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Living Out Of A Suitcase
Posts tagged Sports
Slide (Suberikomu,滑り込む)
Sep 5th, 2010
The Saitama Seibu Lions come to Sendai to face the hometown Rakuten Eagles. Note that there’s only dirt around the bases; the basepaths, infield and outfield are all artificial turf. Give me dirt and grass any day over this crap.
G.G. Sato (Ｇ．Ｇ．佐藤)
May 29th, 2010
A bit of an anomaly in Japanese baseball, Takahiko “G.G.” Sato began his pro career in America after he finished college. He returned to Japan, and is now an outfielder for the Saitama Seibu Lions.
Cheergirls (Chiyagaaru, チアガール)
May 16th, 2010
At the farm league games they bring in the kiddie and tweener cheerleaders; at the big team games they bring in the older, sluttier girls.
Baseball (Yakyu, 野球)
May 10th, 2010
The Saitama Seibu Lions were in town for a Ni-gun (farm team) game versus the hometown Rakuten Eagles.
Yakyu 野球 (Baseball)
May 11th, 2009
One of the things I was looking forward to the most when I got transferred to Sendai was the chance to check out some professional Japanese baseball. Sendai is the home of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Let’s break down the name first. Tohoku is the northern region of Honshu (the main) island. Rakuten is the name of a giant online store in Japan. The Golden Eagles (more commonly known as the Eagles) is the name of the team. Here in Japan teams are named after their main sponsor. It’s a little tacky coming from North America, but at least my local team isn’t named Nippon Ham like Sapporo’s team.
There are 12 teams in Nippon Pro Baseball (NPB), divided into two leagues, Central and Pacific. The Eagles are in the Pacific League, which has a designated hitter like MLB’s American League. In the Central League the pitchers hit, like MLB’s National League. If you remember Mr. Baseball, you know that NPB is pretty different than MLB. In NPB, there can be tie games. NPB is generally less aggressive than MLB, and there is more bunting. The season is almost as long as MLB’s, playing 144 games.
Kyoko and I’ve been to 4 games this season, and we’re also going to 2 games this week. I guess I’m back into baseball, at least the Japanese version. Here are a few reasons why…
The Eagles’ home field, Kleenex Stadium, is not only the softest stadium in NPB but also the smallest, with a capacity of just over 20,000. Because of this there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. Kleenex Stadium is also an open stadium. Watching MLB games in the old Kingdome and BC Place, it never really felt like a real ballpark. Having the sun beat down on you on a Sunday afternoon or sitting under the bright lights on a Thursday evening, being out in the open definitely adds to the overall experience.
Ticket prices. The outfield bleachers, which are general admission, cost around $10-15. The most expensive tickets, behind home plate, will run you around $70. Similarly located seats to a Blue Jays game will cost you $31 and $210 respectively. And that’s for the crappy Blue Jays in the craptastic Skydome.
There’s also a section in the outfield that’s simply a grass field. Bring a blanket and have a picnic while you watch the game and enjoy the day.
Drinking. Japan of course has a legendary drinking culture, and at the ballpark it’s no different. Countless girls dressed in beer logo baseball uniforms endlessly parade around the stadium, lugging mini-kegs of cold beer, chu-hi, or soft drinks. If you prefer to stand in a line, a selection of hot or cold sake can also be enjoyed. Hot for those chilly spring and autumn night games, cold for the summer. Prices range from $4-6.
However, if you don’t feel like paying for your booze, not to worry. Not only are you allowed to bring outside alcohol into the stadium, the staff will happily pour your can of beer into a cup for you! I tell you, it doesn’t get much better than that.
There’s a lot more I can say about the Japanese baseball experience, but for today let’s leave it at that. Below are photos taken from a few of the games we saw last month. There’s also a video of the “7th Inning Stretch“, Japanese-style. Enjoy!
A Great Game
Mar 24th, 2009
By now everyone should know that Japan has won the 2nd World Baseball Classic, in a thrilling extra-inning game against South Korea. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet I was able to watch live on my laptop. I was lucky enough to have my first students of the day be baseball fans who had been following the tournament religiously, so we watched the game together, mixing in some important baseball terms with our regular lesson.
I had a couple of 3-year olds for my next lesson, who probably wouldn’t be able to understand the finer points and nuances of the double switch or the suicide squeeze, so into the classroom we went. Japan, who was leading in the 8th inning when I left, must’ve sensed that I wasn’t watching anymore so they let Korea tie up the game to take it into extra innings.
After the lesson the parents, kids, my co-workers and I all watched Ichiro win the game for the Samurai. He’d been playing like steaming dog poo the whole tournament but he redeemed himself today, going 4 for 6 with the game winning RBIs. Needless to say every conversation for the rest of the day centered around the ball game.
One person in particular who impressed me during the tournament was phenom pitcher Yu Darvish, not so much for his actions but his words. In an era where Japanese players are being lured to MLB by big dollars and fame and glory, this half-Iranian 22 year old has stated that he will never play in America. The reason? He wants the children who idolize him to know that Japan pro baseball is important, and worth playing (and staying) for. It’s also reported that he’s heavily into charity work, particularly helping children.
Before I knew any of this I thought of him as just another empty, vapid, Japanese celebrity. Not to generalize too much, but there’s a lot of substance lacking in modern Japanese culture today. The same can be said of any country, but I live in Japan so my experience here is only what I have to draw upon. An idol to boys and a sex symbol to women, you can add me as a new fan.
Korea played great throughout the tournament too, and they should be congratulated for their effort. They have the best names for players too, like Dong and Bong. It’s like Cheech & Chong. I’ll go watch “Dong and Bong go to Yakiniku” when it comes out next year.
I can’t wait to experience Japanese baseball this summer in Sendai. Today’s starting pitcher, Hisashi Iwakuma, is the star pitcher for the Rakuten Eagles. He had a scintillating record of 21-4 with a 1.74 ERA last season, winning the Pacific League MVP. We’re going to live within 2 minutes of the stadium, and I hope to catch at least 10 games this year.
Here’s a recap of the game, courtesy of The World Wide Leader, ESPN.
[Banner photo edited from NYTimes.com]
New Neighbourhood
Mar 7th, 2009
Got the call from Sendai today, our apartment application has been approved! Let’s take a look at a couple places that are in our new neighbourhood.
Just a short walk (or a 2 minute train ride) away stands the home of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, aka the Rakuten Eagles. Pro baseball teams in Japan are sponsored by companies. Rakuten is an Internet shopping company. Think Amazon, but with travel as well. The Eagles are the newest team in Japanese baseball, playing their first season back in 2005. I’ve watched a little bit of baseball since I moved to Japan but never had any rooting interest in a particular team, so I suppose I will adopt these guys as “my” team.
The softest stadium in Japan!
And where do the Rakuten Eagles play? At the mighty KLEENEX STADIUM!!! Yeah, that Kleenex. It isn’t very large, which is nice, so the atmosphere will definitely be more intimate than the Kingdome or BC Place ever were. I checked out the stadium back in November during an open practice. The sightlines look pretty good from any seat. Tickets are priced well; the cheap seats being only 1200 yen (about $16CDN).
Open practice at Kleenex Stadium.
Next to the baseball stadium is Miyaginohara Athletic Park. The day of the open practice there was also a race through Sendai, so I stopped by and snapped a few photos.
Just a block away from us is Tsutsujigaoka Park, one of Sendai’s largest parks (maybe?). It’s one of the most popular places to do “Hanami“, Cherry Blossom viewing. In the spring everybody goes to various parks to hang out with friends and family, eating and drinking till all hours of the night. Here’s an old video of some hanami from Akita City.
Tsutsujigaoka Park - 榴ヶ岡公園
At the little amphitheater tucked away in a corner of the park there was a DJ spinning some techno, pretty cool… There’s also a supermarket a minute away, a YaMaYa, and a bunch of restaurants, a Starbucks, and a 7-11. From all I’ve heard and seen this is a pretty nice neighbourhood to live in. It’s gonna be good to live in a real city again!
Round 1 is coming to Sendai!
Mar 5th, 2009
Driving back from Sendai last weekend we passed by one of the many construction sites in the city. Usually they’re for apartment buildings or pachinko parlours, but the big sign I saw immediately caught my eye. This was going to be a Round 1. It’s gonna be right next to Nigatake Station, which is only 8 minutes from Sendai Station.
So, what is Round 1? Basically it’s a giant multi-floor game center. One of these behemoths was built shortly after I moved to Akita City. I hope the one in Sendai is at least as good as Akita’s.
What can you do at Round 1? Let’s see… one floor is devoted to slot machines and gambling, another floor has like 30 or 40 bowling lanes, a different floor has a race track to ride mini motorbikes on. There’s a floor full of video games, pool tables, karaoke rooms, massage chairs, a mechanical bull, catch and release fishing (wtf?!). There’s another floor with basketball, soccer, and badminton courts, batting cages, archery, mini golf, and a curling rink (double wtf?!?!).
(L-R) Basketball, Soccer, Archery, Frisbee, Mini Golf
(L-R) Curling, Batting Cages (background), Badminton
There’s food, you can drink alcohol, and from what I remember it’s open 24/7. I’ve been there for various parties in the evening, and at 4am after the bars. It’s pretty cheap as well; I don’t ever remember paying more than 3000 yen for a long night of fun.
Here’s a link to a PDF file from the Round 1 website; it’s in English and shows all of what they have to offer. Here’s also a couple low quality YouTube videos I uploaded a couple years ago. One of the mechanical bull, and one of the mini motorbikes.
The death of a stream
May 12th, 2008
Many of us have been enjoying the NHL Playoffs on Versus over the past weeks. The stream was excellent quality, with very few connection issues. But alas, my friends, it appears that the stream has been… moved. Apparently the stream was an internal network feed, and not meant for public consumption. Whether or not it will become available to us leechers again is unknown at this time.
Nevertheless, we shall remain undaunted in the face of adversity! If you click the link at the top of this page you will be sent to one of the best sites in the known universe, at least for sports junkies like myself. I originally came across this site in search of PPV boxing streams, which are offered regularly.
To access most of the streams however you’re going to have to do a bit of legwork to get things set up. After that though, you’ll be homefree :)
You’ll need 2 programs: SopCast & VLC Player
Using VLC for SopCast streams
All SopCast streams can be viewed with VLC, but for some streams it is mandatory. VLC can also be a “quick fix” option worth trying if a stream buffers but won’t load correctly.
To use VLC…
* Download VLC at VideoLAN – Free Software and Open Source video streaming solution for every OS! and install it.
* Start the SopCast stream and let it buffer.
* VLC, go to Open Network Stream, select “HTTP” option, and type in 127.0.0.1:8902 (If port 8902 doesn’t work, try 8912).
* You MUST leave SopCast running; closing SopCast closes the stream.
* You may need to mute the sound on SopCast so it doesn’t bleed with the sound in VLC.
* To make VLC a default external player on SopCast 2.0.4, visit this thread.
* FOR TVU PLAYER YOU TYPE 127.0.0.1:8901 in the “HTTP” option
Using Windows Vista? Can’t click on a link and load it?
* Right-click on the link and select “Copy”.
* Go to the SopCast address bar and paste the link.
* OR, hover the mouse on the link, and the SopCast channel URL will appear in the browser status bar at the bottom of the URL. Type that URL into the SopCast address bar.
If anyone has any problems setting this up, I should be on MSN (squampton[at]hotmail.com) while I watch the Red Wings game in the morning.
Enjoy your day, and enjoy the games!