Shopping with Ann

[der meister 2,966]

There is, of course, something to be said about sample sizes, but it still seems noteworthy to examine rookie defenseman Ryuji Sakamoto's performance across the Toronto Legion's series loss to the Calgary Wranglers in three straight games. In those three games, Sakamoto notched a pair of assists, 8 blocked shots, and 12 hits and looked increasingly comfortable in each game, despite the lack of team success. Is it possible to extrapolate and project next season's performance based on these three games? Probably not, but it's fun to imagine Sakamoto registering 192 blocked shots and 288 hits next season.

 

As for Sakamoto himself, having his friend Ann Takamaki visiting seemed to take some of the sting out of the victory, although it's unclear if their relationship is strictly platonic or not. Ms. Takamaki has been sleeping in my bedroom for the past two weeks while I made myself familiar with the living room sofa. I'm a rather light sleeper, but only once did I wake up to any sounds at night, and that was of Ryuji stumbling toward the bathroom in the middle of the night. While the playoffs were still underway, Sakamoto was gone most of the day to practices, video sessions, and the gym. Typically I'd spend a fair amount of that time at the rink, researching statistics, making observations of the team on the ice, and potentially hobnobbing with some of my colleagues. Ms. Takamaki attended several of the practices, however, and I spent that time explaining the drills, the intricacies of the game, and so on. Eventually, we fell into an easy silence, which was eventually broken by her asking my opinion of young Sakamoto.

 

"To be honest," I answered carefully, "he presents as someone with a chip on his shoulder, and he does have one, but underneath it all, he's an enthusiastic kid with a good heart. Perhaps," I added with a grin, "not the most brilliant person I've spent time with, but he has a charm and energy level that is magnetic." Ms. Takamaki giggled at my diplomatic answer.

 

For the following practices, however, she decided that she'd rather not attend, as there wasn't much to see or do, and instead asked me if I could show her around the city. Naturally, I took her to PATH, the vast underground mall in the heart of the city of Toronto. Seeing her eyes bulge at the sheer scope of the place was worth the trip. After an hour or two of popping in and out of stores, she grew tired, or perhaps overwhelmed, and headed toward one of the many eateries inside the mall.

 

"So, uh, how good is Ryuji at ice hockey, anyway?" she asked, sounding uncertain. "Like I know he moved a few times to different countries, but is that because he was too good to play there, or not good enough?"

 

I smiled and began to recount our various adventures, of the quantity of Sakamoto t-shirts sold in Mexico City and in Istanbul, of Sakamoto's desire to try to eat at every Japanese restaurant in Turkey, of the pressure he put on himself to perform to the best of his level, of the meetings with teams leading up to the VHL draft. "He's never going to be an offensive threat," I concluded, and I swear I heard her murmur something under her breath about him almost always being offensive, "but he's got a lot of drive to be the best he can be, and that's taken him pretty far, and will take him even farther. I guarantee it."

 

 

The PATH to success. Or at least to a girl's heart.

[Garsh 1,100]

0/10 Ann didn't ask for any sweets which is just unrealistic imo.

 

JK , I enjoy reading your media spots about Ryuji.

[der meister 2,966]

28 minutes ago, Garsh said:

0/10 Ann didn't ask for any sweets which is just unrealistic imo.

 

JK , I enjoy reading your media spots about Ryuji.

 

We haven't left yet!