Moniz named #1 QB, Practice observations

Glad the decision has been made early. Here's tonight's Chawan's Cut:



HawaiiAthletics.com takes a look at the UH quarterbacks.

Over at SportsHawaii.com, Kahaluu Imua Warriors has some August 9th practice observations. Here's an excerpt:

First it is impossible to cover everyone fairly in one practice so I tried to focus on the newbies (freshmen, redshirt-freshmen and transfers). Checking these guys out is why I go early in the season to check out the practices. Four that stick out, three are transfers: Darryl Mc Bride (safety) – good size (6-2), fast, athletic has a good nose for the ball. He was on Bradley stride for stride on a bomb and he easily knocked the ball down using all his abilities I mentioned. Sterling Jackson (RB) – looked like a vet out there, strong runner with speed. T.J. Taimatuia (LB) here’s the kind of LB we need (like Paipai, who I’m glad is a LB again), great size (6-3 225), VERY athletic, and energetic, it even looked liked he was practicing on the 2nd team (not bad for a true freshmen with only one week of practice.

Dave Reardon watched practice with some O-line experts.

When I walked over to the far side of the UH football practice field to watch the linemen on Saturday, I got a bonus — two former trench Warriors, Shawn Ching and Leo Goeas were watching intently. Two great brains to pick when it comes to O-line play.

Ching is a former UH center who will do TV analysis on games this year and Goeas is a former UH tackle and NFL player who is now a player agent. They agreed that Laupepa Letuli looked great in one-on-ones and some of the young guys look pretty good … Chauncey Winchester-Makainai’s name came up: high marks for athleticism to go with his size.

And hana okolele Dave Reardon, giving away the secrets.

How about the UH games at Army and at Colorado, both of them live, for around the cost of a pound of poke?

We're talking $6.95, pally. Special, for you ... and everyone else, according to the Oceanic phone rep I spoke with yesterday.

The key, he was told, is to order by the end of August. So that's what he did. Orders from Sept. 1 will be charged the pay-per-view amount, not the monthly fee for "The Sports Pak."

I trust this guy, but decided I should check it out for myself anyway. A very pleasant Oceanic representative returned my call sooner than the 15 minutes the recording estimated. I told the rep I was interested in "The Sports Pak," specifically because of the UH games.

"If I were you," the rep confided, "I'd order before the end of August. That way it's just $4.95 (plus the $2). If you wait (until September), it will be $60."

Bingo. Confirmation.