Sports in Hawaii and the PRISAA

HONOLULU, Oahu, Hawaii – This, our last column for the year, is being crafted in Hawaii (heavily bombed from the air to ignite the Pacific end of World War II) and it is our hope that the peace of the Almighty will reign in our hearts and homes all throughout 2011. Being in Hawaii at this time of the year is indeed a special blessing.

The big news in this 50th state of the United States is the unwanted attention that US President Barack Obama and his family got during a deliberately low-profile vacation in this island- paradise where he was born in 1961.

According to a report from the Star-Advertiser of Hawaii, Leon Rodrigues, 39, was arrested while trying to elude police. Rodrigues led police to a chase which started when a caller reported Rodrigues, wanted on five warrants, four of them for traffic violations, was at a house in Kailua Street. Responding officers spotted Rodrigues driving a pickup and with their blue lights off, followed Rodrigues. When Rodrigues reached Kailuana Place, where Obama is staying, police turned on their lights and pursued an apparently frightened Rodrigues who drove into Kailua Street straight into the arms of Secret Service agents at a security checkpoint.

Our hotel, the Sheraton Princes Ka’iulani, although several meters off Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu’s main and busiest street, and far from the excitement triggered by the Rodrigues car chase, nevertheless does get its share of attention owing largely to its Christmas display, called Gingerbread Village, situated right at the hotel’s lobby.

Sheraton Princess is in Oahu, one of the eight “main islands” of Hawaii. The other major islands are Maui, Kahoolawe, Molokai, Kawai, Lanai, Niihau and Hawaii, the Big Island. Hawaii State has a population of about 1.3 million, 38.5% of which are Asian-American. Some 175,000 of these are Filipino-Americans while Japanese-Americans number around 161,000.

Going back to Sheraton’s magnum opus, the Village, covers an area of approximately 40 square meters. The Village understandably attracts thousands of sightseers young and old alike every day. The 88 columns of Iolani Palace, the Village’s most prominent structure, took over six weeks to build.

The Village is made up of 100 and 30 pounds of dark and white chocolate, respectively; 60 sheets of gingerbread; 200 gallons of icing and “tons of Aloha” (Hawaiian word for love and is equivalent to the Philippines’ “Mabuhay”).

The management of the hotel proudly points out that Executive Sous Chef John Hightower; Pantry Chef Amie Tungpalan (a Filipino, of course) and the engineering team labored approximately 660 hours, including 96 hours of set up time “to achieve this remarkable holiday work of art”.

In sports, Hawaiians were saddened by the news that hometown favorite, the University of Hawaii (UH) Warriors, bowed to Tulsa University in the Sheraton Hawaiian Bowl, 62-35. Playing on Christmas Eve before a crowd of 41,089 at the Aloha Stadium, the Warriors showed up without four offensive starters thus ending their season in defeat for the fourth consecutive year. The No. 24 Warriors fell to 10-4 and surely will be stripped of national ranking, according to Stephen Tsai of the Star-Advertiser.

Another piece of action that made it to the headlines and the TV evening news was the brawl between two Mississippi State teammates. Forwards Renardo Sidney, a hot NBA prospect, and Elgin Bailey, slugged it out in the stands of the Stan Sheriff Center of UH minutes before UH played Utah on the second day of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, wrote Brian McInnis of the Star-Advertiser.

The incident almost overshadowed the Christmas Day championship match between Washington State Cougars and the Butler Bulldogs which the latter won, 84-68.

Back home, concerned member-institutions of the Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) are circulating a manifesto that draws attention to the need for drastic and urgent reforms in PRISAA in the areas of: 1. election of national, regional and local officials; 2. transparency in the conduct of the affairs of the Association; 3. accountability in fiscal management and; 4. clarity of vision and mission.

The PRISAA was organized on Feb. 17, 1953 and registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Feb. 2, 1993. It was organized to provide egalitarian opportunities for private schools and their students to participate in sports and cultural activities as a component of curricular offerings for children and youth.

The group of concerned members questions the legality and appropriateness of the provision in the PRISAA handbook stating the “the position of Chairman is not subject to election…The incumbent Chairman of the Board shall serve as long as he wants to.” The group also questions the legality and appropriateness of the National President of PRISAA being the son of the Chairman, appointed to the position.

Indeed, the questions deserve answers.