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.

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