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After the incident at University of Hawaii football practice Tuesday morning, I was asked by UH sports media relations director Derek Inouchi if I’d be willing to meet with coach Norm Chow to "clear the air."
I agreed, and we met Wednesday morning for about 40-45 minutes in Inouchi’s office. We shook hands, we talked story and we shook hands again and went on with our days.
It was an amicable meeting. Most of what we discussed will remain among the three of us, at least for now, but the most important thing is that we all agreed to communicate better and to move forward.
I am welcome at open practices, and I will be allowed to interview Chow and players, as other media members will, of course.
Chow also appeared as a radio guest on the "Sports Animals" on Wednesday afternoon, a show which I happened to be guest co-hosting, with Chris Hart, on KKEA, 1420-AM. We spoke briefly about what happened at the end of Tuesday’s practice, and then discussed the UH football team for about 20 minutes.
One of the topics we discussed on air was the conversion to the 3-4 defense, and how this formation could make defensive lineman Beau Yap more effective.
"As a guy who has coached offense all my life, I’d much rather play against (four defensive linemen)," Chow said. "We can have more flexibility with the same people (on the field)."
It feels good to get back to talking about football.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/quickreads.
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