Jim Leahey "Voice of Hawaii's Home Teams"

Jim Charles "Kimo" Leahey (1942-2022), legendary sports broadcaster who had good humor and carisma. He was curious in nature as he gathered more info as he would help him have his well informed opinion on just about everything. He was known to be funny on TV but way funnier in person, because he had stories that were so very entertaining. Some would call him "The Mayor of Ewa Beach", some "The Voice of UH Sports", and some "Da Sports Uncle". 

Father, Chuck Leahey, was also a legendary sports broadcaster who was really good at calling games on the radio, he would go and recreate baseball games just from the stats, without actually being able to see the game. When he was getting stat reports he made the audiences have the feeling of seeming like they were there. He would do many of the Hawaii high school football games and then the Hawaiian Islanders baseball games. He also use to do the UH games at the old stadium (termite palace)... He would measure the distance when it was real close like cm would be "pepeiau". The audience would say that they could visualize the distance of each play as well as taste them.

His famous line when they had inches to go for a first down...

"The ball is on the 10 yard line and about a Manapau to go" -Chuck Leahey

University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, was where Jim was on the football team and went to college there. 

Chaminade 

Military: He served in the Navy

Waialua was where he was an intern before he had a chance to become a full fledged teacher. He was stern in teaching with his immense wealth of knowledge but yet he had a kind and compassionate heart for the "slow" learners. He used to live in the area of Waialua in early 1970s near the old plantation hospital and St Michaels Catholic Church.

Jim Leahey volunteered by umpiring Little League baseball games; chairing Don Murphy’s Coaches Against Cancer campaign; serving on the Hawaii High School Sports Hall of Honor selection committee from its inception; master of ceremonies for HMSA’s Kaimana Awards program, attending as MC at Athletic banquets, mentoring young sportswriters and sportscasters. He would do commercials to increase awareness of the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) and appeared as a guest in PBS’ “Insights”, Wesley Wilcox "Long Story Short".

Campbell High School (1970-1975) in ʻEwa Beach was where Jim would go off to run Homeroom, teach Social Studies, American Studies, Futuristics, and other courses for the school. He taught, advised, and inspired. Many students remember his style of teaching that brought as sense of "reality" to the classroom, Hawaii sensibilities to make it relatable, and he would chat with students to make sure it hit close to home. It has become a teaching style that his previous students say is a hallmark of the schools legends that should be replicated. Some students laugh as they remember being late for his class and saw a flying eraser coming their way with chalk powder all over it making a big poof of chalk dust.

“Change is always changing therefore it never changes.” -Jim Leahey

KHNL "The News Channel" in the 1990s after rebranding from KIKU-TV in the 1980s. Jim was a Sports Anchor and Reporter for the station. At the station he was known for his passionately sharp and clear delivery that seemed like he had almost a encyclopedic amount of knowledge of Hawai‘i sports — long before he became a household name with being the King of UH play-by-play. His tenure at KHNL was part of his broader evolution from a young broadcaster following in his father’s footsteps to a defining figure in local sports journalism. 

Jim Leahey's Sports Calabash: There was a segment called Jim Leahey's Sports Calabash (1985) where he would go on to talk to sports editors and other sports figures. The backdrop was designed by Michael Okuda.

K5 "The Home Team" (KFVE. 1984) — at this point he was already known for his great Play-by-Play's and was a Broadcaster for UH Sports (University of Hawaii). During this time is when he became an iconic voice of UH Rainbow Warrior Football, Basketball, and other sports.

Hawaii really has its own way to connect and that would show by who they would listen to. On occasions where there was a live telecasts using mainland announcers there was a mainland style to it and some people would grab their radios and turn up the same game being covered by Jim Leahey and turn down their televisions.  The difference was immediate as some people remember that almost half the interest of the game was how it was being communicated by the sports broadcasters.

"Hawaii WINS!!! Oh HOW SWEEET IT IS!!" - Jim Leahey

He had mentioned that he was a mentor for Elizabeth Santa Ana. There was one time where she was getting harassed by the popular girls at the time and she was crying outside his class. Jim would talk to her about finding worth in herself, to stand up, and to be strong.

Accolades: He is recognized by the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame, University of Hawaii's Circle of Honor (2016).