When I was young, I really thought that college athletes should have to graduate before going on to a pro career.

I mean it made sense to me that having a degree and education is not only worthwhile but also part of the deal in getting a scholarship.  Here were me and all of my friends plowing through four, five years of school in pursuit of that diploma.  Plus I’ve always been a fan of players being loyal to a team, so staying all four-years to play seemed good too.

So when a player would give up a year or two and skip to the pro game, it was like whoa!  How dare they?

Eventually I came to understand and accept that while my friends and I were “playing” for degrees that would hopefully guarantee decent paying jobs, these elite athletes were seizing their “degree” to a good, high paying job.  They may not be taking away a Bachelor of Arts but hey…everone has different skill sets and rewards.

I bring this up because we’ve been talking about the O.J. Mayo USC basketball mess.  If you haven’t heard of Mayo, here’s how the short story goes.  Stellar, much hyped prep player bounces around before finally settling on USC as his college of choice spends one year there and now bounces to the NBA lottery.

Oh yeah, there’s allegations that money was sent his way through an advisor and sports agency courting him as a client.  Something the NCAA looks down on.

Like I mentioned, I get and accept that some people go to school to become engineers, others go for sports.  What I do not accept are players who so blatantly make a joke of collegiate athletics.  Did anybody really not see some sort of NCAA investigation coming once Mayo said he was headed to SoCal?

I have no idea on how to remedy these situations, it just irks me.  Maybe a part of me still wants to believe that college athletics are “purer” than the pro games.  Yes, yes, I know schools make money off of their athletic programs.  But I really think college sports capture our imagination because there’s a belief athletes are playing for the right reasons - love of the game, team and community.

Wonder went through Mayo’s mind when he settled on USC, great school and tradition or great springboard to big dollars? 

I don’t mind the paycheck as much as I dislike leaving a scandal on the way out the college door.

Thoughts?

Thanks for Primo posting on the 4/21 poll…here’s the final (albeit late) Power Polls.  It got lost in the stack of to-do…plus we were posting it first on the www.oc16.tv site first.  Big, big mahalo for those wrote in and helped!

OC16 Power Poll Baseball (Full top 10 available on www.oc16.tv)

1. Punahou

2. St. Louis

3. Pearl City

4. Maui

5. Roosevelt

OC16 Power Poll Softball

1. Kamehameha-Kapalama

2. Mililani

3. Campbell

4. Moanalua

5. Sacred Hearts

Sitting at the HHSAA softball semifinals on Friday I was mulling over a situation.

What do you report or say when the subject is sensitive?  Not talking about a news report but rather a TV broadcast involving the team.

In this case it’s related to the recent murder-suicide in Ewa and how it impacted the Campbell High School softball team.

The tragic loss of life hit home in a big way for the team members.

One young woman is really close to the son who’s left to lead the family now.  One of the young girl’s from the family played JV softball and is good friends with most of the Sabers playing in the tournament.

What we discussed was “Do we say much, a little, or nothing?” about the tragedy.

Part of the reason it’s even a possible subject is a sticker the team wears related to the matter.

Some of us argued that it’s a private matter and let’s not do too much and give space to the team, school, and community.

Others rightly pointed out that life has high’s and low’s and look at how strong the surviving family members are.  Inspiring for sure.

As the game and broadcast started…we were still not 100% sure what to do. 

I do know I have a greater respect for Campbell and especially the softball team as they played in such hard times.  Too bad life isn’t all games on a field.

Let me know your thoughts.

What school did you go to?

That’s one of the fundamental you know you’re from Hawaii questions.  Because anybody who has been in the islands for a good portion of their lives knows it’s the question we ask to another local to get an instant flash on their background.

By simplying hearing which high school one attended (never college or university) we gain a first blush on where they grew up as well as providing a starting point for stories of “do you know so and so?” - ”remember that game against so and so?” - “do you still live around there?”

Bam.  Instant bonding.

I’m writing about this topic because I just read Dan Nakaso’s wonderful article on “Former Aloha Air staffers adjust” and how it chronicles some lucky former Aloha Air employees as they begin anew at Hawaiian Airlines.  I have to say I feel for them all…highs and lows…the ones who “won the lottery” by being hired by Hawaiian and keeping the careers they love as well as the ones who struggle with new roads of employment.  Real emotions, real life, and real tough all around.

Anyhow…in Dan’s article…  A former Aloha Captain compared the old competition between Aloha and Hawaiian as a “friendly rivalry, like two competing high schools.”

So true.

Our identities are so tied to our high schools. 

We take pride in them and cheer for them in competition.  Sure we really wanted to beat the snot out of school “x” but in the end (especially as we grow up) it’s seen in a good natured light.

Hawaii high schools are the ties that bind “locals” for life. 

Even in the hard times.

***

Best wishes to the Aloha airline staffers, I truly hope you - all - land on your feet and prosper.

Sports can bring out the best and worst in people and relationships. 

Even if you don’t play in a game just attending one can illustrate the highs and lows.  Case in point, the recent contraversy over the David Beckham jersey at the Pan Pacific Soccer games at Aloha Stadium back in February.

Two kids, ages 9 and 10, had front row seats for the action.  They love soccer and were thrilled to root for soccer uber star Beckham. 

After the game Beckham came near the stands and gestured towards them or one of them before handing over his game jersey.

From that high of a lifetime, things just went south.  Way south.

Reportedly a solution of jan ken po with winner getting sole possession of the jersey wasn’t good enough.  Instead two good friends aren’t that friendly any more with each set of parents pointing at the other side as being the bad guys.  A lawsuit is even tossed out there.

Comments from the blog attached to the story on the Advertiser basically say how poor a life lesson it is for all involved.  

I agree that parents have to set good examples for their kids.  Yes, a star’s jersey is cool.  Either share it or give it one of them.  Somebody please step up, be the bigger kid or better parents and solve it quietly. Yeah it sucks you may not have the jersey but being gracious is more important in the long run.

That’s a person you keep as a friend for a lifetime.

Still with me?

Compare the soccer-jersey-gate to this.

Cubans Yunel Escobar and Brayan Pena have been best friends forever, growing up just a street apart in Cuba.

They didn’t have much.  Not a lot of money.  Just a solid friendship and a love of baseball.

The two shared it all growing up - gloves, bats, balls, shoes.

When somebody smuggled in a Tom Glavine and John Smoltz jersey.  The two Atlanta Braves fans solved the dilemma of who gets which uniform top.

They would swap them from time to time.

In the spring of 1999, Pena received an email detailing a plan for him to defect to the United States to pursue baseball.  It was cloak and dagger stuff.  On this day, go down to the hotel lobby and look for the guy wearing a white shirt and white cap.

Pena was dieing to tell his childhood friend of the plan but couldn’t for Escobar’s own protection.  If something went wrong Pena wanted all the blame.

So Pena stepped into a car and was gone.  A friendship seemigly left behind as well.

Pena’s defection still had ramifications for Escobar.  He was questioned extensively by Cuban officials who were none to thrilled about his friend’s defection.  For two years followed by security, even to the bathroom.

In 2004 Escobar made his own play for freedom.

Instead of a Mercedes whisking him away, he joined a couple dozen Cubans in a small fishing boat making the perilous trip to Miami.  Risking drowning and sharks for a chance at something better in life.

A few months later, Escobar tracked down his long lost childhood friend.  In one big hug, five years of friendship on hold was back on.  Solid as ever.

The two went to a Cuban restaurant and couldn’t stop saying “You go first! No, you!” on who should start the catch up on life discussion.

Today the two best friends are also teammates on the Braves.

When I read this story in Sports Illustrated, it reminded me of the soccer jersey mess.

Here in Hawaii, two kids with everything, good homes, video games, and so on - fight over one top.

The two Cubans didn’t have much but they had friendship.

Hopefully the Hawaii story will have a happy ending like Escobar and Pena.