Travel Blog

The Japanese women's soccer team won me over yesterday with their brilliant dribbling and pinpoint passing - both of which I thought were superior to the Americans'. And I loved the way that a player leaving the game for a substitution would reach the sideline, turn, and bow to the field that she had just departed.

And my heart went out to them in their defeat as they buried their tearful faces in their shirts or in the tight embraces of teammates.

But they lost me during the medal ceremony. At first I was happy to see that they had recovered emotionally from their loss, but as FIFA president Joseph "Sepp" Blatter came around with their silver, they acted like giggly schoolgirls. Some were so busy mugging for the camera off to the side - giving horizontal V signs - that they didn't look at Blatter; a few even failed to shake his hand. I realize that the handshake is not a Japanese custom, and that Blatter is just a bald gaijin, but HE WAS GIVING THEM OLYMPIC MEDALS! I mean, what does an old man have to do to get a young woman to notice him?