All posts in Sports

An Intro to Downhill Skating in Hawaii

by Keola on October 31, 2012 in Activities, Sports with No comments

A few weeks ago I was browsing Exploration: Hawaii while trying to plan and prepare for my next hike. I coincidentally enough got a message from Coty over Vimeo later that day saying how he would like to feature a video of mine on his page. I replied back to him and we sparked up a brief conversation. Now here I am writing a column for the blog to help add to the adventures around the island.

Fully geared up Photo by: Evan Higa

To start things off this is Longboarding…not longboard surfing like many people think it is but longboarding on a skateboard. To be more specific though this is downhill speed boarding, a sport to us that not only tests our physical abilities but also our mental. People may look at us as crazy out of control adrenaline junkies, and adrenaline junkies we may be but in reality we are in full control of what we are doing and every little adjustment we make while riding has a purpose.

Visor up catching the breeze Photo by: Keola Chu

Our community of riders is small but growing every day as the sport gains popularity and we do what we can to support each other anyway possible. But we are constantly faced with negativity from bystanders and law enforcers. So I write this in hopes that this article will help educate people on our sport and lift some of the bad rep we get for skating as well as encourage safe riding from others.

Close racing on a closed road Photo by: Niki Izak

Now we don’t just ride any ole board down the hills, we do have certain gear to do what we do. The boards most of us ride range from about 36in to 46in depending on how long or short the rider likes their board. We use big soft wheels so that we carry momentum and have a smoother ride that can roll over bumps and rocks easier. Also our trucks, they are reverse kingpin and generally 180mm wide allowing for a more stable ride. And of course our safety gear of helmets and slide gloves which are a must anytime we ride.

Hawaiians racing in Canada Photo by: Nick Di Vona

Onto the video, it is a simple edit of a fun run down a hill some may recognize. The video highlights some fast sections with great views as we pass the camera back and forth. The video also shows you two of the ways we slow down for turns, one major one being at about 35sec in. The car behind us is part of our group and we have them follow us to quickly get us off the road if we do fall so we do not hold up traffic, it is also safer for us to have a fellow skater follow us because they know when we are going to slow down on certain sections of the hill. Enjoy the video!

We do not take any responsibility for anyone attempting to try what we do. We have years of practice that have gone into out riding abilities and we learned on easier safer hills. Please think before you ride down any hill as we do not want kids getting hurt and causing more hate toward our community.

Continue reading →

Hawaii Five-0 Casts UH Manoa Women’s Volleyball Team and Crowd as the Rainbows Battled Pepperdine and the Ranchos

by Marvin on September 19, 2011 in Sports with 2 Comments

The University of Hawaii at Manoa Stan Sheriff arena

After a short visit to the Oahu Community Correctional Center (this is where I make my moneys, working with criminals) for a meeting, I joined Coty and Joel in the afternoon for a nice stroll through beautiful Kalihi. After conquering Kamanaiki, I went home to take a shower and planned to go to the UH Manoa women’s volleyball game with my roommate and to meet up with Joel and Coty at the arena. This was a special night where we could have ended up on national television.

Tickets to the game were sold out when my roommate tried to purchase them and I shortly decided to skip the game (although I could get in for free with my student ID). But Coty and Joel coerced me into going and I had no choice but to leave my roommate in a depressed state so I could enjoy my first Volleyball game.

There was a lot of Aloha spirit this night

The start time for the game was 7 PM but because of a late hike and heavy traffic we arrived 20 minutes late. Although we missed the kick-off, we still saw plenty of homeruns!  The Rainbows had already lost the first set of the game and they were gearing up for a rally against number 21 Pepperdine. The ‘Bows would have to win this game if they were to attempt to move into the top 10 rankings as they entered the night ranked 11.

Coty and Joel are sitting in this general blurry area

The Rainbows went on to win the next three sets to finish their hat trick and to finish off the Wave once and for all. The players, crowd and cheerleaders erupted in excitement but the night was not over. This game drew a large crowd as Hawaii Five-0 had planned to tape footage for their television program.

After annihilating Pepperdine, the Rainbows took on their longtime rivals: The Ranchos!

For the TV footage, ex-UH players were uniformed up. UH and Ranchos were tied 22-22 for about half an hour despite many excellent moves from both sides. The TV crew decided to end the night by shooting the winning play about 10 times and the crowd was expected to cheer every single damn time. Between plays, the crowd was also videotaped and often people were more enthusiastic with a camera in their face than they were watching the Rainbows.

Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) ignored me while launching t-shirts into the crowd

In the end, this was a fun night where Coty and Joel stuffed themselves with burgers and fries at the game then failed to finish their meals at Sushi King following the game. On the way back, we also saw 2 drug dealers in fisticuffs over a bag of cookies. I also got lost in a parking lot that goes underground for some reason.

Continue reading for a semi-NSFW photo of Hawaii 5-0 star Grace Park!

Continue reading →