ESPN needs to hire this guy

Last month I told you about Robert Kekaula's remarkable work as a sportscaster in Honolulu. Now you can watch him work his magic for yourself, as he tells you not only about Hawaii's ongoing starting quarterback questions but also details the new ha'a the Warriors will be performing prior to games this season. It will likely be the best thing Hawaii does all day Saturday. Meanwhile, Hawaii Advertiser columnist Ferd Lewis asks a question I was wondering myself: why exactly did Hawaii sign up for this?

Some teams are amazingly beaten up for this time of year. NC State gets South Carolina tomorrow night, and they've now lost their top tailback and PR/KR for that game. Couple that with losing their top WR, an expected starter at safety, their backup RB, and it's a bad situation. Now add in a redshirt freshman at QB, taking snaps from a center who converted from the defensive line in spring. Could be a really long year for Tom O'Brien. Oregon lost their starting QB for most of the year and had to boot a starting LB. The Ducks recent track record had been really mediocre before last year and I suspect it's about to be again.

One of the sports media world's true jerks has left his newspaper job. Jay Mariotti resigned from the Chicago Sun-Times yesterday. In true classy fashion, he then did an interview about it with their rival paper the Chicago Tribune. Mariotti is despised not only by those he works with, but by virtually everyone who has met him. Every time Mariotti's at the same big event as me, I've always been amused by him walking around in his leather jacket trying to give off a tough guy vibe while everyone ignores him. If you've had the misfortune to see him on ESPN's Around the Horn you know that Jay wants everyone fired, cut or traded. Whatever the knee jerk, easiest reaction to a story is, that's the one he'll take. By the way, Mariotti was under contract to the Sun-Times for three more years - think he'll bring that up the next time he shreds someone for holding out?

With the coverage of the Democratic Convention focusing largely on Obama and Clinton intrigue, you might have missed the critical protest being staged on the Denver streets. Someone wants Crystal Pepsi back really bad. Good luck with that - maybe they could focus on bring Ale-8 back to the states other than Kentucky instead.