So as all you hockey fans know by now, the Calgary Flames lost to Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup finals... or did they?. As I am not a big hockey fan, or fan of sports in general I really couldn't give a rats ass to be honest. I'll never understand why some people get so upset when a bunch of guys they don't even know lose some meaningless game to a bunch of other guys they don't even know... especially when these people are multi-millionaire all star altheles that wouldn't even take the time to spit on them. When I was in Toronto a few weeks ago, litterally every other car had a stupid Maple Leafs flag on it. Hell, when I first stepped off the plane at the airport I was greeted by a flight attendant in a Leafs jersey. Nobody gets more worked up over hockey than Torontonians.


What got me thinking about all this was what happened last night at Noheji High School's post-sports festival enkai. At this enkai, all the coaches from the various sports teams have to stand up in front of the teachers and explain why their team lost and express their sorrow and regret. At least that's how it works at Noheji anyway, as our victories are somewhat few and far between. One exception however is our Karate team which is apparently considered to be the best in the prefecture. This year however our team finished 3rd after one of the star students hurt his leg in an early round. He might have even broken his leg, but I am still unclear on this point. First my supervisor Chieko (and assistant karate coach) gave a very emotional sounding speech about what happened in the tournament, during which tears were flowing and everyone else in the room turned stone faced. I thought maybe she was explaining that the injured boy would never walk again or something.. it really sounded serious. Then Oka sensei, the tough and manly head coach gave his speech. I was shocked when even he started tearing up. Afterwards I asked about what had been said, and it turns out that the reason everyone was so upset was because the team didn't win first place. All these coaches seemed to be really taking their defeats way too hard. Hasn't anyone ever told them that it's only a game? I guess when when you train almost every day, all year round for a tournament and then you lose, it becomes something much more significant than just a game. It's definately a lot more meaningful than if the Flames lose Lord Stanley's Cup to Tampa F'in Bay.