This is the time of year when football and basketball overlap. So, if your favorite college’s football team isn’t doing well, you get renewed hope from hoops. And because volleyball is so popular here, there is another team to follow and more games to watch … and you’re even allowed to go to them now.
And Max Holloway added to the already full plate with the featured MMA fight at UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday.
Holloway, one of the most entertaining fighters in his sport, showed he’s still got it with a bloody victory over Yair Rodriguez that ended with both combatants needing hospitalization.
The Waianae product who held the featherweight world championship crown from 2017 to 2019 was already positioned for a shot at Alexander Volkanovski, the fighter who took the featherweight title from him and beat him in a rematch last year.
At least someone from Hawaii won in Vegas on Saturday.
The UH football team was favored to do so, but lost 27-13 to UNLV, a team that was winless two weeks ago.
Any dwindling bowl hopes for the Warriors were very likely dashed. The best that Hawaii can do is win its remaining games against Colorado State and Wyoming to finish 6-7 and maybe get into a bowl only if there are openings after all teams without losing records are booked (this happened for UH in 2016, but it’s not likely to again now).
After its brilliant first play from scrimmage, a 79-yard touchdown pass from Chevan Cordeiro to Nick Mardner, the Warriors did not look bowl-worthy, did not look like a team that can beat the Rams or the Cowboys.
The defense yielded a lot of yards, but it also forced three turnovers. Turnovers are great, but only if the offense then takes advantage of the opportunities. The Warriors managed just three points off the gifts from the defense. If they’d scored touchdowns off each, they’d have scored 31 points … which would have been enough to win this game.
Despite a listless offense after the first play, the Warriors were somehow still in the game late. The score was 20-13 with 3:48 left and they had the ball at their own 38, first-and-10. But UH then ran the ball four straight times for a total of 9 yards, failing to get a first down. That kind of play-calling drives fans crazy — and in this case, I’d say rightfully so.
UH’s ball-hawking defense made me think of the Warriors’ defensive coordinator of a decade ago. Actually, it was Baylor’s win over previously unbeaten Oklahoma on Saturday that brought Dave Aranda to mind.
In 2010, Aranda directed one of the nation’s best teams at forcing turnovers, which helped UH to a 10-win season. But UH allowed a season-high 62 points in the Hawaii Bowl — against Tulsa, which happened to be coached by the current Warriors head man, Todd Graham.
Playing at UNLV is almost another home game for UH, considering how many Hawaii folks now live there and how many build vacations around Hawaii games in Vegas.
As TV analyst Kawika Hallums said, UH’s loss meant “leaving the Ninth Island in disappointment.”
If you’re a UH sports fan and you’d like to take your mind off football’s three-game losing streak for a while, take a look at the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team and its six-match winning streak. They are 17-6 overall and lead the Big West with a 14-1 conference record.
The Wahine displayed their talent and depth in sweeping UC Irvine on Friday. Different players took center stage in each of the three sets in different ways — Riley Wagoner the first, Brooke Van Sickle the second, and Amber Igiede the third.
I don’t know how many players have posted 10 digs and a block solo in the same set, but the versatile Van Sickle, who is also UH’s leading hitter and a dangerous server, did exactly that in the second set.
UH men’s basketball looked sloppy early in its first game Wednesday against Hawaii Hilo. But the ’Bows got it together and crushed the Division II Vulcans by 30 points.
On Thursday, Northern Colorado shredded the Stan Sheriff Center nets from 3-point land and led by 26 two minutes into the second half. UH rallied back to within one point with four seconds left.
They ended up losing, but at this point, so early in the schedule, the fact that they didn’t give up on themselves and each other and clawed back to make a game of it is almost worth the L.
For basketball, it’s early enough in the season to say there’s always tomorrow.
And, if you want to get in on one of the busiest sports weeks in Hawaii, there’s today: The Rainbow Wahine host UC San Diego at 5 p.m.