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Brennan served up historic feast
The 2009 presidential inauguration dinner was an historic event, and the celebrated guest with Hawai'i ties did not disappoint. He shook hands, posed for cell-phone pictures and signed autographs. He did everything but eat. 
Previous stories
Clay thrives beyond his wildest dreams
In Hawai'i, humility is valued above almost all else, but there is simply no other way to say this: The World's Greatest Athlete is ours. If that, and the fact that the most powerful person in the world also grew up here, is too much for the others to deal with, then we will just keep it to ourselves as we celebrate our 50th year of statehood.
A sweet dream for a team that believed
History is not retold in HD. It doesn't always care about precise details. And that is why, for the University of Hawai'i football team, 2007 endures as the perfect season. It does not matter that the regular season was reduced to 12 games because the athletic director, after months of broken promises, could not fill the schedule.
Wie put Hawaii in golfing spotlight
We have known Michelle Wie half her life. It only seems like several lifetimes. She was the 10-year-old golfing terror with the sweet swing inspired by Casey Nakama, her first coach. She became the youngest to qualify for a USGA event, and win one. She was the braces-filled smiling golf assassin, winning two of Hawai'i's three women's majors at age 11.
West Oahu, Waipi'o were hits
So-called "Everybody-stop whatever-you're-doing-and-watch" moments in Hawai'i's statehood sports history are rare, and usually limited to the college and professional levels: The Fabulous Five's NCAA Tournament game vs. Weber State. The 2008 Sugar Bowl. BJ Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre.
Low set basketball highs
As Roosevelt High School boys basketball coach in the mid-1990s, John Chung vividly recalls watching an 8-year-old Derrick Low playing "Chase Master" with his father, Ken, in the corner of the gym while the varsity team practiced.
Hawaii in his heart, hands
Thanks to a light flyweight world champion, boxing in Hawai'i still carries heavyweight meaning. Brian Viloria � all 5 feet 3 and 108 pounds of him � is the state's largest figure in a sport that has no international boundaries.
Championship blood runs in the McLachlin family
Would Hawai'i sports be the same without the McLachlin name? The first inkling of the family's influence on local sports began more than 30 years ago, long before Chris was broadcast into Hawai'i homes or Parker was on the PGA Tour. Combined, the McLachlins played a part in 23 prep state championships at Punahou that span four decades.
Chang aired it out for Warriors
The official NCAA Football Records Book is 592 pages. A third of the way through, under "individual career records," former Hawai'i quarterback Tim Chang is listed as the career leader in passing yards (17,072), attempts (2,436) and completions (1,388).
Jones set sights on making UH winner
For a football coach, the worst view is from the front row. The sideline offers no depth. No dimension. No perspective. It would be like watching the "Lion King" from the wings.
Hilo's Penn has been mighty in MMA
Fifteen years ago, BJ Penn was a prodigy of nothing. That Penn is now a professional athlete � let alone a world champion � is as stunning as one of his submission moves in an UFC Octagon.
Elam still giving foes the boot
Jason Elam's game-winning field goal against Iowa came nearly 21 years ago in the University of Hawai'i's 1988 season opener. That same golden leg Elam had then is still going strong in his golden years as an NFL player.
Rainbows had magical season, bowl victory in '92
Lene Amosa looks back on the University of Hawai'i's 1992 Holiday Bowl season as the best time of his life. It was a memorable year for the Hawai'i football program, and Amosa remembers it well.
Gentleman's game fits Ishii to a tee
David Ishii is the Clark Kent of Hawai'i golf. Unassuming, he can melt into a crowd, unless that crowd is on a golf course. Then Ishii � eyeglasses, loose-fitting polo shirt and all � becomes Hawai'i's Superman.
Sumo became labor of love for Akebono
When Japan played host to the 1998 Winter Olympics and sought to put a symbolic face on the opening ceremonies for the world to see, it eventually chose ... a former basketball player from Waimanalo?
'Teee' time remarkable one for UH volleyball
Teee Williams' spikes drew blood. She once stuffed a volleyball before the hitter even took a swing and constantly blocked balls into opponents' stomachs. Her digs were the stuff of defensive dreams.
Salud realized dreams with world boxing title
Jesus Salud threw and took punches with the best of them over a 19-year boxing career. Looking back, Salud is proud of his humble beginnings in Waipahu and Nanakuli, 63-13 (38 knockouts) career record and the World Boxing Association super bantamweight title he won in 1989.
Sheriff laid foundation for UH athletics
On a wall above his desk in the University of Hawai'i athletic department, where no one entering his office could miss it, athletic director Stan Sheriff hung a watercolor painting of the University of Northern Iowa's UNI-Dome.
Noga brothers put a hurting on opposition
At the University of Hawai'i in the 1980s, dormitory students would cross a nearby stream by walking over three or four huge stone slabs laid in a line leading to the opposite side.
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Special Delivery made El Sid unique
Too bad Sid Fernandez isn't pitching today. Who else better exemplifies the 50th State's 50th anniversary of statehood than the man who wore No. 50?
Collins a force on 'one of the best teams ever'
Nearly 30 years have passed since Deitre Collins showed up in Manoa and began to swat volleyballs at a startling rate. That rare gift, and a rarer-still ability to get from here to there remarkably quickly, shaped a life that has never strayed far from the game. Or Hawai'i.
Lopes led 'Swords' Giant Killers
The architect of college basketball's greatest upset was born and raised in Nanakuli, and until his late 20s was known mostly as a football player.
1980 baseball 'Bows had the world at their feet
After the last of the backs had been slapped, high-fives exhausted and the voices had gone hoarse from celebrating a milestone in University of Hawai'i baseball history, then came the back-to-Earth realizations.
Humility helped Sapolu win on and off the field
Jesse Sapolu has never strayed from his humble beginnings. Despite his contributions at Farrington High School and the University of Hawai'i, and his success with the four-time Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers, Sapolu remained loyal to his credo of being humble and a role model.
Leaheys have been voices of Hawaii sports
Their voices have been part of Hawai'i's culture for generations. Before Kanoa Leahey, there was Jim. Before Jim, there was Chuck. "They're the first family of sports broadcasting in Hawai'i as far as I'm concerned," said Don Robbs, who's been in the radio business in Hawai'i for almost 47 years.
Tatsuno had pitching, drawing power at UH
Although the University of Hawai'i officially became a Division I baseball program in 1971, it really didn't reach the big time until it got The Franchise. That was Derek Tatsuno's moniker when he pitched for the Rainbows from 1977 to 1979. It was fitting.
Shoji spiked interest in volleyball
Before Dave Shoji had a full-time job, his Rainbow Wahine volleyball team had sold out Blaisdell Center, won a national championship and was on the verge of winning two more.
Her sights were set on gender equity
Dr. Donnis Thompson's visionary ideas were far out. Use empty bleach bottles filled with sand to serve as weights for women to strength train in 1969.
Murakami pitched his program well
Had he not been asked to start a Division I baseball program at the University of Hawai'i nearly four decades ago, Les Murakami might have been a salesman. Funny, he certainly had to be one when he coached the Rainbows from 1971 to 2000.
Francis took career to great heights
Former long-time Kailua High football coach Alex Kane called him "one of the top (athletes) he's ever seen." Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts, who was his college teammate and later a more-than-worthy adversary in the NFL, said he was "just a phenomenal athlete."
Fabulous Five captivated state
You can't get to a Fabulous 50 without the "Fabulous Five." Football has always been thought of as the king of sports in Hawai'i, but in the early 1970s, five players united in aloha-print jerseys to stage a basketball coup that united the state.
The first, and perhaps, the best
It was nearly seven years after statehood when Ted Makalena became the first Hawai'i golfer to win a PGA Tour event, the 1966 Hawaiian Open, at the Wai'alae Country Club, which was like his second home. He began there as an 8-year-old caddie and became an assistant pro.
Wedemeyer's greatest feat: beating adversity
Charlie Wedemeyer's final touchdown in a Punahou uniform not only decided the outcome of the 1964 Interscholastic League of Honolulu championship, it was one of the most unforgettable scoring plays at the old Honolulu Stadium.
Gov. Burns spirited rise in UH sports
It could have been the 20-0 loss to New Mexico on homecoming in the 4-5 football season of 1964. Perhaps it was the 37-7 defeat by Cal State Los Angeles in the 1-8-1 campaign of 1965 or ...
Islanders a fan hit during 27-year run
The symmetry of baseball was never lost on the Hawaii Islanders. In just its third year of statehood, Hawai'i got what turned out to be its longest reigning pro sports franchise because of financing issues in Sacramento, Calif. Twenty-seven years later, Hawai'i would lose its franchise for the same reason.
60 years catering to tastes of Hawaii fans
Mackay Yanagisawa used to take great joy in telling people about the two positions he played for the McKinley High football team in the early 1930s. "I played end and I played guard," he would say. "I sat at the end of the bench � and guarded the water bucket."
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