Month in Review

Some UH and Warriors in the Pros news from the past month...

The Super Games ended. Video by Leila Wai:



Stephen Tsai wrote about the football team from Tokai University in Japan training at UH.

Tokai's visit, which has been in the works for about a year, is part of UH's plan to build relations with athletic programs in Japan.

The hope, according to McMackin, is to one day use Japan as a recruiting base. In turn, that would help UH develop marketing and merchandising efforts.

Bobby Curran reviews this year's schedule.

So does Ferd Lewis.

The Press Democrat profiles former UH QB Greg Alexander.

So now Greg Alexander is waiting, waiting to see if his left knee is his friend or his foe. Alexander waits for the day, still months away, when his seventh surgery is behind him, when he can ask his knee to literally and figuratively support him. He will plant and pivot and push and only then will Alexander know if he still has a future in the NFL.

So Alexander will stick around Honolulu to finish his degree in European history. He will undergo his seventh knee surgery in May, the result of calcification of the knee joint. He hopes to begin throwing in late June or early July.

Stephen Tsai profiled Colt Brennan.

But Brennan's focus is on the near future as he prepares for his third year with the Washington Redskins. This time, he insisted, he is armed and ready, healthy for the first time since September 2007, the start of his senior year.

"There are no problems anymore," said Brennan, who has undergone three surgeries in the past 21 months.

Dave Reardon thinks that the Redskins' signing of Rex Grossman may be a sign Colt won't be in DC.

While Grossman is infamous for interceptions, he's also an experienced quarterback who has played in the Super Bowl. Brennan, the former University of Hawaii star, hasn't even played an NFL regular-season down in his first two seasons.

And if Washington, as expected, drafts a quarterback like Jimmy Clausen or Sam Bradford early to challenge incumbent starter Jason Campbell, Brennan will likely be the odd man out.

Colt talks to the Redskins Blog about the situation.

It would be easy to run the numbers and assume that Brennan's time in Washington is coming to an end. But that's not how he sees it. "We get a minicamp before the draft," he says, "and right now everything that has been said is that the best player will play. As I get to know our coaches, as I've gotten a chance to talk to Coach [Mike] Shanahan, I truly believe that. I truly believe that he's going to go out there and he's gonna test every single one of us, give every single one of us a chance to show ourselves and that he's really going to pick the best players to play. I really believe him in that."

With that in mind, Brennan has thrown himself fully into the team's offseason conditioning program, where he hopes to impress the new coaches. And he, in turn, has certainly been impressed by them, not least offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. "Right now he's coaching every single one of us as if it was an even playing field," Brennan says, "and that's really all you can ask for at this level. It really is exciting for, I think, everybody right now: from Bartel, to me, Grossman, even to J-Campbell, I think we're all excited about the opportunity in front of us."

Davone Bess signed a 1-year deal with Miami.

Wayne Hunter re-signed with the Jets.

Kynan Forney re-signed with the Jaguars.

Pisa Tinoisamoa has yet to re-sign with the Bears, and may be testing free agency.

And it looks like Jason Elam, released by the Falcons last year, may not play football this season.

Elam is exceptional away from the game, though, to become an exception. He has written three books, and a fourth is due out in October. In November, he's heading a group trip to Jerusalem.

Last time we checked, the NFL was playing in-season games in November, so that should tell us something about Elam's future plans.