FAIL or Pass - Olympic athelete - Kasai (jump) - back to school

[Sapporo Guy]

At work (school) I got to see one of the iron horses of ski jumping. Noriaki Kasai

This guy is going on his 6th Olympic!

The kids were happy as hell to have a class off and I walked away disappointed and like WTF!

I got to stand around for half an hour to hear everybody else talk and got to hear the main coach of the jump team blab blab on about this guy (I was busy cracking my mouth about that I could read this on wikipedia ;-) ).

Finally, Mr. Kasai gets a bunch of flowers and cash gifts in ceremonial enevolopes (probably over $500) and then says he'll do his best to show us a great jump.

End ....

Afterwards he's answering the
local rags questions.

Nice enough guy but IMHO -- fail!
He graduated from from this school and so have others like the Mogal Queen Satoya.

I caught the ex-team coach during his interview and blurted out about having atheletes do more for schools and the idea of seminars or what not --- official comment: I was told that they can go to the "official ski schools" for that. Of course, I come back with but I really want to see
more athletes and more kinds with dreams -- official comment: we aren't considering that at the present.

I shook my head and replied, "maybe in the future" meaning I'll die before that happens :-(

I totally felt like my bubble was burst and that the kids got only a goof off period.

I wonder if I expected too much :-(

[Gogar]

Good lord I hope you're not the English teacher.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Good lord I hope you're not the English teacher.

Since he's a white guy teaching in Japan, I'd say it's a safe bet. Hahahah.

And yes, either he's begun to type like he's a beginning ESL student, or he's had too much Sake or Suntory. Actually, considering where he is, and when it is, it's entirely possible that part of his brain has frozen. It's damn cold in Sapporo.

Just a side note. I went to the Saporro Snow Festival in 84. As part of our tour, they also took us to the ski jump that was used in the winter Olympics when they were held in Sapporo.

For anyone old enough to remember ABC's "Wide World of Sports" that had the "agony of defeat" in the intro that showed the guy cartwheeling like a rag doll off of the side of a ski jump. That ski jump is in Sapporo Japan.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by Gogar

Good lord I hope you're not the English teacher.

[M.D. Holloway]

That guy that cartwheeled was Vinko Bogataj - the reason I know that? While in HS, I lost a Trivial Pursuit Championship to that sports question. If I got that, things may have been different. I may have gone on to study Physics at MIT, or Film at UCLA, or Tobacco Studies at Duke...

[M.D. Holloway]

I don't think that was in Japan - I think it was in Germany...

[M.D. Holloway]

Check out the signage - Oberstdorf. No sign of Japanese anything. Isn't Oberstdorf in Germany?

[M.D. Holloway]

Ya, I'm trying to fret through an afternoon...sorry for the hi-jack...

[masraum]

Right you are. Also lucky that you've been able to access PP. I've been going through withdraw most of the day.