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The intriguing thing about sports is the craziness, the unpredictability, the pure "Linsanity."
Jeremy Lin's recent retirement from basketball was a reminder of that. In 2012, the New York Knicks signed Lin, a Harvard graduate and thrice-cut point guard who was playing in the D-League, to a limited contract. During a three-week stretch, Lin energized the Knicks with his ball-screen drives, pitch-out passes and ability to get to the line. His 38 points against the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers led to two documentaries. His surge was dubbed "Linsanity."
But as with most instant celebrities, the public did not witness the hours of practice each day, the soul-searching reflection after each rejection, the nights sleeping on his brother's couch. Nobody thinks about the steak's origin. It often takes years to become an overnight sensation.
Alan Hackbarth was an introverted special-teams player for the University of Hawaii football team. During a Friday practice, the UH marching band rehearsed on a field neighboring the one where the Rainbow Warriors were practicing. Hackbarth started to dance. After that, he danced at every Friday practice. And then one night he did his gyrating moves at a men's volleyball match. The "Rubberband Man" became a fixture during timeouts.
Tumua Tuinei was a soft-spoken reserve safety for the UH football team. He then took Nick Murray's stand-up class at UH in 2016. Tuinei's bits killed it in class, then slayed the friends-and-family crowd at Hawaiian Brian's, where Murray's final exams were staged. Teammates were amazed -- and stunned -- with Tuinei's stand-up routine during the Warriors' awards banquet. He now performs to sold-out venues.
The unheralded often become heralded on football fields.
Without a scholarship, running back James Fenderson was sleeping in his truck or at UH teammates' dorm rooms to pay for tuition and school expenses. Teammates would sneak him cups of food after practices. He ascended the depth chart, earned a scholarship and signed a free-agent contract with the New Orleans Saints in 2001. He played four NFL seasons.
Cornerback Robert Lan became part of UH lore against Air Force in 1988. Leading 14-13, the Falcons advanced to the UH 5. Fullback Andy Smith took a handoff but was hit by linebacker Joaquin Barnett. The ball popped up to Lan at the 9. Lan raced 91 yards for the touchdown to deliver the Warriors a 19-14 victory.
Kicker Kenton Chun, an amateur magician, thought his NCAA Division I dreams went poof after he failed a walk-on tryout with the Warriors. But with help from Peter Kim, a former UH and Alabama kicker, Chun earned a spot on the 2011 team. In late October that year, Chun converted a 35-yard field goal with 35 seconds left to defeat Idaho 16-14 in the Kibbie Dome.
"It was my best trick," Chun said of what would be a fleeting moment of fame.
Reagan Maui'a was a little-used, 351-pound nose tackle when he became a sensation as a UH running back. West Keli'ikipi also was a breakout star as a three-bill running back.
Defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis initially enrolled at UH as walk-on basketball player.
Backup quarterback Jason Whieldon led the Warriors to a 37-29 victory over Alabama in 2003.
In 2008, football coach Greg McMackin hired Dave Aranda as an assistant coach because of his tech knowledge at Texas Tech. By the end of the 2008 season Aranda was designing and calling the defensive plays.
Because of foot injuries, linebacker Logan Taylor was nicknamed "Slow-gan." But moving into the lineup because of an injury to Isaiah Tufaga, Taylor amassed 16 tackles against Colorado State. He averaged 12.8 tackles in the final six games of the 2022 season.
In UH's season opener three weeks ago, Japan-reared Kansei Matsuzawa gained belated fame for kicking the winning field goal against Stanford. His often repeated story of learning kicking techniques from YouTube videos gained national attention. Obscured was his process to stardom -- ordering footballs online, making his own tees, practicing in a park for two years, sending highlights to more than 50 junior colleges, and shadowing UH predecessor Matthew Shipley.
This past weekend, two Warriors moved from the chorus in a 37-20 victory over Sam Houston. "Newcomers" Luke Weaver and Giovanni Iovino were not so new to college football. Luke Weaver, who threw three touchdown passes and led three other scoring drives, was a junior college All-America quarterback for Modesto College last year. Saturday he started in place of injured Micah Alejado.
Iovino, a linebacker who already has a bachelor's degree, transferred from the University of San Diego in June. Iovino is part of the pipeline between UH and Bishop Gorman High, a national power based in the Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin. Iovino, a walk-on, wanted to reunite with associate head coach Chris Brown, who previously coached Bishop Gorman's linebackers and oversaw the strength-conditioning program. Iovino has received more reps while middle linebacker Jamih Otis deals with an ailment.
As the Warriors have shown in the past three weeks and through their modern history is the spotlight is not stationary. The next surprise story has yet to be written.