maybe it's their fault [2008.06.10]

I would have written about this earlier but I got sidetracked a little.  You know, trip to Okinawa with Drew, that sort of thing.  But this takes precedence, because it was that important.

I ask you to first recall the scene and atmosphere described in the last bit I wrote, about the pep rally: the formality, the subdued clapping, the speeches.  Imagine it, feel yourself surrounded by it, then clear it completely from your mind; because when it's actually game time here, people do it RIGHT.

I'll start with the preliminaries.  There were events going on all over Saikai City but the first day Andrew and I opted for Oseto to check out the triple threat of soccer, tennis, and basketball.  We went to the first soccer game of two (there are only three teams in Saikai) and cheered for our boys along with a few other parents.  Luckily one of the kindergarten teachers was there too (her son's the captain) so she showed us over to where we could get loud.  Between the three of us we showed plenty of support for our kids, hollering all the way to their 10-0 victory.

Yeah, ten to zero.  We couldn't go to the second game, but they won that one 14-0.  This awarded them the coveted "victory flag", an incredibly nicely made flag of thick, embroidered material that is rotated every year, with pendants hanging from it for each year's winner.  I believe there are currently four consecutive "Oshima" pendants.  Dynasty, anyone?  Throw that diamond in the air.

Unfortunately neither boys' nor girl's tennis fared quite as well as soccer, although the girls were able to log some victories at least.  After a lunch break spent bonding with the soccer boys, we went over to see how our basketball girls were faring.  I'd seen them play in two games before, so I was pretty sure they would be fine, but it was still anyone's guess.

My uncertainty was completely unfounded.  First game: 98-21.  NINETY-EIGHT.  The game we saw ended up at 90-32, again in Oshima's favor.  Another team, Oseto, beat their opponent by 50 points or so, and Oshima was set to play them in the next day's schedule.

Before finishing the day we stopped by the school to get news about baseball to see if they had won their game that day, allowing them to move on to day two.  They had!  The game was also set to be early because of a rainy forecast for the second day's final.

This game was not a soccer or basketball style blowout.  By the bottom of the seventh (junior highs play seven innings) after two outs the score was 1-0 in favor of Oshima thanks to a beautiful squeeze play in the third or fourth.   Saikai North was in a good position for scoring though, with runners on second and third.  The batter slapped out a solid line drive, but our second baseman made a fantastic dive to stop the ball and get it to first, ending the game and securing another victory flag for Oshima to display for the coming year.

That only left basketball's final two games.  It all came down to the last game, Oshima versus Oseto, both teams 3-0 thus far.  Up until this point Oshima's cheering section had consisted of some parents and the two big white guys with sporadic cheering at best, and Drew and I had decided that if nothing else then we would certainly yell our heads off for the girls in the final showdown.

Luckily some other teachers had arrived to cheer on this last contest of the day, bolstering our numbers a little, giving us a few more voices to add.  A few more voices seemed to be insignificant though, compared to the might that Oseto had mustered.  See, we were on their home court, and all of their other teams that had finished had turned out to watch the game.  They filled the whole section of seats across from us, giving them at least 80 people, if not more.  We had maybe 15.  But we had something special.

We had Katsuki sensei.

The man is a cheering machine.  Drew and I had planned to cheer a little, get loud, you know, but less than a minute into the game he had started a chant.  And we picked it up.

And he just kept GOING.  We cheered for almost an hour straight.  Katsuki sensei led the offensive chants and he recruited me to lead the defensive ones (with big support from Drew).  He even had a special cheer for timeouts.  We cheered during the timeouts!  The only lull in the chanting came during halftime.  Oseto might have had more voices than us, but there was no way they could match our pride or dedication.

We weren't completely alone either, because between myself, Drew, and our coach's wife, we had recruited the teams from both Seihi (the coach lives there) and Saikai South to our cheering section.  These kids were awesome, and one especially friendly kid went home with Drew's "courage" bracelet.  He was great, even teaching us the offensive cheers in the middle of chanting for the defense.

The result of all this untiring support?  It was a fierce contest initially, but then Oshima pulled away, leading 30-10 at one point.  Oseto fought back with intensity though, stopping the Oshima offense and playing their hearts out.  Both teams gave it everything they had, and you can't help but respect that, but in the end Oshima managed to finish it with a seven point lead, bringing home the third victory flag for Oshima.

I don't think I have ever been so invested in a sporting event, whether it was one I was playing in or not.  The baseball game was mighty intense, but this basketball game trumps everything.  I am so proud of all the Oshima athletes, they are amazing, but I have a special spot for our basketball squad.

in the future let your game speak,

-greg.

ps: our defensive chant was "DE-FENSE *clap* *clap*", but ironically Katsuki sensei started it the first time, not me.  no one seemed to have a problem with it though, so i guess it's common enough.