Athletes' Thanksgiving Festival Part 1
Jan. 7th, 2008 09:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elennielI like Arashi. I like sports.
Therefore, I should blog about this.
Also, I figure it might be nice for those who haven't seen it or have seen it and didn't understand it. (...wonder if that applies to anyone...)
And Skyura said I should if I want to. So there. Hahah!
I took a lot of screencaps (over 30, I think) so this is definitely going under an LJ-cut - which I hope won't drive me mad when I apply the cut to my entry. -__-
We start off with the introduction of the five teams. And the second time I watched part 1 (to take screencaps), I suddenly noticed that one of the MCs is TOKIO's Kokubun Taichi. (Evidently I'm not a big TOKIO fan, since I didn't recognise him immediately. It just happened that I was looking at the names that came up on screen when the MCs were talking. "Kokubun Taichi... Huh? Wa-aaittt...") The other MC is an Uchimura Mitsuyoshi. There's a lady as well, but I don't recall seeing her name. Oh well. She hardly talks so I suppose it doesn't really matter.
Pretty colours. :D Even without seeing them close up, you can tell which team belongs to which Arashi member. XD The athletes were separated by sport.
Aiba's team - professional baseball, Nino's team - Major League Baseball (I presume this means those who play in the USA's Major League) & soccer, Jun's team - golf, Sho's team - women athletes, Ohno's team - combat sports.
Items of note: Jun's & Sho's were the only teams with women on them. And Sho's was ALL ladies. (Lucky him?) Ohno looked tiny compared to some of his team members...
ANYWAY. Onto the sports. :P
(Okay, I'm getting tired. This is LONG. And only part 1, too... Only two more segments to go!)
And that's it for part 1! No conclusion, because it's only midway through the show (part 1 was like... an hour long?!).
But hopefully someone out there enjoyed reading this... heh.
My personal favourite contests here were badminton and baseball. :P
In part 2 (which I haven't completed watching) there's Jun vs a pro swimmer, more baseball stuff, and a "pressure bowling" competition between the teams! The latter is the best and most entertaining part of the whole show, methinks. Although I was SO tense watching that! Excitement MAX!
Should I summarise/screencap part 2 as well? ^^
- - -
UPDATE: I left out a s'cap! How could I?? Uploaded it and forgot about it. "O|¯|_
I took it just because it's Jun. And because there's a lack of Jun (and Sho) in this episode. :P Hopefully I get to make up for that lack in part 2. XD
♥
Therefore, I should blog about this.
Also, I figure it might be nice for those who haven't seen it or have seen it and didn't understand it. (...wonder if that applies to anyone...)
And Skyura said I should if I want to. So there. Hahah!
I took a lot of screencaps (over 30, I think) so this is definitely going under an LJ-cut - which I hope won't drive me mad when I apply the cut to my entry. -__-
We start off with the introduction of the five teams. And the second time I watched part 1 (to take screencaps), I suddenly noticed that one of the MCs is TOKIO's Kokubun Taichi. (Evidently I'm not a big TOKIO fan, since I didn't recognise him immediately. It just happened that I was looking at the names that came up on screen when the MCs were talking. "Kokubun Taichi... Huh? Wa-aaittt...") The other MC is an Uchimura Mitsuyoshi. There's a lady as well, but I don't recall seeing her name. Oh well. She hardly talks so I suppose it doesn't really matter.
Pretty colours. :D Even without seeing them close up, you can tell which team belongs to which Arashi member. XD The athletes were separated by sport.
Aiba's team - professional baseball, Nino's team - Major League Baseball (I presume this means those who play in the USA's Major League) & soccer, Jun's team - golf, Sho's team - women athletes, Ohno's team - combat sports.
Items of note: Jun's & Sho's were the only teams with women on them. And Sho's was ALL ladies. (Lucky him?) Ohno looked tiny compared to some of his team members...
The show was basically a quiz game between the teams, and the prize was 1 million yen!
Here's how it went: Each segment would feature some of the athletes in a contest of skill, and the teams would have to make a guess as to the outcome of the contest - eg. who would win, or if it would be a draw, etc. They score points based on correct guesses.
BTW, Arashi looked gorgeous. ♥ The camera didn't pan round to Nino and Ohno at nice angles, so I only managed to get nice shots of Aiba, Jun and Sho. (Enough for me - but gomen to the Ohchan and Nino fans ^^; )
Aiba-chan kakkoii... And I like your new short, dark hair. :D
♥ ♥ ♥
Sho-kun, I bet the ladies behind you are just swooning... ;)
Here's how it went: Each segment would feature some of the athletes in a contest of skill, and the teams would have to make a guess as to the outcome of the contest - eg. who would win, or if it would be a draw, etc. They score points based on correct guesses.
BTW, Arashi looked gorgeous. ♥ The camera didn't pan round to Nino and Ohno at nice angles, so I only managed to get nice shots of Aiba, Jun and Sho. (Enough for me - but gomen to the Ohchan and Nino fans ^^; )
Aiba-chan kakkoii... And I like your new short, dark hair. :D
♥ ♥ ♥
Sho-kun, I bet the ladies behind you are just swooning... ;)
ANYWAY. Onto the sports. :P
First segment was badminton!
(And I'm happy - because they're starting with my favourite sport, so I can actually comment properly on. xP )
Ohno was the 'feature Arashi member' (or so I like to call it) for this segment, because he used to be in a badminton club. (Nice, Riida. You just rose in my estimation because you are associated with my favourite sport. Unfortunately, adorable and talented as you are, you're still a long way from overthrowing MatsuJun, Sho and Aibchan in my books. ^^ )
The shuttlers in question were Ogura Kumiko and Shiota Reiko, Japan's top women's doubles pair. I looked up their world ranking, and they're currently 7th in the world. Not bad.
The contest was to see which of them could deliver an unreturnable smash against the other. Best of five wins. (The narration tells us that the top speed of a badminton smash can reach over 300kmph. I'm... Not really surprised. Badminton is the fastest racquet sport, after all. ^^; )
But FIRST... Ohno had a go. :D
They put a helmet camera on his head... and I presume that and the microphone and other equipment was in that backpack they strapped to him. -__-"
He seemed quite ready for the challenge anyway. "BRING IT ON!!" he said. (see screencap. hehe)
I think it was Shiota he faced. Can't remember. Anyway... He didn't manage the first shot to his right.
Maa, maa, Riida... Daijoubu na...
He missed the second one to the left as well. But he got the third (right down centre). :D
Yatta~!
I have something to say, though... Ohno-san, I can't really see from the video - because it all moved so fast - but I get the feeling you're holding the racquet wrongly sometimes. It's okay though. You're a JE idol, not a shuttler, so I excuse you. heheh (But I'd sure like to know what your club coach was doing all that while...)
Before the contest between Ogura and Shiota started, they cut the VTR, so that the teams could make their guesses as to whether (A) Ogura would win, (B) Shiota would win, or (C) it would be a draw. Kokubun asked Ohno his opinion about the smashes or something before the guessing time, but while Ohno was talking...
Private discussion under way. Clearly not listening to Riida...
Not listening to him either...
... Is anyone listening to Riida?
Kokubun stopped Ohno and turned to the others: "Excuse me - Ohno's speaking, everyone!"
Eh? What? Did you say something?
The whole of Nino's team bet on Shiota, and Sho's team guessed that it'd be a draw. Jun's team went half-half on it - I think half guessed that Shiota would win, the other half guessed Ogura would. I don't know how Aiba's team voted, but Ohno's team mostly went with Ogura. (Naturally, Ohno wasn't available to them for consultation. :P )
It was a draw until the 5th round, when Ogura returned Shiota's smash, and Shiota couldn't return Ogura's. So Ogura Kumiko won.
The teams' scores?
Yay for Team Ohno and Team Jun!
While the smash contest was taking place, there were some absolutely priceless shots of Riida's expressions! I cracked up watching it. XD
He looked so... Horrified. And then amazed... Kinda like "Oh gosh, I'm glad it's not me on the receiving end this time" and then "uwa~ suge!"
(And I'm happy - because they're starting with my favourite sport, so I can actually comment properly on. xP )
Ohno was the 'feature Arashi member' (or so I like to call it) for this segment, because he used to be in a badminton club. (Nice, Riida. You just rose in my estimation because you are associated with my favourite sport. Unfortunately, adorable and talented as you are, you're still a long way from overthrowing MatsuJun, Sho and Aibchan in my books. ^^ )
The shuttlers in question were Ogura Kumiko and Shiota Reiko, Japan's top women's doubles pair. I looked up their world ranking, and they're currently 7th in the world. Not bad.
The contest was to see which of them could deliver an unreturnable smash against the other. Best of five wins. (The narration tells us that the top speed of a badminton smash can reach over 300kmph. I'm... Not really surprised. Badminton is the fastest racquet sport, after all. ^^; )
But FIRST... Ohno had a go. :D
They put a helmet camera on his head... and I presume that and the microphone and other equipment was in that backpack they strapped to him. -__-"
He seemed quite ready for the challenge anyway. "BRING IT ON!!" he said. (see screencap. hehe)
I think it was Shiota he faced. Can't remember. Anyway... He didn't manage the first shot to his right.
Maa, maa, Riida... Daijoubu na...
He missed the second one to the left as well. But he got the third (right down centre). :D
Yatta~!
I have something to say, though... Ohno-san, I can't really see from the video - because it all moved so fast - but I get the feeling you're holding the racquet wrongly sometimes. It's okay though. You're a JE idol, not a shuttler, so I excuse you. heheh (But I'd sure like to know what your club coach was doing all that while...)
Before the contest between Ogura and Shiota started, they cut the VTR, so that the teams could make their guesses as to whether (A) Ogura would win, (B) Shiota would win, or (C) it would be a draw. Kokubun asked Ohno his opinion about the smashes or something before the guessing time, but while Ohno was talking...
Private discussion under way. Clearly not listening to Riida...
Not listening to him either...
... Is anyone listening to Riida?
Kokubun stopped Ohno and turned to the others: "Excuse me - Ohno's speaking, everyone!"
Eh? What? Did you say something?
The whole of Nino's team bet on Shiota, and Sho's team guessed that it'd be a draw. Jun's team went half-half on it - I think half guessed that Shiota would win, the other half guessed Ogura would. I don't know how Aiba's team voted, but Ohno's team mostly went with Ogura. (Naturally, Ohno wasn't available to them for consultation. :P )
It was a draw until the 5th round, when Ogura returned Shiota's smash, and Shiota couldn't return Ogura's. So Ogura Kumiko won.
The teams' scores?
Yay for Team Ohno and Team Jun!
While the smash contest was taking place, there were some absolutely priceless shots of Riida's expressions! I cracked up watching it. XD
He looked so... Horrified. And then amazed... Kinda like "Oh gosh, I'm glad it's not me on the receiving end this time" and then "uwa~ suge!"
2. Baseball
Aiba and Uchimura moved to a special studio to host this segment, while the others viewed from a screen.
The setup was thus: A room full of objects, with a giant remote control set at the far end. The point was for the competing athletes to hit the #6 button. See the screencap below? If you see it full-view (click on it to do so), you'll see the garden chairs and table out in the "garden". The competitors would stand somewhere around there. Then they'd have to throw a baseball into the room, through that empty door frame (outlined in red in the s'cap)...
... all the way to the giant remote control. Distance: 18.44m
And yes, the aquarium (with fake fish), mirror, lamp and other breakable stuff were put there on purpose. -__-"
For this, they pitted Japan's Uehara Kouji against Randy Johnson in a pitching competition. Randy Johnson!
And this guy is soooo tall.
That's him in grey, dwarfing Kokubun Taichi.
This is Randy Johnson standing between Uehara and Aiba. And we think Aiba is tall?
Uehara and Johnson played a little catch-ball as a warm-up to the contest, and Uehara said (something like), "Someone take a picture!"
Ahahahahaha! I thought that was cute. Sort-of-fanboying. XD
Cut back to the main studio for the bets ("bets" sounds more sport-like than "guesses" :P ). Matsui of Team Nino thinks Uehara will get it.
(EDIT: I realise that my tenses are jumping to and fro a lot... But I'm too lazy to edit the whole thing now. haha)
Some TV announcer called Ogasawara Wataru comes to be the commentator for the contest. Lent a more "sporty" air to it. heheh
Uehara hits the ultimate target, #6, on third try. Randy Johnson steps up to take his turn and I suddenly feel like it's a little unfair to him. It looks like he's taller than the door frame. That means it's harder for him to aim. -__-"
Amusingly - and amazingly - he hit #6 the first time. The ball had an 'interesting' path though. It hit the top of the door, shot downwards, bounced off the floor and straight onto #6.
elenniel: 0__0
Aiba:
Later, he said (in English, of course), "That was actually harder to do on the bounce than hit it, y'know. I thought that's what you want - some more difficulty..."
Note Aiba's face in the bottom right corner... He looks... Like he's just listening uncomprehendingly. I can just imagine him thinking: "I have no idea what this guy is saying..." XDD
(Oddly, Aiba didn't spout any English that I can remember. Hahahh!)
But sadly for Mr Johnson, Uehara was declared the winner. Johnson's first pitch wasn't counted because if it bounces... Oh shucks, I can't remember the term for it. If the ball hits the ground, it's not counted anyway. And he didn't hit #6 on his other 2 tries. So Uehara won.
Aiba and Uchimura moved to a special studio to host this segment, while the others viewed from a screen.
The setup was thus: A room full of objects, with a giant remote control set at the far end. The point was for the competing athletes to hit the #6 button. See the screencap below? If you see it full-view (click on it to do so), you'll see the garden chairs and table out in the "garden". The competitors would stand somewhere around there. Then they'd have to throw a baseball into the room, through that empty door frame (outlined in red in the s'cap)...
... all the way to the giant remote control. Distance: 18.44m
And yes, the aquarium (with fake fish), mirror, lamp and other breakable stuff were put there on purpose. -__-"
For this, they pitted Japan's Uehara Kouji against Randy Johnson in a pitching competition. Randy Johnson!
And this guy is soooo tall.
That's him in grey, dwarfing Kokubun Taichi.
This is Randy Johnson standing between Uehara and Aiba. And we think Aiba is tall?
Uehara and Johnson played a little catch-ball as a warm-up to the contest, and Uehara said (something like), "Someone take a picture!"
Ahahahahaha! I thought that was cute. Sort-of-fanboying. XD
Cut back to the main studio for the bets ("bets" sounds more sport-like than "guesses" :P ). Matsui of Team Nino thinks Uehara will get it.
(EDIT: I realise that my tenses are jumping to and fro a lot... But I'm too lazy to edit the whole thing now. haha)
Some TV announcer called Ogasawara Wataru comes to be the commentator for the contest. Lent a more "sporty" air to it. heheh
Uehara hits the ultimate target, #6, on third try. Randy Johnson steps up to take his turn and I suddenly feel like it's a little unfair to him. It looks like he's taller than the door frame. That means it's harder for him to aim. -__-"
Amusingly - and amazingly - he hit #6 the first time. The ball had an 'interesting' path though. It hit the top of the door, shot downwards, bounced off the floor and straight onto #6.
elenniel: 0__0
Aiba:
Later, he said (in English, of course), "That was actually harder to do on the bounce than hit it, y'know. I thought that's what you want - some more difficulty..."
Note Aiba's face in the bottom right corner... He looks... Like he's just listening uncomprehendingly. I can just imagine him thinking: "I have no idea what this guy is saying..." XDD
(Oddly, Aiba didn't spout any English that I can remember. Hahahh!)
But sadly for Mr Johnson, Uehara was declared the winner. Johnson's first pitch wasn't counted because if it bounces... Oh shucks, I can't remember the term for it. If the ball hits the ground, it's not counted anyway. And he didn't hit #6 on his other 2 tries. So Uehara won.
3. Golf
Still on Aiba and Uchimura in the special studio. (Very little of Jun and Sho in part 1. *sad* )But this time it's a golf battle.
The aim of the game was to hit a 10cm x 15cm switch on a wall (that rectangle with red paper around it).
Oh the bear? That's Kokubun's favourite figurine. XD I think the manager sneaked it out of his room or something. HAHAH... Poor Kokubun-san.
Contestants: Yokomina Sakura and the Miyazato kyoudai.
Distance: 5m
Each person got five tries. All came very close, but no one managed to hit it. ^^;
The younger Miyazato actually hit Kokubun's beary (I can't help calling it that - somehow it really reminds me of Tamaki's teddy bear in Ouran! ahaha).
There was a shot of Ohno watching Miyazato-otouto at one point...
XD
Riida... You have the best expressions sometimes....
Still on Aiba and Uchimura in the special studio. (Very little of Jun and Sho in part 1. *sad* )But this time it's a golf battle.
The aim of the game was to hit a 10cm x 15cm switch on a wall (that rectangle with red paper around it).
Oh the bear? That's Kokubun's favourite figurine. XD I think the manager sneaked it out of his room or something. HAHAH... Poor Kokubun-san.
Contestants: Yokomina Sakura and the Miyazato kyoudai.
Distance: 5m
Each person got five tries. All came very close, but no one managed to hit it. ^^;
The younger Miyazato actually hit Kokubun's beary (I can't help calling it that - somehow it really reminds me of Tamaki's teddy bear in Ouran! ahaha).
There was a shot of Ohno watching Miyazato-otouto at one point...
XD
Riida... You have the best expressions sometimes....
(Okay, I'm getting tired. This is LONG. And only part 1, too... Only two more segments to go!)
4. Football: Ronaldinho, a.k.a. Nino in Barcelona
Ah, the famous segment everyone knows. (I quite wish they had sent Sho instead, though, given that he's so into football. sigh.)
This is Nino looking lost at the airport.
This is Nino's guide, Sheila, waving a placard and yelling, "Ni-no~~~" to make sure he's not lost.
And this is Nino being embarrassed at the attention, and wishing he was lost. :P
The part where they went to the FC Barca store to get him some Barca gear was the funniest of the Spain trip to me.
Sheila? Eh? She's gone... Sheila? Where are you?
Here! ;D
...
Sheeeilaaa... Where are you?
LOL.
And Ronaldinho's house is HUGE. (Come to think of it, I'm glad they didn't choose to have David Beckham. That guy's so overrated sometimes.)
This was a silly question to pose to the top footballer in the world...
"Which of these is your type?"
He picked Sugiyama Ai anyway - the one in the middle. Because she has the nicest smile. (I think Asao Miwa - on the left - is quite pretty too though!)
And back in the studio, Sugiyama said, "Thank you for using a nice picture of me." ahahahahaha
(Sugiyama and Asao were on Team Sho, and Ueda Momoko was on Team Jun.)
This was Ronaldinho's challenge: in 10 tries, put a ball through each of the four targets. (Distance to fourth target, which was behind target 1: 16.5m, the distance from the start of the penalty box to the goal line of a football field.)
When asked which he thinks would be the hardest, Ronaldinho said #2 (the one on the right). Sure enough, he missed it a few times before deciding to finish off Targets 3 and 4 first. (He began with Target 1.) He got Target 2 on the ninth ball. :)
After his success, they had him say:
Atarimaeshitaka? (Isn't it natural?)
LOL.
(In case you're wondering, they didn't show the scoreboard after that first contest, so I can't tell you the team scores. ^^ )
Ah, the famous segment everyone knows. (I quite wish they had sent Sho instead, though, given that he's so into football. sigh.)
This is Nino looking lost at the airport.
This is Nino's guide, Sheila, waving a placard and yelling, "Ni-no~~~" to make sure he's not lost.
And this is Nino being embarrassed at the attention, and wishing he was lost. :P
The part where they went to the FC Barca store to get him some Barca gear was the funniest of the Spain trip to me.
Sheila? Eh? She's gone... Sheila? Where are you?
Here! ;D
...
Sheeeilaaa... Where are you?
LOL.
And Ronaldinho's house is HUGE. (Come to think of it, I'm glad they didn't choose to have David Beckham. That guy's so overrated sometimes.)
This was a silly question to pose to the top footballer in the world...
"Which of these is your type?"
He picked Sugiyama Ai anyway - the one in the middle. Because she has the nicest smile. (I think Asao Miwa - on the left - is quite pretty too though!)
And back in the studio, Sugiyama said, "Thank you for using a nice picture of me." ahahahahaha
(Sugiyama and Asao were on Team Sho, and Ueda Momoko was on Team Jun.)
This was Ronaldinho's challenge: in 10 tries, put a ball through each of the four targets. (Distance to fourth target, which was behind target 1: 16.5m, the distance from the start of the penalty box to the goal line of a football field.)
When asked which he thinks would be the hardest, Ronaldinho said #2 (the one on the right). Sure enough, he missed it a few times before deciding to finish off Targets 3 and 4 first. (He began with Target 1.) He got Target 2 on the ninth ball. :)
After his success, they had him say:
Atarimaeshitaka? (Isn't it natural?)
LOL.
(In case you're wondering, they didn't show the scoreboard after that first contest, so I can't tell you the team scores. ^^ )
5. Beach Volleyball.
We're back to Aiba and Uchimura.
The aim was to clear all the tins so that you could see the Christmas tree behind them.
The contestants: Asao-Nishibori beach volleyball pair.
Distance: 4m (I think... I forgot to note it down just now. ^^; )
They almost managed it, but failed to clear the last three tins that remained.
We're back to Aiba and Uchimura.
The aim was to clear all the tins so that you could see the Christmas tree behind them.
The contestants: Asao-Nishibori beach volleyball pair.
Distance: 4m (I think... I forgot to note it down just now. ^^; )
They almost managed it, but failed to clear the last three tins that remained.
And that's it for part 1! No conclusion, because it's only midway through the show (part 1 was like... an hour long?!).
But hopefully someone out there enjoyed reading this... heh.
My personal favourite contests here were badminton and baseball. :P
In part 2 (which I haven't completed watching) there's Jun vs a pro swimmer, more baseball stuff, and a "pressure bowling" competition between the teams! The latter is the best and most entertaining part of the whole show, methinks. Although I was SO tense watching that! Excitement MAX!
Should I summarise/screencap part 2 as well? ^^
- - -
UPDATE: I left out a s'cap! How could I?? Uploaded it and forgot about it. "O|¯|_
I took it just because it's Jun. And because there's a lack of Jun (and Sho) in this episode. :P Hopefully I get to make up for that lack in part 2. XD
♥
