This is the time of year men who love hockey can do almost nothing around the home. They can go out to bars and scream with friends. If they are lucky their team is still in the hunt For Lord Stanley.

My Boston Bruins are gone but another Black and Yellow team is still in the hunt. The Penguins

My friend pictured above with the Maurice Richard hair doo wrote an interesting blog on hockey. I am standing in the middle sucking in my gut.

What do you do during the playoffs?

Scott's Blog

It was great to reconnect with Brian Bell who I went to School with. His job includes marketing for 680 the Fan and coaching the Atlanta Thrashers Junior Team.

He was also The Player agent for Rob Ray and Mathew Barnaby.

Enjoy! Click on link to listen

Taro Kawakami comes from Chiba, Japan. He has a great love for the game of baseball. Growing up in San Francisco during Elementary School he was introduced to Baseball, "The American Way." Enjoy the interview. LISTEN TO IT ON TOKYO INTERVIEW

Tags: baseball · Japan · Lions · Seibu ·

Golfing in Japan. Can be a challenging thing. Language barriers, Rules, Fitting a case two four of Saki into your golf bag.

But I find the dress code the most challenging. Ian Poulter and Jesper Parnevik would be proud. Check out the photo shoot I did in Japan

Introducing the next Wayne Gretzky of Formula One

"When Wayne Gretzky was six he was playing against ten year olds. In the season when he was ten he scored 378 goals and 139 assists in eighty-five games. Wayne's father, Walter turned the Gretzky backyard into a rink by leaving a water sprinkler running all winter; Walter taught Wayne and his brothers Keith, Brent, and Glenn to play hockey. In an unusually frank 1990 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Gretzky related how Walter would build him up one minute then tear him down the next, reminding him that he could never have an 'average' game."

I live in a small city of forty-thousand people in the middle of Japan. When I am not performing, I teach English, a few hours a week, to the kids of eager parents who wish their kids to get into a major university. After appearing on NHK TV, (one of the major TV stations in Japan) one of my students has become an over night phenomenon. We all know that an over night success takes years of dedication and training to happen.

Ukyo Sasahara started racing KART when he was six years old. In a short 4 years, he became the Japanese junior national M4 KART champion. (A huge step up from go-carts) The junior age group ranges from ten years old to fourteen years old. In his first year of eligibility he won the whole thing. He plans to enter the fourteen to eighteen year old range next year when he turns twelve.

On winning the national championship, Ukyo won a scholarship to the prestigious racing school in Parma Italy. He will be leaving next week for five days. When he gets back to Japan he has two days to prepare to defend his M4 KART national title.

Playing a big role in his success are his two very kind parents. Ukyo's mechanic father, like Wayne Gretzky's father, built a garage very near his home to help Ukyo's dream of being a formula one racer become reality.

Where do I fit into this eleven year olds dreams? Ukyo has it all worked out for the next ten years of his life. After reading about blogs and pod-casts, I figured I could make this weeks assignment on how to promote him to the English world. I went over to his newly built garage and watched the family business in action. His mother answers the phone, counts the money and served me some Japanese tea. While his father greeted sponsors down below in the garage area. In the hour that I was there Snap On Racing and a local KART company dropped by. I was left with Ukyo, who navigated around on his wireless laptop showing me all the sights that he is affiliated with. He gets about 100 blog messages a day from fans and sponsors trying to get a piece of this little Wayne Gretzky.

But. . . Built inside his DNA is this committed desire to win and only win.

Please check out the site I set up for the 2017 Formula 1 champion. (on Friday)

Move over Ralph Shumacher.

I don't know what happened but the Bruins just lost their mojo. Cam Neely, Bobby Orr, I pulled out all the guns yesterday inhope for a big upset. Golf season starts today for the B's. At least they don't ever have to worry about opening their season in Japan like the Red Sox or possibly the Celtics.

Check out the interview coming soon.

Taro is graduate of Waseda University, and has a masters in Sports Management @Wichita State and the University of Tennessee.

This interview was translated from Japanese.

Here are the English questions and abbreviated answers.

Willy: When did you start your association with Gunma Country club?

Tahara San: Thirty years ago.

Willy: Why did you choose to play golf?

Tahara San: My boss invited to play. Just like every new salary man does in Japan.

Willy: When did you become a pro golfer.

Tahara San: Thirty years ago. I quite my job as a salary man.

Willy: What is your best memory of being a pro golfer

Tahara San: I never really had to worry about money. But with money, I became famous so my private life was sometimes hard to live normally. In airports people would always be asking me "Where are you going?" and "What are you doing next?."

Willy: What obstacles did you face being a pro golfer?

Tahara San: When I first started playing golf, I couldn't adapt quickly from playing table tennis all my life. It was very hard for me to visualize a nice golf swing. I am now in the best shape for golf. After being captain of the national table tennis team. I realized that my body muscle and strengths was for table tennis. Now at 65 all my ping pong muscles are gone and my golf muscles are very dominant.

Willy: Do like golf or table tennis more?

Tahara San: I should have stayed in table tennis but my love for golf was overwhelming. I was married and at age 27 I began my 4 year quest to become a pro golfer. I never had a fear that I would not fail at starting my new career.

Willy: What is your funniest memory as a golfer?

Tahara San: I was playing in the ANA open in Hokkaido one year and on the first tee I hit a fifty yard worm burner. I was in shock and very embarrassed.

Willy: In 1996 you won the Senior Australian Open. How did this change your life?

Tahara San: My life did not change at all. I was already famous in Japan. I was 52 at the time. I stopped doing TV for a year to practice. It was a great time for me. I was away from the pressures of Japan life for six months at a time. Australia, Europe, America. I did this for five years.

Willy: In 1995 at the Australian Seniors Open you were penalized two strokes…

Tahara San: Yes, they didn't want me to win.

Willy: Why were you penalized?

Tahara San: Footwork. I moved my feet in the bunker during my practice swing. The Judges didn't realize that that was part of my swinging ritual. It was unfortunate but it managed to put me off my game for the rest of the round. It really hurt me. I didn't enter any tournaments for a year after that incident. I just laid low and practiced. The next year, I proved them wrong and won the Australian Seniors Open.

Willy: In the past you were known as the guy who had the same putting style as Isao Aoki. How so? Did you copy him?

Tahara San: Not at all! My coach Pete Nakamura's brother Sadaki Nakamura putted like Aoki. I guess I kinda imitated him. Do you know Pete Nakamura?

Willy: No. Is he a half?

Tahara San: No. No. No. Torakichi Nakamura ..Tiger Nakamura. He passed away last month.

Willy: I am sorry to hear that. Now, many of the putters are big headed putters. Do you still putt like Pete Nakamura's brother?

Tahara San: No way. I stopped that years ago. I had stopped that way before the Seniors Open in Australia.

Willy: How do you usually feel going into a golf tournament?

Tahara San: I always try to feel a sense of hope. I dream of winning and I try my hardest.

Willy: What advice do you have to young golfers today?

Tahara San: Dream big. Don't dream small. Of course everyone wants to be the next Tiger Woods right away. But that is not going to happen. So everyday take a slice out of the mountain of a dream. One little thin slice. If you keep to your goal of doing a little bit everyday. Those slices or thin pieces of paper will pile up into a very big pile over time.

Willy: One step at a time?

Tahara San: No. No. No, even smaller and in ten years maybe you will have enough.

Willy: Today, many young golfers are getting very lucrative sponsorships…Coca Cola…

Tahara San: Ishikawa Ryo?

Willy: Ya. Wow. Do you think he will end up like let's say Michelle Wie?

Tahara San: Michelle Wie, HMMM

Willy: Ya NIKE invested in her big time and she has not yet produced. Do you think Ryo San will do the same or does he have a different DNA than her?

Tahara San: He's in what… First year of High School. If he sticks with school and slowly develops I believe he will do just fine.

Willy: What is your favorite hole at Gunma Country Club?

Tahara San: The fifth hole par five. The hardest hole on the course

Willy: Why?

Tahara San: Because it is a mixture of Heaven and Hell. If you drive well you have a great shot to the green and a chance for an eagle. If you don't drive well. This hole could drive you crazy.

Willy: Can you get on in two?

Tahara San: Easy! Easy! Easy! My second shot, I usually hit a six or seven Iron.

Willy: What advice do you have on playing Gunma Country club?

Tahara San:The greens at Gunma Country Club are very small. So, I would have to say is to always hit to the front of the green. If you end up in the back of the greens, they usually slope downwards, so a three putt is imminent.

Willy: What is the hole with the big green?

Tahara San: Number seven. I designed that green.

Willy: It looks kinda a like an Edamame (soy bean) .

Tahara San: Yes Yes Yes. Hahaha! No I think it looks more like a peanut though. Over the the last thirty years I have made improvements to the course. Slowly but surely.

Willy: On number seven, If you place the pin to the right. That makes for a very hard approach shot. There is a deep bunker guarding it and not much green to work with.

Tahara San: That pin placement is for championship tournaments only. Usually we keep the placement to the left.

Willy: Mr. Tahara, Thank you very much for today.

Tahara San: Ahh. No problems. Next time let's play together at Gunma Country Club.

I have been a long suffering Bruins fan when facing the Canadians in the finals. During my youth I had the great opportunity of living near Beantown. From the age of four on I was a Bobby Orr Fan! When I was twenty-four I hitchhiked down to Boston from my hometown of Montreal to see the Bruins play Montreal in the playoffs. Almost 20 years ago to the day Cam Neely single handedly beat the Canadians 6-3 . Cam recorded a hat trick and Boston Bruins Fans littered the ice with Hats. I was there!

What is your greatest memory in Hockey?

picture courtesy of NHL Cam Neely pounding Ulf Samuelson, The guy who basically ended Cam's career.

Danica Patrica wins in Japan. What next Sushi spokesperson?

Omedetto (congrats)Danica! Danica Patrick won for the first time in her career in Japan yesterday. Go Daddy move over! Do I see a sushi spokes model in the future? A wasabi pitch lady?

"The only thing that separates my rice

from my tuna is my Wasabi Danica Wasabi Hot! Hot! Hot!"

Will Danica ever win again?