Spanning the Globe...

This entry dedicated to ski jumper Vinko Bogataj.

Today, I was supposed to fill out a form for my Endocrinologist before I go to his office. His form was the usual stupefying name, address, date of birth, social security number, insurance company name, policy number, phone number, ad nausea, sort of form... and I got to daydreaming but it was the medical form's fault.

It asked me when and where I had been outside of the United States or Canada. I'm not sure why the Endocrinologist needs to know this sort of thing, unless they think I might of been exposed to some bizarre central african virus or something... but in my head I heard the brassy fanfare from the Olympic Games followed by...

"Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport... the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat... the human drama of athletic competition... This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!"

I've been out of the country a few times... In fact, I sometimes feel like I've been out of the country nearly as often as Jim McKay... and that thought led me to thinking (I heard you say "ut-oh") that I could have done a TV show like Jim's but it would have been a little different. Cue fanfare please...

"Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of Ochas... the thrill of pictures... and the agony of the feet... the inhuman drama of standing around mindlessly... This is IGGY's Wide World of OCHAs!"

We would go to China... Thailand, Japan, Korea, Guam, Hawaii, Anchorage, Winnipeg, Owen Sound, Ottawa, Maine-iacville, Jacksonville, Key West, Naples, Pensacola, Gulf Shores, Mobile, Fort Gordon, New Orleans, Abiliene, Saint Paul, Reno, San Diego, Los Angeles, Carlsbad, San Francisco, St Louis, West, Monroeton... to see orange cones and barrels and other critters of interest...



Thanks Photojournalist Punkn!

The Carribean, Brazil, Argentina, Panama City, Belize, Mexico City, Haiti, Aruba, Peru, the Falkland Islands and if we are really lucky, to the fabulous Galapagos to see the exotic blue and red-footed OCHAs.



Thanks Brand New Photojournalist Jess!

And then on to ye ol' England, especially Denmead, The Midlands, and Nottingham; and then Scotland, Ireland and Wales with what promises to be a wonderful break in Carmarthenshire. And then onwards to France, Spain, Germany, Poland, South Africa, New Dehli, and onward to Australia to see the upside down OCHAs down-under.



Thanks Photojournalist LadyStyx!

And then closer to home, back to ol' Virginia, Washington DC, Cleveland, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, Boise, Butte, Chicago, Kansas City, Asheville, Toledo, Akron, Rochester, Cinncinnati, New York City, Manchester (NH), and Vancouver and see still more and more and more OCHAs!



Thanks Photojournalist Punkn!

If we are lucky, sometimes, we might not even need to get out of the airplane to see the OCHAs, which is good, because we will need to rest our globe-trotting, agonized feet.

As for Vinko Bogataj, him of the "agony of defeat" fame (video), he returned to ski jumping the next year but never duplicated the success he had before his tumbling crash and retired from the sport competitively. During his career, Bogataj's best career finish was 57th in the individual normal hill event at Bischofshofen, Austria.

Bogataj became a ski instructor, coaching the 1991 World Champion Slovenian ski jumper Franci Petek and supplementing his income by painting, and operating a forklift at a factory that manufactures anchor chains.

Oh well, I'll finish filling out that medical form tomorrow.