Dis n' Dat

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HRC Paul
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Dis n' Dat

Post by HRC Paul »

OK, some thoughts and ramblings. You know me. Pupule Paul. I ramble.

• The subscription requirement for online reading at Star-Advertiser. OK, this is going to take time to get used to. I'm cheap. I didn't even have a subscription for the past couple of years, not because it wasn't cheap (at the time, $50/year for the print/newspaper), but I didn't like the piles of newspapers stacking up in my little place. So I mainly read my news online. Save a little money, totally avoid more stuff piling up at home.

However, the new online "premium" service isn't so bad. I checked. To subscribe to print and online access, it's $20/month. That surprised me. But I'm a single guy, not like families that share one newspaper, cut out coupons, etc. It's a lot different when my main interest is the sports section. However, the online-only price is a good deal. At $4.17 a month, that comes out to $50 a year. Four bucks or 20 bucks ... four bucks or 20 bucks. The $4 deal is a steal. What is that? 14¢ a day. I can handle that. (When I want the print version, I just go to the store.)

• Kahuku situation. It seems kind of sad that the kids there are being subject to non-football issues again. I may be repeating myself, but it's no question in my mind that TRANSPARENCY is key to leadership. It is completely possible to maintain authority while asserting an open environment where everyone (and I mean everybody from the top down) can communicate. By this, I mean both speaking out and listening. Emphasis on listening to your right-hand person, left-hand person, everybody, and that includes the community.

Sure, people make mistakes, both students and adults, but the lack of transparency and leadership still baffles me. A lot of problems in this world, not all, but a lot can be averted through open lines of communication. That means dropping the tactics that intimidate employees into being "yes men." That means showing, not saying, but showing that everyone's opinion counts ... simply by asking and listening.

This isn't just about one school, of course. The DOE has a certain culture that has its good (teamwork) and bad (question no one). It's an evolved version of the plantation, to be blunt. You have your laborers. You have your lunas. You have your owners, rarely seen on the grounds, but calling every shot. When people are leaders and refuse to communicate openly with their support staff, coaches, etc., what else could we expect to happen but misunderstandings and mistakes? The problem isn't necessarily in the mistakes. The problem is that without prior relationships, it's extremely difficult to work through mistakes. Trust is an issue in these circles, and the saddest thing is that the student-athletes have to suffer from the lack of transparency at the higher levels.

Not to say there is a total lack of leadership. I think the OIA has an opportunity to reach higher and achieve more, not just on the playing fields, but in terms of communication and leadership. This is a time when the league can display more confidence simply by being more transparent. If you believe in what you do, there is nothing to hide, is there? Character, it is said, is what you do when nobody's looking. The league has nothing to hide, but by being secretive and lacking communication, it gives off the vibe of fear. Of uncertainty. Of mistrust.

Whether they understand this or not, all of the negative vibe gives parents, fans, student-athletes and everyone else a perception that is not positive. It's all unnecessary. We need more openness, especially when there are issues to deal with. I believe that to a man and to a woman, everyone working on behalf of student-athletes is capable of doing great things for them. They need to feel that confidence and trust that comes from a higher level, from administration, from the lawmakers, from everyone with influence.

It's a simple thing that can be difficult. Shouldn't be, though.

• ILH football going all D-I. It's not happening until next year (2012) at the earliest, if it passes vote. Now, remember that the HHSAA format for state-tournament football is not based on ratios and formula. The format is strictly six teams in each tourney (D-I and D-II), and there is no guarantee that the HHSAA executive board (comprised of league adminstrators) would even change this. The ILH could go all D-I with its six football programs and still get only one state berth in D-I, while losing a berth in D-II.

At the HHSAA level, the OIA and ILH have the number of votes necessary to outnumber the KIF, MIL and BIIF combined on any issue, proposal, etc. However, if the ILH and the Neighbor Island leagues voted together for an expansion to an eight-team format — which is how the D-I tourney began — the OIA would be outnumbered. Would the OIA pressure the other DOE leagues to vote along those "party" lines? It's possible. But if expanding to eight teams for D-I (and possibly D-II) would mean more state berths for the MIL and BIIF, they would clearly be in favor of change.

To be fair, the OIA never wanted a state tournament for football. It never wanted statewide D-II, though it had Red, White and Blue Conferences as far back as the 1980s. Burying the Prep Bowl, which was a lucrative deal for OIA and ILH schools, meant accepting a much smaller piece of the pie once the state football tournament was born. So, if anyone expects the OIA to passively accept change, particularly in football, forget it. They'll always go down kicking and screaming. Well, not so much screaming, but definitely kicking.

• Grumbling and mumbling about classification. What's left to say. I've written endlessly about the uneven criteria for Divisions I and II that vary from league to league. The slight differences, whatever. Each league should have some level of autonomy on this issue. But it still makes no sense for a large school, regardless of league, to be FORCED to play in Division II. It shortchanges the student-athletes. The only league that requires this as a blanket rule is the OIA. Sure, a D-II (White Conference) team can petition to move up, but if there is no compliant D-I team willing to move down, they are out of luck.

I won't go into all the details and continue rambling here but for this point: There is no way the OIA should have more than five or six D-II teams in most sports. They know it., too. But the league insists on imposing the same format for every sport, boys and girls, as if it were some national federation requirement. In fact, the national federation states boldly that a classification system based on wins and losses (i.e. OIA's power rating system) is absolutely AGAINST policy.

Enough said. Just wanted to toss this out here.

unpaid
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Re: Dis n' Dat

Post by unpaid »

I think that classification will eventually be determined by enrollment with private schools having to accept a multiplier anywhere from 1.5 to 2.0.

The classification system in Hawaii is dysfunctional compared to most of the other 49 states. The HHSAA does not have the same amount of control as most states do. I will use Tennessee ,which is where my haole component comes from. There are five classifications and they are based on enrollment with multipliers for private schools. Some schools which continue to have strong teams petition up to stay with teams they were previously grouped with but have maintained enrollment while the petitioner has lost numbers but still can beat the higher enrollment schools. These schools are the equivalent of Kahuku and St.Louis who,when enrollment becomes the determing factor,will petition to remain in D-I and will get their request because Kahuku and St.Louis,even though they have a D-II enrollment,have won most of the D-I football championships.

At some point in the future,theHHSAA will get more control and make enrollment,with the right of petitioning to go up or down,the standard for classification. They already have created two divisions,and while the leagues and schools can declare what division they want to be eligible for in terms of state playoffs,eventually the HHSAA will win out in this struggle....you will be classified by your enrollment...it/s coming.

The other thing that will happen is that the Oahu leagues as we know them will become new leagues maybe three or four.
Even if private and public schools decide not to mingle as they did in the past as they did when I was in school here,the schools with similiar enrollments will form new leagues.

There is no requirement really,to have a certain number of schools in each league. If a school petitions up in Tennessee, they get moved to a new district(you would say conference in Hawaii}. The conference that school left might be left with five teams,and the league you join might have seven teams compared to the six teams that conference had the previous year. There is no requirement that each district,as they say in Tennessee ,must have the same number of schools each and every year.

This really only makes sense on Oahu,where you can duplicate mainland conditions. You could have a separate D-II league and two,maybe three,D-I leagues .....if schools were willing to match up enrollment wise,public and private.Pubs and Privs used to up until 1970 on Oahu.There is precedent.
Also, public and private schools have coexisted on Hawaii,Maui,and Kauai through the present time.

Bottom line, the HHSAA has playoffs in two divisions....money wise and fan wise,they aren't going back,more schools and fans are involved now...so eventually the state will get their way...and I think the HHSAA is moving toward classification by enrollment.

Subsription to online paper. I'm throwing this out as an old futz who remembers free TV before cable came along. The original broadcast model had advertisers paying for ads to promote their businesses...for several decades,including my childhood,all you had to do was buy a TV and an antenna to get the programming from any station you could pick up. Once you paid for the equipment.you were good until it broke down....you never paid for the programming...it was free in the truest sense. Obviously,with the advent of not-over-the-air broadcasts like cable and satellite,TV programming is not free anymore.

Still,plenty of people my age and even 15 years younger remember not having to pay for it...TV that is..heh! Somehow,right or wrong,the internet got the same kind of reputation from the earliest times that TV had.....the web content was free..you just had to pay for the receiver(desktop or PC) Well,that is changing and papers,sites with large hit numbers,etc,are going to start charging and the website content will no longer be free....and really,how free is it since your provider started charging you..that's right...your provider started charging from the first contract you signed...and now the individual sites are going to charge you.... TV in my day was a better deal.

At some point,and each person knows what that point is for them, you can not have anymore hands reaching into your pockets for what little money you have.

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Re: Dis n' Dat

Post by gridiron22 »

I am not familiar with the news networks but the The Associated Press, which star advertiser is a part of should have one
membership to access all news content around the world.

for example cnn, new york times, star advertiser...

I would pay maybe 10-30$ a month for one subscription to all news. Not one subscription to hawaii local news and then
another subscription to california news...and another to Las vegas news (where my parents live).

I tell you what, no matter how bias or flakey game day reports are posted on this forum, I still get
a lot of good FREE information from people that saw the games.

Keep um coming bros

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