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Sidelines
Kalani Simpson
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Verdict is in: Columnist still has job
NO, I was not fired. I say this because every time I am out of the paper for several days at a time, when people next see me they say they thought maybe I had been fired. (Apparently this is the first thought that comes to many of our readers' minds.) You can see why they always give Charley Memminger that "vacation" tagline.
But where is the suspense in that?
But no, this time I was on jury duty. Or, as my boss put it, "too stupid to get out of jury duty." Same thing, I admit it.
Two weeks. "Not guilty."
Very aggravating. Then very interesting. Then it just wouldn't stop ...
So aside from sneaking out on Saturdays to the golf course and the ballpark and one Hawaii basketball game last week, I have been out of the loop, spending all of my concentration on Not Talking About the Case. You will forgive me if I'm still catching up on:
» The Super Bowl. Yes, officiating was bad. Not quite Michigan State (football, 2004) bad. But for a major league world championship game it gives us way too much to talk about. When the TV announcers actually mention bad calls, you know it's an obvious trend.
The best quote on the subject came on Bobby Curran's KKEA 1420-AM morning show when Dick Vermeil (Wow! Great guest!) was asked how, as a coach, he handled situations like that.
"Poorly," Vermeil said.
I love Pittsburgh's Hines Ward -- yes, he got the Super Bowl MVP only because someone had to. But he's my favorite football player. He's not big. He's not fast. He's just ... good. Plus, he smiles while playing.
» UH football recruiting. Should we take anything from the fact that June Jones, who annually calls his classes the greatest, ever, of all-time, etc., has tabbed this one "good"?
We won't know anything for two, three, four years, so this group could turn out to be as great as any. Unknown guys surprise all the time and blue-chippers fade away. Nobody knows. But when you beat out Emporia State for a guy, you're probably not going to crack any recruiting Top 5s.
» UH baseball. Tony Gwynn is so well-liked he is the only opposing coach who can go out and argue with the umps, hold up the game for 5 minutes and not only escape the usual crowd response, but walk off to applause.
» The Pro Bowl. We'll see how local fans react to the game's new tagline, "Assume the position."
The Pro Bowl is such a fun, feel-good thing. Now frisking? Frisking? Someone should mention that the official state motto is not actually "Book 'em, Danno."
