As a youth growing up in Mo'ili'ili, I had read about or heard of athletes and coaches in the newspapers, radio and TV.

Little did I know that someday I would interview these people — yes, even the former athletes I had read about some 40 years ago — later in life as a reporter for the defunct monthly Honolulu Sporting News, as sports editor of the folded weekly Sun Press, and as a reporter for the to-be-departed Honolulu Advertiser.

I often wondered how different my life would have been had I not grown up a 10-minute walk from Honolulu Stadium, where my affair with sports began.

I grew up a Hawaii Islanders fan and went to countless games. I would see the likes of Bill Kwon, Rod Ohira and the late Ferd Borsch at the games and read their accounts the next day. I thought, "Wow, what a gig. Watching and writing about baseball." What a thrill when I finally got to work with them. Ferd was the most knowledgeable baseball person I ever met.

When the summers ended, I spent the falls going to high school football games at the old stadium. I read of Hugh Yoshida, Larry Ginoza and Eddie Hamada, to name a few. Their stories weren't just about winning, but how they developed their players to become productive citizens. What a privilege it would be for me to meet these men because of my job.

I have done numerous stories on high school athletes. Some were fortunate to become professionals in their sports. But I am just as thrilled when I learn of a former athlete who has turned pro in an everyday field. I would like to think that athletics played a role in getting them where they're at.

I have done stories on "name" athletes like Peyton Manning at the Pro Bowl. But all I thought of when talking to him was that I saw his dad, Archie, play in the 1971 Hula Bowl at Honolulu Stadium.

When I interviewed Tony Gwynn as coach of San Diego State in 2006, all I was thinking about was how much I (as a UH student) jeered him when he played for the Aztecs, especially during the 1980 season. Well, it wasn't so much him personally than the hated Aztecs as a whole. (That was a great baseball rivalry.)

The best part of this job was meeting the sports personalities. It was great to report the passion most of these people had in their involvement in athletics.

I thank Les Murakami for reviving baseball in my old neighborhood when the Islanders moved from Mo'ili'ili to Aloha Stadium in Halawa. What a vision he had for the youth of this state. After all, it is more realistic for a kid to play Division I baseball than to play professionally. He gave many boys an attainable goal. Some were even blessed to become pro players.

I can't single out a particular event or person as most memorable during my 20 years with The Advertiser. But there are two stories that take me back to my senior year at McKinley High, where my sportswriting career took shape with the Daily Pinion.

My very first story was of my former JV football coach taking over as varsity football coach several games into the season because of turmoil in the program. I wrote Mike Marques' obituary for this paper in September.

Later in the school year, I covered a JV baseball championship game between Radford and McKinley. I saw sophomore lefthanded pitcher Peter Kendrick beat the Tigers on a blustery day in 1977.

Four years later — I'm a senior at UH — this same kid beats the Rainbows, pitching a seven- and nine-inning complete games in a doubleheader to help despised Brigham Young win the Western Athletic Conference title. Yeah, two games in the same day. You will never see such a feat again.

You also won't see this paper again.

I want to wish well my four former colleagues who will continue with the merged newspaper. Ferd Lewis, Ann Miller, Stephen Tsai and Curtis Murayama will definitely make the sports section a better one. This is an incredibly talented group.

I wish the best for my former colleagues who were not picked up by the merged paper. I know they will succeed in their new endeavors.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at hawaiisportsreports@gmail.com.