The end of the Dana Takahara-Dias era

Earlier this month, UH women's basketball coach Dana Takahara-Dias was fired after 3 losing seasons in a row.

(photo from Star Advertiser link below)

Dana Takahara-Dias

http://www.staradvertiser.com/sportspremium/20120308_wahine_hoops_coach_fired.html


She was originally hired back in 2009 to replace Jim Bolla.

Jim Bolla was not just a loser on win-loss records, Bolla was also an abusive jerk that has been to use vicious insults on his players and even kicked one of them!

I wrote a blog post on that issue back in April 25, 2009
http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2009/04/jim-bolla-fired.html

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So Dana Takahara-Dias was hired in part to fix the wounds left behind by Jim Bolla!

However, there were many questions about Takahara-Dias qualifications when she was hired.

Yes, she was former UH basketball player!

Yes, she had coaching experience!

But that experience was at the high school level! 

Coaching at the college level is a lot more intense. There is recruiting, there is long-distance traveling (especially for Hawaii), students who are more independent, and of course, the much higher pressure to win.

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Another issue that comes up is with attendance.

There isn't much of a crowd at UH Wahine basketball games.

Yes, Hawaii fan DO support women's sports!

Just look at the UH Wahine volleyball games! They got the HIGHEST number in attendance IN ALL OF women's college volleyball!

Women's volleyball in Hawaii makes a financial profit! (not true at most other schools)

And the UH Wahine softball team has had big crowds at their games this season.

So the low attendance at  UH women's basketball games has NOTHING to do with gender and EVERYTHING to do with winning & losing!

It all reminds me of what I remember reading from  (ex-football coach) Bob Wagner's book in which he said about fans/customers/ recruits/ etc.

People want to gain good feeling and avoid bad feelings

Which is why fans are willing to crowd the stadiums for winning teams! And why fans will not show up to watch losing teams.

It explains why fans love to crowd the stadiums to watch the very successful  UH Wahine volleyball and softball teams.

It also explains the low attendance at UH Wahine basketball games, as well as declining attendance at UH football games towards the end of last season!
 
And with the economy not being that great, it was even more important for the UH Athletic Department to find a coach that can get the UH Wahine basketball winning, and getting fans into the arena!
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And there's the challenge of recruiting of UH Wahine basketball!
 
In Hawaii, the dominant sport for female athletes is volleyball!
 
It is a different story in many parts of the continental US, where in many urban areas in the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast, basketball tends to be the dominant sport for both males and females.
 
And even with the successful female high school basketball players from Hawaii, not all of them want to play for UH. Like athletes in many other sports, some of want the continental experience  instead of playing for UH!
 
And to recruit female basketball players from the continental US, it will be hard to convince them to play college basketball at  a place where they'll usually get less hype than the mega-popular Wahine volleyball team!
 
This is NOT to say it's "all a doomed effort".
 
UH  Wahine basketball had some success in the past when Vince Goo was the coach. He was able to recruit the top local talent as well as some outside talent as well.
 
That success should be repeated again.
 
Hopefully, they'll get someone who has college coaching experience, can recruit Hawaii and outside, and can bring fans back to the arena!

exposed to the light

What happens to the roaches when you turn on the lights?

Usually, they run and hide! They can't the stand being exposed to the light!

Bullies can't stand a different form of light! They can't stand being exposed!

If you watch the TV news, reporters will try to confront those accused of  pollution, discrimination, workplace abuse, family abuse, fraud or other wrong doing!  

Guess what those trouble makers do?

They'll put their hands on the TV cameras, or block the reporters from entering, or they just run and hide.

They just can't handle being exposed to the light.

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Which is why some chump who goes by the name of Cris Sison Aban (aka Crisanto Aban) told me to take down my blog post about him, which you can check out at

http://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2010/11/blocked-out-of-my-list.html

Had that guy simply apologized for being rude and disrespectful, THAT BLOG POST WOULD NEVER BEEN PUT UP!

But no, when I told him why I rejected him from my facebook list, he said "Ha Ha Ha ... f*** you then" and called me a "loner"

Well, if that's how he wants to act, then he will be exposed to the light!

Mr Aban doesn't show any remorse, he just asks me to take my blog post down?

NO I am NOT taking that blog post down!

If Mr Aban didn't want to be exposed to the world like that, he should have thought about it before acting with total disrespect!

If Mr Aban wants to be mad about this situation, he should just be mad at himself!

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I'm done with Mr Aban for now, unless he wants to start more drama!


However, I'm just going to expose more wrong-doers to the light!

and I AM USING REAL NAMES!  I  refuse to protect the guilty with fake names here!

I know some of you will give me this BS like "dont let it bother you" and all this other high-minded crap!

But this "don't let it bother you" crap does more harm than good!

Bullies prosper with this "dont let it bother you" crap!

Those who start trouble need to be held accountable!

Plus, it's not healthy to hold things in!

Also,  accepting this "dont let it bother you" crap is for Ass Kisser!

I have NOTHING BUT CONTEMPT for those who encourage Ass Kissing! 



1) Classmates

first the middle school classmates

-- To those guys in middle schools for stereotyping me being a "foreigner"  because I don't "look local" and told me to "speak English" if I sometimes mumble words  ---- I'm exposing you to the light now!
People like Kevin Komoto, Richard Ching, Alika Wong, Young In (Brian) Ko! Look at your last names, I like see you guys go to Idaho or Mississippi and see if anyone there considers you guys "real Americans" HA!


--s!


--- if you're going to diss your classmates for sucking at PE, you better be Olympic or pro-sports material! Otherwise SHUT UP! That goes for Clinton Hurst, Alan Kato, Angela Muraoka, Justin Irvine, Johnson Lee, Jon Rota, Lawrence Kim, Eric Kwong, Anolani Kaio, and whoever I forgot to mention!

None of those chumps made it to the Olympics! None of those chumps made it to the Pros! None of those champs made it to the NCAAs. In fact, none of those chumps even made high school All-Stars!

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 Lauren Kihara  -- rude girl from middle school. Called me a "gorilla" for growing body hairs at an early age! She shouldn't talk since her face looked like clam chowder!  (I would NOT be mentioning that had she been a nicer person)

 She  liked to act tough! But she screamed in terror when James Wolford put a lizard right in front of her face! She's lucky YouTube didn't exist back then!

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Lauren Kihara, Anolani Kaio (mentioned those 2 already) plus Ryan Tsuda, Ikaika Poki and William Reyes all accussed me of "not using deodorant" when someone noticed sweat in my shirt sleeves.

Time for exposing them to the light because their attitudes are what really stinks!

Ryan Tsuda likes to act  all tough! Which was why I laughed when I heard that punk got beaten up by Kalen, who was SMALLER than him!
Ikaika Poki was his Ryan's partner in crime. Poki also likes to victimize others, but I remember seeing him acting all scared in aikido class when a more advanced student wanted to challenge him!
William Reyes first stereotyped me as "retarded" yet later on begged me for help with his math work, when it was obvious his "intellect" was NOT up to standard! I also remembered seeing on his history tests lying on the classroom floors! His answers were SO FAR OFF that I tried not to laugh!

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 Those are what I call the "studio gangsters", "wanabees" and "wankstas". They are fake thugs who only pick on those who don't have any rough peers to back them up. Those fake thugs run from a real fight with a real gangsta.

They included Waiokeola Ching, Jared Tsukamoto, Travis Slavens, Gary Okimoto. 

the funniest stories about them include

--- Gary Okimoto, talks tough, acts tough until ............ he got slapped around by Binh Van
(a real G) and James O.   Then Gary cried for mercy and says "I'm going to sue you".

-- Jared Tsukamoto likes to literally push people around.  But he only does so when walking in a group. He did it one time to me and said "move n----- " (in other words, Jared Tsukamoto can't even get his racial slurs right)  But he ran like heck and screamed after teasing really tall guy Colin.

-- Travis Slavens calls me the "hairy boy". He's only tough when he's in a group!  He's soft without a group! The same is true for Waiokeola Ching. 

There was also this guy named Laau Castro. I didn't know him until I accidentally bumped into him in the cafeteria and got juice spilled on him.  I understand his frustration, but that little wanksta later brought his friends to back him up. Yeah, little guy is only tough with a group. Later on, we made peace and had no problems. But I want to say this --- #1 accidents happen, just chill!  #2 you got a problem, handle it yourself, instead of calling for backup!

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There was also  David Arashiro. Imagine having 6 classes with a sumo-sized guy with a bad attitude. That was my situation with David Arashiro in 6th grade. It was so bad, that it was one of the few times I actually went to the office about being bullied. We had a conference with the counselors about this issue.  We never really made peace, but the good news was that we had no classes together in 7th grade. In 8th grade, he went to a different school.

But the funniest story in 6th grade was when David Arashiro was laughing out loud in the cafeteria, an 8th grader told him "shut up you fat f---".   David Arashiro was too scared to say anything back.

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Also, in 6th grade, Phillip Austin stereotyped me of "being from Mexico". Looking at him, I could easily stereotype him as being from Europe. In fact, the other kids kept making fun of him for being a "haole". I don't condone anti-white racism (or any type of racism). But Austin wants respect, he ought to show some respect.
--

, there was also this girl Jodie Ebesu who was so mad that (gasp ..........omg...............no) that I didn't let her cut in front in the lunch line, she responded by calling me a "hairy d--k".   How's that for sexual harassment! We ended up going to different high schools, but I did hear some very nasty rumors from those who went to high school with her.

Now on to high school! 

While high school wasn't as bad as middle school, there's still a few people who needs to be exposed to the light!

-- Clinton Hurst, (who I met in middle school but also went to my high school) who tried to start fights with me in 9th grade, but he couldn't take me down! Likes to use vicious insults on others who don't conform to his phony version of cool! Mistaking me as "Arab" when I'm, Latino! And acted surprised when I knew more about hip-hop than him, that Eminem wanabee! Well, that tough stuff has its limits, especially when a bunch of Southeast Asian gangsters mobbed him and took out one of his eyes!


--- Sai Feng, a fake gangsta! In the PE locker rooms, he tried to be the funny guy by yelling "stop looking, or I'll bang your head in the locker". The only thing I was looking at was my own locker! But being that the lockers are set up where you can't see what's going on in the other side, but you can definitely hear what's being said, I took Sai Feng's "joke" as an act of war! The worst thing to do to any straight male is falsely accusse them of "looking" in a locker room!  And Mr " I'll bang your hear in the locker" walked away when I started to yell at him and I called him a "wanabee gangsta".

That was so rare for me to do that! I usually avoid fights, but Sai Feng went too far!

Sai Feng is only tough when he's in a group and I'm not! But if I'm with someone and he's not, he does nothing! Pathetic!

Sai's little friend Min Hwan Shin --  a true wanksta! He jokes about my body hair, but at least I ain't short like him! ( Again, I would NOT have bring that up had he been a nicer person!)

---Dominic Gomes - a Vanilla Ice wanabee with a rude attitude! Had a conflict with him during high school graduation practice!  I was thinking about fighting him, but that would've meant getting suspended from an important event!


Gomes even bragged to about to the wrong person. He thought Adam Chang was going to laugh along with him! Gomes didn't know that Adam Chang was my friend! Oooops! Yeah Dominic Gomes you dumbass be careful who you brag to!


--  Wayne Fernando. He tried to reach into my pockets without my permissions. He said "I want your money" in a weird voice.  I yelled at him with full-blown rage!   He thought he was going to impress his friends, but they didn't back him up! They knew he was in the wrong!


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In a social studies class we were supposed to make groups. I didn't have a group, so I ended with Jasmine Kamaka, U'ilani Hicks, and Lori Mikasobe. Well, later on, the teacher said "there's too many people in this group".  What to do, what to do?  Well, those 3 people all of a sudden ran off to another table (with the whole class watching) and gave a BS apology.  I don't accept BS apologies!   Then U'ilani Hicks said I was "too quiet". No, she just talks too much about uninteresting crap!   You want me talking, then talk to me about something interesting dammit or shut up!  And dont go on pretending to by my friend afterwards. I don't respect phonies!


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Outside Classmates

As for 2 aikido classmates from my teen years -- James McGhee and John Hishashima who liked to joke about "tacos" and "nachos", nothing brave about doing that in Hawaii!  Try doing that in a California prison where the Mexican Mafia dominates the gangsta scene! 

2) Teachers

I got love for most of my teachers but some need to be exposed to the light! This was especially true for a few that worked at my middle school (Kawananakoa)! I also heard from those 2 left a few years after I left the school.

One is Mr Anjo, a 6th grade math teacher who liked to pit students against each other! He screams when he saw papers that he thought was messy! He accussed me "not knowing what a ruler is" because some lines I drew weren't straight.

In 8th grade, being that I grew facial hair earlier than other kids, Mr Anjo tried to be funny by saying "look, here's a razor".  He's lucky that I didn't try to slash him with it!

Mocking students like what Mr Anjo does is the  ultimate scumbag move! Middle schoolers are going through changes that they still do not truly understand! It takes a total scumbag like Mr Anjo to shit on not just on any person, but especially kids who might not have the support they need!

I was happy to hear that a few years after I graduated from middle school, that Mr Anjo was no longer there! Good Riddance

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Another punk ass teacher from the same school was Mr. Komae who teaches wood shop! Whereas that class would probably be an elective at most schools, for some reason it was a requirement at my middle school.

Komae is one of those who gets moody when students try hard but are struggling with the lesson! He also comes with irritating nicknames for people, even when they don't even want it! Which only encourages the other students to join the mockery! Yet, he got SO SENSITVE when students called him "papio" for looking like a fish! If Komae wants respect, he should learn to show it!

Komae was also creepy by trying to kiss the girls IN CLASS! If YouTube existed then, he would've been caught and FIRED!

Like Anjo, Komae was gone a few years after I graduated from middle school! Maybe he did get fired after all!

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Hasuko also liked to give stupid nicknames to people, but that's not what stood out!

I remember one boy (who was one of the nicest kids I knew) spit on the hallway's floor (NOT AT ANY PERSON)! Mr Hasuko start yelling at that boy and screamed "WANT ME TO KICK YOUR ASS?"

All that boy did was spit on the floor. All Hasuko could've done is ask that boy to get a tissue and clean it up, not yelling out threats! 



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I have already exposed the scrooges, the bully professors and slanderers on my earlier blog posts!

I also have detailed the problems I had with my father when I growing up in previous blogs! Luckily, I've made my peace with him, after finally telling him the truth about how I felt about him growing up! He seems to understand where he went wrong!

But I can't be credible as "someone who stands up for what's right" if I'm not calling out names of those I should've been more confrontational with back in the days!

And if any of you mentioned in the blog don't like what I said in my blog , YOU SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT BACK IN THE DAYS! Start being mad at yourself!

In fact, you LUCKY that I haven't become a celebrity (YET!) because you wouldn't be able to hide! Just like the guy who once bullied Eminem during their childhood days got all scared when Eminem publicly called him out! He tried to sue Eminem for exposing the light!  After all, how would you like if your former victims has MILLIONS of fans ready to pounce!

If you want to aplogize, I'm cool with it! If you feel I offended you too, please remind me what I did, after all I ain't perfect!

But don't give me this "dont let it bother you" crap, this "get over it" crap or this "please take my name off your  blog" crap, because that will only guarantee more fire from me on this blog!

The only way to stop me from saying more stuff on this blog is to kill me! What are you waiting for?

Rooting for "your own kind"

People naturally gravitate to those who are just like them.

The "just like them" could mean anything. It could mean interest in the same hobbies, being from the same culture, struggling with the same issues, or just being from the same area.

Of course, gravitating to someone just like you doesn't always mean you avoid those who are different from you.

For example, my dad is from Mexico. Living in Hawaii means he won't come across as many Mexicans as he would if he was living in California. But he knows where to find them here, usually in soccer fields and restaurants!

 And if they're from the Mexican state of Oaxaca, EVEN MORE SO he'll gravitate to them! Just like he always used to hang out with this one guy from Oaxaca named Quota. From a distance my dad and Quota looked very different. Quota is a Mexican of African ancestry! My dad, while has both Zapotec and Spanish ancestry, his Zapotec features are a lot more visible!  But they're both from Oaxaca, so there's a connection.

But my dad also gets along with those of other cultures as well! He would bring his construction co-workers to our house, some of them being of Native Hawaiian, Filipino, or Japanese ancestry! The interest in construction work brings them together!

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Now, in the world of sports, there has been "Linsanity" about Jeremy Lin, a basketball player who plays for the New York Knicks!

Lin played college basketball at Harvard, which has had difficulty attracting top athletic talent because of its HIGH academic standards. Lin's a good example of how being intelligent doesn't mean you have to be unathletic or soft!


After college, Lin drifted from team to team until joining the New York Knicks. The Knicks hasn't been doing so well this past decade!  The Knicks added some star players like Carmelo Anthony, and Amare Stoudamire.   But with some starters injured, it was Jeremy Lin's turn to help the team! And the team has greatly improved with his presence on the basketball court!

But Linsanity isn't just about increased levels of winning for the Knicks.  It's also because Jeremy Lin is Asian-American!

 Yes, the NBA already had Asian stars like Yao Ming! However, Yao Ming is from China, was already a proven star in China before testing the waters in the NBA!

But Jeremy Lin is NOT  a star from overseas! Jeremy Lin is BORN IN THE USA! He is as American as LeBron James and Jason Kidd!

Many Asian-Americans are so excited that SOMEONE LIKE THEM has some real success in the NBA!

For many, for too long, they felt the sting of negative stereotypes of "being too short", "being too soft", "being too nerdy", and being told "go back to Asia" EVEN IF THEY WERE BORN IN THE USA!

While Lin is not as tall as Yao Ming, he is still taller than the average person at 6-feet 3in.

And Lin is definitely NOT soft! You can't last long in the NBA if you're soft, especially with those 7-footers pushing you around!
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Floyd Mayweather, an African-American boxer, has been getting attention not just for his boxing, but also for  being an Asian-hater.

Already, people are demanding Mayweather fight Flipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao, but conflicts over drug testing and money has gotten in the way.

Mayweather taunted Pacquaio by telling him to "make some sushi rolls and cook some rice"

UFC president Dana White called it right

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_sGm-E285c

"The other thing you said was that Manny Pacquiao should make some sushi somewhere,"


"Sushis from Japan, he's from the Phillipines dummy"

Just like Mayweather shouldn't be confused as being from Haiti or Congo, let's not confuse Asian groups either!

But now Mayweather is implying Jeremy Lin is getting excessive special attention that African-American players aren't getting.

 http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/daily-take/201202/floyd-mayweather-plays-race-card-jeremy-lin

 Jeremy Lin is a good player," Mayweather tweeted Monday, "but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise."

Black players outscore Kobe Bryant every night? Black players who went undrafted rack up at least 20 points and seven assists in each of their first four career starts? Black players go from D-League DNPs to leading the Knicks to five straight wins? 

Yes, Lin being Asian is a big part of the story. He's the first American-born player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent to play in the NBA. That's different, and therefore newsworthy. There would probably also be a lot of hype if, say, a black golfer came out of Stanford and started winning golf majors. Or if, just hypothetically, two black sisters from Compton dominated the world of tennis.

In case you don't get it, that "black golfer came out of Stanford and started winning golf majors." is Tiger Woods (who by the way, is also part-Asian). And the "two black sisters from Compton dominated the world of tennis" are Venus &; Serena Williams.

Woods and Williams got their initial fame by being black in mostly white sports! Afterwards, their athletic excellence were so great, that most people don't pay much attention to their color anymore.


Now, just look at the music world.

The European-American rapper from Detroit named Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem)

and

the white Cuban rapper from Miami named Armando Christian Pérez (aka Pitbull)

Just looking at them, they would just stand out in the mostly African-American rap music world!  They'll automatically get more attention than others. It's human nature to notice that!

And off course African-Americans paid a little more attention to golf when Woods  started to win tournaments. Same when the Williams sisters won tennis tournaments.

Off course European-descendants paid more attention to the rap scene when Eminem came along. And off course Latinos paid special attention to Pitbull!

Yeah, I'm part-Latino and I think it's cool that Pitbull has been making hits! I'm also a fan of other Latino rappers like Fat Joe, Big Punisher, Cypress Hill, Lil Rob and Baby Bash.

But I'm ALSO A FAN OF NON-LATIN RAPPERS too! 

The Williams sisters, Tiger Woods,Eminem, Pitbull might have gotten their first minutes of extra-fame due to their race, their long-term success isn't just an Affirmative Action deal.  Williams and Woods kept winning tournaments. Eminem and Pitbull kept making hits!



It's still early in Jeremy Lin's career! NBA has no guarantees! Many players coming in as the "hot thing" early in the career have declined a few years later!

Yes, Jeremy Lin got some special attention! Yes, some Asian-Americans are paying more attention the NBA now! But that doesn't erase the fact that many Asian-Americans were watching the NBA decades before Lin came on the scene! And while they think it's cool that Lin has made it to the NBA, they can still admire non-Asian players like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, or Dirk Nowitzky!