Editor’s Note: Sunday’s version of this column was cut short; here it is again in its entirety ive days in Kaua’i and I know one thing for certain: Vowels do their own thing in the islands. Half the time, I
Editor’s Note: Sunday’s version of this column was cut short; here it is again
in its entirety
ive days in Kaua’i and I know one thing for certain:
Vowels do their own thing in the islands. Half the time, I can’t decide which
a, e, i, o, or u to stress. What I’m slowly coming to learn, though, is that
they all have their place, and each had better be enunciated or one risks
butchering a name.
Which I, of course, am bound to do more often than a
foreign diplomat.
But I’m here. After a long discourse in cross-country
travel, my wife, Autumn, and I are finally here. If you missed the name under
the picture, Jason Gallic is my name and St. Augustine, Fla. is where I
uprooted from to come join you here in Kaua’i. I’m young, there’s no sense in
trying to hide or get around that; 24, in fact. But I’m going to try and bring
a bit of energy and spunk to a place, I’ve been told, yearns for it.
Now,
if it’s okay with you, that’s it for the personal profile of myself. I don’t
think this community longs to know who I took to my junior prom or that I once,
in a moment of great desperation, made myself at home in a ladies’ restroom
despite the presence of more than one woman.
Let me pause for a moment to
interject a thought about the past few months regarding The Garden Island
sports department. True, I may have about as much right to speak on this as
Wilt Chamberlain does on abstinence, but what I say is fact: Dennis Fujimoto
would have made Ringling Brothers proud with his tight-rope walking act. I
don’t know the man well enough to expound on all his duties, but I do know
this: At the very least, he balanced The Garden Island chief photographer
duties with those of the interim sports editor. And folks, that ain’t easy.
Hats off.
By now, you may have put down this article long enough to look on
the map for St. Augustine; let me help you. It’s about 35 miles south of
Jacksonville in the Northeast corner of the state. A virtual cornucopia of cool
coverage opportunities surrounds the press there. The Jacksonville Jaguars play
a nice brand of football, as do the Florida Gators and Florida State Seminoles.
Of course, covering those teams was like being on the front lines in battle.
One mistake and you’re hobbling for the medic tent.
But it was fun, and
I’m looking forward to getting you, The Garden Island reader, expanded coverage
of the University of Hawaii. Incidentally, the school hit it right on the head
as far as timing is concerned. Football team goes from worst to first, all of
the closet fans come out of the woodwork and KABOOM!!, administration pulls a
coup by dropping “Rainbows” from the mascot. Now, Warrior fans want to support
the squad, they have to buy new gear. What a money maker. What a
joke.
Anyway, I also covered a bunch of golf and some NASCAR, as well as
some other cool stuff.
Far exceeding these high-profile events on my list
of “favorite things to do,” however, is local sports. There’s nothing I’d
rather do than bring the people who read the paper stories about their own. The
Garden Island is a community newspaper that needs a national push, not the
other way around. So, with any luck, that’s what it’s going to get.
Fear
not, sports addict — how, by the way, I would classify myself — major sports
will get their due. If you’re a bandwagon fan, and all of a sudden you want to
know how the St. Louis Rams did over the weekend, it’s going to grace the pages
of the sports section. The point is, it’s probably never going to dominate.
And so I’m here. If anyone has an apartment or condo for rent, go ahead
and hit me on the E-mail at [
HREF=”mailto:kauaisports@pulitzer.net”>kauaisports@pulitzer.net<</p>
/A>], or Autumn and I will be casting ourselves for the next installment of
CBS’ “Survivor.” Other than that, I think we’re good to go.
We’ve got our
platinum-flavored skim milk (it OUGHT to be for $5!), and a fresh lease on
life.
Of course, we’re just going to go with the consonants for
now.
Sports Editor Jason Gallic can be reached at 245-3681 ext.
251
