on August 21.  Here's the first four weeks of that.

* August 21 - Kailua vs Kamehameha
* August 22 - Pac-Five vs McKinley
* August 22 - Word of Life vs Farrington (late game)
* August 28 - Mililani vs Punahou
* August 29 - Leilehua vs St. Louis
* September 5 - Waianae vs Campbell
* September 11 - Kapolei vs Leilehua

If the more than 500 people who showed up for the Chad Senas fundraiser are any indication, Chad is very much loved and supported in his fight against bone cancer.

Sunday's event at Mililani High School's cafeteria was packed from beginning until end.  It featured great food, great local bands, a silent auction (dang guess I didn't bid high enough!), and great optimism for Chad.  That positive vibe is just as important as the dollars raised for his treatment at City of Hope.

The doors officially opened up at 5pm and by 5:25pm the entire upper parking lot at the school was filled.  And if you've ever been to Mililani High, you know that's a very long and large lot.

But when you're a man Chad Senas' character, you can easily figure out why the community (especially softball) turned out to support him.  It was a huge public display of respect to a man who never blows his own horn.

Mililani AD Glenn Nitta told me yesterday they're still counting up the receipts.  But, the much needed funds are now in excess of $25,000!  That's awesome considering it was organized quickly.

All in all it was a pretty good weekend for the Senas family - a state softball championship, much needed funds, and priceless amounts of hope and love.

It's easy to think that the high school football season only exists between the months of August and December.

But actually for the coaches and players it's year around.  Example, Leilehua's Andrew Manley.  I think you might have heard about him a few times in the press and on OC16. 

The recap...in case you're new to island football...is that as a sophomore in 2007 he was called up from the JV team because of injuries.  Manley suddenly went from getting on a bus to Kahuku for the JV championship game into the D1 (red) varsity playoffs as the starting quarterback.

Oh yeah...that game just happened to be at top-seed/rival Mililani High School and on TV via OC16.  (It's almost like we scripted it...lol...)  Well talk about some made for TV moments, Manley and the Mules caught fire - eventually reeling off five straight wins while Manley tossed the winning TD pass to beat Saint Louis for the HHSAA state football championship trophy.

Last year, Leilehua with Manley still at the controls of the offense made the state title game again, finishing second to Punahou.

That loss reminded Manley that no matter what you did previously, it's what you do now that counts.

So to help kick his soon to be final season, Manley really got serious about off-season training.  Ever since January I've seen him regularly at 24 Fitness in Mililani.  Not just showing up to stand around and look the part of big man on campus.  But really lifting some good weight.  In fact, a lot of his training partners were defensive lineman and linebackers.

I mentioned to head coach Nolan Tokuda that I was impressed with seeing Manley (and a lot of his teammates) working out at the gym.  Coach told me it's not just weights, it's running, and attending weekend quarterback drills every Saturday at Saint Louis.

Yeah that's right, rival Saint Louis (which has its own talented QB in Jeremy Higgins) is helping build a better Manley . 

But Tokuda points out, Coach Vinny Passas has an attitude of "it's all about helping the kids" regardless of their school.  That in itself is worthy of applause...but I digress...

Manley's schedule of running, lifting, and passing has been filling up his weekday schedule pretty much ever since losing to Punahou.   That's what I find impressive...the work that goes unseen away from the cheering crowds.  When it's just about what you want to put into something that could help you in a game...maybe.

Of course Manley isn't the only student-athlete who has a strong off-season work ethic.  But he's the only QB I know that's being recruited by UH and most of the Pac-10. 

See ya at the gym Andrew.  I'll be the one doing the 10-pound bench press...smile.  See how Manley's strong work ethic has rubbed off on even non-athletes???  Imagine what it may do for real athletes...like his teammates.  Can't wait for football season to start!  Oh wait, it's still on...it never ends...the spotlight just changes its focus.

Editor's note:  You can see Andrew Manley and the Mighty Mules against Saint Louis on August 29 in Interleague play on OC16 this fall.  Dave is still sore from trying to keep up with Manley at the gym.

Over here at the home office for OC16, we measure a year a bit differently than the traditional January-to-December model.

For us, the year comes to a close this week with our final broadcasts of HHSAA softball (semi's and championships) and Saturday's HHSAA boys volleyball championships.  Since our focus is primarily high school sports when their competitions come to a close, it's summer vacation...sort of.

We'll give the crew a few well deserved days off before piling on the summer school assignments...so to speak.

Over the next two months, we'll review and tweak graphics and other items from the year's broadcast that you and we liked or disliked.  It's amazing how long it takes to design and finish broadcast quality graphics.  Luckily we have some talented professional artists and engineers to pull it off - thank you Glenn, Nancy, Laura, Rod, Dave and Sila to name a few.

Along with the lead producer and director, my boss and I will critique how we "cover" the game.  You know, the shots and coverages that ultimately get sent into your televisions.  It's at this time we usually go "whoa...remember that game!"  Time flies for sure when we're rolling with the sports.

On the administrative side, I'll also work on business items and schedules with the leagues and HHSAA.  Recently we just concluded a successful renewal of a multi-year contact with the ILH.  That keeps OC16 as the home channel for the ILH as well as the OIA, HHSAA, and neighbor islands when we can get away from Oahu.

I mentioned scheduling...well the 2009 fall football schedule is coming along nicely.  The regular season matchups are set but the dates are a bit soft because the schools have to input their student activities - things like homecoming can move a game from Friday to Saturday or vice versa.

However to give you a taste of the delicious pigskin picks we're cooking up for OC16 viewers this fall...

Here's our interleague schedule of TV football games.

* August 21 - Kailua vs Kamehameha
* August 22 - Pac-Five vs McKinley
* August 22 - Word of Life vs Farrington (late game)
* August 28 - Mililani vs Punahou
* August 29 - Leilehua vs St. Louis

How's that?  Not a bad way to start our 21st year of high school sports, huh.

So there you have it, one "year" for us ends this weekend and the next one comes in on its heels.

A big thank you to everyone who's watched OC16 Sports on television or the web.  We hope we provided you a full plate of sporting action that left you rooting for your favorite schools.

Feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line with any feedback you may have.

Thanks again, I'm off to pick up my summer school class assignments...smile.

In a bit of breaking news...

Waianae will forfeit tomorrow's (Saturday's) winner take all OIA Red Volleyball championship match.

No confirmation on why.  Speculation centers on an ineligible player.  New grade checks were turned in this week.

More if I get anything.

On a side note, this is very sad for the Seariders.  They played so hard to beat Roosevelt last night.  In fact both teams performed at an extremely high level and it was so much fun to watch.  Hopefully they regroup for a run in States.