• April Fools and sports April Fools and sports By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island The best day to fool your friend is coming up this Friday and there’s also a lot on the line for lots of
• April Fools and sports
April Fools and sports
By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island
The best day to fool your friend is coming up this Friday and there’s also a lot on the line for lots of sports teams, which means, no fooling around.
For one, the Final Four of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is the main event, especially for the many bracket buster pools around the island.
At The Garden Island, a few of us are taking full advantage of the most exciting tournament around.
From the start, you knew there’d be surprises and upsets, but how many of you picked Louisville to be in the Final Four?
Well, I know one guy who had Louisville etched in as one of the four remaining teams in the tournament.
Kaua‘i High School head basketball coach Brandon Fujita mentioned to me yesterday that he not only was rooting for Louisville, but he actually picked them to be in nudged into the Final Four battle.
When he said that, I had to ask him again, if he was joking around, but when he mentioned that he’s a Rick Pitino guy, then I knew that he wasn’t fooling around.
For those of you who don’t know who Pitino is, well he’s the first coach in NCAA history to take three different teams to the Final Four.
Pitino did it with the likes of Providence, Kentucky, and now this year, with Louisville.
Fujita, who attends basketball camps all over the place, is a big fan of Pitino and his style of basketball.
“He’s just a great motivator and he knows how to win, and it’s just amazing how he can do it without top players, especially this season,” Fujita said.
Pitino’s Louisville squad features no high school all-american players and if you ask him about that, he’d probably tell you that it’s an advantage to play with individuals who don’t have the high expectations to perform.
Another huge no fooling around game is the matchup between Waimea and Kaua‘i in KIF baseball.
The Red Raiders can’t look past Kapa‘a, who are capable of stealing a game from the front runners.
Today’s game features the Warriors and Red Raiders at Ron Martin Field, starting at 2:45 p.m. Kaua‘i can clinch a tie for the first round title if they defeat the Warriors.
Kudos to Kapa‘a High School for attaining such a nice score-board. Many individuals, including Paul Pancho, the father of Bully Pancho, who plays for the Menehune baseball squad, said that it’s a very nice addition to the ballpark.
Then on Saturday, it’s show-down time between the Menehune and the Red Raiders at Vidinha Stadium, in a double header matchup, starting at 10 a.m.
Look for Waimea to challenge Kaua‘i and its ace, Kirby Yates. Menehune coach Nelson Mendonca has his boys ready for the big game, so don’t put two in the win column for the Red Raiders just yet.
KIF girls’ basketball tipped off last night with the Warriors battling the Red Raiders.
On April Fool’s Day, Kaua‘i travels to Waimea to face the pesky Menehune. Head out to one if not all of these games, which feature hard fought action, night in and night out.
The KIF season is staring at its end, with tennis, track, golf, along with baseball, and girls’ basketball. It’s hard being a student-athlete, trying to balance academics, sports, and extracurricular events as well, just ask Alex Sirois, who manages to balance it out with a big smile!
