We continue our Hawaii Blog Canada vacation by looking at Canada Place.  This is Canada’s national icon and hub of activity.   Near the boat you can see the distinctive five white sails that mark this prominent landmark.  Canada Place is home to the Vancouver Convention Centre East, Pan Pacific Hotel, Port Metro Cruise Ship Terminal and the World trade Centre Office Complex.  This serving as the International Broadcast Centre for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Runners and walkers alike take on mile 7 of the 8.15 mile Great Aloha Run held annually on Presidents day.  This year an estimated 21,000 people including yours truly got up before the crack of dawn  to raise money for charity by completing the run.  I’m no runner but I’m happy to say that through a combination of jogging, walking and sheer will power I was able to complete it in 1:42:57 a shade better than last year and a full 10 minutes better than two years ago.  Congrats to all those who participated and for the rest of you hope to see you there next year.

In honor of the 2010 Sony Open in Hawaii running though Sunday at the Waialae Country Club, here is a photo showing the scenic view of the Pacific Ocean from the course.  Defending champion Zach Johnson along with Ernie Els and Vijay Singh will be in the field also containing Hawaii phenom Tadd Fujikawa and Hawaii golfers Parker McLachlin, Dean Wilson, Kevin Hayashi, TJ Kua and Nick Mason.  Be sure to follow @SonyOpen_Live on twitter.  Too bad Global Hawaii doesn’t have a camera pass to the tournament so we can’t provide Sony Open golf pictures.

Here is a picture of the Luana Hills Golf Course on the windward side of Oahu.  I took this from the clubhouse as I was attending a wedding (Congrats Alicia + Tom awesome wedding).   Located in Maunawili Valley you can golf while experiencing Oahu’s native birds, flora and streams.  This golf course is also a frequent spot for celebrities including former golfing President Bill Clinton and President Barak Obama.

The 14th annual Murphy’s Pigskin Pigout, a fundraiser for the University of Hawaii football program will be held at Murphy’s Bar & Grill at 2 Merchant Street on Thursday August 20 started at 5:30pm.

A limited amount of tickets are available at Murphy’s Bar & Grill or by calling (808) 754-1502.  Tickets are $100 and includes pupu’s, drinks and entertainment.

There will also be both live and silent auctions including a trip to San Diego to see the San Diego Chargers vs Washington Redskins football game (maybe Colt Brennan will get a chance to play in that game, neighbor island trips, sports memorabilia and much more.

UH head coach Greg McMackin and staff will attend and mingle with the crowd talking football.  Over the years the Pigskin Pigout has raised over $1.5 million to help US football.

To make it even more accessible they even allow team relays where you can select one person for each part of the triathlon.    In 2008 hundreds of individuals and teams completed this grueling test.  We here at Global Hawaii would like to wish all the participants good luck on Sunday including some friends who will be doing the Team triathlon as the Mountain Slugs.  Below is a list of road closers that also may affect others.

PARKING PROHIBITION: 7/20/08 – TOW AWAY ZONE   

1.   Kalakaua - mauka side, Poni Moi St to Monsarrat Ave - 1:00 am to 10:00 am
2.   Kalakaua - makai side, from Monsarrat to Waikiki Aquarium  - 1:00 am to 11:00 am
3.   Leahi Ave - makai side, from Lakimau to Hinano   - 1:00 am to 11 :00 am
4.   Monsarrat - ewa side, from Leahi to Trousseau   -    1:00 am to 11:00 am
5.   Kilauea - ewa side (Kahala Mall side) from Waialae to Elepaio - 1:00 am to 11:00 am  - makai side (Kaimuki Int side) 18th Ave to Elepaio - 1:00 am to 11:00 am
6.   Elepaio - both sides, from Aukai to Kahala Ave   - 1:00 am to 11:00 am - ewa side. from Kilauea Ave to Kahala Ave   - 1:00 am to 11:00 am
7.   Lunalilo Hm Rd - Kokok Head side, from Kalanianaole Hwy to Hawaii Kai Dr   - 1:00 am to 09:00 am - ewa side, from Hawaii Kai Dr to Wailua Rd
8. Hawaii Kai Dr  - both sides, from Lunalilo Home Rd to Kealahou St  - 1:00 am to 09:00 am

CONING OF ROADS:  from 5:30 till 8:30 am 

1.   Kalanianaole Hwy  - east bound, cone one lane end of freeway to Lunalilo Hm Rd
2.   Kalanianaole Hwy - west bound, cone one lane from Keahole to Ainnakoa Ave
3.   Lunalilo Hm Rd  -   Koko Head side, from Wailua Rd to Kalanianaole Hwy to Hawaii Kai Dr - ewa side, from Hawaii kai Dr to Wailua Rd
4.  Wailua St  - mauka, from Lunalilo Home Rd to Bridge to Hawaii Kai Dr - Mauka, from bridge to Hawaii Kai Dr
5.  Hawaii Kai Dr  -  ewa side, from Hawaii Kai Post Office driveway to Keahole St - both sides, Lunalilo Home Rd to Kkealahou St for bikes
6.  Keahole St - ewa side from Hawaii Kai Dr to Kal Hwy
7.  Kal Hwy  - between Nawiliwili and Lunalilo Hm Rd from 6:30 am till 9:30 am
8.  Kilauea Ave  - makai bound at Waialae Ave
9.  Kahala Ave  -  Kapiolani Park bound traffic diverted right onto Elepaio St
10. Diamond Hd Rd - from KCC to Ft Ruger Park traffic detour left onto 22nd Ave - Kahala bound traffic  allowed from Poni Moi to Elepaio

STREET CLOSURE:

1.   Kalakaua  - makai side, from Kapahulu to Poni Moi, divert traffic to Monsarrat - 5:00 am to 7:00 am
2.   Kalakaua  - mauka side, from Poni Moi to Monsarrat, divert traffic to Paki Ave - 5:00 am to 10:00 am
3.   Monsarrat - from Kapahulu Ave to Paki Ave, divert trafftic to Kalakaua Ave makai  - 6:30 am to 09:30 am
4.   Paki Ave - Koko Head bound traffic divert to Noela St   -     6:30 am to 09:30 am

We take pause to remember Les Keiter who passed away on April 14 just short of his 90th birthday.   I remember as a kid listening to his road game recreations of Hawaii Islanders baseball games.  He amazingly turned the simple text sent to him “Barry Bonds double” into puting you in the park with a wooden block making the bad sound and his trade mark “Back, back, back… Boom! Off the wall.”  He also did 14 championship boxing matches for ABC radio and was a longtime sports directory at KHON here in Hawaii.  He also appear in Hawaii Five-O playing a general and KHON anchor Joe Moore later called him “The General” on air and it because his nickname.  Aloha General we will all miss you and forever remember you.  Also see Honolulu Advertiser, Honolulu Star Bulletin and KHON for more.

This is one of the holes at the Jungle River Mini Golf Course located right next to the Pearlridge Shopping Center in Honolulu.  It is a full  18 hole golf course and a perfect family or date place with reasonable prices.  It costs $8 to $8.50 a round of golf and at night it turns to a Cosmic Mini Golf which we will see tomorrow.  The holes are not as elaborate as Castle Park was or some mini golf courses on the mainland but do provide a good challenge as the hole have inclines and declines versus some of those mini golf courses that are just flat.  More tomorrow.

Friday is game day at the University of Hawaii Warriors head off to Boise for a matchup with WAC leading Boise State.  Best of luck to Inoke Funaki and the Warriors as they try to make it two in a row against Boise State.   Todays photo of the day is the Ha’a dance done by the Warriors after last years victory over Boise State giving Hawaii the WAC championship and an eventual BCS bid. 

As the Hawaii Warriors football team prepares for its road challenge at Oregon State this weekend we turn over to our guest blogger Knuke.  Occasionally we will  feature Knuke to update us on how Tyler Graunke, Inoke Funaki and the rest of the Warrior football team is doing.  Be sure to also visit the Knuke Blog.

This game was a tale of 2 halves with Weber State owning the first half.  Inoke Funaki proved why he was the #3 Quarterback out of camp as he looked more like a chicken with its head cut off than a Quarterback.  It’s hard to go through your reads if you’re not looking downfield.  If it wasn’t for the pouring rain, Weber State may have gone into halftime up by more than 10 points.

This worked out perfectly for Hawaii.  With the offense in shambles and lowly Weber State winning, enter Tyler Graunke; the Savior.  I know a lot of Hawaii fans are against Tyler Graunke due to his academic missteps, but he’s the best Quarterback on the roster, proving it tonight.  Graunke was 13-20 for 218 yards with 3 TDs; leading Hawaii to the 36-17 victory.

The atmosphere was okay, nothing special like last year’s Sugar Bowl run, but that’s to be expected.  Hawaii fans are still the worst when it comes to football saavy.  Screaming and starting the wave while on offense is just ridiculous.  It was also quite interesting to see how many Hawaii fans were quickly jumping off the bandwagon after the bad first half.  Hawaii fans are just fair-weather with a low football IQ; doubt that’ll change much.  In the end, a win is a win and everyone will take it, but Hawaii needs to be better to compete with Oregon State next weekend. Below are my observations from the game.

Offense: Played well once Graunke was inserted, but the WRs are still dropping too many balls.  Graunke played well, but had about 2-3 bad decisions that could easily end up being INTs.  Our RBs are nothing spectacular with Leon Wright-Jackson having the biggest upside, but he needs to run more downhill with one cut max.

Defense: They took a step back; not being able to stop a slant route to save their collective lives.  The defensive line can’t get any pressure on the QB, which will be a problem against better competition.  The timing of blitzes will be crucial.

Special Teams: SUCKS!  Tim Grasso had a good game, but everyone else was subpar.  Dan Kelly was inconsistent as usual.  What I’d like to know is when’s the last time we’ve done anything “special” on Special Teams?  I’d like to see Hawaii at least try for a punt block one time!

Coaching: What took McMackin so long to go to Graunke?  I’m sure he could see that Funaki was struggling.  Was he trying to build the suspense?  And what was McMackin thinking leaving Graunke in at the end of the game to run the option?  That’s just plain ole stupid.  You could say the same thing about some defensive starters during this game and the Florida game.

Thanks Knuke.  I wonder what would have happened if Funaki wasn’t “injured” would he have started the second half also?  Or maybe “injury” is McMackin’s way of shuffling starters as he has done with Alexander and Raush.  Let the QB derby continue.  I think the Oregon State game will give us a pretty good idea where UH stands this year.