04/20/24
October 19, 2005
Meet Yuta Fukuda,: a placekicker for the North Alabama Lions. Once, he was a soccer player with dreams of attending college in Utah. Now, he's kicks field goals in Florence, Alabama. (NY Times link).
It's pretty common these days, no? Soccer kids getting recruited as kickers...
posted by lil_brown_bat at 10:06 AM on October 19, 2005
Yes, it's been common for some time, but I think this particular story is a little bigger than just that. Maybe I picked a poor part of the story to summarize, but I wanted to leave the best parts for folks to read on their own.
posted by 86 at 10:37 AM on October 19, 2005
That's a cute story.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 11:21 AM on October 19, 2005
They said George Lindsay went to that school? Isn't he the guy who played Goober?
posted by Desert Dog at 11:24 AM on October 19, 2005
The thing is, lbb, he wasn't recruited as a kicker or athlete in any sport, just as an international student. But I will disagree with 86 and the NYT about the journalistic value of this story; maybe it would have been fine for the local newspaper but that's about it.
posted by billsaysthis at 03:47 PM on October 19, 2005
Actually, Bill, globalization fueled by (professional) sport is emerging as one of the most dynamic social forces at work in the world we all live in. This piece isn't as high-concept, but is a prime example.
posted by garfield at 04:28 PM on October 19, 2005
This reminds me of another guy named Yuta.
posted by dusted at 05:14 PM on October 19, 2005
Garfield, if he'd been recruited from Japan to be the kicker at a small university in Alabama, maybe. But he wasn't and he only picked up kicking on a lark long after arriving.
posted by billsaysthis at 12:16 AM on October 20, 2005
When I said, "bigger" I just meant there was more to the story than a soccer player now kicking field goals. Basically, what DrJohn said.
posted by 86 at 09:07 AM on October 20, 2005
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