The Japanese media has been following Ai Miyazato for the better part of a decade by now, but with 5 LPGA wins in the past 12 months, there's been a bit of a resurgence of interest in her in Japan, particularly with her 1st LPGA title defense coming up in a couple of weeks. The result is that we're finally starting to see new features on Ai-sama on youtube. And the best news for us over here in America is that some Japanese reporters are even seeking out English speakers to comment on her and her reception in the U.S. This one even features Ji-Yai Shin's caddie, Dean Herden, along with one of the Vision 54 people--plus, if I'm not mistaken, there's a lot of footage from Locust Hill:
Basically it's a recap of her season, her style of golf, her slump, and her journey back to the top. It's well worth watching, even if you understand even less Japanese than I do! Here's part 2:
This one focuses on her practice routine, her feelings on getting her 1st LPGA win at the Evian Masters just over a year ago, and the reactions of the reporter and his colleagues (which are pretty funny, language barrier or not).
Ai-sama handles herself pretty well with the American media and fans, too:
Wait for the end...wait for it...! You can bet Val Skinner didn't forget it the next day, when she interviewed Ai-sama right after she won the ShopRite Classic and rose to the top of the Rolex Rankings:
Never can quite tell when Ai-sama is dodging a question she doesn't want to answer or simply not understanding it, but I would have loved to hear what she had to say about "dealing with the weight of a nation on [her] shoulders." That would be an interesting question to ask Paula Creamer, Karrie Webb, Suzann Pettersen, Ji-Yai Shin, Ya Ni Tseng, Shanshan Feng, Azahara Munoz, Mariajo Uribe, Catriona Matthew, Sandra Gal, Karine Icher, Guilia Sergas, Alena Sharp, Angela Park, Becky Brewerton, Jennifer Rosales, Ashleigh Simon, and Annika and Lorena, too, wouldn't it? Somebody should write their answers up! Are any of them as big in their countries as Ai-sama is in hers? I don't think so.
9 comments:
Not really a secret there. Maybe if all the US Women golfers lived and played in California, and only one really stood out, she would have that kind of following.
I always wonder how it is for Miyazato getting around the streets of Tokyo.
Yeah, no secret to anyone who follows women's golf in the slightest. But this post is aimed mostly at the random google searcher looking up something on Paula Creamer....
As you know, I had her as #1 this season (in terms of most likely to win one soonest); Creamer was #3. I'm going to update that list this week and will have to decide if Song-Hee Kim or Na Yeon Choi or In-Kyung Kim are more likely to win the WBO. If any of them are, I'll have to put her or them ahead of Ai.
But based on achievements alone, yeah, Ai takes over that title from Paula, although Mi Hyun Kim and Hee-Won Han would have good cause to protest.
I'm sure that I'm asking an ignernt (southern for ignorant) question here - but why would this pop up when someone does a google search on Paula Creamer ?
In my experience, google searches titles much more quickly than they search body text. When I had "Kelli Shean" in the title of a post last Thursday, I had the best single day, visits-wise, at Mostly Harmless in months. So check the 4th and 5th words in the title! ;)
Ah - I see - pretty darn sneaky and underhanded there, Con ! (lol)
Hey, when I don't have an idea for a really good post, sometimes it's fun to experiment with what drives visits. See what happens when I do this, or that. Usually it makes no difference, which is why I decided a long time ago to just write on what interests me the most at that moment. I guess this one shows I've got Ai-sama's 1st LPGA title defense on the brain right now, even as I'm trying to figure out how much extra traffic Paula Creamer drives....
yeah yeah yeah - I've know the ol' bait-n-switch trick ! (lol)
Would you believe...?
(/Maxwell Smart)
Post a Comment