Mitsuo Kawashima, who ushered in the sport of bodybuilding in Hawaii and promoted health and fitness to the islands' masses for decades, died Feb. 3, three days short of his 94th birthday.
Known by all who met him as "Mits," Kawashima popularized bodybuilding in Hawaii in the 1980s as promoter of the Hawaiian Islands contest, an event that he co-promoted with his longtime friend Arnold Schwarzenegger. Kawashima and his late wife, Dot, ran the event from 1979 to 2007, with emerging Hollywood star Schwarzenegger emceeing the first seven contests before large crowds at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of Mits Kawashima. I lost a great friend and mentor this week, and the world lost one of the best advocates of fitness and bodybuilding," Schwarzenegger wrote Feb. 6 on his Twitter feed.
"Mits was one of the first people I met when I came to America. From the moment we met, he was always a loyal and thoughtful friend, guiding me and inspiring me to always be at my best, whether I was working out in his gym or later in life when he would always be a phone call away with his wisdom. The Arnold Classic will have an empty chair this year in honor of Mits, and while I will miss him, I know that he has finally been reunited with Dot, the woman of his dreams."
"He was the pioneer in Hawaii in bodybuilding," said Tommy Kono, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner. "Mits was the first one who had a good bodybuilding studio over here. He brought over the idea from California."
"Mits was the guy that everyone looked up to when it came to bodybuilding," Kono said. "He was very straightforward, and when he instructed he made sure they followed his rules. No nonsense. He had a good rapport with his students and they all respected him because of that."
Kono said Kawashima "developed Dean Higuchi and he went on to the Mr. America contest (finishing sixth)."
"Mits influenced me by just talking, like Timmy Leong, their wisdom," said Ed Morishima, a 1987 world champion in powerlifting who became the third person in the history of the sport to bench more than three times his body weight (148 pounds, benched 448). "He had his point of view on things. We talked on life, things, it didn't matter. (He was) honest, hard-working, loyal, a straight shooter … very humble."
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Michelle Wie won't miss graduation this time
PALO ALTO, Calif. » Michelle Wie did not go to Stanford to play golf, at least not the game that brought her worldwide fame as a teenager.
"One time, me and a couple of guys played campus golf," said Wie, sitting in a coffee house on campus after her longest day of classes. "You hit tennis balls with a golf club. You start at the frats and end at the fountain, so that's like one hole. We hit cars, we hit some bikers. Just goofy things that you don't usually do."
These are the goofy times she wouldn't trade for anything.
Moments like tailgating at the Fiesta Bowl before Stanford played Oklahoma State. Sitting — mostly standing, actually — in the student section behind the bench at Cardinal basketball games. Spending all day roasting a pig before a Super Bowl party. Catching up with friends at the Coho Cafe, where cartoon figures of famous alumni are painted on the walls.
There's a caricature of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, and even one of Tiger Woods, who won an NCAA title at Stanford. Wie's face is not among them. She's a student, just like everyone else.
And she appears to be loving life more than ever.
"My life has progressed in various ways than I thought it was going to," said Wie, who laughs easily these days. "I'm more rooted in what I'm doing. I guess that's called growing up."
For much of her teenage years, all Wie heard was that she was going about life the wrong way. She was playing too much golf, way too early. She was playing against the men. She turned pro as a junior in high school.
Turns out she knew what she was doing all along.
"One time, me and a couple of guys played campus golf," said Wie, sitting in a coffee house on campus after her longest day of classes. "You hit tennis balls with a golf club. You start at the frats and end at the fountain, so that's like one hole. We hit cars, we hit some bikers. Just goofy things that you don't usually do."
These are the goofy times she wouldn't trade for anything.
Moments like tailgating at the Fiesta Bowl before Stanford played Oklahoma State. Sitting — mostly standing, actually — in the student section behind the bench at Cardinal basketball games. Spending all day roasting a pig before a Super Bowl party. Catching up with friends at the Coho Cafe, where cartoon figures of famous alumni are painted on the walls.
There's a caricature of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, and even one of Tiger Woods, who won an NCAA title at Stanford. Wie's face is not among them. She's a student, just like everyone else.
And she appears to be loving life more than ever.
"My life has progressed in various ways than I thought it was going to," said Wie, who laughs easily these days. "I'm more rooted in what I'm doing. I guess that's called growing up."
For much of her teenage years, all Wie heard was that she was going about life the wrong way. She was playing too much golf, way too early. She was playing against the men. She turned pro as a junior in high school.
Turns out she knew what she was doing all along.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Mountain West to merge with Conference USA
[5/4/12] Both the Mountain West and Conference USA announced expansion plans today.
The Mountain West said
San Jose State and Utah State will join the league in July 2013, which
will give it 10 football-playing members. Currently, the league consists
of Air Force, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV and Wyoming, with the
Fresno State and Nevada coming aboard in July, and Hawaii becoming a
football-only member on the same date.
Mountain West schools San Diego State and Boise State are joining the Big East for football next year.
The WAC, which once had 16
football teams, could be left with only New Mexico State and Idaho after
next season. As for the Sun Belt, the league recently added Texas State
and Georgia State as football members starting in 2013 in anticipation
of losing two schools.
Conference USA announced today that it is adding five new schools in 2013.
Commissioner Britton Banowsky
said Charlotte, Florida International, Louisiana Tech, North Texas and
UT-San Antonio will join the league in all sports, with Charlotte
joining in football in 2015.
Charlotte is rejoining
Conference USA after several years in the Atlantic 10. Louisiana Tech
has been in the WAC since 2001, and UTSA will play in the WAC next year
before joining CUSA. FIU and North Texas will be leaving the Sun Belt
Conference.
Current CUSA members include
East Carolina, Marshall, Rice, Southern Mississippi, Tulane, Tulsa,
Alabama-Birmingham and UTEP. Conference USA will lose Houston, SMU,
Memphis and Central Florida to the Big East in 2013.
Banowsky says Conference USA and the Mountain West continue to discuss a merger and expansion remains a possibility.
*** [2/14/12]
The Mountain West, which UH is scheduled to join as a football-only member in July, will dissolve and merge with the remnants of Conference USA in 2013 to form an as-yet-unnamed "super conference" of at least 16 members, according to announcements Monday.
Most of UH's other sports will compete in the California-based Big West beginning in 2012 as the Warriors leave the Western Athletic Conference after 33 years.
Increasingly ravaged by defections, the MWC and C-USA will repackage as a regionally based association July 1, 2013, that officials say is designed to provide enhanced stability and marketing opportunities. Expansion to as many as 18 to 24 members is a possibility.
Besides UH, the schools involved are the Air Force Academy, Alabama-Birmingham, Colorado State, East Carolina, Fresno State, Marshall, Nevada, Nevada-Las Vegas, New Mexico, Rice, Southern Mississippi, Texas-El Paso, Tulane, Tulsa and Wyoming.
Already there is speculation that Temple University of Philadelphia and Miami-based Florida International may be asked to join.
Talks between the two midmajor conferences, then totaling 22 members, gained momentum last summer as a football-only union. But as the defections began to mount, discussions shifted to an all-sports amalgamation. San Diego State, Boise State and Texas Christian will depart the MWC by 2013, while C-USA loses Memphis, Central Florida, Houston and Southern Methodist.
Initially, at least, plans call for two geographically based divisions that Scott Cowen, Tulane president and C-USA chairman, said "will look fairly similar to the way the Mountain West looks now and C-USA looks now."
UTEP, a former Western Athletic Conference member now in C-USA, is expected to move into the West.
But Cowen said, "Over time we definitely anticipate there will be some crossover games," meaning teams from western and eastern divisions would eventually compete against each other.
Cowen said plans call for not only a championship game in football, but semifinal contests as well.
Smatresk said, "This is an exciting development that will stabilize the current conferences and create the first truly national conference with members in five time zones and television viewership from coast to coast and on to Hawaii."
Saturday, February 11, 2012
NBA GM Survey
The 2011 NBA offseason was unique, with free agency running concurrently with the start of training camps, which were abbreviated in order to start the season on Christmas Day. Once things settled down and general managers were able to step away from their phones for a bit, NBA.com conducted its 10th annual GM Survey.
Which team will win The 2012 NBA Finals?
Who will win the 2011-12 MVP?
If you were starting a franchise and could sign any player, who would it be?
Who is the best point guard in the NBA?
Who is the best shooting guard in the NBA?
Who is the best small forward in the NBA?
Who is the best power forward in the NBA?
Who is the best center in the NBA?
Who will win the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year?
Which rookie will be the best player in five years?
Who is the best international player in the NBA?
Who is the best international player NOT in the NBA?
Who is the best defensive player in the NBA?
Who is the best head coach in the NBA?
Who is the best assistant coach in the NBA?
Which active player will make the best head coach someday?
Which player is the most athletic?
Which player is the best pure shooter?
Which player is the fastest with the ball?
Which player is best at moving without the ball?
Which player is the best at getting his own shot?
Which player is the best offensive rebounder?
Which player is the best passer?
Which player is the best finisher?
Which player does the most with the least?
Who is the toughest player in the NBA?
Which player is the best leader?
Which player has the best basketball IQ?
Which player would you want taking a shot with the game on the line?
[click here for the results]
Which team will win The 2012 NBA Finals?
Who will win the 2011-12 MVP?
If you were starting a franchise and could sign any player, who would it be?
Who is the best point guard in the NBA?
Who is the best shooting guard in the NBA?
Who is the best small forward in the NBA?
Who is the best power forward in the NBA?
Who is the best center in the NBA?
Who will win the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year?
Which rookie will be the best player in five years?
Who is the best international player in the NBA?
Who is the best international player NOT in the NBA?
Who is the best defensive player in the NBA?
Who is the best head coach in the NBA?
Who is the best assistant coach in the NBA?
Which active player will make the best head coach someday?
Which player is the most athletic?
Which player is the best pure shooter?
Which player is the fastest with the ball?
Which player is best at moving without the ball?
Which player is the best at getting his own shot?
Which player is the best offensive rebounder?
Which player is the best passer?
Which player is the best finisher?
Which player does the most with the least?
Who is the toughest player in the NBA?
Which player is the best leader?
Which player has the best basketball IQ?
Which player would you want taking a shot with the game on the line?
[click here for the results]
Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Angelo Dundee
Angelo Dundee, the brilliant motivator who worked the corner for Muhammad Ali in his greatest fights and willed Sugar Ray Leonard to victory in his biggest bout, died Wednesday in Tampa, Fla. He was 90.
The genial Dundee was best known for being in Ali’s corner for almost his entire career, but those in boxing also knew him as an ambassador for boxing and a figure of integrity in a sport that often lacked it.
He died with his family surrounding him, said son, Jimmy Dundee, but not before being able to attend Ali’s 70th birthday bash in Louisville, Ky., last month.
AdChoices
“It was the way he wanted to go,” Jimmy Dundee said. “He did everything he wanted to do.”
Promoter Bob Arum said he had been planning to bring Dundee to Las Vegas for a Feb. 18 charity gala headlined by Ali. He called Dundee a legend in the sport, someone who worked the corner for some of the greatest fights of the times.
“He was wonderful, he was the whole package,” Arum said. “Angelo was the greatest motivator of all time. No matter how bad things were, Angelo always put a positive spin on them. That’s what Ali loved so much about him.”
Arum credited Dundee with persuading Ali to continue in his third fight against Joe Frazier when Frazier was coming on strong in the “Thrilla in Manilla.” Without Dundee, Arum said, Ali may not have had the strength to come back and stop Frazier after the 14th round in what became an iconic fight.
Dundee also worked the corner for Leonard, famously shouting “You’re blowing it son. You’re blowing it” when Leonard fell behind in his 1981 fight with Tommy Hearns—a fight he would rally to win by knockout.
A master motivator and clever corner man, Dundee was regarded as one of the sport’s great ambassadors. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994 after a career that spanned six decades, training 15 world champions, including Leonard, George Foreman, Carmen Basilio and Jose Napoles.
The genial Dundee was best known for being in Ali’s corner for almost his entire career, but those in boxing also knew him as an ambassador for boxing and a figure of integrity in a sport that often lacked it.
He died with his family surrounding him, said son, Jimmy Dundee, but not before being able to attend Ali’s 70th birthday bash in Louisville, Ky., last month.
AdChoices
“It was the way he wanted to go,” Jimmy Dundee said. “He did everything he wanted to do.”
Promoter Bob Arum said he had been planning to bring Dundee to Las Vegas for a Feb. 18 charity gala headlined by Ali. He called Dundee a legend in the sport, someone who worked the corner for some of the greatest fights of the times.
“He was wonderful, he was the whole package,” Arum said. “Angelo was the greatest motivator of all time. No matter how bad things were, Angelo always put a positive spin on them. That’s what Ali loved so much about him.”
Arum credited Dundee with persuading Ali to continue in his third fight against Joe Frazier when Frazier was coming on strong in the “Thrilla in Manilla.” Without Dundee, Arum said, Ali may not have had the strength to come back and stop Frazier after the 14th round in what became an iconic fight.
Dundee also worked the corner for Leonard, famously shouting “You’re blowing it son. You’re blowing it” when Leonard fell behind in his 1981 fight with Tommy Hearns—a fight he would rally to win by knockout.
A master motivator and clever corner man, Dundee was regarded as one of the sport’s great ambassadors. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1994 after a career that spanned six decades, training 15 world champions, including Leonard, George Foreman, Carmen Basilio and Jose Napoles.
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