Its official cal Lee is back

[HS Football Fanatic]

Time to tell all my Kalani Alum friends to put all the new Falcon caps, shirts and sweats back in the bottom drawer, the ride is over. Hope they enjoyed it while it lasted.

I've been away from this site for almost two months, but what brought me back was, Lee returning to coach St Louis. I thought that would NEVER happen. I returned to this site because I knew guys would be posting about it; sure enough. YOUR post best reflects my thinking. Lee himself is a Kalani alumnus, and he had been coaching at Kalani for what, 2 years now? Did Kalani ever consider offering him the HC position? I wish Lee had stayed at Kalani; they need him more than St Louis does, and again, he's a Kalani alumnus. I don't know, I guess I'm a little disappointed with his decision, though I certainly don't question his right to have made it. But to turn your back on your own alma mater...

[LocalCheesehead]

I don't know what YOU are talking about when you say St Louis has a "bad" reputation; that's not what I'M hearing. How many private high-schools on Oahu have a "bad" reputation? Also, you seem to have forgotten that this thread--this site--is about SPORTS. No one said academics aren't important; that's what schools are primarily for. But I happen to think that St Louis is doing quite well both in sports AND academics, and I'm not even an alumnus of the school. I think you should be a little more supportive of your own alma mater. You think alumni trashing their own alma mater online--for all to see--is going to HELP matters?

I think he means STL is getting a bad reputation because of what is happening now. they are attraction mostly football players who cant pay tuition, so the really bright kids dont want to go to a place where they are funding the football team with thier tuition and maybe not getting the best education possible. STL is a great school but is on the decline because the focus is to much on football right now, i really want them to stay around its good for the competion but the alumni coming out of STL at the moment are not helping. (not in a mean way just that its a different school than it was in the 80's.)

To be honest, I heard about St Louis placing "too much" emphasis on football back in the '90s, during the "Lee Dynasty," but not so much NOW. Lee left St Louis what, 10 years ago? And, there's a new administration (Hamamoto) that's been in place some 6 years or so. St Louis isn't a "football factory" anymore, right? Every high school has its jocks, and its share of alumni that might not rank among the best the school has to offer. I don't think St Louis is as bad as some guys seem to think.

first off, don't tell me how to write on a message board. i wasn't disrespectful to you or anyone else. i stated my opinion on the subject matter of the thread. bringing cal back will be a dumb dumb dumb move. if you don't like it, then tell me why it is a smart move. so far the only thing you have done is try to belittle and rebuke me for my comments. trying to make me feel bad for stating my opinion about what is going to happen at my alma matter. if you can't refute any of my points, then take your schtick elsewhere.

i like what walter kirimitsu and pat hamamoto have done there. they are continuing the good work started by father alan. they have cleaned up the faculty and revamped the courses. it is a better school. it has better facilities and it continues to get better and better. that being said, it doesn't matter what i know or what other people know. it matters what people think. the community lost its trust in the school after years of mismanagement. it will take years to get over that, its not gonna happen overnight.

the school still has a lingering issue with its reputation and this proves it. what did everyone think when matt wright was fired? they thought, "oh this is saint louis they care about football too much. thats all they care about." thats all i read everywhere. you wanna know why? because for many years thats the only image the school showed to the public. it was all about the football team, everything else was on the back burner. if this happened at another school people would have went about their everyday business because truthfully the team underperformed and he probably should have been replaced.

i am not saying st louis is a bad place. i loved it there. it was the most fun i have ever had in school. i continue to support the school, i go to almost all the games. i coached there for free for many years. when people ask me where i went i proudly tell them, and i tell them it was the best school i could have ever gone to. when my kids are ready for school it would be an honor for me to send them there. that being said, I'm not gonna sit around and pretend that a move like that would be smart or in the best interests of the school. if they were to go back to cal then it would destroy all the hard work they have put into rehabilitating the image of the school.

you seem to think that this decision will only affect the "sports" from st louis but it will have much much much bigger consequences on the state of the school. a private school lives and dies on its reputation in the community. they don't have a set population that has to attend. they have to market themselves and get students to go there. st louis' business plan was broken. they were struggling for years with enrollment and shortages. that was because of the bad reputation the school developed because of the lee years. I'm not even saying that those guys meant it to happen, there was nothing malicious. thats just the way it played out. people got fed up and they lost the trust of the community. to say that it is ok for them to go back to that is dumb. they can have a good sports program while being the best school possible. they get cal back it will destroy them..[/quote]

I WILL re-state my position that your post was rude, and I invite the other readers on this thread--even the Mods--to weigh-in on the matter. Read your previous post again. I think guys can communicate on this forum without abandoning decorum.[/quote]


Just because they hired Cal back doesn't mean that the schools focus is ONLY about football. All it means is that out of all the applicants, Cal was the best qualified for the job. Period!! When your running a business, you don't hire the second best guy, you hire the best one available. I'm sure if Pete Carrol applied for the job, they would have went with him.

Nobody is complaining about punahou. They're doing the SAME THING that SL did back in the dynasty years.

[LocalCheesehead]

Time to tell all my Kalani Alum friends to put all the new Falcon caps, shirts and sweats back in the bottom drawer, the ride is over. Hope they enjoyed it while it lasted.

I've been away from this site for almost two months, but what brought me back was, Lee returning to coach St Louis. I thought that would NEVER happen. I returned to this site because I knew guys would be posting about it; sure enough. YOUR post best reflects my thinking. Lee himself is a Kalani alumnus, and he had been coaching at Kalani for what, 2 years now? Did Kalani ever consider offering him the HC position? I wish Lee had stayed at Kalani; they need him more than St Louis does, and again, he's a Kalani alumnus. I don't know, I guess I'm a little disappointed with his decision, though I certainly don't question his right to have made it. But to turn your back on your own alma mater...

If you got offered a job that pays more, what would you do.

[AllTheRightMoves]

Just because they hired Cal back doesn't mean that the schools focus is ONLY about football. All it means is that out of all the applicants, Cal was the best qualified for the job. Period!! When your running a business, you don't hire the second best guy, you hire the best one available. I'm sure if Pete Carrol applied for the job, they would have went with him.

Nobody is complaining about punahou. They're doing the SAME THING that SL did back in the dynasty years.[/quote]

Yes, when in doubt let's bring Punahou in the picture. Realistically the two schools are very different. Yes, they recruit, yes there are influential people financing athletic scholarships, however academically Punahou is regarded as a top tier institution. For every opening in kindergarten there are 5 turned away. If only Punahou alum had their children applying, there still would not be enough openings at the school. As stated in other posts, St. Louis is struggling in this area. That being said, just because Punahou has won a couple State Championships, doesn't mean all is well. The winning is masking problems that will eventually rear their ugly head.

[redandbluearmy]

Just because they hired Cal back doesn't mean that the schools focus is ONLY about football. All it means is that out of all the applicants, Cal was the best qualified for the job. Period!! When your running a business, you don't hire the second best guy, you hire the best one available. I'm sure if Pete Carrol applied for the job, they would have went with him.

Nobody is complaining about punahou. They're doing the SAME THING that SL did back in the dynasty years.

the alumni were needed to help the school in a financial crunch. in response they held them hostage and forced out a principal which none of them liked because they felt that the school wasn't winning enough football games. then they forced the school to fire a coach because he didn't put enough emphasis on winning. then they forced the school to hire a man that is the symbol of the schools excess in only caring about football, why? so they could win more football games. do i need to spell it out for you? what does that look like? what do you think people who are looking to put their child in school are thinking? do you think they think it is worth 16000 a year? obviously they don't, because people aren't going there, and don't tell me its because they aren't winning football games. they have just as much if not more kids playing in the programs then they have ever had before. they aren't attracting regular students and its because the stigma hasn't faded. doing this just reinforces it.

pete fuking carrol huh? pete carrol didn't run a cabal that ruined a schools reputation. he didn't cause a whole generation of alumni to flee to other private schools. he didn't create a stigma around the institution that has hung around for decades. penn state didn't hire back jay paterno. they could have went out and found someone who is a good football coach to coach the team. hell they would have won the past three years if they had a good coach, any good coach. with the money they are spending they could have hired a very good coach. I've been to all the games. i saw them, and i was frustrated too. the answer wasn't to hire cal back. he is the one person they shouldn't have hired, the one. the alumni are just so obsessed with him and they wanted him back and they forced the school to pick him.

punahou can afford to do it. they are the richest private school in the united states. they have tons of people applying everyday. st louis is begging for kids to come to the school. st louis can't pay to repair facilities. they can't even go to a bank for a loan. they needed their alumni to mortgage their clubhouse. punahou raises a hundred million to do renovations, and they don't have trouble doing it. those are different stratospheres. eventually all of this recruiting and crap punahou does will catch up with them. it took years for it to catch up with st louis. that isn't the point. the point is that people have this preconceived notion about the school and they hired the one guy above all others that symbolizes it. they need to change these peoples perceptions. this is a business what people think about the school matters.

[LocalCheesehead]

Just because they hired Cal back doesn't mean that the schools focus is ONLY about football. All it means is that out of all the applicants, Cal was the best qualified for the job. Period!! When your running a business, you don't hire the second best guy, you hire the best one available. I'm sure if Pete Carrol applied for the job, they would have went with him.

Nobody is complaining about punahou. They're doing the SAME THING that SL did back in the dynasty years.

the alumni were needed to help the school in a financial crunch. in response they held them hostage and forced out a principal which none of them liked because they felt that the school wasn't winning enough football games. then they forced the school to fire a coach because he didn't put enough emphasis on winning. then they forced the school to hire a man that is the symbol of the schools excess in only caring about football, why? so they could win more football games. do i need to spell it out for you? what does that look like? what do you think people who are looking to put their child in school are thinking? do you think they think it is worth 16000 a year? obviously they don't, because people aren't going there, and don't tell me its because they aren't winning football games. they have just as much if not more kids playing in the programs then they have ever had before. they aren't attracting regular students and its because the stigma hasn't faded. doing this just reinforces it.

pete fuking carrol huh? pete carrol didn't run a cabal that ruined a schools reputation. he didn't cause a whole generation of alumni to flee to other private schools. he didn't create a stigma around the institution that has hung around for decades. penn state didn't hire back jay paterno. they could have went out and found someone who is a good football coach to coach the team. hell they would have won the past three years if they had a good coach, any good coach. with the money they are spending they could have hired a very good coach. I've been to all the games. i saw them, and i was frustrated too. the answer wasn't to hire cal back. he is the one person they shouldn't have hired, the one. the alumni are just so obsessed with him and they wanted him back and they forced the school to pick him.

punahou can afford to do it. they are the richest private school in the united states. they have tons of people applying everyday. st louis is begging for kids to come to the school. st louis can't pay to repair facilities. they can't even go to a bank for a loan. they needed their alumni to mortgage their clubhouse. punahou raises a hundred million to do renovations, and they don't have trouble doing it. those are different stratospheres. eventually all of this recruiting and crap punahou does will catch up with them. it took years for it to catch up with st louis. that isn't the point. the point is that people have this preconceived notion about the school and they hired the one guy above all others that symbolizes it. they need to change these peoples perceptions. this is a business what people think about the school matters.

You don't have to spell it out for me.

Would it really make a difference if someone else was hired, and they won the next 5 state championships?
I'd rather the alumni bail out the school then to switch to co-ed!!

It is what it is...
Mid Pac is baseball
Iolani is basketball
Punahou is volleyball
Saint Louis is football

Nothing wrong with excelling in academics AND football. We will never be on par with Iolani and punahou. Never was...never will be. But then again, how many schools in the entire west coast are?? But, year after year, SL still manages to turn out their lawyers, doctors and successful business men.

[AllTheRightMoves]

*Kamehameha is the richest private school*

[redandbluearmy]

You don't have to spell it out for me.

Would it really make a difference if someone else was hired, and they won the next 5 state championships?
I'd rather the alumni bail out the school then to switch to co-ed!!

It is what it is...
Mid Pac is baseball
Iolani is basketball
Punahou is volleyball
Saint Louis is football

Nothing wrong with excelling in academics AND football. We will never be on par with Iolani and punahou. Never was...never will be. But then again, how many schools in the entire west coast are?? But year after year SL still manages to turn out their lawyers, doctors and successful business men.

where in my post did i say anything about them having to make the choice. i told you i wanted them to win. i want them to be good at everything. the fact that they made the choice they did shows everyone that has not attended the school personally that they only care about football. they don't need cal to be the coach to win games. this is a simple cost benefit analysis. the costs of this hiring far outweigh the benefits.

the school was a great academic institution. the fact that you don't think so shows me you have no grasp of history beyond the 80's. we were the best school in the state and everyone in the state knew that and respected it. then a bunch of stooges came in and ruined its reputation. the man that symbolizes all of that is cal lee. we still don't have enough kids because people still think that the school isn't worth the money. your answer to fixing the giant reputation problem is to bring him back? its a stupid hire. he is the one man that people associate with st louis turning out below standard graduates. just bringing him back makes everyone who left think that the school hasn't learned anything and wasn't serious about changing. peoples perceptions matter, especially when you need them to survive. they could have hired anyone else and it would have been a good hire. this is the only one that could be so negative. find someone else to coach the team.

oh great so st louis is competing against the two richest schools in the nation. both of which are desperate to win football too and have much more advantages to attract them. tell me how this is a good business plan.....

[Swag43]

Great to see Cal Lee back at Saint Louis...Now he needs funds to get talent...probably will see him as I coach big boy league...lol

[FatherofCody&Casey]

On the subject of Cal Lee: would Iolani have succeeded in taking Timmy Chang out of St. Louis (like they wanted to when Timmy was in 8th grade) if Cal weren't coaching St. Louis at the time?

[saynotomercs]

Great to see Cal Lee back at Saint Louis...Now he needs funds to get talent...probably will see him as I coach big boy league...lol

I hope your tragic lack of intellect isn't harming those kids. You keep on insisting that Saint Louis has no talent even though the Crusaders have produced SEVEN FBS athletes over the last two classes. How many has Punahou? Three? Four? Can you name me another school in the whole state that has produced over five? I would be stunned if Saint Louis doesn't win it all next year. That defensive line will be much, much better.

[newguy]

Great to see Cal Lee back at Saint Louis...Now he needs funds to get talent...probably will see him as I coach big boy league...lol

I hope your tragic lack of intellect isn't harming those kids. You keep on insisting that Saint Louis has no talent even though the Crusaders have produced SEVEN FBS athletes over the last two classes. How many has Punahou? Three? Four? Can you name me another school in the whole state that has produced over five? I would be stunned if Saint Louis doesn't win it all next year. That defensive line will be much, much better.

+1...Gotta agree it was never a question of the players talent (they have alot of talent even now) IMHO the coaching there has been terrible. Sorry but to go 1 & 7 in the last two season vs ILH D-1 with that many D1 prospects is tragic. Its easy to blame the head coaches that got fired but the one common denominator in Arcenaux's staff and Wrights staff is all of the assistant coaches that remained on both staffs. The question is will Cal Lee keep all of last years assistant coaches? Besides Vinny and the Lacaden's I think the rest should be let go.

[LocalCheesehead]

[quote="redandbluearmy"
You don't have to spell it out for me.

Would it really make a difference if someone else was hired, and they won the next 5 state championships?
I'd rather the alumni bail out the school then to switch to co-ed!!

It is what it is...
Mid Pac is baseball
Iolani is basketball
Punahou is volleyball
Saint Louis is football

Nothing wrong with excelling in academics AND football. We will never be on par with Iolani and punahou. Never was...never will be. But then again, how many schools in the entire west coast are?? But year after year SL still manages to turn out their lawyers, doctors and successful business men.

where in my post did i say anything about them having to make the choice. i told you i wanted them to win. i want them to be good at everything. the fact that they made the choice they did shows everyone that has not attended the school personally that they only care about football. they don't need cal to be the coach to win games. this is a simple cost benefit analysis. the costs of this hiring far outweigh the benefits.

the school was a great academic institution. the fact that you don't think so shows me you have no grasp of history beyond the 80's. we were the best school in the state and everyone in the state knew that and respected it. then a bunch of stooges came in and ruined its reputation. the man that symbolizes all of that is cal lee. we still don't have enough kids because people still think that the school isn't worth the money. your answer to fixing the giant reputation problem is to bring him back? its a stupid hire. he is the one man that people associate with st louis turning out below standard graduates. just bringing him back makes everyone who left think that the school hasn't learned anything and wasn't serious about changing. peoples perceptions matter, especially when you need them to survive. they could have hired anyone else and it would have been a good hire. this is the only one that could be so negative. find someone else to coach the team.

oh great so st louis is competing against the two richest schools in the nation. both of which are desperate to win football too and have much more advantages to attract them. tell me how this is a good business plan.....

[/quote]

Instead of speculating, just let things play out first. Same time next year, let's see where the school is at. I can guarantee one thing, enrollment will have definitely gone up. Sounds like a good business plan to me.

You say they don't need Cal to win? You also said they could have hired anybody else and it would have been a good hire? Well, the school tried that route. And as you know, it didn't work out. And the talent was definitely there!!

Your making it seem like the whole student body's make up will be all about football. Don't forget that when Saint Louis won their last state football championship, they also won the state math bowl the same year as well. How many schools can stake claim to that!

[KindergartenCop]

I understand all of you who appose the hiring of Cal Lee. I get it. Not sure where all the hate is coming from but you all have a right to your opinions/concerns. Look at it this way.. All the Big Universities that that have successful football programs Alabama, Florida and Oregon. Lets use Oregon for example, that school can do a lot more for their academic programs now that their football team is at the top year after year. With athletic money - money coming in in from the football team. The University is riding the money train right now. Do you think if Oregon wanted to boost any academic department at the university they would be turning to the Alumni for help? No! they have the money to do anything they want because they have the money the football team. Look at out beloved UH. Our Football team looses money every year and they fire coaches left and right looking for a coach to get the money train started. UH can't even fix the pot holes and uprooted side walks on campus. No money!! Bet you'll have a hard time finding that at Oregon.. STL is in trouble because enrollment was down. When enrollment goes up the school will be in the Black. The school need the money train to get Rollin and Cal Lee is the only conductor that can drive the STL train and revive the school

Just my opinion.

[huki-lau-lau]

Sports is key to our young generation and over all morale of our state and country. Good to have Cal back in the ILH, each season from here on out just got a lot more exciting.

Back in the 90's Cal had the upperhand with ALL the talent from the islands, now Punahou figured out a way to get the talent so the play field is even. Lets see whos is the better coach Cal or Kale. Thats what Im looking forward too.

Also with Kahuku getting up to the level of the ILH the past decade. Its a 3 headed monster now!