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NZ Herald
14-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Napier teen homicide: Kaea Karauria's father's plea for information on ‘who stabbed my son'
The head of the 20-strong police team investigating the killing has made several appeals for information, but as yet no one has been arrested or charged. Kaea's father, Ren Karauria, has also asked for anyone who knows what happened to contact him directly. 'I want to know any info about who stabbed my son. Pm me,' Ren has posted online. Others close to Kaea have also urged people who were at the 18th birthday party and witnessed the altercation to 'step forward' with information. Kaea was reunited with his family on Wednesday morning after his body had been taken to Palmerston North Hospital for an autopsy. His immediate family had a karakaia starting at 3pm. The doors to the family home are to be opened at 6pm 'for the masses' to start paying their respects. A family post online told attendees they would be 'asked to leave' if anyone was heard talking about the police investigation or the events leading to Kaea's death. Kaea's tangi will be held on Saturday. Full details about the funeral will be released on Thursday. Meanwhile, Napier Boys' High School has urged students or staff struggling with Kaea's tragic death to use the assistance available to them. 'We encourage any students or staff needing support to reach out to our guidance counsellors, deans, and trusted staff,' a message to the school community released by 'The Team at Napier Boys' High School' read. 'We are here to help you navigate this difficult time.' The message said 'our hearts at Napier Boys' High School remain with the whānau and friends of Kaea Karauria, whose passing has deeply saddened our community. 'We continue to offer our full support to all those who are grieving.' The school said that in the days after Kaea's death, it had 'heard from so many whose lives were touched' by the teen. 'A teacher shared, 'His passion for sport was like a superpower. Sport lit him up from the inside,' particularly evident in his excitement to represent NBHS in the U15s team last year. He embraced the opportunity to play alongside old friends and prove his talent. 'Beyond the sports field, Kaea was also a valued presence academically, described as 'quiet, respectful, and full of creativity and skill'. These glimpses into his passions highlight the well-rounded young man he was.' Kaea was found critically injured when police responded to a 111 call about a 'disorder event' in Onekawa about 3.10am on Sunday. He died at the scene despite the best efforts of ambulance crews. Another teenage boy was later found at another address with serious injuries. He was taken to hospital but later discharged. Advertise with NZME. As part of the investigation, police cordoned off two properties on Alexander Ave – one a driveway where plastic cones were placed alongside visible blood drops – and another on Dinwiddie Ave. Detective Inspector Martin James, Eastern district manager criminal investigations, has said police appreciated the information they had received so far; including anonymously and via an online portal set up for videos and photos of the altercation. 'We are speaking with a number of people as part of the investigation, but we urgently want to hear from anyone who was in the area, or anyone who took photos or video of the altercation on Dinwiddie Ave,' he said. 'A number of investigators are working to determine what occurred and why, and we urge anyone who can assist our inquiries to contact us as soon as possible.' >> Anyone with information is asked to make a report online or by calling 105, using the reference number 250511/1317. Information can also be provided anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
USA Today
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Lee Corso exiting ESPN 'College GameDay' stage and taking soul of college football with him
Lee Corso exiting ESPN 'College GameDay' stage and taking soul of college football with him Show Caption Hide Caption US LBM Coaches Poll: Ohio State claims top spot after national title run See where your team landed in the final US LBM Coaches Poll ranking of the year. Sports Pulse The grandfather of the game is walking away, which is sort of apropos in these vapid and vacuous times. It's not your grandfather's college football anymore, and now the old guy made it official by exiting the building. Lee Corso, the unintended glorious gift to America's obsession with televised football, will retire from ESPN's "College GameDay" after the first week of the 2025 season. Maybe we can get him to turn off the lights on the way out, too. Am I the only one who sees this surreal irony? While social media is flush with memories of Corso days gone by, let's not undersell the obvious final connection of out with the old and in with the new. Maybe it's just a coincidence that the sport's ambassador is leaving after the first week of a season where players are officially paid to play, earning a shared percentage of media rights revenue. Back when Corso made Thursday Night football electric – literally, electric – and long after the NFL commandeered the night, the idea of pay for play was the NCAA's mortal sin. Players receive plenty with a scholarship and room and board, thank you. And if they're lucky, they'll get a few, wink-wink, hundred dollar handshakes along the way. There was a time two decades ago – I'm not making this up – when Steve Spurrier offered up the idea of coaches pooling together some extra cash to give players money. You know, walking around cash. He was so adamant about it, he threatened to release the names of the coaches in the SEC who refused to pay their part. NOT SO FAST: How Lee Corso went from coach to beloved broadcaster Now we have a marginally successful quarterback holding up a storied program days before the opening of something called the 'transfer portal.' Now it's a player's right to play when and where he wants, and for how much money he can get on the open market. And anyone who tries to stop them will get a friendly subpoena from somewhere in the United States judicial system, where every attorney is welcome to argue any case they wish. It wasn't that long ago where you signed with a program, and played with that program — and if you didn't, and left for another school, you were the outlier who couldn't cut it. And you better believe if you can't make it there, what in the world makes you think you can make it here? The whole, 'Those who stay will be champions,' thing. You know, developing productive, valuable adults. But when the NCAA opened the doors on free agency in 2021, The Team, The Team, The Team became the teams, the contracts, the leverage. This beautiful symphony of a sport has become the land of independent contractors — even in the best of times. Ohio State doesn't win the national title last season without four critical free agent (because that's what it is, people) signings: Will Howard, Ouinshon Judkins, Seth McLaughlin and Caleb Downs. One played lights out in the postseason, one led the team in rushing and scored three touchdowns in the national title game, one was an All-American lineman, and the other the most complete defensive player in the nation. Other than that, how did Ohio State lose to Michigan? Again. Player empowerment has drastically changed the landscape of the game, leaving university presidents and administrators and coaches scrambling to respond to an extinction event of their own making. Not of the game itself, but of the game they knew and loved. Of the game that grew from a regional sport to a national behemoth with the rocket engine of cable giant ESPN, and frankly, the gregarious yet gracious personality of Corso. The laughter and the tears. The unintended mishaps and the unforgettable slips. And now, with the sport hurtling through an uncontrollable metamorphosis, Corso exits and a carnival barker takes center stage. How fitting. From your lovable grandfather, to crazy cousin Pat McAfee trying to give away hundreds of thousands of his dollars every single week. Because he can. Hey, why shouldn't everyone get in on the money grab? If the Power Four conference schools are making more than $7 billion annually through media rights deals and revenue generation, and players will now be paid from a salary pool of at least $20-23 million, why not throw some cash at the fans? The loyal, unwavering fans who for decades have bought tickets and apparel, and spent uncontrollably on cable television, and then on streaming and premium apps — because those precious four months of the season come and go so quickly, they just can't get enough of it. Fall Saturdays were (and to some, still are) a religious right of passage. So yeah, excuse them if they feel a little melancholy about their grandfather saying goodbye. They've watched the game they love grow into a mini version of the NFL, full of contracts and salary caps and now holdouts. The only difference is there isn't some dork a the top of the food chain making $40 million annually to act as the purveyor of all things — when he's really just a mouthpiece for 32 billionaires. I'd give a billion to have Corso forever. Instead, it won't cost a penny to have him flip off the lights when he leaves. Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
