Riding pine with style By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island They are the players who make athletes like Michael Jordan better. They are the individuals who take a beating each and every day and receive no notoriety from
Riding pine with style
By Duane Shimogawa Jr. – The Garden Island
They are the players who make athletes like Michael Jordan better. They are the individuals who take a beating each and every day and receive no notoriety from anyone except the players who kick their butt on a daily basis.
I’m talking about non-starters, who most of the time go unnoticed, even if they play an integral part of the process.
While the stars get all of the credit, it’s these bench performers that truly deserve some much-needed kudos.
In any sport, the most re-warding thing to achieve is a championship, and without individuals who are willing to put their own personal egos aside, a title would be as far away as Antarctica. Sure, the starters make the plays in the contests, but before that happens, there’s practice, and the individuals they go up against are team-mates, who sometimes never hear their shoes squeak during an actual game.
In every level of competition, whether it be high school, college, or the pros, the bench players work just as hard as the individuals who get the biggest chunk of playing time. But as you go up the ladder, the importance of playing time goes down like water seeping down a drain about five minutes after a healthy dose of Draino.
This is true because after eclipsing each level, you feel a huge sense of accomplishment that comes with the territory.
Also, high school and college players only have a few years to play, so time is not their best ally. There is also a huge amount of pressure to get to the next level and most players won’t move up to the college or pro ranks, no matter how good they are. Non-starters understand this concept all too well. In fact, every athlete in any sport has dealt with riding the pine, but it’s the players who are benched and help themselves out instead of feeling sorry for themselves who will get off of the bench and onto the playing surface as fast as gas prices go up.
In a world that lives and breathes off individuals who are at the top of their games, it’s almost always a good time to pay homage to people who have helped them achieve success, even if they’re riding the pine!
Kunane left out, but not forgotten
Warrior junior Kunane Gayagas’ name was left out of Thursday’s article about the boys volleyball championship clincher. Gayagas is one of only four underclassmen on the 2005-06 KIF championship squad.
Lawa’i’s Kyono joins Princeville Golf Course
Lawa’i’s Rachel Kyono and James Willis have joined the Princeville Prince Golf Course as Assistant Golf Professionals.
Kyono is a graduate of Kaua’i High School and Pepperdine University, where she was a member of the golf team for four years. In 2003, her team took 2nd place at the NCAA Championship.
