This is no Hawaiian vacation

Last we saw of Wheaton North graduate Akim Millington he was on television, playing offensive tackle for the University of Illinois in the Rose Bowl.

Reached Monday at the JW Marriott-Ihilani Resort on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, he was relaxing, perfect weather just outside his hotel room, kicking back like the stingrays he saw basking in the warm, blue waters.

No doubt about it, though, Millington's trip to play in the Hula Bowl in Honolulu on Saturday is no vacation.

"It's purely a business trip," said the 6-foot-4, 304-pound lineman, who has aspirations of playing in the National Football League.

So does Corey McKeon, Nebraska's three-year starting linebacker also selected to play in the Hula Bowl.

The 6-1, 230-pound former Naperville North all-stater joins Millington on the East squad.

"He was excited," said Corey's father, Naperville North football coach Larry McKeon, who with wife Sandy will make their first trip to Hawaii.

"Number one, to go to Honolulu," said coach McKeon, who missed his son's last game at Nebraska, just a tad busy directing the Huskies to the Class 8A state football title Nov. 24.

"Number two, I think any kid feels honored to play in an all-star game whether it's the Senior Bowl, the East-West Game or the Hula Bowl."

Number three, these all-star showcases provide pro scouts more looks at some of the nation's top players.

Both Millington and McKeon have hired agents, and both players are hoping the Hula Bowl opens the door to another pivotal opportunity -- nabbing one of the 300-plus invitations to the NFL Scouting Combine Feb. 20-26 in Indianapolis.

McKeon was able to leave school a week early in December to work out in New Jersey with his eye toward the Combine. Millington leaves for a similar stint in Atlanta after the Hula Bowl.

McKeon enjoyed a smooth collegiate career, finishing as Nebraska's No. 13 all-time tackler with 240 as a three-year starter. Millington's road to the Hula Bowl was rockier.

Along with a shoulder injury that needed off-season mending, there were the publicized differences with the Oklahoma staff that led the Wheaton North all-stater to leave school and sit out the 2005 season before becoming a starter at Illinois.

From that standpoint the mahi mahi certainly tastes sweet.

"To see where I'm at -- in Hawaii, the Hula Bowl, a really good hotel -- it's just amazing," Millington said.

"If somebody told me when I was in Oklahoma working construction I'd be in Hawaii for the Hula Bowl, I'd say they're crazy."

They will rock you

Daily Herald correspondent Kevin McGavin knows his rock and roll. He was tickled when at a recent St. Francis basketball game the Spartans pep band cranked out tunes you don't hear every game.

The sharp-eared McGavin particularly was impressed with the "electrified" band's version of "The Ocean," a somewhat obscure Led Zeppelin number.

He also enjoyed the Spartans unit play Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" and Nirvana's "Come as You Are."

"It was a nice digression -- so to speak -- from your typical pep band," McGavin reported.

Maybe they take requests. Here's one: "Free Bird"!

How sweet it is

Running back Mike Oratowski of Glenbard South and linebacker Jared Culver of Downers Grove South, each an Illinois Football Coaches all-state pick in 2007, have been nominated as Old Spice Red Zone players of the year.

Now in their seventh year, the Old Spice awards celebrate leadership, performance and desire. Both Culver and Oratowski are eligible to be among the 50 national players of the year or -- the big cheese -- player of the year.

That'll be announced in February. Tim Tebow, the recent Heisman Trophy winner from Florida, was the 2004 overall Old Spice winner.

Oratowski scored 6 touchdowns in a game this season. Culver was a four-year starter, nearly unheard of.

If you attend a Downers South home basketball game you'll see Culver among the male cheerleaders. He's easy to spot, the one who looks like he could squash you like a bug.

It takes a village

As we've detailed previously, Driscoll assistant football coach Mike Loconsole passed away Nov. 7, 2007, following a three-year ordeal with mantle cell lymphoma.

His pals at the Koenig & Strey Glen Ellyn real estate office -- where Loconsole worked when he wasn't devising offensive schemes -- heard such an outpouring of concern for "Loci's" family from area real estate agents that they established a fund in his honor.

"I think that Loci would be happy to know his peers in our real estate community have so honored him," stated his real estate partner, John Mordente, in a release.

The fund will help provide for his wife, Maripat, and daughters Kim and Jennifer, Glenbard South students.

Those interested may simply write a check payable to the Michael Loconsole Family Scholarship Fund and drop it off at the drive-through of either the Glen Ellyn Bank & Trust, 500 Roosevelt Road; or the Wheaton Bank & Trust Company, 211 S. Wheaton Ave.

Around the time of Loconsole's death, a flyer attached to the Driscoll playoff football program told of another Highlander in peril.

It concerned Dr. Jay Miller, a three-sport athlete from the Class of '87, who developed bile duct cancer in 2003. The disease went into remission, but in January 2007 he developed liver disease.

Good news! After waiting out a donation, Miller had successful liver transplant surgery on Dec. 29 at UCLA.

Bad news! He's got about $100,000 in uncovered medical bills.

To defray those expenses the Miller family has developed a fundraising campaign with the National Transplant Assistance Fund. To help the cause or learn more, go to www.transplantfund.org.