Tsai-ko Autobiography: Stretch
Name: (withheld)
Bonafide Tsai-ko,
Tsai-ko
Hall of Fame
High School: UH Lab
School 1992
Tsai-ko Lunch Size: Large
Tsai-ko caricature: second row, far right
From the Warrior Beat blog September 6,
2007:
ST's Intro:
I apologize. Computer problems
made it difficult to post Stretch's bio earlier. But it should be worth
the wait. He's a great guy, very witty and, although he has never
attended a UH road victory, we certainly feel fortunate that he visits
our blog.
Please meet Stretch:
Comment from: WreckinEyez
[Visitor]
I was listening to Robert Kekaula on the radio and he had
mentioned something about a group of fans near the Purdue coach’s box.
The Hawaii fans had brought a dry erase board and had wrote, “Any more
last minute excuses before the game starts?” which they had faced to
the Purdue coaches. After a controversial call by the Pac-10 officials,
they had wrote a new message for the Purdue coaches in the box. It read
“No cry, you wanted them.”??Hey Tsai, I you talk to Robert Kekaula
again ask him if there was any other messages that group of fans had
posted. I was rolling listening to that.??Big Props To All The Fans Who
Attended!!!?*and bigger to the fans with the dry marker board*
11/26/06 @ 15:18
That message by Wreck gave me my 5 seconds of fame and is
what brought me to this blog site. It was sent to me by a co-worker,
who is a big time lurker named J!T$. Without those two guys, I wouldn’t
have met the awesome people here.
I got my first taste of UH sports in the late 70’s going to basketball
games at the Blaisdell, sitting in the front row with my grandfather.
He was one of the early members of Koa Anuenue when they wore the green
and white aloha shirts (it’s still hanging in the closet) and was the
one that got my family into watching UH sports. He would attend the
baseball, basketball and football games. He had 4 football tickets when
Hawaii first started playing at Aloha Stadium. 30 plus years later, we
still hold those same 4 seats and have added 6 more. We also go to the
Men’s Basketball and Baseball games. My family’s personal lives,
including family vacations, are scheduled around the football games and
related events.
I graduated from University Laboratory School where I played baseball
and football for Pac-5. I went to UH Manoa and graduated with a Civil
Engineering degree. I am a project manager for a local construction
company and currently commuting to Kauai for work. I was working on
Oahu a few weeks so was able to attend the recent cattle calls. It was
good to have a chance to chat with the Tsaiko legends. Now with me
being on Kauai during the day, I can’t eat lunches with them so
hopefully they will schedule some evening cattle calls.
I go “golfing” a few times a month even though I am not good but enjoy
the challenge. I also like traveling and have been to four road games
through the years, USC, UNLV (2x) and Nevada. Unfortunately, I have
never seen them win yet. Could it be that I am the black cloud?? I will
be going to UNLV and San Jose State this year. If we lose both, I know
the answer.
I hope to pass on the family tradition of UH sports to the next
generation. We already have my nieces (2, 5, & 8) going to all the
games.
From the Warrior Beat blog
May 5,
2010:
By popular
demand, the Warrior Beat is bringing back the reader profiles. But
there's a twist. Instead of autobiographies, we're going with bios. At
our request, Powderpuff writes about Stretch:
To some he’s known as the “Instigator;” to others – three girls in
particular - he’s known as “Uncle.” To coaches and players
playing UH, he’s just known. To Tsai-kos on the Warrior Beat
blog, he’s known simply as “Stretch.”
Born during the latter half of the year in the early ‘70s, Stretch grew
up in East Honolulu. He received his first taste of UH Athletics
in the late ‘70s from his grandfather who was one of the early members
of Koa Anuenue. Following his graduation from University Lab
School, he matriculated (as a certain local sportscaster likes to say…)
to the University of Hawaii-Manoa, where he graduated from the College
of Engineering.
Stretch is a natural leader, but on that first day at UH in Engineering
Class, he was lost. Friend and fellow engineer Brandon Chong
recalls: “Everyone else was following (or making believe like
they were) except this one tall, skinny, Japanese guy next to me who
looked as lost as I was. I'm not kidding, Stretch was
skinny(er). I asked him, ‘you understanding any of this?’
And he answered with a strong and confident NOPE! From that point
on, I knew we could hang out.”
Stretch’s passion for UH Athletics is obvious and he is one guy who’s
secure in his fanhood. How many other 30-somethings would you
catch wearing a UH (mini)megaphone attached to a lanyard around his
neck? Yup, you can spot him a mile away – just like his truck,
which of course sports the “UH” tapa logos. He’s no stranger to
opposing football coaches at Aloha Stadium – only a few feet and a
glass window separates them. His voice often haunts players from
visiting teams at Les Murakami Stadium. Strains of “routine fly
ball” and “use the doughnut…I’m warning you” have surely echoed in many
players’ heads. Most recently at the UH men’s volleyball
first-round game, he drew stares and glares from a certain Pepperdine
player who heard Stretch yell, “You can’t be Freshman of the Year if
you hit zero…ZERO! You are NOTHING…naaaaaah-thing!”
Perhaps what really speaks volumes about Stretch doesn’t come from his
mouth, but from others who have known him from pre-Warrior Beat blog
days. Kevin Okazaki served as a chaperone/counselor for the
Summer Program for the Enhancement of Basic Education – a program for
which Stretch was hand-picked in his senior year in high school.
Okazaki recalls fondly that Stretch is “fun to be around with…he’s like
Peter Pan in tights…a big little boy.” “And I bet if you dared
him to run around in tights, he’d do it,” continued Okazaki. All
kidding aside, he says Stretch is “very considerate, and would give you
the shirt off his back…he’s that generous and that considerate.”
When he’s not busy racking up frequent-flier miles going to work,
Stretch can probably be found on the links crushing some balls, playing
pranks and practical jokes on his friends…or maybe even helping someone
in need.
“When I first met him, I was intimidated, because of his size and the
fact that he was quiet. Sometimes quiet people can be misinterpreted
since you are not sure what they are thinking…just like me,” says
longtime friend Stanford Lee (Sleeze on the blog). “But as it
turns out he’s a big guy with an even bigger heart. He’s always willing
to help people whether it’s through referrals, driving them around, or
even charities. He is also very good with math, especially when it is
related to sports.”
Math and sports…yes, pop culture…no. Stretch is the last one you
want on your Trivial Pursuit team answering questions about pop
culture. Why? Because he’s the first to admit he knows very
little about pop culture, movies, television shows, etc.
Why? Because he’s too busy living…and that’s no Stretch.