UH outfielder won't pass up Super Bowl

By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

ESPN has former NFL offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride as one of its analysts for Sunday's Super Bowl game between the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams.

The University of Hawai'i baseball team has its resident analyst in Kevin Gilbride. Unlike his father, he doesn't get paid. But it isn't as if Gilbride's views come out of right field. OK, so he is a right fielder, but he is one of two scholarship football players playing baseball; pitcher/first baseman Jeff Rhode is the other. Both are quarterbacks.

So The Advertiser asked the junior Gilbride, who happens to be a junior academically, for his thoughts on Sunday's game.

Gilbride said the Rams have the advantage because they have a lot of playmakers on offense. But he noted the Patriots have been on a great run. He was impressed that quarterback Drew Bledsoe was so effective in Sunday's AFC Championship victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, despite being relegated as a backup to Tom Brady, who left the game after a second-period ankle injury.

"He could recognize the blitz, which is not bad for not having played in a while," Gilbride said of Bledsoe. "That shows me he worked hard and was prepared."

Takes a quarterback to understand one.

Gilbride said the Patriots will probably struggle against the Rams' offense. He said he felt New England was able to contain the Steelers because they weren't as deep with big-play players.

"I think that was one thing that helped the Patriots," Gilbride said. "The Steelers don't have many playmakers. They only have (quarterback) Kordell Stewart. The Rams have a lot of weapons and they will be harder to defend."

And his views are impartial. Gilbride said he doesn't have a favorite NFL team. "It's always been whoever my dad's been with (in the NFL). I just root for football having good games and great plays."

Gilbride said when he does talk to his father, he wants to talk football, but his father wants to know how he is doing. Gilbride said he hasn't heard his father on ESPN radio yet, but did catch him a few times on NFL Tonight and ESPN News.

"I critique him," joked Gilbride. "I'll tell him if his jokes are lame or funny."

Although he is on a football scholarship, Gilbride said his focus now is on baseball. The left-handed hitting/throwing Gilbride might be platooned with the right-handed hitting Tim Montgomery. But Gilbride admits a longing for football.

"I definitely miss it," he sid. "There are a few things I miss. I miss driving the team down the field; being in the huddle and executing a long drive. I miss the mental aspect of it."

Gilbride said he wouldn't mind following in his father's drop-back steps. Not in sports media, but as a coach. It was one of the reasons he transferred from Brigham Young to Hawai'i. He wanted to play for a coach whom he could learn from to be a coach, if playing didn't pan out.

"I wanted someone I could learn from, use him as a mentor," Gilbride said. "I looked at Pitt with Walt Harris, South Carolina with Lou Holtz and here with Coach (June) Jones. I felt I could learn the most here with this type of offense with Coach Jones as the coach."

Coaching runs in the family. His uncle is UH offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh.

As for which team he will pull for in the Super Bowl?

"I want New England because I'm from up there," he said, "and I like underdogs."

Gilbride's coach, Mike Trapasso, made it clear at practice which team was his choice. Above the practice schedule, the St. Louis native wrote: "Go Rams."

"Even though we had the Cardinals (who moved to Arizona) when I was growing up, I've adopted them (the Rams)," Trapasso said.

Notes: Right-handed pitcher Chris George attended classes yesterday. He took a final exam Friday and arrived here the next day. When George passes his physical and meets NCAA compliance standards, he will be cleared to play. Coach Mike Trapasso said George could be available for the Florida State series. "He could come in for an inning here or there," he said. George, a transfer from Cypress (Calif.) Junior College, is projected to be a starter.