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2006.1.16 “Akira’s presence”
J Sports Broadcasting Ltd. Producer, Yasuyuki Watanabe |
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| In my last column, I mentioned about “something peculiar only to the top athletes of the world”, and I recently remembered an episode which reconfirmed this thought so I would like to share it with you. |
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This one day, in order to answer to my 5 year old son’s “dad, what kind of job are you doing?” question, I was trying to explain the production of a television program by using real material. Out of all the pictures of various sports, including that of motor sports, shown on the TV screen, he showed great interest in the alpine ski video. I was sure he liked racing cars…
I asked him why he was attracted and he answered “it’s cool”. After that, he operated the video player by himself and literally “concentrated on watching the ski race”. |
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A few days later, my son pointed out “this guy here, there’s something really cool about him”.
I took a look at the screen and there was Giorgio Rocca. I asked him why, and his reply was unidentifiable. The video and his explanation didn’t match.
Later I found out that he wasn’t talking about Rocca at all, and asked him who he was talking about by replaying the video. He cried out “this guy!”
I don’t know how to say this, but well, there he was, the “Akira Sasaki”! |
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“Why is he cool?” I asked my son.
He slanted his body and said “his hand is touching the ground when he makes the turn on this side (left turn)”.
Furthermore, he went on talking about how “his hat (helmet) and his clothes (racing suit) are also cool” and added “he’s fast too”. He was over excited with this athlete! |
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| Ever since the Olympics in Athens, my son had interest in national flags and gold medals but now he is a bit Akira Sasaki fan and he goes to kindergarten everyday with “Akira 100$” sticker (found on the top page) on his bag.
A 5 year old with only a one time skiing experience thought “Akira’s left turn was fabulous”.
This fact is the “what” that attracts the watchers.
It can’t just be explained by the word “attractive”, but there must preside that certain “something”.
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