More Fundraiser and Giants

More wish list for the fundraiser: someone who'll help organize the sweats. Who wants them. size. Also, someone to take money the day of the event. Someone to organize the cleaning. Friday October 29th we will be having a Halloween party instead of the usual evening class. So back to back the Halloween party and the next day the fundraiser and training. So we need to organize a clean-up Friday night after the Halloween party. Also, we will be having a light catered event following the training. Some food. Hopefully suitable for those having trained who would like to stay a bit. But also for alumni or those not currently training who would like to donate and would like to be a part of the event without the training. We need someone to help Eiji-san contact those people. If you know of someone who is not training at this moment but you feel would like to contribute, let me know. So time is moving. Those willing please come forward.

It is truly amazing when the whole area gets behind a team. For now the Giants are that team. The last whiff of this was in 2007 during the Warriors' miracle run. Let's hope the Giants can go further and sustain something. A team can be a real humanity unifier. The energy generated by an entire region is an incredible high. In the more distant past the 49ers' Super Bowl teams were examples of that.

An athlete needs to have a strong profile to succeed. But a team and team chemistry depend on these strong personalities being very easy with their "I". And there is a real alchemy around this. When told that there is no "I" in the word team, Michael Jordan replied that there is in win. It is not the eradication of the "I" or the absence of it, but the ability of the "I" to be very easy with itself and allow the team to come first. It is almost as if the team is the bus. The "I" is not the bus. Nor is it the driver. It is the passenger. Yet the entire vehicle is built specifically for the "I". The bus and team sense is what in aikido we sometimes term "the functioning unit". And a good or great team is the balanced creation of a number of components into a system that is greater than the sum of their parts. The first Niner Super Bowl team with a very young Joe Montana and an even younger Ronnie Lott was like this. They were held together by a number of interchangeable veterans. Witness the current Giants with their young pitching and Buster Posey. Who could have forseen Pat Burrill, Aubrey Huff, coming in an playing a role and supporting the youngsters as they have? And notice the absence of a dominating "I"(Bonds). I personally loved to watch Barry. But this team is even more fun than his teams were.

The torture that the Giants are known for is a form of forging. Playing so many close games and winning, facing incredible defeats and resurrecting, renewing, all these things for both team and fans has been an incredible journey. I hope it continues much,much further.

And contrast the Giants to the current Niner team, which has been decimated by the "I" of ownership and leadership. Any good team or functioning unit has a design. Though he was criticized for his, Brian Sabean's was and still is pitching, pitching, and more pitching and fill in with interchangeable veteran parts. If he had dealt a key starter or had brought in a big "I" presence, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion. The Niner ownership/leadership has relied on slogans, outer charismatic image, and promises while creating something that just goes around and around in the same circles. Both Mike Nolan and Mike Singletary were I'm sure great interviews. Both lacked a track record or anything to indicate they could be a head coach. As much as I am frustrated by Alex Smith, I genuinely feel sorry for him. Ditto Mike Singletary, a decent man. But I knew when they cut Nate Davis(fortunately the rest of the league is dumb and allowed the Niners to put him on their practice squad) the team was not going to be as advertised. Conversely I knew when the Giants traded Joe Nathan they were going to be in for a tough stretch.

So go Giants. I can't wait for the NLCS this Saturday. And for now I'm seeing 0-6 for the Niners Sunday.

Here is another video of the recent Japantown demo with new footage and music: