Here’s a question for fans of tricky sports trivia.
Q: Which teams did University of Hawaii football coach Norm Chow serve as captain of at Punahou?
A: Baseball and basketball, according to Chow’s best recollection.
If you need an example of the true definition of irony, there you go. Chow is much better known for gridiron exploits, first on the field and especially later as a coach.
He might have hit the leadership trifecta in high school, if not for the presence of one of the greatest players in Hawaii prep football history.
"Charlie Wedemeyer was my classmate (and football captain)," Chow recalled after Thursday’s UH practice.
This bit of minutiae came up not because we have officially run out of bad plays off the new coach’s name (that shark was jumped months ago). No, it’s because during the week of statewide primary voting a more recent Punahou alum won an election by landslide — and without spending a dime on campaigning.
Since Miah Ostrowski was also a captain of the UH basketball team last season, the low-key point guard/receiver has achieved a double as common these days as winning Olympic gold in gymnastics and the hammer throw.
You could even narrow it down to women’s gymnastics and men’s hammer throw. Captaining two major sports at the Division I level in current times is that unheard of.
If you want to get technical and count cross country, indoor track and outdoor track as separate, there are probably some three-sport captains out there. But that would be stretching it.
And decades ago, sure. Plenty of Joe College multi-sport stars and, hence, team leaders.
These days, it’s hard enough to just earn concurrent roster spots on D-I college basketball and football teams. The seasons overlap and the skills don’t necessarily translate very well.
In this age of specialization, it’s remarkable that Ostrowski contributes significantly and is considered a leader in both sports despite not being able to put 100 percent year-round into either.
In football last season as a junior, Ostrowski was third on the Warriors with 65 catches and second with five touchdown receptions. For the second year in a row, he joined the basketball team after football concluded. Ostrowski led UH in steals and assists despite missing the first six games of his final basketball season.
Chow, who was hired last December, said he has yet to see Ostrowski play in a football game. But he did watch him in hoops, several times last winter.
"I noticed that Gib (Arnold) left him in the whole game. And I could see his leadership," Chow said. "I just wish he would be a little more verbal."
Ostrowski said he thinks that quietness might be part of why his football teammates voted him captain.
"I’m not the type to get in anyone’s face. But I will do whatever I can to help anyone wherever they need help. It feels good to be respected that much."
He earned a lot of that respect in January, 2011, when Ostrowski displayed incredible emotional strength — for both his family and his team — upon the sudden death of his father, Kui, during basketball season.
"Some people would’ve taken time off," he said. "But being home (in Hawaii) and having support helped me decide to not take a break."
As a slotback, he won’t be in every offensive package but Chow expects big contributions from one of his smallest (5 feet 9, 180 pounds) players. Ostrowski is also among several candidates for punt return duty.
"He’ll have to be a major player for us (on offense), catching what we call underneath control stuff," Chow said. "We need his physical and mental toughness."
As Ostrowski has shown throughout more than two years of double duty, there’s nothing trivial about that.
