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Posts posted by UpperWestside
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Dennis Schroeder has one of the more interesting basketball careers I have seen. He has been a solid NBA player, but his international career for Germany has been wildly successful. Knowing that the Basketball Hall of Fame isn’t just for what you did in the NBA makes his candidacy a real one. Leading Germany to the World Championship, being selected to the all tournament team for the Olympics and now winning the European title (While going 9-0) is pretty impressive. When you see some of the players that got in you can see why he has a really good shot at getting there himself for his international accomplishments.
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On 9/11/2025 at 12:41 PM, d2o said:
Calling your sport a highlight sport is a crazy ass take from the fucking commissioner
He’s not wrong. Probably not the words your broadcast partners want to hear, but whatever. I mostly see highlights from non-Laker games. Not a big deal to hear him speak like that.
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I attempted yesterday to watch it. I have that movie pass for Regal so if I am just not really into a movie I'll get up and leave. This one, for me at least, was not one I wanted to stay and watch. That does not mean the movie is not good. I made it maybe 30 minutes or so in.
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15 minutes ago, BachelorTrek said:
Hawaii's placekicker, Kansei Matsuzawa, is a Tokyo native, just kicked a career-long 44-yard field goal. Hawaii is playing Portland State right now on Oahu.
He self-taught himself placekicking and English by watching Youtube videos.
He went from being a 20-year-old waiter in Tokyo to where he is now at 26.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6597909/2025/09/05/hawaii-football-kicker-kansei-matsuzawa/
Kansei Matsuzawa is this season’s first underdog story. But it’s more than a viral sensation
Chris VanniniSept. 5, 2025Updated Sept. 7, 2025Hawaii special teams coordinator Thomas Sheffield knows one Japanese word. Pronounced Erito, it means “Elite.” He says it to his kicker Kansei Matsuzawa before every kick attempt, to remind him of the time Matsuzawa told his coach he wanted to be so elite that the NFL couldn’t deny him.
As Matsuzawa ran around in celebration after his 38-yard, game-winning field goal to beat Stanford on Aug. 23, teammates tried to grab him. But the first person who got a hold of Matsuzawa was Sheffield, who embraced the 6-foot-2 kicker in a hug.
Overnight, the story of the 26-year-old Japanese kicker who taught himself how to kick a football and speak English on YouTube went national. After leading the Rainbow Warriors to their first win against a Power 4 conference team since 2019, Matsuzawa joked he was more nervous for the postgame news conference than the kick, and he was even featured on NBC Nightly News in a brief segment.
But Matsuzawa’s story is a lot more than a viral sensation. Underneath Sheffield’s squeeze on the field were tears for a journey that spanned years, continents, parks and steakhouses in pursuit of an unshakable dream.
“I bawled crying when I ran to midfield,” Sheffield said. “Because I just know the journey, everything this kid has overcome.”
If everything had gone according to plan, Matsuzawa would’ve played collegiate soccer in Japan years ago, continuing his high school career during which he was a team captain and three-year letter winner. But he says he failed an exam and didn’t qualify for school. It not only ended his competitive soccer days but also left him aimless for the next two years.
“I had nothing,” Matsuzawa said. “I didn’t like my life.”
His parents saw a lost kid. His father offered Matsuzawa a two-week trip to the United States, “to see what’s going on outside of Japan,” the son remembers. Matsuzawa arrived in San Diego without knowing a lick of English. He was so unprepared he didn’t even have hotels booked when he landed, eventually figuring it out with a travel app.
From San Diego, he went to the Bay Area and attended an Oakland Raiders game. That was always on the itinerary, because Matsuzawa’s dad played some American football in middle school and high school in Japan. The game became the moment that lit a spark in what had been a dark tunnel. He decided to become an NFL kicker.
“I see the enthusiasm at the stadium and the business side, that was totally different than Japan,” Matsuzawa said. “That was a super exciting moment for me.”
He returned to Japan, bought an American football and started watching kicking techniques on YouTube, incorporating his existing soccer skill. Matsuzawa went out to a park near his home to practice by himself, to the chagrin of the local children.
“I think I was annoying to the kids for a 20-year-old big guy kicking a football they’ve never seen over their heads,” Matsuzawa said with a laugh. “I felt sorry for them, but I had dreams to do it.”
Practicing football in a park doesn’t make a living, however. So he knocked on the door of a new Morton’s Steakhouse in Tokyo in early 2019, asking for a job. He spent almost three years waiting tables as he worked on football and saved money. In early 2021, he sent his personal film to schools, and only one answered: Hocking College, a junior college in Nelsonville, Ohio.
Special teams coordinator Kevin Cox read Matsuzawa’s email and went to head coach Ted Egger, who loved Matsuzawa’s story. Cox’s son Caden was on the team and later that fall would become the first person with Down syndrome to play and score in a college football game.
“I’m all about stuff like that,” said Egger, now the head coach at Hilbert College. “(Matsuzawa) was a really good kid.”
Matsuzawa arrived in Ohio in August, two weeks before the season, and still didn’t know much English. He went to the president’s office, who alerted Egger he’d arrived.
“I had no idea what Coach Egger said for the first three months,” Matsuzawa said.
He admits he was overwhelmed. A new culture, new people he couldn’t communicate well with and not a lot of playing time. He wondered if this was all worth it. But he went to kicking camps in the offseason and returned for a second year because it was the only way he could get where he wanted to go.
Matsuzawa earned the starting job in his second season and hit a 50-yard, game-winning field goal to beat Louisburg. He was now making friends and improving his English, acing his English classes but also writing down words his coaches or teammates said that he didn’t understand to look up later.
“We had an accepting group, and guys helped each other out on that team,” Egger said. “It was unique because you don’t typically see that in junior college.”
Matsuzawa graduated in 1 1/2 years, hoping he could get to Division I football for the spring, but interest was minimal. Without any offers, he went back to Japan in January 2023, unsure whether his football career had just ended.
But in the ensuing weeks and months, FBS schools started reaching out. Nevada offered a roster spot. At Hawaii, Sheffield saw a big kicker with a big leg. He started texting Matsuzawa, putting every message through Google Translate.
“He called me and texted me every day, showed me love and what he could do for me as a coach,” Matsuzawa said. “That moved me.”
Matsuzawa had been to Hawaii on vacation but didn’t know the Rainbow Warriors had a notable football team, thinking he had to play on the mainland. He realized this could be a perfect spot, far closer to his home than anywhere else, with plenty of Japanese food nearby. That was harder to find in Ohio.
But he was still a walk-on player, meaning he had to pay his own way. The financial cost of Matsuzawa’s football dream over the years was difficult. He cut his own hair at Hocking to save money. Sheffield said Matsuzawa still doesn’t have a bed frame or a TV stand. As an international student, name, image and likeness opportunities are strictly limited, even after his newfound fame. During this journey, his parents downsized their home to help pay for things. His mother also went through a cancer scare last year.
“They sacrificed a lot (for me) to go to college,” he said.
While redshirting his first year at Hawaii, Matsuzawa missed a lot of kicks in practice. Sheffield didn’t see the same kicker he’d seen on film. After a few conversations, the coach figured out the root of Matsuzawa’s struggles was the team’s practice structure. He hadn’t gone through as much of the detailed routine work that takes place at the Division I level.
“I literally gave him a weekend off from football,” Sheffield said. “He came back, and what the whole world saw (against Stanford) is what he’s been for the last two years.”
After Hawaii starting kicker Matthew Shipley transferred to Arkansas following the 2023 season, Matsuzawa was moved up into the starting job. He made 12 of 16 field goals last season, with a long of 41, and converted every extra point.
In early December, Sheffield went to head coach Timmy Chang and said Matsuzawa deserved to be put on scholarship, to take the burden off him and his parents. Chang called Matsuzawa into his office and delivered the news. The kicker broke down crying in a long hug.
“One of the biggest honors I’ve ever had,” Sheffield said.
Against Stanford, his first game as a scholarship player, Matsuzawa made all three field goal attempts, including the tying and winning kicks in the last two minutes.
Elite.
His parents were there in the stands in Hawaii to watch him. With that kick came the viral moment and the fame for the son they’d just wanted to find direction in his life.
“They didn’t understand everything, but they know a little bit that my name is spreading all over the country,” Matsuzawa said.
The media requests piled up. When Sheffield got a text that Matsuzawa would be on NBC Nightly News, he immediately went to find him in the weight room, going into “dad mode.” This is still a vulnerable player who speaks in somewhat broken English.
“I just want to protect him,” Sheffield said. “He’s such a good kid and I could see people trying to prey on him. But I tell you this, he immediately told me, ‘Coach, if it gets too much, I’ll let you know.’”
Matsuzawa’s hair looked great for that national TV interview. He didn’t have to cut it himself this time. Hawaii’s 29-year-old Australian punter Billy Gowers leaned into his barber skills to get it done.
A week later, Matsuzawa made both field goal attempts at Arizona, including a fire-drill scramble kick as the first half ended, calmly making the 41-yard kick as time expired.
“I’m so glad the world is getting to see what I see on a daily basis,” Sheffield said. “Nobody deserves the spotlight more than this kid right here.”
You know I need to go watch them play at least once this year. Not hard to get to the stadium and it would probably be fun to go.
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Jordyn Tyson had a pretty good game. That touchdown where he jumped over the defender and stayed inbounds was quite the effort. Ready to start conference play. There’s no one in the Big XII that is more talented than ASU, but it just takes one play (Not going for it last week at the goal line when MSU couldn’t stop me if I was running the ball) to ruin a game.
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16 minutes ago, Willfully Horn said:
I disagree. Tautologically, it’s one or the other.
I am not saying that they ain’t us. I am saying that that isn’t what Christ taught.
I am not going to group myself with people taking the words of someone that was peaceful and instead using them as a form of hatred. These people know as much about peace and loving your neighbor as aggy does about football championships in the last 8 plus decades.
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@Sbbruin So, um, the Dodgers got a shot at the repeat?
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1 minute ago, Biff Tannen said:
I literally have not watched cnn since the election. Not once. It’s been nice.
The rare times I look for news it's the BBC or Guardian. If I want to sometimes read a story where TFG is being made fun of it will be Drudge because those two do not like each other, at all. Never would have thought that back in 2016.
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31 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:
Gosh. Some of us might like the luxury of being characterized as vermin/invaders to be exterminated because of our opinions, instead of the right wing approach of hating us just for what race/ethnicity we were born into, where folks following the regime’s urging kill us in El Paso, buffalo, etc.
Imagine that. Killed for his opinions? That’s shitty. Killed because his opinions weren’t cruel and white supremacist ENOUGH? Now, THAT’S 2025 America.I don't condone violence. I have read enough history to know violence is not the answer. However, Kirk's own words came back on him. He messed around and, this is going to be shocking, he found out.
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7 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:
Unreal to see an AF2 transport with a military honor guard. The complete collapse of “service to country” into “service to MAGA.”
Most vet funerals do not get the full guard, it’s usually just two service members to fold the flag. And watching the full VIP transport: there used to be an office in the State Department to assist family members with the unreal awfulness of the death of a government employee in service overseas. Repatriation of remains, effects, household, paperwork, autopsies. It was closed and everyone fired in July.
I was really wondering whether he had lived long enough to earn a spot on the grave pissing tour. What you just posted put him on there.
If you haven’t made plans to vacate this 3rd world tire fire of a country start looking into it.
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4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:
He also spews a whole lot of bullshit. He does a more rational way than the usual TP or Charlie Kirk show, but its still bullshit.
Much like his hero, TFG, he was a grifter. He told lies, blatantly lived in an alternate reality and worked to persuade people to join his warped and racist view of the world around him. These are not admirable traits and I hope he's burning in hell for the rest of eternity for the person he was for the entirety of his adult life.
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14 hours ago, Macklemore said:
Fuck you and your cabal for negging me for posting NEWS in a Daily Texan thread about the Yankees honoring Charlie Kirk. Charlie was willing to debate his positions and by all accounts was an incredibly kind person. The drivel you posted belongs in the CR cesspool, not in a news thread about the assassination. Daily Texan has gone downhill by the same posters who ruined the CR.
An incredibly kind person Charlie Kirk was not. Not even close. You don’t get to put the 95 percent of his words that were hateful rhetoric, as well as acts on his part that helped cause January 6th among other things, away in a box and talk about what a great person he was. He’s in the dustbin of history where he belongs.
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13 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:
So... we're pretty confident he is still on the planet and that is about it.
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2 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:
"Never let a crisis go to waste'
- Rahm Emanuel
- Winston Churchill
- Machiavelli probably
- Some random ass Assyrian that found he had better weapons than his neighbor
In her case I’d say “Never let a chance to say something awful and absorb as much attention as possible go to waste.”
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2 minutes ago, C-Man said:
Anyone feeling the least bit of sorrow for her should really rethink the choices they’ve made in life that has lead them to feel sympathy for a soulless monster.
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5 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:
I’m here on the big island too. I’ve been able to mostly disconnect and no worry about the stuff on the mainland for a few days at least.
Did a 6:30am canoe paddle this morning and took part in a Hawaiian tradition of lifting up the sun and being thankful for the new day. We could all do with a disconnect to refocus on what’s important.
Aww man I am glad to read this and that you are having such a good time. I hope you continue to rest and regenerate yourself in a positive way while you’re out here. @Hank_Hill was right when he told me last year that being here was far enough away from the craziness of the mainland that you could live normally. Enjoy the Big Island and post plenty more pictures up of your adventures while you are here!
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15 minutes ago, Hermanator said:
Got damn if I cant leave the country I need to find a way to get my family to Hawaii. Loved it there, and though there are problems, the vibe is so much different and cooler than the mainland right now.
Completely different. I was able to spend the day reading and fishing at Kailua. People just randomly stopped walking on the beach to talk about fishing. Being a full continent’s worth of miles away from the mainland is a nice feature of being here. @Orale can probably speak more to that since he has been here for several years. Hawai’i is the last place I will ever live in America before heading away at the end of next year. If you have the ability to do so make this place your home for a little while at least. It has definitely been amazing to reconnect so much with nature and the ocean here.
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12 minutes ago, henrygandorf said:
does this really look like the type of guy who can hunt two different suspects at once?
Those are the eyes of a crazy person and he’s from Long Island. You never unleash crazy Long Islanders on the rest of the country.
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12 minutes ago, Macanudo said:
Dont call it a comeback. Racism and misogyny have been here for years.
Exactly. Just all out in the storefront window again for everyone to see.
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29 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:
Do you have even the slightest knowledge of how broken your own brain is? God damn, dude. Go get some help.
They do this for attention. You know this Jimmy. There is nothing that you can say that will get a reaction that is rooted in reality. You just let these folks go on living in their made up construct and move on. Putting people like that on ignore makes this place easier to read.
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- Popular Post
All I have to offer Kirk and his family are thoughts. No more no less. I’ll save the prayers for people who didn’t live their life as a hateful and racist Christian nationalist.
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10 hours ago, Sbbruin said:
And as long as they receive adequate supply, why would they ever go back to the US market?
They’ll say Obrigado and maybe get some Pao de queijo thrown in as a goodwill gesture.
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Depression, OCD, and whatever else ails you between the ears
in Can You Help Me With This?
Posted
I try to do this every year and do something nice for someone else on my birthday . This year I got something for everyone at work today. Getting gifts was cool as a kid, but now it’s even more fun to give to others on this day. I got my boss, who I fish with when we have time to, a new rod. He needed a better one so I brought it in and he asked me where I was going fishing and I said “I’m not. It’s yours.” He’s a great guy originally from East LA who has seen more than most in hs 52 years. Everyone else got stuff that I either thought they could use or some of them some Bath and Body Works stuff. My boss went and got me a lei to wear for the day which was cool.
The best part is we have a cook that is out on a strict probation through 2029. He walks to the front and our GM starts talking about the fishing pole I guess and “Shorty” says it’s his birthday tomorrow. A guest hears this and pulls out a 50 to give to him. It was his first birthday not in prison in seven years. So glad for him. That same guest tried to give me money. I tried to give it back and told him to just do something g the next d for someone and he says “I’m doing it right now.” Kindness can be contagious.
Long story short just do something nice for others every chance you get.