(Update 8 p.m. — Adds comments by Cal Lee.)
Response to the news that the change to the state football tournament format — to take effect immediately — was slow this afternoon.
A Star-Advertiser breaking news story shared the announcement by the Hawaii High School Athletic Association that the state tournament format would be altered as soon as this season. Open Division would be comprised of four OIA teams and two ILH squads. There would still be Division I and II tourneys with eight teams in each.
One coach who was available for comment on a busy Monday afternoon was Kapolei’s Darren Hernandez, whose team didn’t start practice until late afternoon. He has been a head coach or assistant coach for more than two decades, and was both perplexed and enthused by the news.
“This is crazy, but crazy good. I support this all the way and you can quote me on that,” he said. “My biggest concern is how short the seasons are. They’re ridiculously short. When I started coaching, the championship game was in the first week of December. I’m hoping the HHSAA will take this into account and make the season longer.”
“I love basketball and other sports, but football is king. Football is the cash cow. You’d think the leagues would want more games. How many basketball players (from Hawaii) made it to the NBA? How many sports can draw 30,000 fans to one game,” Hernandez added.
Saint Louis coach Cal Lee was intrigued by the news.
“I’m surprised and happy that we have a state tournament where we have the top teams playing for the state championship. Four OIA, two ILH, every game is going to be a sellout. The state tournament will have a great game in every game,” said Lee, whose Crusaders are among the title contenders again this season. “Well, we been trying to get two ILH teams in for a long time. Finally. It’s only fair for the kids. The top teams, don’t you want your best teams to be in there? This way, it’s fair.”
“It helps everybody. I don’t care about all the other stuff. I think about the kids,” he said. “That’s why we’re here to coach and I think this is great we can help them play at this level. And I believe the OIA coaches feel the same way, too.”
A multitude of blowout games is a key factor why the ILH went to exclusive league schedules in recent years. In the OIA, however, many Division I games in the first two weeks have been runaways.
“The OIA, as a coach, I don’t know who they are, but they’ve got to understand, football you’ve got to have a vision,” Lee said. “Can’t have it the same way. Football is going down, down, down. Have you seen some of the scores? Why would you have a kid getting beat up, mercy rule, no competition?”
The state tourneys for smaller programs are ideal, Lee said.
“I think if the kids win any division,” he said, “don’t they feel good about themselves, that they won something?”
Bottom line…the new system is way better ilh had to play OIA 1, 2, 3 seed just to win a championship. That was a bull …. format. I bet well see two ilh teams in the state championship before two oia teams make it. The oia still has double the amount of teams too. No excuses!
@aku bird,
What you mean give “Tokuda, Say, Tata teams with players like Alualu, Malepeai, Matzuzaki, Chang, Ornellas, Arcenaux, Ma’afala, Tata, Nua, etc… ”
…they gotta go gettum themselves. Nobody gave Lee those players…. he had to go gettum himself. Maybe Lee had a good trump card in his pocket to help lure them over…. those coaches you mentioned need to figure out their own trump card. Quit blaming Lee if he get backers with money. Look at Kahuku… they got it figured out. They not asking to give them this or give them that. Sound like my 3 year old. Want… want…. want….
Aku Bird August 23, 2016 at 7:53 am
@J
If the local schools had the money the ILH has then they would be able to keep their kids at their school. Try tell any good athlete to come to your ILH school with no scholarship or financial aid and see how many of them show up (NONE). The ILH will always have an advantage because of money/academics (DUH) but the best part is even with ALL the ILH recruiting, Kahuku is still dominating. Cal Lee is “overated” with all the recruiting talent he had during his title run almost any coach would have won too…If he was that great he would have won a championship at Kalani when he was there but couldn’t so he ran back to STL!
It’s unfortunate they are not dominating where it counts….which is in the classroom. I wouldn’t be surprised if finger painting is a core class at Kahuku during their senior year for students there.
Chants from the North. Coming over rolling surf. Floating on the mist.hands slapping chest,feet stomping down ..ooooouuuu.AAAsaaa….this what we want. The meat…Waianae, BG,PUNAHOU,STLOUIS,KSMEHAMEHA…
…BACK TO BACK TO BACK GREATEST SEASON KAHUKU 2017. and only with 52 home boys. Wow
anywaaaays!! August 23, 2016 at 12:27 pm
EducationFirst you are missing the point. OIA schools do not have the resources to recruit so they rely strictly on the talent that is in their area. Private schools can recruit all they want and send all those kids to college which is great. But as far as competition the playing field is not even. Now that the ILH has not won any titles they are the ones crying saying that its unfair to them. Yet they are the ones with the silver spoon in their mouth. OIA and ILH are two different animals and need to be seperated not joined.
Anyone has the resources to recruit if you have a good product. My buddy Rod York got so many kids to transfer to Mililani before they did the new rule.
Silver spoons in their mouths? That is the most ignorant comment ever. My buddy’s kids go to Punahou. He and his wife work 2 jobs so they can afford tuition. The oldest kid is a junior and high school. Neither of their 2 children in high school have a cellular phone or ipad. They only have computers to use at home since they are leased from Punahou as part of their technology program.
His daughter is involved with dance, yet find the time to baby sit on the weekends to make a little extra money to help pay for books, lab fees, and other school stuff like supplies and clothes. Their son works at Jamba Juice on the weekends to help pay off some tuition and other school related things.
To stereotype all private school kids as having silver spoons in their mouths just show how ignorant and foolish you are.
You do know that most families who have kids enrolled in private schools are on some kind of financial aid.
There are spoiled kids at both public and private schools. And private schools cannot recruit all they want. You speak in absolutes but you offer no evidence. You think private schools just want to throw around money like it’s nothing?
The Red Sea August 23, 2016 at 12:55 pm
Chants from the North. Coming over rolling surf. Floating on the mist.hands slapping chest,feet stomping down ..ooooouuuu.AAAsaaa….this what we want. The meat…Waianae, BG,PUNAHOU,STLOUIS,KSMEHAMEHA…
…BACK TO BACK TO BACK GREATEST SEASON KAHUKU 2017. and only with 52 home boys. Wow
CAN SOMEONE PLEASE INTERPRET THIS FOR ME? I DON’T SPEAK IDIOT.
Yes the interpretation for the is “im glad i cot da korrila off my pack”
Don’t mind them cause only 5% of the people who live on the north shore are educated. That 5% was smart to get an education through the Morman church.
@anywaaays must be shitty being the bridesmade since u was one kid. U mustve been the kid who got picked last in a pick up game. Auw my friends hhad scholarahips to st. Louis…..plug
All the oia fanboys (kahuku) need to shutup and sitdown. So you got all these complaints, but what you rather play waianae every year for “states” and never mix it up w ilh schools? Yeah right. Believe it when i see it.
Education first
You’re a joke, compare football players in D1 college between Kahuku & Stl in the last 5 years and it shows your finger painting stats.
Kahuku is legit in football & academics;)
And, btw someone please tell me all the “talented” players from north shore area on this year’s team, or even last year? I’ll wait…
Education first
Why you gotta throw your good buddy Rod York under the bus for recruiting. What a friend 🙂
Aku Bird August 23, 2016 at 2:12 pm
Education first
You’re a joke, compare football players in D1 college between Kahuku & Stl in the last 5 years and it shows your finger painting stats.
Kahuku is legit in football & academics;)
Kahuku is legit in academics? You must be kidding.
Here are their academic stats:
College Readiness Index 19.0
AP® Tested 33%
AP® Passed 43%
Mathematics Proficiency 29%
English Proficiency 68%
I am surprised they can talk and scratch their heads at the same time. I thought I was looking at caveman scores at first.
Bugguh riding high…
Education first
Talking about panties and peoples moms and in you Azz shows how much class you got. Your name should be Education LAST 🙂
Ok, Enough I gotta go practice!!!
It was all setup for this to happen:
OPEN DIV – ST.LOUIS CHAMP PUNAHOU 2ND
D1 – IOLANI CHAMP
D2 – ST.FRANCIS CHAMPS…DAMIEN SECOND.
CONGRATS ILH
@88 fak no money well spent my bradda! Never know u dangle on @anyways balls. U wasnt even in the convo. My balls feeling pretty lonely too bro come give it a tug
Hahahaha fukn red raider academics is killing it. F’s in english and math but A+ in kava science hahahahaha
I heard tulsi gabbard is holding tutoring sessions for u smart buggahs on the north shore. Kava science
The “Recruiting” card is ongoing excuse that keeps being dropped when there is a OIA/ ILH conflict. I think its time to face the reality of ILH schools offer more so they recruit kids to offer them a better opportunities (sports, academics, etc.). Winning & losing is just coaches either coaching their team up or failing to coach up their team.
This state tournament should have a second ILH team. How is it fair for one team to represent the ILH when majority of the time the 2nd place ILH team is better than the OIA’s last seed team? Outer island should be thrown to the D2 to fatten up that tournament. Outer island football is a waste of state funding when it comes to flying them to Oahu to play. D1 will always be the featured & D2 will always be the “bridesmaid” division where the teams who sandbag the D1 division face off for a paperweight D2 state title.
@Givemeyourbbds!
Its called “Tulsi’ Bridge Program” LMAO!
Why you thinking about tugging on @nywayz nuts? It must bring back memories of them locker room days with the brotherhood…
@Aku Bird
Overrated?? Greatest high school coach in hawaii history. No coach will do what he has done.
You outta your mind!
iSpeakReality, yeah no other high school coach except him recruited all of oahu and the neighbor islands, had June Jones mentoring their #1 QB in the nation and still lost to an apprentice (Vae Tata). bwhaaaawhaaaaa! OVERATED AND OUTDATED
Not so easy for the crusaders to win anymore without 19yr old seniors.
@AOK…. actually it’s the other way around,.wouldn’t the ilh want to play a full scheduale against different schools then playing each other twice.
I love 88. Me and him go out behind the coconut tree every Sunday. He makes me dress up in my old Kahuku Football Uniform, #89. He really likes it. I am pulling for Kahuku. When they win he gets a little more frisky if you know what I mean, lol.
@ispeakreality life after football on the northshore. Fukn wear g strings, blow fire out of their mouth, imu pigs, climb coconut trees, play stone games. PCC
Cmon @anyways!!! Aka couldnt cut it. The only overrrated and outdated is you with your silly recruiting excuse. Kahuku has a tonga/samoa pipeline that they recruit from too. Turning 25 year olds to 16 year old teenagers. Youre story is old just like your playing days. Auuuww my friends got scholarships to saint louis but mee!
The truth is, recruiting is going on much more intensely within the OIA than there ever was with the ILH. lots of players transferring based on “benefits” that they receive by virtue of going to that school. It’s happening at all the major OIA schools. In fact, you can track the downward spiral of leilehua football once they stopped their major recruiting pushes throughout the state once their AD got wise to what the football program was doing.
All you OIA fans need to look in the mirror before you start pointing fingers at the ILH.
I have sources who tell me that it is absolutely true about the samoa/tonga pipeline. It’s easy to win championships by running a caveman offense on a team filled with 25 year olds masquerading as teenagers. Like I said, recruiting in the OIA is a dirty business and you would be an idiot to think that only the ILH does it.
This is why I tend to stick to the warrior beat blog. There are less delusional people there.
funny cause I heard that before, with Kahuku recruiting Samoa and Tonga, but it’s called moving here for better opportunity. That’s not the first time I heard that, guys may not necessarily be 25 year olds, but 18-19 year olds. Gotta start checking birth certificates..
@jeezy33…. prove it!!!!! Dnt just bring it half way….. or your just the biggest hater on every blog….. nobody cares for Warrior beat blog but the delusional fans who think they are gona be +.500…..
And for all you haters saying they recruiting 25 yr Olds from tonga/samoa is a big slap in the face….. samoan/tongans are just built to play this game. everybody just needs to face the truth already. Hawaii H.S football would be nothing without the Samoans/Tongans oia & ilh ….. if I’m wrong….. Prove It!!!!
Alpha, you are a silly man, do you know that? So samoans and tongans are genetically “built to play football” because they’re successful at it? Does that mean that they also are not “built to succeed in the classroom” because they’re terrible at school?
Give me a break. Take your racist crap back to the mainland.
Lol,St.Louis is stacked with tonga and samoans, chhehu. Lee said,(referring to Kahuku) if you can’t beat um, recruit um..
@jeezy33….. your exactly correct, the American Standard to play football in H.S and College is based solely of “American Standard”…… your talking apples oranges, Samoan/Tongans to football is like Asians to Academics….. look for yourself…. YouTube CBS “Samoan… Football Island” look for yourself … Forbes, elite daily, espn.com….. it’s well known in the mainland that Samoa is Football Island….
Alpha: well then, if that’s the case, then you obviously must be samoan or tongan and did poorly in school because I can’t make out a damn thing you’re saying.
@jeezy33 and since your resorting to insults you obviously have nothing better to say on the subject but I’ll be happy to leave the links to support my claims and you can happily return to you warrior beat blog a little more educated….. Inside Football Island: How Samoa Is Breeding The World’s Best Football Stars http://elitedaily.com/?p=547458
@jeez33……. American Samoa: Football Island – CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/american-samoa-football-island-17-09-2010/
Forbes.com……. How Can Tiny Samoa Dominate The NFL?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/leighsteinberg/2015/05/21/how-can-tiny-samoa-dominate-the-nfl/#33574f001d48
Espn.com….. ESPN.com: GEN – American football, Samoan style
http://www.espn.com/gen/s/2002/0527/1387562.html
Jeezy is an idiot and anyone that argues with him is an even bigger idiot, cmon guys everyone knows the filipinos own and dominate football in Hawaii.
@anywaaaays!
You seem to forget Vae Tata is a student of Cal Lee & so is Jon Hao. lol!
June Jones is mentoring another Bama recruit & him & his offense / team ain’t doing jack in a bottom tier division. So what does that really say about “June Jones”? Maybe if there was a spread to cover or a women’s volleyball team he’ll probably win some games.
And what does Kahuku have to show for.themselves after high school? They so caught up on high school ball they can’t even handle LIFE! They either high on dope of killing themselves. LMAO! You folks cannot even accept REAL LIFE! Lost in society with the rest of the OIA while you all wear ILH boys personal shirts while they succeed in college. No can!
Here comes anywaaaays with the insults…. but the comment probably explains why Hawaii football not taken seriously in the country. Explains why the mainland schools just come here for the poly’s and leave the rest back.
And everyone can cry about the ILH recruiting. Just like how Gorman recruits our Hawaii boys. But what is the common interest?? BETTER EDUCATION, BETTER PROGRAM, BETTER OPPORTUNITIES. No can help, if the school is supported financially they can do & offer anything they want. OIA schools should start by bettering their community. That’s why you got kids jumping district to play for PUBLIC SCHOOLS (Mililani). Try clean up the community trash before whining about private schools making moves on public talent.
@Givemeurbbds
Brah, Life after football for the Pride Of North Shore is wearing their high school jerseys to the tailgate telling everybody how they was “hammahs” back in the day. They getting all high with the baby powder, grass & batu while they get buss all night/morning & their kids stay running around with dirty diapers & hanabadas. These guys cannot even survive after high school, they too busy killing themselves. No can handle life, weak minds.
But I bet aal these scrubs owned one MARIOTA shirt, is a Duck Fan, now a Titan Fan, gave a Mariota shout out on social media or even wished they had opportunity to go private school.. No worry guys opportunities is given from HARD WORK. If you was “Hammahs” back in the day I guess you wasn’t that good for private schools for notice.
Alpha, I worry about you. I really do. And maybe it’s because you have substandard reading abilities because of whatever school you graduated from. Maybe it’s because your racism is actually true and samoans and tongans were “built” for football but not academics. idk, bro. But please read the following very carefully:
You are saying samoans/tongans are genetically “built” to be better football players. Then you post a link to elite daily, which isnt’ even a news website but a millenial opinion column about anything from sex and dating to politics. and worse, the only thing this poorly written column says is that samoans like playing football and are passionate about it.
Guess what: people in texas and in The South, Flordia, and california have built a religion around football and produce extremely high quality 5 star recruits as well. I don’t hear you talking about how racial considerations make these kids “built to play football.”
Please go back to an adult community school, read some books, and earn your GED. Because this is starting to get embarassing.
ISpeakreality, was walking out in the 3rd quarter of the Kahuku ,St.Lulu game. He was the one with bukkake on his face.
Yeah u fakas stick to chanting and the haka! Get your zippack at kaneohe zippys after the game and stfu! Illiterate bastards giving weak references.
@redsea go sleep already. PCC get coconut tree climbing saftey class tomorrow u faka hahahha
@RedSea
Bwhahaha! And you was the one 10yrs out of high school with your letterman’s jacket on joining the parade for a bunch of kids. DJ’s, Haka & Fire Knife dance, all adults living through the youth. How big was your sheet with the spray paint in front your house? Bwhahaha! Great thing is we never read about anybody dying after the party. Awesome job!