World Travel Fair and Other Updates

I've been noticeably remiss on attending sporting events lately. That's not to say that there's nothing going on here in Tokyo, but it isn't very compelling. The sumo world just ended its September tournament and Yokozuna Hakuho continued to dominate, winning all 15 of his bouts and extending his unbeaten streak to 62, second in history. I used to be a big fan of sumo; when I arrived it was at a peak with lots of interesting wrestlers and excellent...

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Blue Jays Spread Their Minor League Wings

Every two years, a few minor league baseball teams do a bit of a shuffle, moving affiliation from one major league franchise to another. The reasons for this are varied, but generally, minor league clubs want to be part of a decent development system that makes for entertaining baseball, while the big boys look for geographic proximity and a stable organization.Unless you are the Toronto Blue Jays, that is. Two years ago, their affiliation with AAA Syracuse ended and they were forced to sign an agreement with the Las Vegas 51s of the Pacific Coast...

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Why the Wild Card Sucks (and how to fix it)

The AL East sees the two best teams in baseball fighting it out for the pennant. The winner gets to enjoy the playoffs while the loser...gets to enjoy the playoffs. Such is the influence of the wild card, which allows the best second place team in each league a spot in the post season. It removes the excitement from pennant races, which are the most important part of a baseball season. That's why it sucks and needs to be fixed.How to fix itThere are other imperfections in MLB, most notably the difference in teams per league. This is unfair to NL...

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Yomiuri Giants 5 at Yakult Swallows 2 - September 15, 2010

With my friend Meg in town finishing up her 12 parks tour of Japan, I decided to make a final visit to Jingu this year to join her in watching the Giants and Swallows. Yakult is technically still alive in the playoff race, lying 6.5 games back of 3rd place Yomiuri with 18 games left, but another loss would pretty much seal their fate. And so it came to pass.The GameYoshinori Satoh got the start for Yakult against Tetsuya Utsumi. Satoh started by...

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MLB 2011 Schedule released - no trips for me

MLB has released their 2011 schedule and the news wasn't particularly good for me. I usually look for two things to plan a baseball trip: a new stadium (not happening) or an intriguing Blue Jays interleague series on the road. Unfortunately the Jays are in Cincinnati, Atlanta, and St. Louis; none of those cities are particularly enticing for me at this point.I was hoping that Toronto might have a series in Houston as the state of Texas is the only place I haven't revisited since the 2001 trip. But the Astros make their first appearance in Toronto...

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World Judo Championships - Day 5 - September 13, 2010

Yesterday was the 5th and final day of the World Judo Championships. It was the open competition for both men and women, which meant any judoka could enter regardless of weight class. It is said that the essence of judo is in the open competition; the implication being that smaller athletes can use technique to defeat a larger opponent.Therefore, I was hoping for some variety in the entrants, but generally it was only the bigger athletes who were...

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World Judo Championships - Day 1 - September 9, 2010

Japan is the birthplace of judo and Tokyo was the site of the first two World Championships in 1956 and 1958. In the intervening 52 years, the championships have been back to Japan twice (Osaka and Chiba) but this is their first return to Tokyo. Good news for me as it started on a Thursday which gave me a chance to head over to the Yoyogi National Gymnasium to catch the action in 4 weight classes.Yoyogi National GymnasiumBuilt to house the swimming,...

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Toshiba 2 vs JR Kyushu 0 - Japan Industrial Leagues Intercity Championship - September 7, 2010

After a weekend of watching way too long baseball games in Hiroshima, I decided to return to the Tokyo Dome for the Industrial League's Intercity Championship. I had been to a few of the qualifying games back in June as well as last year's title tilt, and the games are always fast paced and excellent quality. The Tournament and TeamsAs a quick refresher, the Tournament pits 32 teams from all over the country in single knockout form. Most of these...

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Hot Historic Hiroshima

Japan has endured a scorching heat wave that seems to have lasted for all of August. Temperatures are regularly above 35C with stifling humidity. Hiroshima was no different for the five days I was there so I didn't spend much time outside other than at the ballpark. I did still take in a couple sights, one of which is world renowned and another that is not.Gembaku Dome and Peace MuseumHiroshima is sadly famous for being the first of two Japanese...

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Weekend Games Split in Hiroshima

More on Mazda StadiumThe weekend games were both 3pm starts and it was hot! I found that standing on the concourse in the shade behind home plate was not bad as a breeze would blow through and keep you relatively cool. It's also a good place to stand to watch the game itself, but if you want to keep your spot, you'd be there for a good 6 hours, so not highly recommended.Although the gates open 4 hours before game time on the weekend, the reserved...

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