Stephen Tsai: Making the right decision can have life-altering consequences

It’s that time of the year to put on the Joe Klecko T-shirt, keep away the grandkids and pets, and then cuss at the television when the New York Jets’ draft picks are announced.

It’s also a reminder that life is about choices, whether they are right, benign or, like the Jets’ selections, palm-slap-to-the-forehead bizarre.

Officials of NFL teams study videos, conduct workouts and interviews, measure and set up tests to determine the immeasurables. But drafting is part poker (disguise your true intentions), part dating app (seeking player and team compatibility), part luck. The Patriots were fortunate to take quarterback Tom Brady in the sixth round; the Jets not-so-much selecting tight end Kyle Brady in the first round. Sometimes you get the Brady Bunch, sometimes you get Sam the Butcher.

We all face choices in life. Most are simple. Fish or steak at the wedding reception? Aisle or window seat? Standing behind three people at the Longs line or behind one person with a handful of coupons?

And then there are decisions that have a wide impact. In 1992, workers broke ground on an on-campus arena on the University of Hawaii’s lower campus. One particular lawmaker favored a 4,000-seat arena. Athletic director Stan Sheriff and men’s basketball coach Riley Wallace argued for a 12,000-seat facility that could be cordoned to 10,000. Prominent attorney Jeff Portnoy testified about the need for an arena with at least 10,000 seats, delivering his take on the Field of Dreams line: “If you build it, (the UH fans) will come.” Modeled after Baylor’s Meyer Arena, what was then known as the Special Events Center opened on Oct. 1, 1994, with a seating capacity of 10,300. Until his UH retirement in 2007, Wallace mercilessly chided the government official who initially favored a smaller capacity.

Also in 1992, Honolulu City Councilwoman Rene Mansho changed her yea to nay, killing a bill by a 5-4 vote that would have authorized a 0.5% general excise tax surcharge on Oahu to provide local funding for a rail system.

In a 2011 State of the State address, Gov. Neil Abercrombie chose to pause spending on repairs on Aloha Stadium while seeking a “definitive decision on Aloha Stadium and any future stadium we might build.”

Did Mansho and Abercrombie make the right choices? The verdict is still pending.

In sports, choices can go either way.

Late in Super Bowl XXIII, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana decided not to throw to All-Pro wideout Jerry Rice. Instead, Montana connected with John Taylor for the decisive touchdown with 34 seconds left. Late in Super Bowl XLVI, running back gained 102 yards, the last 4 advancing the to the ’ 1 with under a minute to play. Instead of calling for another Lynch run, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll opted to pass. ’s throw was intercepted at the goal line.