Saturday, March 19, 2016

Warriors get first ever NCAA tournament win

SPOKANE, WASH. >> Eran Ganot sat by himself, folded against a table in a corner of his team’s deserted locker room. His shirt was soaked from a celebratory dousing. His phone buzzed incessantly on the tabletop.

“This thing’s going crazy,” Hawaii’s first-year head coach said. “What just happened here?”


Only the biggest victory in Rainbow Warriors basketball history.

***

When time had expired and confirming glances at the TV screen attested to the authenticity of the University of Hawaii’s opening-round NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament victory, the old coach went airborne.

Propelled by the exultation of a breakthrough triumph 44 long years in coming, 74-year-old Riley Wallace leaped out of his chair at the California Hotel &Casino in Las Vegas, where he had joined a gathering of Hawaii fans.

“I jumped 3 inches, I was so happy,” Wallace said in a phone call. “OK, maybe 2. My (vertical) isn’t what it used to be.”

Friday, March 18, 2016

Fox Sports 990

Conservative talk radio on KIKI-AM 990 will give way to FOX Sports Radio effective Thursday. The station will be branded FOX Sports 990, said Chuck Cotton, president of iHeartMedia Hawaii.

Also, “we’ve signed an affiliation agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers for all the home and away games, including the Freeway Series that starts at the end of March,” he said.

The station also will carry all Tennessee Titans games, featuring Hawaii-grown quarterback Marcus Mariota, as well as some other shows from the Tennessee Titans Radio Network, he said.

An additional affiliation agreement could be completed next week, Cotton said.

The FOX Sports Radio lineup includes “FOX Sports Daybreak” with Andy Furman and Mike North, “The Dan Patrick Show,” “The Herd” with Colin Cowherd and “Jay Mohr Sports” throughout its 24-hour broadcast day.

The programming will be aired live rather than being time-shifted for the Hawaii market, said Cotton.

FOX Sports Radio shows will be pre-empted for Dodgers and Titans broadcasts, as well as for broadcasts by the yet-to-be-announced affiliate.

mid-major players to watch

As this week’s NCAA Tournament shifts from Dayton to sites across the country, we’ve put together a list of 10 players worth watching from traditional one-bid conferences. Their performances in conference play suggest they could make the most of this opportunity.

Joel Bolomboy, F/C, Weber State (Big Sky)
Quinton Chievous, F, Hampton (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference)
A.J. English, G, Iona (Metro Atlantic)
Marvelle Harris, G, Fresno State (Mountain West)
Chris Horton, C/F, Austin Peay (Ohio Valley Conference)
Stefan Jankovic, F, Hawaii (Big West)
Carrington Love, G, Green Bay (Horizon)
Justin Sears, F, Yale (Ivy League)
Thomas Walkup, G/F, Stephen F. Austin (Southland Conference)
Jameel Warney, F, Stony Brook (America East)

I wonder how many of these will get drafted and/or make it in the NBA?

Checking nbadraft.net, I see Bolomboy at 41 and that's it.

Saturday, March 12, 2016

2015-2016 Rainbow Warrior Basketball

[3/12/16] Hawaii wins Big West tournament, headed for The Big Dance

[3/8/16] Stefan Jankovic named Big West Player of the Year, Eran Ganot named Big West Coach of the Year

[10/16/15] $700,000 settlement deal for Gib Arnold

[9/2/15] Jakob Cornelissen walks on from Australia
[9/2/15] Gib Arnold hired as Celtics scout

[8/21/15] Warriors land guard from Sweden

[7/15/15] Gib's coaches: where are they now? / Benjy Taylor is now a car salesman

[6/24/15] UH to change shoes from Adidas to Under Armour
[6/21/15] Jack Purchase to transfer from Auburn to Hawaii

[6/21/15] UH rebuts Gib Arnold's counter-allegations
[6/11/15] Gib Arnold responds to UH lawsuit
[6/10/15] Gib Arnold rounding up allies
[6/7/15] Dave Rozitis issues statement in defense of Gib Arnold

[6/4/15] Former Arizona State forward Sai Tummala commits to Hawaii

[5/29/15] Gib Arnold and UH headed to arbitration

[5/27/15] Negus Webster-Chan to turn pro, forsaking final two years

[5/23/15] Chris Acker is the third assistant coach

[5/17/15] Norm Parrish named as second full assistant

[5/16/15] The University of Hawaii said it will vacate 36 victories; reduce scholarships, practice time and tryouts; cut back the role of its operations director; pay a $10,000 fine; and place itself on one-year probation for violations of NCAA rules by its men's basketball program.

The self-imposed sanctions, contained in a 64-page reply to the NCAA on Friday, were immediately blasted by fired coach Gib Arnold's attorney, James Bickerton, who categorized them as "a typically shortsighted action, throwing students and their achievements under the bus to save their own okoles."

[5/12/15] Bryce Canda Q&A
[5/11/15] Ganot's first recruit is Bryce Canda

[5/1/15] Awards banquet and sendoff for Benjy
[4/29/15] Ganot yet to sign contract
[4/24/15] Ganot's first hire is Adam Jacobsen
[4/14/15] Isaac Fleming will stick it out

[4/10/15] Ganot sees it as a calling
[4/10/15] Ganot is out to build a culture
[4/9/15] Eran Ganot introduced as the 21st coach for Hawaii basketball

Sunday, March 06, 2016

UFC 196

LAS VEGAS - With a pair of rear naked chokes that finished two celebrated champions, Nate Diaz and Miesha Tate both accomplished the improbable in a pair of sport-shaking victories at UFC 196.

The main event was the greatest moment in the career of Diaz, a pugnacious veteran from a notorious fighting family in Stockton, California. Diaz had lost three of his past five fights, but his size and power abruptly finished McGregor, who had boasted of his plans to hold championships in multiple weight classes.

The loss was McGregor's first since November 2010, and it put a blemish on the loquacious Irish face of the UFC and the best-paid fighter in this rapidly growing sport.

McGregor agreed to fight Diaz at the welterweight limit when 155-pound lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos dropped out of his matchup with McGregor due to a foot injury. McGregor set a new UFC record with his $1 million disclosed purse for this fight, and he predicted a comfortable win over Diaz, comparing the veteran to a gazelle about to be eaten by a lion.

Instead, McGregor got bit.

"(McGregor) punches hard," Diaz said. "He's a hard-hitting little guy, but nothing I never felt before."

***

LAS VEGAS – Less than a year after she was denied a shot at the championship that had been promised to her, Miesha Tate completed an amazing comeback journey with a dramatic submission of Holly Holm Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 196 at the MGM Grand Garden.

Tate, who lost her Strikeforce title to bitter rival Ronda Rousey in 2012 and then lost a shot at the UFC belt in 2013, submitted Holm with a rear naked choke at 3:30 of the fifth round.

It was a sensational submission. Tate took Holm down, who fought to stand up. Tate stayed on her and sunk in a rear naked choke. Holm moved over to the cage and then somersaulted forward, flipping Tate over.

Tate, though, didn’t release the hold and when they hit the ground; she kept the choke. She squeezed with all her might and Holm went out at 3:30, making Tate the new champion.

She nearly finished Holm in the second after a takedown, eventually getting the champion’s back and sinking in a choke. Holm fought it and the bell sounded, saving her.

Holm seemed to take control by winning the third and fourth rounds.

But Tate, who is as dogged as any fighter in the UFC, kept coming.

“I had to be patient,” Tate said. “She’s dangerous and is capable of catching anyone at any moment.”

Her win will likely mean a third meeting with her bitter rival Rousey, though that has yet to be determined.

The victory was especially sweet for Tate after she got bypassed for the title shot last year. UFC president Dana White had promised that the winner of the Tate-Jessica Eye fight in July would meet Rousey for the title. Tate won and White confirmed that she’d meet Rousey a third time.

But he thought better of it and several weeks later, changed his mind and gave Holm the shot instead. Tate found out while she was on a movie set with Holm.

Tate was bitter, and it was made worse when Holm went to Melbourne, Australia, and knocked out Rousey on Nov. 14 at UFC 193 in arguably the greatest upset in UFC history.

***

Conor McGregor mocked Diaz, taunted him at every turn and predicted a first-round finish during the intense 10-day promotion that came about when lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos pulled out of UFC 196 because of a broken foot.

Seconds after he submitted the heavily hyped McGregor on Saturday in the second round of their welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden, Diaz grabbed the microphone and said, “I’m not surprised, [expletive].”

In addition to being one of the world’s best fighters, Diaz is the UFC’s undisputed king of F-bombs, and he dropped one in the cage Saturday as he was basking in the glow of his greatest victory.

McGregor, though, was the star of this show. He opted to stay on the card following dos Anjos’ injury, even though as he said afterward, “they gave me every opportunity to pull out.”

He promoted the match with Diaz hard, and turned fans who showed up at a UFC gym in Torrance, Calif., for a hastily thrown together news conference into a frenzy with his taunts.

The fight was going his way for much of the night, but he learned a lesson that welterweights are vastly different than featherweights. He started slowly, but by the mid-point of the first round, he was picking Diaz apart.

McGregor opened a cut over Diaz’s right eye and his fast hands were getting through and hitting the mark.

But when McGregor hit featherweights like Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes and Dustin Poirier with those shots, they fell and he finished them.

Diaz, though, not only took them but relentlessly kept pushing forward.

“It is what it is,” McGregor said. “He’s a heavier man. It was simply me fighting a heavier man. He can take a hell of a shot. Him and Nick have that kind of style where they can take it and remain in there and remain in your face. … I make no excuses. It is what it is. I took a chance and it didn’t pay off, but I’ll be back.”

Most likely, he’ll be back at UFC 200 in July. Whenever he’s back, it will be at featherweight, he said. That means he’ll defend against either Aldo or Frankie Edgar.

Diaz isn’t a champion, but he may have earned himself a shot at dos Anjos’ belt. Dos Anjos holds a win over Diaz, but with Diaz’s momentum, he may get the shot.

Peyton Manning retires

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. >> Peyton Manning surveyed the landscape of his brilliant career and called one last audible. He’s retiring a champion.

A month after Denver’s triumph in Super Bowl 50, Manning informed John Elway he is following his lead and riding off into that orange sunset just like the Broncos’ boss did 17 years ago after winning his second Super Bowl.

Just shy of 40, Manning will forgo $19 million and a 19th season in the NFL, where he served as both a throwback and a transformer during a glittering career bookmarked by an unprecedented five MVP awards and dozens of passing records.

“Peyton was a player that guys wanted to play with,” Elway said. “That made us better as a team and I’m thrilled that we were able to win a championship in his final year.”

Manning leaves the league he helped popularize to supersize status as its all-time leading passer and winningest starting quarterback, the only one in NFL history to win Super Bowls with two franchises.

His first came in 2007 with the Indianapolis Colts, who drafted him No. 1 overall in 1998. The Colts gave up on him after a series of neck surgeries forced Manning to miss all of the 2011 season and left him without feeling in the fingertips of his right hand.

A rare superstar quarterback on the open market in 2012, Manning resettled in Denver, where, despite a right arm weakened by nerve damage, he went 50-15 with his fifth MVP award and two trips to the Super Bowl in four seasons.