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Post by billiey36 on Jun 20, 2006 0:44:42 GMT -5
Susie, he kind of pulled himself up as if he was being stopped, which you have to assume no one's going to do voluntarily at the end of an Olympic race. South Korea, however, decided that he did do it voluntarily in order to make it seem like their skater impeded him.
I wish the Ohnozone was back up so people could go back and read the archives. From Koreans posting there, you start to realize that they don't know any more about short track than we do in the states, and it isn't really one of their more popular sports.
You also see from the articles posted out of that country that the media fueled the public's perception of the race, and that media either didn't see, or didn't want to acknowledge, the overhead view of the race that clearly showed the Korean skater swerve over directly in front of Apolo.
This is a media that has only started in the last couple of years to even report when one of their skaters is disqualified. For awhile, the reporting was "Korean skaters good, everybody else bad".
Their whole program is going through an even worse shakeup than ours right now. Ahn is on the outs with his teammates and has even accused them of team skating against him.
Short track will always be a wild and wooly sport, but at least they now suspend skaters for a season and wipe their names off the standings for the year if they receive 2 yellow cards, marking them as dangerous. This happened to a Chinese skater who took out Apolo and others many times during races.
No one has to hope the referee saw a foul while it was happening anymore, and that the right skater is awarded the win. Their coach can ask for an instant replay review now, but that wasn't available until after the 2002 Olympics.
Maybe if Apolo hadn't been American and Japanese, two countries that South Korea holds in very low esteem, things wouldn't have been so built up. He was kind of the perfect villain for them.
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Post by susie on Jun 20, 2006 1:00:19 GMT -5
Thanks for the background info, Billiey. My thinking is that Apolo's Japanese heritage had a *lot* to do with heightening the bad feelings on the part of the Koreans. While progress has been made in relations between Japan and Korea, IMO there is still a lot of tension, especially concerning territory disputes.
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Post by jay on Jun 20, 2006 2:55:54 GMT -5
does anyone has the video of when Rusty called Apolo a 'primadona'?
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Post by guest on Jun 20, 2006 7:00:00 GMT -5
Guest, are you gonna post those pics? And do they include canooks? I'm getting ready to leave for vacation this week but when I get back I will I will try to post some pictures. I know you like the canooks and I might have a few. They would be mostly racing ones tho. |
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Post by RIBLNZR on Jun 20, 2006 7:04:31 GMT -5
does anyone has the video of when Rusty called Apolo a 'primadona'? There is no video jay. It was in the Cleveland newspaper. I think epiphaniii posted a link to the article in this thread. |
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Post by jay on Jun 20, 2006 9:16:52 GMT -5
does anyone has the video of when Rusty called Apolo a 'primadona'? There is no video jay. It was in the Cleveland newspaper. I think epiphaniii posted a link to the article in this thread. no video??  i'd read the article but i think it's not enough for me to visualize since they're both good friends |
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Post by epiphaniii on Jun 20, 2006 13:54:37 GMT -5
epiphaniii - you would love Rusty more if you got to meet him. He is really a great guy. I will miss watching him skate and he sure does fill out a skin suit nicely too. ;D Awww, Guest, I wish I'd had a chance to meet him and see him skate in person! Epiphaniii- You are masterful sleuth! Thank you for the article. Thank you, Ruffian! At the risk of sounding ridiculous, I will reveal to you that 'sleuth' is one of my favorite words of all time. So, I feel quite honored to have been called one. I feel a bit of a kinship now with one of my favorite fictional characters, the great Sherlock Holmes. (you may all commence laughing at me now  ) By the way, in the GMA interview, did anyone else notice that when Apolo talked about his father sending him away to train and said he was "angry" and "didn't want to go," that he still sounded and looked a little angry about it? Poor Apolo. I guess those old feelings crept back up for a minute. Also, that video from his 13th birthday was adorable! But, in his autobiography, Apolo says that he hung out with 16-18 year olds at that age because he could relate to them better, and that they "usually" thought he was their age. After seeing that video, methinks he may have been fooling himself if he really believed they thought he was their age, though. I'm glad his dad sent him away since he feared those guys would be bad influences on him (they weren't model citizens). But, I hope that interview did not give any viewers who do not know much about Apolo the impression that he was involved in any criminal activities himself, because he states that he was not and that he did not drink or use drugs, either, and I believe him. They were very vague about the 'dangerous life he was headed toward,' and I just hope people didn't make things up in their heads about his actual, previous behavior. (I'm referring to non-Apolo fans of course, not 'us') I showed the interview to a friend later and felt the need to tell her Apolo was never a bad guy, so she wouldn't get the wrong idea. See how protective I am of you, Apolo?  |
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Post by epiphaniii on Jun 20, 2006 14:06:34 GMT -5
Here's a link to an excellent write-up about an interview Yano (Rusty's webmistress and a great blogger) did with Rusty and Apolo. I think it was done in early '03 or late '02? In it, she describes how at ease the "shy" Apolo was with Rusty and them calling each other "Chunks" and "Smitty," jogging together, stretching and wrestling, etc. Apparently, there is a video of all this too, but I don't think it was ever 'published.'  www.yanowhatimean.com/archives/000409.php |
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Post by MT on Jun 20, 2006 14:47:11 GMT -5
epiphaniii - you would love Rusty more if you got to meet him. He is really a great guy. I will miss watching him skate and he sure does fill out a skin suit nicely too. ;D Awww, Guest, I wish I'd had a chance to meet him and see him skate in person! Epiphaniii- You are masterful sleuth! Thank you for the article. Thank you, Ruffian! At the risk of sounding ridiculous, I will reveal to you that 'sleuth' is one of my favorite words of all time. So, I feel quite honored to have been called one. I feel a bit of a kinship now with one of my favorite fictional characters, the great Sherlock Holmes. (you may all commence laughing at me now ) By the way, in the GMA interview, did anyone else notice that when Apolo talked about his father sending him away to train and said he was "angry" and "didn't want to go," that he still sounded and looked a little angry about it? Poor Apolo. I guess those old feelings crept back up for a minute. Also, that video from his 13th birthday was adorable! But, in his autobiography, Apolo says that he hung out with 16-18 year olds at that age because he could relate to them better, and that they "usually" thought he was their age. After seeing that video, methinks he may have been fooling himself if he really believed they thought he was their age, though. I'm glad his dad sent him away since he feared those guys would be bad influences on him (they weren't model citizens). But, I hope that interview did not give any viewers who do not know much about Apolo the impression that he was involved in any criminal activities himself, because he states that he was not and that he did not drink or use drugs, either, and I believe him. They were very vague about the 'dangerous life he was headed toward,' and I just hope people didn't make things up in their heads about his actual, previous behavior. (I'm referring to non-Apolo fans of course, not 'us') I showed the interview to a friend later and felt the need to tell her Apolo was never a bad guy, so she wouldn't get the wrong idea. See how protective I am of you, Apolo? I think the "trouble" dad may have been concerned about was a boy who drops out of school and has no prospects. Apolo wanted to play and have fun with his "cool" friends. He'd dropped out of advanced classes because his friends didn't think it was "cool." Dad was desperate for something that would focus his son and give him a chance to explore and develop his talents, he latched onto skaitng. All parents and kids I've ever heard of go thru this to some extent. Apolo may not have been anymore "at risk" then most adolescents and single-parent, raised in Japan, Yuki may have been paranoid and overreacted, but you can't argue with results. Apolo can as it was his childhood and autonomy that ran smack into dad's fears, but the rest of us can only be grateful fo the pleasure it has given us. I am so glad the two have come to a happier place now. It doesn't always work out that way. When my kids hit puberty, I've decided to try prozac .... on myself, I mean. |
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Post by guest on Jun 20, 2006 15:05:20 GMT -5
Here's a link to an excellent write-up about an interview Yano (Rusty's webmistress and a great blogger) did with Rusty and Apolo. I think it was done in early '03 or late '02? In it, she describes how at ease the "shy" Apolo was with Rusty and them calling each other "Chunks" and "Smitty," jogging together, stretching and wrestling, etc. Apparently, there is a video of all this too, but I don't think it was ever 'published.' www.yanowhatimean.com/archives/000409.phpYou are a great sleuth. Yano did this interview in SLC in 2003 at the World Cup there. They were going to do a dvd of all the footage but never got it done. I would love to have this dvd. Especially since it would show Apolo and Rusty wrestling. How cute would that be? |
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Post by epiphaniii on Jun 20, 2006 15:22:30 GMT -5
I am so glad the two have come to a happier place now. It doesn't always work out that way. Yes, it is so heartwarming to see! I've read articles in which Apolo describes some of his friends' activities and it would scare me to death if a (future) child of mine had friends like that. I can barely imagine it. He says his father didn't even really know just how bad some of them were. As you said, we all benefited from Yuki's decision  , but most of all, Apolo did, and for that I am very happy. |
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Post by epiphaniii on Jun 20, 2006 15:37:35 GMT -5
You are a great sleuth. Yano did this interview in SLC in 2003 at the World Cup there. They were going to do a dvd of all the footage but never got it done. I would love to have this dvd. Especially since it would show Apolo and Rusty wrestling. How cute would that be? It would be so cute that I would probably squeal with delight while watching it, then have a huge smile on my face for an absurdly long period of time afterwards! Thank you for the info on when the interview was done. |
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Post by Ruffian of Old on Jun 20, 2006 15:45:28 GMT -5
Guest, are you gonna post those pics? And do they include canooks? I'm getting ready to leave for vacation this week but when I get back I will I will try to post some pictures. I know you like the canooks and I might have a few. They would be mostly racing ones tho. Aww  I'm sorry I said you sucked. I look forward to those pics. Hey, do you remember that one of Turcotte that you said would melt ShelbyShoe's heart (Because...I do )? Will you post that one? |
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Post by billiey36 on Jun 20, 2006 16:19:19 GMT -5
I always wondered how someone whose mother left while he was a baby felt about his dad sending him away at 14.
While I don't question Yuki's decision, it was for Apolo's own good, I imagine that was one of the things that made Apolo so angry.
On the bright side, they've come through it with flyiing colors, and a wonderful intact relationship.
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Post by guest on Jun 20, 2006 16:30:56 GMT -5
epiphaniii - you are welcome for the info. I could definitely be one to squeal too.
Ruffian - apology accepted. I do remember that picture. A friend sent it to me and I know she won't mind if I post it. I just hope I am smart enough to figure out how to get them posted.
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