There’s a line in an episode of “The West Wing” where Rob Lowe says “Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them entirely.” Over the years we’ve learned that Lowe is most definitely a vampire with no
There’s a line in an episode of “The West Wing” where Rob Lowe says “Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them entirely.” Over the years we’ve learned that Lowe is most definitely a vampire with no aging molecules in his body and, thus, must possess all the secrets of the universe. So it seems silly not to follow his (and writer Aaron Sorkin’s) advice with some lifting of my own. It’s not another writer I’ll be stealing from, but I think a page from Ron Wiley’s playbook is in order as we look at a few things that can certainly fall under the category of “did you know or do you care?”
Did you know that Bruce Irons will be entered into the main draw of the upcoming Billabong Pipe Masters? The World Surf League announced Monday that Irons was selected as one wildcard replacement after Freddy Patacchia and Matt Banting each officially withdrew. You should care because Irons was the 2001 Pipe Masters champ and as a wildcard entry, he’ll likely have a major role in deciding the world title race.
A handful of competitors can still win the 2015 world title, though the top three — Mick Fanning, Filipe Toledo and Adriano de Souza — have the greatest chance. They would be the main candidates to have to deal with Irons in an early head-to-head heat and a loss would all but eliminate them from a championship run. So while it’s a great story to have Bruce in the field for his brother’s namesake event, his performance could have real consequences in changing the future for multiple hopefuls.
Did you know that the Hawaii men’s basketball team is now off to a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2010-11 season? With the Rainbow Warriors’ dominant 99-74 win Sunday over Nicholls State, first-year head coach Eran Ganot has made the most of the team’s early home stand. Now travel comes into play for the first time as Hawaii heads to Lubbock to face Texas Tech on Friday. It’s the only road game for the ‘Bows until Jan. 14.
You should care because these haven’t been just some nonsense victories. While they’re not playing projected NCAA Tournament teams, UH has displayed enough efficiency and chemistry to think that last season’s 22 wins could be topped. Roderick Bobbitt and Stefan Jankovic create a dynamic small/big combo and Aaron Valdes makes the unconventional look ordinary. The addition of Sai Tummala has been seamless and has provided a necessary deep threat after the departures of both Garrett Nevels and Negus Webster-Chan.
Again, I’m remaining cautiously optimistic and we’ll see how they perform against a power conference opponent away from the Stan Sheriff Center, but there isn’t really anything you can point to and say “well, they don’t have that.” The pieces are there for this team to be very good.
Did you know that Carissa Moore’s attempt at her third world title should begin in the next couple of days? The Surfline forecast shows a swell building at Honolua Bay for the Target Maui Pro, which officially opened this past Saturday. It may be contestable Thursday, but Friday seems to be the very latest when the event gets going.
Moore holds the yellow jersey, but her lead over Courtney Conlogue is just 900 points. Moore can clinch the 2015 title with a spot in the final, though she has a lot of work to do before that comes into focus. With each competitor having won three contests this season, I’d still consider Moore a slight favorite as the defending event champ and having a narrow points lead.
You should care because if successful, Moore would continue her run of winning the title every other year with her previous two coming in 2011 and 2013. She’ll begin the contest against Silvana Lima and a yet-to-be-determined wildcard, who could actually end up being her younger sister, Cayla.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
