Thursday, February 14, 2002
Apolo Ohno...the hottest name in this year's Winter Olympics for the US, looked on to possibly win *four* gold medals. He finished second today in the preliminaries, which means he'll be in the finals and a step closer to the gold...
I mention him here because he's no doubt the most famous person I've personally ever known thus far in my life. I'll admit, I'm kinda awestruck 'cause it's still sinking in that Apolo, a guy who's now world reknowned, is the same guy I hung out with three summers ago in 1999. Two of my cousins up in Federal Way, Washington introduced me to him one day, telling me that he was in the Nagano Olympics in 1998. I didn't really pay attention to those Olympics, so at the time I didn't realize he was a favorite back then to win a gold, but ended up not fulfilling expectations mainly because of a lack of commitment to training.
He seemed like a real chill, laid back guy, and I remember being fascinated by his Olympic experience. I asked him a buncha questions about his experience, and he said that he really underachieved in 1998 because he was overweight and out of shape. At the time, he said he would start training real soon for the next Winter Olympics and would have to "lay off Cokes and Mickey D's." He was a real coo guy to hang around, and really didn't have an aura of pretentiousness seem to surround such high caliber athletes. He was just a regular person who just happened to have a world class talent in short-track speedskating. I thought of him as just a regular kid just like I was, and I absolutely had no idea that he would have the kind of impact he's having now on the US and its aspirations for gold, essentially being its spokesperson and poster-boy...
I had a chance to witness his atleticism first-hand when he, my brother Mike, cousin Rod and myself played three games of "21" and a couple of games of "2 on 2" on an outdoor basketball court up in Renton. He's about the same height as I am [5'7"], but I remember his legs being real muscular. The way he maneuvered around the court made it appear that he was skating, even though he didn't have any skates on. Playing defense on him was a little tricky because he generated so much power from his legs; I'd try to lunge for the rock, and he'd glide the other way with the aid of his leg power and skater specific coordination. He couldn't really shoot that well, which canceled out his ability to effectively squelch my pressure defense. I won at least one of those games of "21," possibly two, but I do remember him not winning any of 'em. =] It's funny 'cause right now I have this weird sense of accomplishment that I defeated "Mista Sure Gold" Apolo Ohno...heh, heh...
...but that's all good though. What counts is that he's winning in a venue where it *really* matters; in the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. I wish brutha Apolo luck in cleaning up the short-track speedskating gold for the US...
I mention him here because he's no doubt the most famous person I've personally ever known thus far in my life. I'll admit, I'm kinda awestruck 'cause it's still sinking in that Apolo, a guy who's now world reknowned, is the same guy I hung out with three summers ago in 1999. Two of my cousins up in Federal Way, Washington introduced me to him one day, telling me that he was in the Nagano Olympics in 1998. I didn't really pay attention to those Olympics, so at the time I didn't realize he was a favorite back then to win a gold, but ended up not fulfilling expectations mainly because of a lack of commitment to training.
He seemed like a real chill, laid back guy, and I remember being fascinated by his Olympic experience. I asked him a buncha questions about his experience, and he said that he really underachieved in 1998 because he was overweight and out of shape. At the time, he said he would start training real soon for the next Winter Olympics and would have to "lay off Cokes and Mickey D's." He was a real coo guy to hang around, and really didn't have an aura of pretentiousness seem to surround such high caliber athletes. He was just a regular person who just happened to have a world class talent in short-track speedskating. I thought of him as just a regular kid just like I was, and I absolutely had no idea that he would have the kind of impact he's having now on the US and its aspirations for gold, essentially being its spokesperson and poster-boy...
I had a chance to witness his atleticism first-hand when he, my brother Mike, cousin Rod and myself played three games of "21" and a couple of games of "2 on 2" on an outdoor basketball court up in Renton. He's about the same height as I am [5'7"], but I remember his legs being real muscular. The way he maneuvered around the court made it appear that he was skating, even though he didn't have any skates on. Playing defense on him was a little tricky because he generated so much power from his legs; I'd try to lunge for the rock, and he'd glide the other way with the aid of his leg power and skater specific coordination. He couldn't really shoot that well, which canceled out his ability to effectively squelch my pressure defense. I won at least one of those games of "21," possibly two, but I do remember him not winning any of 'em. =] It's funny 'cause right now I have this weird sense of accomplishment that I defeated "Mista Sure Gold" Apolo Ohno...heh, heh...
...but that's all good though. What counts is that he's winning in a venue where it *really* matters; in the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. I wish brutha Apolo luck in cleaning up the short-track speedskating gold for the US...
