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<\/p>\n\nEarly in high school I weighed about 105 lbs soaking wet. I know, laugh if you want to. I am descended from two bean poles so I was at a genetic disadvantage. This was, after all, long before my collegiate boxing, my climbing adventures, and before I started appearing shirtless in “Boys of Blogging” calenders (ahem…cough cough). So just how does a 105 lb boy make his way in the brutal world that is high school? By laying low, very low. Most people don’t notice a scrawny little kid in high school (as many of our readers might sympathize with). I was also very very very shy.<\/p>\n\n
I hung out with the nerd\/geek crowd at the first of the two high schools I attended. It wasn’t much fun as nothing exciting ever happens in the nerd\/geek crowd. One day however, my friends and I hatched a plan. The only way that we could raise our station in life was to be on a high school sports team. Even JV would do. This would be our ticket out. But what could I play? Basketball was definitely out. I was a fierce defender but way too short. Baseball? I could play infield but could barely hit the ball out of the infield. Football? Ha Ha Ha. I was pretty good at indoor hockey on the gym floor and rough enough that one kid<\/a> even tried to fight me for high-sticking his friend until the PE teacher broke it up. However, there is no gym floor hockey team in high school. And then, like a ray of light the answer was revealed. My high school would be holding try-outs for the…Badminton Team<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n <<\/p>\n\n![](\"http:\/\/www.sepiamutiny.com\/sepia\/rrai_1.jpg\")
<\/a>I was pretty good at badminton and my odds were good because none of the cool kids (who were also the more athletic kids) would EVER be seen anywhere near a shuttlecock. My svelte body would dart back and forth pounding that birdie mercilessly. The fact that it looked like a tiny upside down Apollo capsule re-entering through Earth’s atmosphere was just a bonus (although I could’t say that out loud or even the geeks would make fun of me). The problem was that the competition was cut-throat. All the other geeks were gunning for the same few spots. Many of them were also Asian or South Asian since, for some strange reason, Asians have a fascination with racket sports<\/a>. Every day I practiced and practiced, honing my skills while huffing like a young Boris Becker of Badminton. Then, the day before the try-outs I came down with a cold and was battling flu like symptoms all day. After watching television while slumped in a couch I got up too quickly, got a massive head rush, passed out, cut my head open on my metal bed frame as I fell, bled all over the place, and had to get stitches in the ER. The doctor ordered me to miss tryouts the next day. I didn’t make the team. This was the single most scarring failure of my life<\/span><\/font>. And that brings me to the point of this thus far depressing post: American Olympian Raju Rai<\/a>. Geek has been replaced with chic.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSport: Olympic Badminton
Nation: United States of America
DOB: Feb. 3, 1983
Residence: Anaheim, Calif.
Events: Men’s Singles
Career Highlights: 2006 – U.S. National Champion, men’s singles; 2005 – U.S. National Champions, men’s singles; 2004 – U.S. National Champion, men’s singles, mixed doubles; 2003 – U.S. National Champion, mixed doubles.
Personal Notes: Participated in a Badminton World Federation training program in Germany. … [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n
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