Wow, are the last two weeks of February going to be busy on the local sports scene!
     
Professional soccer, world-class golf, state championship basketball, collegiate hoops, and so much more is on the calendar.  It's enough to wear out even the most-fanatical sports fan.
 
First off, there's the much-hyped Pan-Pacific Championships featuring four of the greatest teams on the world soccer stage, two from the MLS and one each from Australia and Japan, all playing at Aloha Stadium.
 
The world-famous soccer celebrity David Beckham will be here with his L.A Galaxy - and will Beckham and his mates be playing hard in this exhibition series? Perhaps a quote from Galaxy General Manager Alexi Lalas says it best: "We're not looking at the tournament in Hawaii to sit on the beach and drink pina coladas."
 
If that's not a good enough reason to go, how about the presence of former Kamehameha standout Brian Ching? Ching, who is one of the fastest-rising stars in Major League Soccer, will be making his return to the islands with the powerful Houston Dynamo.
 
The Pan-Pacific Championships kick off Wednesday, Feb. 20 at Aloha Stadium with the Galaxy facing Gamba Oska of Japan at 6pm, followed by the Dynamo against Sydney Australia at 8:30. The finals are set for Saturday, Feb. 23, with the third-place game at 6pm and the first ever Pan-Pacific championship tilt at 8:30.
 
Of course, local sports fans will have to make some tough decisions this week - because also continuing is the second LPGA event on Oahu this month. Michelle Wie, Annika Sorenstam, Paula Creamer, and the gang will descend on Ko Olina for the Fields Open all week long, with the official three-day tournament set for Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 21-23.  
 
Not enough yet, you say? Well, for the first time ever, both the boys and girls basketball state high school championship tournaments will be played during the same week. Hoopaholics will be sent scurrying all over the island. The girls play Tursday through Friday, Feb. 19-22, at Farrington, Kaimuki, Kalani, and Aiea high school gyms, before wrapping up at the Stan Sheff Center with the Division II and Division I title games.
 
The boys state tournament is scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 20-23, at McKinley, Radford, Moanalua, and Pearl City before finishing up with their Division II and Division I championship games at the Blaisdell Center Arena.
 
If that's not enough basketball mayhem, then "Think Pink!" That's what Matt Mahar's PacWest leading Chaminade Silverswords are doing Wednesday night, the 20th, at McCabe Gym.
 
Mahar and his staff have dyed Chaminade's old uniforms the color of pink to help the NCAA's national fight aainst Breast Cancer. "1 in 8 women potentially suffer from the disease and we wanted to do our part to raise awareness," Mahar says. "You should have seen the looks on the guys faces when I first showed them the uniforms, but once they found out about all the statistics, they were proud to go along."
 
The game will also be Senior Night for the Silverswords, who face Jeff Law's very tough University of Hawaii at Hilo Vulcans in the 7:30pm contest. That game follows the women's PacWest contest which starts at 5:30. For more information on how you can help or donate to this worthy cause, call 735-4790.
 
Bring your pink!
 
Bring your calendars, too, because that's not all - the Wahine basketball team is home Thursday and Saturday nights, Feb. 21 and Feb. 23, against Fresno State and San Jose State, and Mike Trapasso's UH baseball team hosts San Francisco for a four-game series beginning Friday, the 22nd and going through Monday, the 25th at Les Murakami Stadium.  And the state high school swimming and diving championships are in Kehei on Maui, Feb.22-23.
 
And that's just the second-to-last week!
 
On the final week of February, there are two more state high school championships - wrestling and canoe paddling.  The wrestling state tournament starts Friday, Feb. 29 and runs into Mar. 1 at the Blaisdell Arena.  The canoe paddling state championships are scheduled for Feb. 29 at Keehi Lagoon in Honolulu.
 
Finally, there's the final two home games of the season for Bob Nash's incredibly improved UH Rainbow Warrior men's basketball team.  The little team that struggled throughout the pre-season, including an unprecedented three straight losses in the Rainbow Classic, suddenly got its act together in the WAC.  The 'Bows even knocked Utah State out of first place.
 
On the final weekend of the month, UH is home to Idaho on Thursday, Feb. 28, and then senior night on Saturday, Mar. 1 against league-leading Boise State.  It couldn't get more exciting.
 
You may need a nap after all this over - remember just ahead is March Madness!

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