- Those Crazy Short Track Enthusiasts! - Tuesday, July 13, 2004 A million thank you's to the lovely Jan (1/2 of the Jan & Kimo dream team) for mailing me some photos from P2P. For many reasons, this P2P was special and from it come a lot of special shots. Photos are so crucial, since while it's all happening, it feels like a dream. It's like living a dream, of sorts. Being blessed with the opportunties to attend Kristi's awesome charity events and be in the same room with a dozen of the world's most amazing athletes. I think my assumptions are true; it's the energy in the air and the human will to succeed that becomes so addicting. And it's been (and goes without saying) a honor and privledge getting to know Apolo, the Olympian, as well as getting just a touch more of Apolo, the 22 yr old from Seattle. I see him in a different light than 2 years ago, yet my respect and admiration hasn't and will never change. Athletes, stars, anyone really isn't obligated to show 'the real' them. I must say at P2P, I've never seen Apolo more happy and relaxed, ever. He seemed truly comfortable in his own skin. We've seen Competition Apolo, laid-back Appearence Apolo, I'm-around-my-teammates-don't-draw-attention-to-me Apolo, and then June 26th Apolo. If anything, seeing him in all these different situations has been eye-opening and gives one room to understand him more, respect him more. But that night it was as easy as joking about $65,000 charity donations made in food stamps and sharing ideas and comments about William I-dance-like-a-constipated-robot Hung. Under all the stardom, extreme talent, stellar work ethic, and those devastating good looks...Apolo's just really, honestly a sweet, funny guy. Well, the lovely Jan was roaming with the camera after dinner that night. I had just chatted with AAO and he had turned for a moment to answer Kimo's call. I was standing so close to him, and saw Jan's camera lift up for a picture. I couldn't help but show the love and give props to the 'man of the night' - luckily this was all while he wasn't looking: Yeah, like Apolo's gonna want to take up the 'IHOP' deal with this 1/3 of the crazies. Hey, did we mention we'd throw in entertainment? And we swear, William Hung's not on the program. If anything, it's always a blast to make Apolo laugh, and he we all did a lot of that.

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