An Unexpected Change

[der meister 2,936]

The past few weeks have been chaotic for VHL defenseman Ryuji Sakamoto. Having seemingly grown bored of his life as a professional hockey player, he began doing odd jobs for a strange man who apparently lives in the back of a dive bar in the Redmond section of Seattle, Washington, a man who insisted on being referred to as Mr. Johnson. The odd jobs were sometimes as simple as picking up a package at one location and shuttling it somewhere else, essentially making Sakamoto into an off-the-record courier. Occasionally, they provided a bit more excitement, as Sakamoto would tell me, though he would frequently, I suspect, skip revealing details that would be incriminating. I do find it curious how a professional hockey player might find himself inside a corporate office building, wearing a custodial uniform, but I made it a point not to delve too deeply into these illicit affairs.

 

I thought this was Sakamoto preparing for a life after hockey, and as his contract with the Seattle Bears edged closer and closer to expiration, I feared that "life after hockey" was imminent, and I found myself preparing a series of documents to remove myself from a situation that could see This Reporter end up behind bars. Then, a surprising series of events happened in rapid succession, and I find myself once again sitting at an airport terminal with the majority of my possessions tagged for loading into the belly of a passenger jet.

 

First, a final, last-ditch contract offer arrived from the Seattle Bears. This, in and of itself, was unsurprising. Along with it, however, came a question: would you consider a sign and trade on a one-year deal? Even now, with the benefit of hindsight, I feel my eyebrow quirking upward in surprise. Reports from Sakamoto were energetic but vague, with the ultimate destination of a theoretical sign and trade deal changing by the hour. At one point, I began to make plans to visit a pub in London that I am particularly fond of, but had to quickly scrap those plans as the story changed. Just as I started looking up some information on Switzerland, the plan altered again.

 

I expected Sakamoto to reach unrestricted free agency, an event that would have made for a compelling story from my perspective, as the occasionally-maligned Sakamoto had an impressive postseason performance with the Bears and may have turned some heads around the professional hockey world. Instead, I'm now waiting to board a flight that will carry us to the Potomac River, to Dulles International Airport, to the capitol of the United States of America. Ryuji Sakamoto was now a member of the D.C. Dragons.

 

"What made you decide to do the sign and trade?" I asked him once the news was official. "You seemed pretty dead set on testing free agency."

 

Sakamoto was silent for a minute or so, an unusual occurrence itself. Finally, he answered, "It's like this, man: Seattle treated me good, and I had a lot of fun in this city. I kind of had my heart set on playing in Europe, just to change it up, but Seattle deserved to get something if I was gonna leave."

[jacobcarson877 2,077]

Glad you ended up finding a good home! My experience was also pretty similar with this whole endeavour.