The Blessings of Lono; From the Islands to the Carolina Shore
Keith Murphy
Thursday April 10, 2003
Gabe Amey went to St. Louis High School in Honolulu before heading off to Menlo College and, eventually, the Macon Knights. While at Macon his blazing speed and flair for the game made him a crowd favorite and earned him the nickname “the Flying’ Hawaiian.” Amey is now making a name for himself in the AFL as a member of the Carolina Cobras.
Randyn Akiona was a high school teammate of Amey. After four years at the University of Montana, he followed Amey’s path to Macon where, in his debut game, he picked up a fumble and ran it in for the Knight’s final touchdown in their win over Green Bay. However, when Akiona showed up on the field Saturday night wearing Amey’s old number eight jersey, a number of fans called him: “Mini Me.” To which Akiona replied, “’Mini Me,’ huh? That’s all right. I’m going to step up to the bat and hit a few home runs. Ooh, wait, wrong sport. I mean score some touchdowns like tonight. It’s going to be a challenge. Especially filling in for a guy they call ‘the Flyin’ Hawaiian.’ So, if I’m ‘Mini Me’ I can soon be called ‘Hawaii Five-Oh.’ ”
Knights’ Offensive Coordinator, Tres Sullivan, has now coached both Amey and Akiona and offers this comparison. “Physically they are almost the same kind of player. Both are great route runners and play the game with a lot of passion. You don’t find a lot of guys like that and it is one thing you just can’t teach. I think they are out of the same mold. When I had Gabe, he was obviously a little more polished than Randyn because of his arena experience. Gabe had six games under his belt and he was not quite as wide-eyed as Randyn was in his first game. I think that he’s just going to get better. The biggest difference between those two is their experience in the arena game and I think that Randyn will get better as he gets a few more games under his belt. I can see him at the point where Gabe is at. I think if he follows the same path Gabe did he’ll be able to move up.”
Amey took the opportunity last Saturday night to visit his old teammates and watch his protégé’s debut, “I think (Akiona) did a good job. Too bad he didn’t get more opportunities on the offense. For a first game, he did a good job. He made some plays on defense and scored a touchdown. I’m really proud of him.”
Akiona is obviously equally proud of Amey, which is evident in his choice of jersey number. “I thought number eight would be a good idea because it has good karma the past two years. And it took (Amey) to the Carolina Cobras.”
As to whether Akiona will be able to fill that jersey, Amey says, “I think he might. He needs a little more game-time experience and a little more confidence and I think he’ll do a great job.”
Even while Knights’ fans are learning to pronounce Randyn’s name, Macon’s Coliseum remains Hale’o Lono, the house of Lono.
Dr. Murphy has nearly 20 years of media experience ranging from radio to the Internet. He has served as webmaster for two AF2 teams and the football team at Fort Valley State University. He is a professor at FVSU and directs www.bunniwerks.org, a non-profit rabbit rescue organization. He has been commissioned as a Kentucky Colonel. Murphy is also serving as a first party editor of af2 stories for ArenaFfan. For more information about Dr. Murphy see: www.keithmurphy.info
