It’s been one week since the Hawaii High School Athletic Association executive board voted to create a three-tiered state football tournament format.
Did that really happen? Pinch me.
Sure enough, it happened, and now the general public will get a taste of what it has been clamoring for for a long time.
From this subjective vantage point, the new format is a BEAUTIFUL THING. I don’t speak for everyone in Hawaii, but most people we’ve asked are attracted to the idea of more competitive balance and safety.
The HHSAA didn’t go as far as the proposal that was submitted earlier this year, which called for an Oahu Interscholastic Association and Interscholastic League of Honolulu alliance that would have put $35,000 into every Oahu football-playing school’s budget for three straight years.
But what the HHSAA and its five member leagues did do was create a fantastic scenario where the big boys play the big boys, the medium boys play the medium and the little guys play the little. Boys is somewhat of a misnomer here because girls play football too, just not that many.
Instead of a power conference in which the 10 best teams in the state play each other in the regular season (as was proposed), we now have a POWER state tournament in which those programs who desire to be numero uno at the tippity toppity of levels will play for overall bragging rights.
That division is called OPEN, and rightly so. You got what it takes? Then set your sights on the Open division championship.
By creating this Open division, the HHSAA has ELEVATED THE ELITE and that’s something that has been needed in Hawaii.
And one of the best things about the new format is that it leaves Division I and Division II virtually unchanged, other than the top-notch schools moving up from D-I to Open.
There is an odd case for ‘Iolani, but it’s not the Raiders’ fault that they are the only team left in the ILH that is classified as D-I and therefore get a free pass (at least this year) into the D-I states. They dominated the state at the D-II level and were hounded by the public to move up. They finally moved up to D-I and now they’re getting hammered for being there. Just remember, Punahou, Kamehameha and Saint Louis opted to go to Open from D-I, and Damien, St. Francis and Pac-Five decided to remain in D-II.
So, now does everybody want ‘Iolani to go back down to D-II? Don’t be silly. The Raiders have been theoretically in the middle between D-I and D-II so long and now you want to punish them for being where they seem to belong? They were not really a D-I team last season, but now with the power three moving up, they are a PERFECT FIT for D-I.
Speaking of PERFECT FITS, take a look at the teams that would have been in the three tiers if this format was part the state tournament last season.
>> OPEN: Kahuku, Mililani, Waianae, Farrington, Saint Louis, Punahou. (How awesome is that?)
>> Division I: Hilo, Baldwin, ‘Iolani, Kailua, Kealakehe, Kapolei, Moanalua, Campbell (How awesome is that?)
>> Division II: Radford, Nanakuli, Damien, Lahainaluna, Konawaena, Kapaa (the same teams who actually played for the D-II state title last season and it was filled with epic games).
There have been some who feel the ILH is getting a great deal because, for the first time since the state tournament began in 1999, it will get two teams into the highest division. Some feel the ILH doesn’t need an extra advantage, since those schools can offer monetary help for athletes.
But what some don’t realize is that the ILH does not dominate the Division I state tournament. Of the 16 years of the event, OIA teams have won it 10 times.
“The public schools don’t get enough credit for their success in the state tournaments,” former HHSAA executive director Keith Amemiya said. “Some people assume that the private schools dominate, but the facts show otherwise, particularly in the team sports. Time and again, the public schools have shown that they can rise to the occasion and hold their own with the private schools, and I’m confident that the three-tier football tournament results will be no different in the long run.”
Amemiya worked behind the scenes to gather support for the new format, much like he did when he helped usher in Division II to football in 2003.
Others feel that teams from the Neighbbor Islands aren’t getting a fair shake by not being named to the Open, but all three outer-island leagues voted in favor of the format at the HHSAA executive board meeting.
And, when you get right down to it, now those strong teams from the Big Island Interscholastic Federation and Maui Interscholastic League — such as Baldwin and Hilo — have a real chance at bringing home Division I hardware. No BIIF or MIL teams have made it as far as a a D-I championship game.
Plus, it hasn’t been fully reported before, but the BIIF and the MIL were asked if they wanted to take part in the Open division this season and both declined.
It might seem like a small thing, but these schools get to retain that Division I status, something they would not have been able to do do, say, if the new divisions were named D-I, D-II and D-III. Just another reminder that D-I and D-II are STAYING VIRTUALLY THE SAME, with the exception of the ELEVATION OF THE ELITE to the Open division.
Eventually something similar needs to be done for the regular season to avoid the blowouts we’ve been seeing — like Kahuku 50, Aiea 7, and Mililani 42, Castle 0. Competitive balance? What competitive balance? There is also that safety factor that comes into play when a team, such as McKinley last season, is barely able to find enough players to put on the field and is putting inexperienced players into the front lines of games against powerhouses like Kahuku and Waianae. We could look up the scores from last season, but, without checking, we already know the Tigers gave up close to 200 points and scored 0 against the Red Raiders and Seariders combined.
Do we really want that? Does anybody in their right mind want that?
Definitely not. Change is called for in a big way here, and according to HHSAA executive director Chris Chun, the people in power are listening and that’s why change has begun.
This new format is a GREAT first step. When we’re watching, squads like Baldwin, Hilo, maybe Leilehua and, er … why not? … ‘Iolani in the Division I state semifinals, pinch me again. That would be unreal and … it’ll be the way it’s supposed to be (from this vantage point). Of course, the Mules still have a shot at the Open if they continue to improve as the season goes on.
Who ya’ got in D-II — Lahainaluna, Konawaena, Kapaa … or St. Francis, or Damien or Pac-Five … or any number of D-II classified schools that could get hot at the right time?
And the Open division, well, if you want the ABSOLUTE BEST schools to be in it, you’ve got just what you want.
Three tiers. It makes sense. With more competitive games, revenue and fan interest is likely to rise considerably.
There are those who are still against it. But, seriously, from a fan’s perspective, what’s not to like?
@ Jeezy, many parents often send their kids to these private schools to be around other kids and families who appreciate learning and putting in the work to improve in school. Athletics are just a bonus. They also send their kids there to network. After you graduate, the networking possibilities are endless.
I do agree that it’s sad that so much focus is put onto football in the Kahuku community. But then again, if my kid was so bad at school, I probably would have to keep talking about the 1 thing the school is good at.
Oh wait, didn’t they win the Speech and Debate contest? That is the argument coming out of Kahuku even though all their school wide test scores are drastically below the state average.
You OIA fanboys keep on claiming that you can’t compete with the OIA and never will! Tell me that ain’t playing the victim?!? Grow some balls! You keep on playing the victim, you’ll only hold YOURSELF back!
Let’s all admit. The real reason why people are whining & complaining about 2 ILH teams is because they don’t want to see ILH vs ILH in the State Championship. Nobody is considering the fact that the 2nd ILH teams has been better than the OIA 3 & 4 seeds which are Farrington & Waianae every year. And these two teams can’t even survive the first round of the tournament.
@Education First,
Shhhhhh… no matter with the blue chip recruiting… Let them recruit whateva they like. We get um!
Lol, somebody’s replying to himself. This is football. High school football. Kahuku owns it, period. Go find an edumacation, da kine website. Go put your “smarts” ova dea. The dumb ones are the team that recruits, drills, throw money, hire best coaches,build best facilities, then pound and cry on the Aloha stadium turf screaming Noooooo. Manti Teo said it best post game “Nobody remembers 2nds”.
I’ll call this early. Waianae vs. Kahuku for the Inaugural Open Division Championship. That will actually be bad for the OIA because the HHSAA will then change the 2017 format to 2 OIA and 4 ILH teams, with the 2 OIA facing each other in the 1st round.
@AOK
Think this new format is great, just wish they would have seperated all the divisions from the get go at the start of the season and let everyone earned the right to be there. As it stands there are still teams that could get the shaft, i.e. Kam school. Just give everyone a fair shot from the beginning instead of as we go along…..some gonna make out while others gonna suck wind..
And if it’s two ILH teams or two OIA at the end of it all then sobeit, atleast we all would know that the two best teams made it there because they EARNED it!!! Period. Nobody can complain!!! That’s what a real championship means to me…
I say do away with the state tournament and have 4 seperate divisions for the whole state. Then just have division championships!! That would eliminate all the lopsided games and every game would be more exciting and for the most part more meaningful!!
anyways says “the opposite of OIA uncles in a garage drinking beer cheering their alma maters on tv
is
the ILH brotherhood in a bar drinking beer cheering their alma maters on tv”
Sure, but the ILH brotherhood are probably doctors, lawyers, engineers, and businessmen. The OIA uncles are shipyard workers (not a bad job at all!) or wearing neon green shirts to work.
Hahashandah says “For all you ILH fans I will remind you of this, if your team is second in the ILH, you’ve lost numerous times to the #1 ILH team. What the heck makes you think you deserve yet another shot ar beating them in states. I mean you have to have lost 3-4 times to the winner. What makes you think that the 5th times the charm. It’s like PAL sports now where you can just keep coming back again and again.”
Okay. So going by this logic, then why even have a state tournament to begin with? If your team is second, third, or fourth in the OIA, that means you lost to the #1 OIA team, and if you’re in the same conference, you probably lost more than once. If you can’t beat the eventual champ or lose in the semis, what makes you think you have a chance against the #1 OIA team or ILH champ?
Why not just have a two team tournament. #1 OIA vs #1 ILH, like the prep bowl?
I just hear a lot of haters and it’s mainly from Kahuku fans with fragile egos who are scared to play the ILH week in and week out because “recruiting!!!” and resentment that private schools have better facilities, education, and student achievement.
More competition and more games is good for the kids and for the schools. All of you public school uncles just gotta deal it instead of being all butthurt and being like “LET THE ILH PLAY THEIR OWN LEAGUE! We like being the big fish in the little pond so that we never have to prove we’re the best on a weekly basis!”
Because you know that if there was a merger Kahuku would lose its edge as the ILH teams will see kahuku on a regular basis and get used to game planning, as well as the ILH losing its edge to OIA schools for the same reason.
Think about something bigger than your ego and your glory years back in the 80s.
87 August 30, 2016 at 11:25 pm
Tata came to Kahuku building off their strengths, the run game, he didnt see the deficiency in skilled positions and go out and recruit a QB and WRs. That the difference between OIA and ILH, built not bought!
Another difference is academics. It’s learn not copy (pertaining to tests).
Agree with Flying O First, back to Prep Bowl OIA vs.ILH. One game,pau. OIA have enough team to compete. No problem on the “inferior ” label. College recruiters still going to Hawaii public schools .
@The Flying O, yeah if all your alumni are doctors and lawyers that explains why you gotta go into the gettos and recruit the polynesians for your football team – let the doctors and lawyers kids play on your football team and you will drop into D2. Of all those polynesians you guys used for football over the years how many turned into lawyers? how many ended up at the docks wearing a hard hat?
IRT RuggedSlopes: There’s no admitting required and whining and complaining about having two ILH in the state championship are not the issue. Who says that the 2nd ILH team is much better than any OIA team and we’ll end up seeing an all ILH state championship. On a given day, any team is capable of beating a team that is higher in the rankings. The fact of the matter is, all these changes for the state football play-offs have been pushed by HHSAA and the 5 representative from each Interscholastic league even if the OIA denied an ILH/OIA alliance for football. What these representatives overlooked was the fact that the ILH league has an advantage by using their resources to recruit and stack their teams with “blue chip” athletes. It’s not all about whining or complaining by the OIA, it’s a statement that is factual because it’s all about winning with talented stacked players by the ILH. I’m sure ILH coaches wouldn’t be as optimistic about striving for the state title if providing “financial aid” to blue chip athletes were cancelled by each private school. By having players whose parents are able to afford the tuition, they would be on the same playing field as the public schools and that would make it even, as far as the ILH having no advantage and it surely won’t make an ILH coaches job as easy to produce a winning tradition.
Since HHSAA is trying to “excel” its programs, when is the shot clock for hs basketball coming? You know they use this in high school, college,pros right. And why does Iolani play D1 basketball and not football? Hmmm. Some schools can pick and chose.
THAN YOU @Manley…. I brought that up on a past article, nothing since…. Iolani benefits from that also, seen dem play in states? After a 2pt lead it’s keep away time.
anyways says “yeah if all your alumni are doctors and lawyers that explains why you gotta go into the gettos and recruit the polynesians for your football team – let the doctors and lawyers kids play on your football team and you will drop into D2.”
Do you know this for a fact? Also, did you know that people actually seek out private schools instead of the other way around? This was addressed by jeezy33
” Of all those polynesians you guys used for football over the years how many turned into lawyers? how many ended up at the docks wearing a hard hat?”
idk. you tell me. How many of them ended up going to college, getting degrees, and being productive members of society? How many of them just became better people as a result of a better education and curriculum that expanded their minds and perspectives while being around a diverse group of people?
And if they ended up graduating and working at the docks (which is still a really good job), are you saying that’s the school’s fault?
North Shore says ” I’m sure ILH coaches wouldn’t be as optimistic about striving for the state title if providing “financial aid” to blue chip athletes were cancelled by each private school. By having players whose parents are able to afford the tuition, they would be on the same playing field as the public schools and that would make it even”
Fun fact! Did you know that ALL students (not just athletes) can qualify for need based financial aid? Did you also know that not every student (including football players) are on free rides (no such thing) or come from parents who live in mansions in Hawaii kai? A lot of parents actually scrimp, save, mortgage their house, all to put their kids into punahou or another private school to give their kids the best possible education and put them in the best possible position to succeed.
Most of you guys know nothing about private school, the private school environment, and how the whole process works. This is why I keep saying, the only people who have opposition to this are the OIA uncles reminiscing about their glory years in the 80s back in high school.
You people take high school football a little too seriously. Even the idiots talking about firing Randall Okimoto. He’s a fine coach. He also gets paid peanuts to spend 30 hours a week on top of his regular job coaching football like all other OIA coaches. People do it because they love the kids and want to see them compete and succeed. Most of the kahuku fans here seem to look at high school football just to boost their egos.
HHSAA has fooled everyone yet again!
They just screwed your minds if you think about it!
Really really slick!
Here we go, pay attention.
Open div is actually DIV1 with 2 places for ILH
Div1 now is DIV2 with1 guarantee place for ILH
Div2 now is DIV2 participation with incentives
ILH and HHSAA Incoherent strategies to confuse
Public schools that it’s a good thing!!!!!!!
What a joke……. Oia teams just got screwed!!!!!!!!
@Education First (grader) aka IGO FIRST; seems that you need to be told since you forgot the comments on The Crunch Bowl context whereas @Auwe comment that you need to be humble and that Dear Abby column would be appropriate to your style; you were silent for 2-3 days and then your Journalism 101 lecture started up again; try taking your comments to the next level or like try the UH Warrior domain since your comments are going in circle like only repetitive almost like tap dancing. So sad that you got a puka in your head and here’s hoping you recover soon. RR4L
PRESTIGE! – PRESTIGE! – PRESTIGE! – PRESTIGE!
Thats what the ILH schools need to maintain, there is no PRESTIGE in coming in 2nd to a poor OIA school like Kahuku. That is why Cal Lee left the 2nd place trophy on the 50yd line and didnt take it home. Mariotas Heisman award added prestige to the St. Louis reputation, Buckner drafted #9 added prestige to Punahou. PRESTIGE in education and FOOTBALL is what attracts students and athletes to the ILH, parents believe that their kid can be the next Mariota or Teo if they spend the tution and enroll in the ILH.
When they try to sell you on the idea that an alliance benefits all Hawaii kids, THAT IS FALSE, IT ONLY BENEFITS ILH KIDS AND HELPS PROTECT THE PRESTIGE OF ILH ELITIST!
So sad…. I can see there is so much jealousy on this post. So typically of this generation… Entitlements…. what’s for me? …how come they get and I don’t have? Middle child syndrome… How about not looking at what someone else has, rather focus on what you got and get better! Who cares if the other team get nice uniform, better education, or blue chip players? That don’t mean anything. OIA can say the same. Enough making excuses!
I don’t care about OIA vs ILH…. I just wanna see #1 vs #2… and not #1 vs #3.
anyways says “Thats what the ILH schools need to maintain, there is no PRESTIGE in coming in 2nd to a poor OIA school like Kahuku.”
Just stop, already. Everyone knows that Kahuku is good at football. It’s pretty much the only thing that school is good at. Nobody would hang their head if they lost to Kahuku. Stop playing the “everyone hates me” card. all these RR4L nutjobs seem to be infamous for that, when in reality, nobody really cares about Kahuku at all, especially once football season is over.
” PRESTIGE in education and FOOTBALL is what attracts students and athletes to the ILH, parents believe that their kid can be the next Mariota or Teo if they spend the tution and enroll in the ILH.”
Dude. Just stop it already. ILH schools, especially punahou, could have the worst football programs in the state (and keep in mind, punahou wasn’t very good until maybe the 2010s) and people would still be breaking down the doors to gain entrance into the school.
What you’re failing to understand is that a school is MUCH bigger than its football program, because the primary mission of a school is to provide an education and prepare its students for college. Kahuku fans seem to think high school football is the be all end all of high school even though only a small fraction of the team goes on to play at the college level, or even makes it into a 4 year university.
Parents send their kids to punahou and pay a lot of money to do so (yes. even football players’ parents) because of how strong the educational programs themselves are. The sports programs are just icing on the cake.
Stop pretending like private schools exist just to support football teams and that there’s some massive conspiracy to recruit all the talent out of la’ie, and that their football programs are the main reason why people know about the schools and care about them. That’s just plain stupid.
Get some perspective, friends.
I don’t care how much ILH schools makes it in the open division… I would like to see the best vs the best.. Anybody could say the number 2 ILH is better the number 2 OIA.. But the number 2 ILH can be better then the number 1 ILH too.. It’s all come down to who wants it more that night… I don’t care about recruiting, if that’s what your school need to the best, so be it… Just bring that A Game when your playing in the championship game…Remember, I want to see the best… And for academic…Who care… Only your Son/daughter know if they want to go to the next level for education…All we can do is support and help them in the right direction…Private or public… I’m a single Dad that has a son in public school and another son in private school… I support them no different… I graduated from public school with a C average, but I own my House and my two cars. Payed off already and I’m able to take my kids on vacation trips every year… So who cares… My parents aren’t rich, but very hard workers, which they taught me.. It’s all about how much you teach your kids about Hard work, whether it’s academics or old school labor.. I’m done with all the complaining with both sides.. Let’s just support the our kids and school the best we can… REMEMBER THE BEST WE CAN… RRFL
Flying 0 – Duh education is 1st priority at any OIA/ILH school.
You obviously dont know the impact of what a billion dollar industry like Football has on Americas economy. If you didnt already know – Money rules the world! Your ILH schools dont stay open with out money!
Here is a little small tid bit of info for you…Its a known fact that when Kahuku wins a Championship they make over $100,000 in merchandise sells, Kahuku doesnt win Football games with the purpose to sell merchandise, that is just a happen stance.
I dont have any info on your ILH schools but the fact that they dont televise their season games tells you that they know a thing or two about money. If winning at football impacts a small OIA school like Kahuku imagine how much more effectively the ILH businessmen can use the fame and prestige of winning titles to their advantage.
You dont have a perspective on private enterprise and money so never mind! go home cook rice!
IRT The Flying O: I find you to be a die hard alumni of a city slicker private school. I’m fully aware of the “did you know” questions about financial aid that is available for all students. Also, am aware that not every student (including football players) are provided with financial aid because it depends on the income of the parents that would make them not qualify for financial aid and that’s a no brainer. But you forgot to make an exception for the “blue chip” athletes that are recruited not for academics but for their exceptional ability in a particular sport and whose parents are unable to afford the high tuition and are automatically provided with the financial aid so that he/she would be able to play for that school. Enough said about financial aid because its been explained by parents of former “blue chip” players who couldn’t afford the tuition but had their son/daughter accepted as an exceptional athlete by way of financial aid.
anyways says: “Duh education is 1st priority at any OIA/ILH school.”
Sure doesn’t seem like it, the way some of these “RR4L” fans talk.
“You obviously dont know the impact of what a billion dollar industry like Football has on Americas economy. ”
lol oh? college and pro football are MULTI-billion dollar industries but that doesn’t mean hawaii high school football is one.
your line of reasoning seems to look like this:
1. Major college and pro football are multibillion dollar industries
2. Therefore, becuase high school football is football, it must be extremely lucrative as well.
3. a non profit making a pretty good amount of money off of kahuku’s brand sells a lot of merchandise during football season.
4. Therefore football is the primary prestige and income generator for public schools and private schools.
5. Therefore private schools recruit actively in la’ie in order to take the talented kids becuase without football teams, the schools wouldn’t be as popular and they need “prestige” to keep attracting students.
Your line of reasoning is BS on so many levels and makes no sense. you haven’t demonstrated #2, so the rest of your argument falls apart because of it.
although good for kahuku.org (a program started from a non-profit which found a way to trademark and monetize kahuku high school’s brand, make). Public-private partnerships, when done right, are good for the community. the public schools do really need all the help they can get, and that isn’t a knock on the DOE at all.
Northshore: “Enough said about financial aid because its been explained by parents of former “blue chip” players who couldn’t afford the tuition but had their son/daughter accepted as an exceptional athlete by way of financial aid.”
Really? Like who? There’s always these types of rumors but it’s always “someone who knows somebody told somebody else who told me!”
The super conference/state tournament expansion is good for the kids. more games, more competition. Unless the uncles are scared, they should just sit back and enjoy the show, because the kids will sure as hell enjoy playing.
IRT Flying O: Come-on man, say it the way it is…”Prestige”..wow I go to Punahou, that’s the whole mentality of the students that attend private schools, and “football is what attracts students and athletes to the ILH”…oh really? “Parents believe (or dream) that their kid to be the next Mariota (Waianae) and Te’o (Lai’e)” if they’re recruited and provided financial aid especially when the parents are unable to afford the tuition. So it’s about Prestige and football? You said through your own admission..football..LOL
The idea of an open division is only opposed by the fans/schools that actually fear the competition. They fear losing. Let’s use the Olympics as a metaphor. In the Olympics, the best of the best from each country competes to see who the best in the WORLD. Would it make sense for Michael Phelps to refuse to swim against certain competitors? No. People would probably claim that he’s refused because he is scared to lose. The same can be said about the OIA. They would rather have the easy win from the schools they’ve been playing all season, the ones they’re used to playing. The ones they’ve already beaten. The ILH supports the open division because they know that the only way to prove themselves to the state, is to go against the best of the competition in the OIA.
Prior to the open division, OIA fans claimed that it would be unfair to add another ILH team to the tournament. But WHY? With the OIA being represented by 4 of their best teams, why would having another team from the (“boring”, “does whatever it takes to win”, “recruiting”) ILH make any difference? If the OIA is as good as they say they are, then it shouldn’t matter how many ILH teams are in the state tournament. Now that the open division tournament was added, OIA fans are screaming even louder about the “fairness” of the decision to allow 2 teams from the ILH to their 4. When compared with other sports state tournaments, football is the only high school sport where the number of ILH teams participating, are capped. Why do I think the opposition is feared based? Here’s why: when it comes to state tournaments in other sports throughout the year, the ILH is pretty dominant. Volleyball, ILH…Swimming, ILH…Water polo, ILH…you see where I’m going with this. That’s not to say that the OIA hasn’t won any state tournaments. But given the record of ILH wins to OIA wins, I can see why it would worry OIA fans to allow another ILH team in.
And if you think that and ILH school NEEDS football wins and sports trophies to add to their prestige…it’s because that’s all YOU think about…and it’s how you measure a school’s prestige. Punahou’s prestige is based on accolades from academics…the sports wins and trophies are just the cherry on top. And are you also trying to say that OIA schools DON’T need football wins and sports trophies to add to their prestige?? If you took the sports programs out of the picture, would Kahuku fans still represent their school for it’s academics?? Would students still gravitate towards Mililani if they didn’t have sports?? Um, highly doubtful. Do you think Kahuku would be ranked nationally if they didn’t play St. Louis and beat them? You think they’d still be noticed if they only played within the OIA and beat out Mililani? Or Waianae? Or Farrington? Come on. Bishop Gorman wouldn’t think twice about hosting them. So tell me, who NEEDS the prestige that comes with sports/football wins??
One stacked all-state elitist team couldnt take down Kahuku so now they are sending two. We all know the other OIA teams dont stand a chance against PUN/STL
ENEMY OF THE STATE with TARGETS ON OUR BACKS!! RR4L
Flying Jayzee O First 33, St.Louis and Punahou needs to play Kahuku to get national recognition not the other way around. BG wanted to play KAHUKU and not the ILH. Tell the lawyers and doctors to get out of the bars and go support the ILH kids AT THE FIELD. That way dey can rub elbows with the housing All State ILH players parents. No scade um.
IRTR JayEss: You totally missed the whole point and making assumptions that really aren’t true but just feeding us your opinion, a sign of frustration.lol It’s not about the fear of losing because someone has to lose and win…that’s a know factor and accepted when you’re an athlete. It’s also not about how many ILH teams are scheduled to play in the new state championship tournament. You completely overlooked and failed to mention about the ILH’s ability to recruit exceptional athletes by providing financial aid when parents are unable to pay for the tuition. That’s the whole point and advantage that the ILH has over the public schools. It’s the advantage of being able to stack a team with exceptional athletes, whereas, the OIA fields a team with home grown athletes. Speaking of the ILH having a “boring” league. You misinterpreted what I meant by the ILH is a boring league. It’s boring for the players and coaches because of having to practice everyday and not be able to play for 2 weeks because they’re limited in the number of teams available, while the OIA is into their 4th week of regular games. Besides that, they have to play each other twice and have a play-off for the ILH title. Boring has nothing to do with 2 mediocre teams playing each other. Speaking of Michael Phelps competing against professionals and comparing high school athletes shouldn’t even be used as an example. That was a poor choice of example, irrelevant to the subject of ILH/OIA high school football.
Paper Crane August 31, 2016 at 1:43 pm
@Education First (grader) aka IGO FIRST; seems that you need to be told since you forgot the comments on The Crunch Bowl context whereas @Auwe comment that you need to be humble and that Dear Abby column would be appropriate to your style; you were silent for 2-3 days and then your Journalism 101 lecture started up again; try taking your comments to the next level or like try the UH Warrior domain since your comments are going in circle like only repetitive almost like tap dancing. So sad that you got a puka in your head and here’s hoping you recover soon. RR4L
What in the world did this person just say? 88 is this you???
MMEEEEEEAAAAAAANNNNNN da novels in hea!!! Skip a couple days and look what happened!!
Hope you guys able to squeeze in at least ONE little “I love you honey” note to your better halves amongst all these dissertations!
HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!
RRFL!
zzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz
“And if you think that and ILH school NEEDS football wins and sports trophies to add to their prestige…it’s because that’s all YOU think about…and it’s how you measure a school’s prestige. Punahou’s prestige is based on accolades from academics…the sports wins and trophies are just the cherry on top.”
Jayess gets it.
“St.Louis and Punahou needs to play Kahuku to get national recognition not the other way around. BG wanted to play KAHUKU and not the ILH.”
Manley obviously doesn’t. Also, don’t assume that every good all-state ILH player was snatched from the loving arms of vae tata or randall okimoto and came from housing. That’s a dumb assumption. It’s also extremely insulting and racist.
Northshore, you seem to want to block out the ILH and deprive the OIA of playing better competition and adding more games because of your sense of football “homegrown” purity, bias against private schools, and ego. The kids and coaches want to play against whoever, wherever.
I think we need to understand that high school football is not for the uncles whose life peaked in high school when being on the football team meant being big man on campus, but for the kids playing right now.
something to think about.
Manley says “Tell the lawyers and doctors to get out of the bars and go support the ILH kids AT THE FIELD. ”
You’ve obviously never been to a punahou/ILH game. the parent support is HUGE. at punahou, the parents and punahou community are extremely active in ALL aspects of the school, especially academics, and this includes EVERY sport. So they are “rubbing elbows ” with the “housing all-star ILH parents.” In fact, a lot of them are friends.
Please stop pretending you know anything about private school environments when it seems like you just barely graduated your public high school.
ILH does year round recruiting for football players, if thats what it takes to beat the public schools so be it. #CantBuyYourTitles
@ The Flying O – I totally agree with everything you said. But let’s be real, how can these people even understand when all the focus on is football which is a large reason their SBAC scores are some of the lowest in Hawaii.
I cannot stand how people say certain kids “belong” to a certain area. No school owns any kids. Parents choose what school their kids wants to attend (assuming they are allowed to go there).
The theory that each kid belongs to the district they live in is archaic and borderline prejudice.
So based on some of these asinine comments then Iolani should have kids only from the Iolani School area using a 2-3 mile radius? That is so dumb.
Let’s be real. Kids leave their home public school for private schools because the private schools are usually superior in all ways.
87 September 1, 2016 at 8:00 am
ILH does year round recruiting for football players, if thats what it takes to beat the public schools so be it. #CantBuyYourTitles
Kahuku should really start “recruiting” kids for higher academics. #lowesttestscoresinhawaii
And as for the “Can’t Buy Your Titles” comment, you do know that the ILH is winning much more state titles than the OIA. In the 2015-2016 school year the ILH took home 21 state titles while the OIA took home 11 state titles.
Now nothing is wrong with 11 titles. But the ILH won almost double that amount and you once again come with a ridiculous statement with no evidence whatsoever.
Weren’t you guys taught to provide evidence when you make an argument? Based on your academics, I am thinking no.
@ The Flying O and Jayess – I would think having the current president of the United States as an alumni would bring more prestige than a High School Football Title. I would also like to think that having the founder of eBay as one of your board members who donated most of the funding for their Grade K-1 Neighborhood is also more prestigious than winning a High School Football Title.
But I guess when your school is known for:
1) Winning High School Football Titles
2) Winning a Speech & Debate Contest
3) Being Close to the Polynesian Cultural Center
4) Being across the street from Tita’s
Then I guess you must really put emphasis on winning a football title when you aren’t really known for much else.
But then again this is the community that almost rioted 10 years ago when Coach Reggie Torres started to try and improve academics there for his football team. And this is the same community that tried to get a good man in Coach Alan Akina fired for playing his sons who were far better than 90% of the team.
Thanks for proving that you recruit in all sports, duh, everyonee and their dog knows that. My nephew passed the test to get into Punahou as a soph last year but no money so he stayed to play on Kahukus JV team, His classmate who is a baller is at Punahou with a very generous financial aid package. cmon man you cant fool us!
IRT Education First: Are you really educated? As you’ve stated, “So based on some asinine comments then Iolani should have kids only from the Iolani school area using a 2-3 mile radius?” Are you for real, because you’ve made a statement that makes you sound stupid and uneducated about the subject you’re talking about. Anyone that understands the enrollment criterias of private and public school system would never make an asinine comment as you stated. Let’s make it clear so that you understand the public school system for kids attending school within their district, community or designated zone. Logistically it’s simple to understand why this is the rule and hopefully there is no further explanation to provide. As far as enrolling in a private school such as Iolani, it is open to any student from anywhere provided they’re accepted and parents or guardians are able to afford the tuition. Private schools “Do Not” have a designated district or mile radius. Com-on man, think before you put your foot in your mouth and make yourself appear to be uneducated.
Northshore September 1, 2016 at 8:55 am
IRT Education First: Are you really educated? As you’ve stated, “So based on some asinine comments then Iolani should have kids only from the Iolani school area using a 2-3 mile radius?” Are you for real, because you’ve made a statement that makes you sound stupid and uneducated about the subject you’re talking about. Anyone that understands the enrollment criterias of private and public school system would never make an asinine comment as you stated. Let’s make it clear so that you understand the public school system for kids attending school within their district, community or designated zone. Logistically it’s simple to understand why this is the rule and hopefully there is no further explanation to provide. As far as enrolling in a private school such as Iolani, it is open to any student from anywhere provided they’re accepted and parents or guardians are able to afford the tuition. Private schools “Do Not” have a designated district or mile radius. Com-on man, think before you put your foot in your mouth and make yourself appear to be uneducated.
No I am going off the stupid comments you have made earlier using your other aliases. You and your uneducated buddies continue to write posts saying how kids belong to certain schools since they live their.
Don’t try and camouflage it now that you and your other aliases have been exposed. The only uneducated people on there at the band of merry men trying to make football more important than it really is. But don’t worry, when I drive through a the McDonald’s out there I will make sure to give your son working the drive-though window a tip. I will even make it a $20 so he can buy you a meal that evening.
OMG you might be the dumbest person here. Do you need a tutor to understand that I just wrote?
Everyone knows the boundaries are based on the population consensus. It was created to make sure it is clear what addresses match-up to certain public schools. Now, the lines can be altered based on the population census since schools can only accommodate certain amounts of kids. For example in Ewa. As the population grows the DOE is planning to build 1-2 more elementary schools and possibly 1 more middle school. Therefore at that time the lines of where the kids should go to will change.
YOU WRITE, “As you’ve stated, “So based on some asinine comments then Iolani should have kids only from the Iolani school area using a 2-3 mile radius?” Are you for real, because you’ve made a statement that makes you sound stupid and uneducated about the subject you’re talking about.”
Um MORON, that statement is based on the premise that many of your alter-ego have written that kids belong to certain public schools based on the zoning rules. So USING that asinine comment as the model for what many of your alter-egos think, I wrote how ridiculous that would look applying that model to the private schools, thus using Iolani as the current model.
Any person with a second grade education could see that.
Unfortunately you did not see that connection and you think I was actually coming up with a new philoposhy that private schools should only allow kids in from a 2-3 mile radius!
HAHAHAH! You are so dumb! HAHAHAHA I don’t believe you actually just wrote that. I mean c’mon man. can you not see what I just did? I will write it down in bullet points to make it clearer for you:
1) Discussed the ridiculous comment about students belong to the school where they live in
2) Made up a ridiculous example based on the comments in #1 to show how silly it is to think any kid belongs to a certain area just because they live there.
And you actually think I was writing that since I do not know:
1) The rules for the home school matching up to a person’s home address
2) The admission policy of most private schools
HAHAHA! I hope the administrator of webmaster does not take down your comment! I think it might be worse that your buddy comparing USC and Kahuku based on academics! HAHAHA!
The best is when people write and call people out thinking they are actually intelligent. And then the more they write they actually show the world ho unintelligent they are.
Here is a link for you so you can learn to read and hopefully improve your academic level:
https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Kids-Read-Dummies-Tracey/dp/0764540432
OMG!!! EDUCATION FIRST LOVES TO TYPE. TYPE AWAY!!! IT MUST MAKE YOU FEEL SO GOOD. YOU ARE SOOOO SMART. I STILL DON’T GET IT, WHY ARE YOU SO ANGRY? SENDING YOU A BIG HUG 🙂 YOU SOUND LIKE YOU NEED IT.
yup send him a hug with 5 blue chippers to help his ILH football team should make him feel better
Familys with kids enrolled at ILH schools whether they are PAYING full tuition, partial, or only 05% are still PAYING something. This by definition categorize these Familys as clients.
The ILH schools will do anything and everything in the best interest of their PAYING CLIENTS. Even if it means to tilt the odds in favor of the ILH to win in the playoffs by having 2 teams in the Open and Iolani the Automatic bid in the D1. Even if it means to screw the OIA, yes, the PAYING clients and the EGOs of the Alumni trump the ALOHA SPIRIT
“rrfl September 1, 2016 at 9:46 am
OMG!!! EDUCATION FIRST LOVES TO TYPE. TYPE AWAY!!! IT MUST MAKE YOU FEEL SO GOOD. YOU ARE SOOOO SMART. I STILL DON’T GET IT, WHY ARE YOU SO ANGRY? SENDING YOU A BIG HUG 🙂 YOU SOUND LIKE YOU NEED IT.”
uh.. red raider fans looking REAL ignorant with some of these posts. like, REAL ignorant. “Hey, let’s not address arguments, let’s just do juvenile name calling!” Even if education first might be extreme with his rhetoric of calling you guys uneducated, you guys certainly aren’t doing yourselves any favors here.
“The ILH schools will do anything and everything in the best interest of their PAYING CLIENTS. Even if it means to tilt the odds in favor of the ILH to win in the playoffs by having 2 teams in the Open and Iolani the Automatic bid in the D1. Even if it means to screw the OIA, yes, the PAYING clients and the EGOs of the Alumni trump the ALOHA SPIRIT”
MrWendall, you know nothing about private schools and private school communities. To be honest, some of the strongest communities around a school, in terms of alumni and parental support, is from Kamehameha and Punahou. Stronger than any I’ve seen around the local public schools.
Uncle, go drink your beer in your garage with “the boiz.” The only people thinking the OIA is getting screwed and demonizing the ILH aren’t the coaches or the kids who are playing the game, but sad uncles like you who can’t get past their lives that peaked when they were 16.