Brian Kajiyama, UH Football Theater, Rego Profile (w/UPDATE)

Dave Reardon posted a link to the E:60 profile of former UH graduate assistant Brian Kajiyama. Very interesting.

UPDATE (10/1/08): The above link went dead, but UHBows has posted it up on Youtube. Here's Part 1 and Part 2.

UPDATE (9/30/08): For those who watched it or heard about it, Brian Kajiyama talked about the piece.

“I appreciate the piece that E:60 produced that shared my life story. However, I was disappointed in any instances which coach Greg McMackin and the University of Hawai‘i program were negatively portrayed. That was not my intention. I appreciate the opportunity that Coach McMackin has provided me to continue being a part of the Warrior ‘ohana. I will continue to remain loyal to the University of Hawai‘i and will do my best in my new capacity.”

He also had this to say in a SportsHawaii thread about it:

Hello,

I appreciate ALL of the thoughtful posts about the story on E:60.

You've all seen the statement issued by the University on my behalf. That speaks for itself.

You're also right in postulating that I won't say anything further until the time is right. ESPN did a wonderful job with the story and I am honored they chose to share my story with the world.

Please remember football is just ONE part of my life. There is so much more to my life than Warrior football. Though, I definitely appreciate being a small part in the lives of young men, who happen to be student-athletes.

I encourage you ALL to come together and support the players, Coach McMackin, and staff. We WILL be successful; just believe, as you did last season!

Sincerely,
Brian

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Leila Wai went to Consolidated Theater's Ko'olau Stadium 10 to watch last night's game with some UH fans.

hesitant fans who were unsure if they were supposed to abide by typical theater etiquette.

A completion from Funaki to Malcolm Lane for the Warriors' first play of the game received cheers, and from then on the Warriors received appropriate applause or groans from the 134 gathered in the theater. Not surprisingly, Kealoha Pilares' two touchdown runs collected the largest reaction, including several fans throwing their arms upward to signify a touchdown.

The viewing arose out of Ko'olau general manager Art Downing's love of Warrior football.

"I work on Saturdays, and I'm always in a rush to get out of here," he said. "Now, I don't have to wait to see what the score is."

Garret found this profile of UH running back Jayson Rego from Robert Collias of the Maui News.

The 5-foot-9, 215-pounder never doubted Manoa was the right place for him after he was invited to walk on, even though much more playing time would have been available elsewhere.

''UH, yeah, I feel it is the right place for me,'' he said. ''At least it is finally. Everything is finally kind of falling into the right place. When the new coaches came in, they decided to give everybody a fair shot. The new coaching staff is more fair - they said from the beginning that they wanted the best guys to play. I'm getting a lot more looks than I would have under coach Jones.''

A lot of that exposure has come from Rego's dedication in the weight room. He can bench press 405 pounds and in fall camp he benched 225 pounds 27 times, a number that would be pretty good for an offensive lineman at the NFL combine. He also squats ''400 something'' pounds.