Four years ago, the Cats travelled to Salt Lake City to take on the mighty Arizona Wildcats. Unforgettably, during the course of their journey, the Cats got stranded in Denver due to a snowstorm and managed to arrive just in time for their Thursday tip-off.
An exhausted Cats team lost that day but a Catamaniac was born - in Japan.
Since that first-round defeat, Tomohide Katagiri has been a diehard Catamounts fan, closely following every nuance of the team from his home in the Land of the Rising Sun. Four years after finding his team, Tomohide has hit the road, making the pilgrimage to see his Cats in person. "It's cold in Burlington!" Tomohide stated after his plane touched down in Burlington on January 30th. Tomo had a laundry list of people to meet, places to go. Among the first stops he made was some good eats at Handys' Lunch (for the "McHehn" breakfast sandwich), Al's French Fries, Mr. Mike' and the Rusty Scuffer. During his visit, Tomohide met Coach Lonergan and team, was interviewed by WPTZ, got a wakeup call from the Corm and The Coach show, attended a Frost Heaves game at Memorial, met Tom Brennan and Taylor Coppenrath, and attended every one of the team's practices during his week and a half visit.
Tomohide was at the thrilling double-overtime UNH win. He witnessed the BU and UMBC home wins too. Tomo even made the trip down to Albany with three busloads of Vermont fans to watch the Catamounts win a crucual game to keep first place in the America East. We welcomed Tomohide to our great state, showed him around Catamount Country and rewarded him with four straight wins! He had an amazing time and wants to thank all of you for making his visit so special.
Tomo has already confirmed that he will make another journey to the U.S. if the Catamounts make it to the NCAA tournament. Without a doubt Tomohide (Tomo) Katagiri is the biggest Catamount fan in the world! Catamaniacs Unite!
Last Updated ( Monday, 26 February 2007 )
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