Ryukyu Golden Kings 75 at Tokyo Apache 70 - bj League - December 16, 2009

After watching my first bj League game in Sendai this past weekend, I thought I would see a game here in Tokyo to compare the experience. So after work, I headed over to Yoyogi's National Gymnasium #2 to watch the Ryukyu Golden Kings take on the hometown Apache.

Getting There

The gym is located about 5 minutes from exit #1 of Meiji Jingu Mae subway station on the Chiyoda or Fukutoshin Lines. As well, Harajuku station is nearby. You have to walk over some bridges and then around the larger #1 gymnasium to reach the #2 gym. There are maps at each station but it's hard to miss the unique structure of gym #1, so you shouldn't have any trouble.

The Stadium

The smaller companion to the national gymnasium that was used as the basketball and swimming venue in the 1964 Olympics, Yoyogi #2 National Gym is a circular arena that seats 3,2o2 fans. It's a very interesting design with a suspension roof, and sloping walkways around the back side. Because it is a circular shape, the court barely fits inside and sitting at the corners provides a great view of the action - you are almost right above the players, which provides a unique point of view.

There are really only two types of seats: the 4,000 yen fixed seats, which are slightly closer, and the 2,500 yen open seating, which are great, especially in the corners. In fact, the more expensive seats (they are the orange ones in the picture above) lack backs and are not as well positioned. With the circular arena, there are no true sideline seats - instead these seats are too far from the floor but still relatively low - this is not a good way to watch the game. There are a few courtside seats but these seem to be reserved for season tickets.

There were two food stands: one just offered some fried chicken and snacks, while the other offered a more complete curry meal from a trailer parked outside (see below) which I was told was quite good.

The Teams

The Ryukyu Golden Kings are based in Okinawa, the first pro sports team there. They are the defending bj League Champions, and this is their third season in the league. They came into the series leading the Western Conference with a 13-3 record. They are led by two Indiana Hoosier alumni in George Leach and Jeff Newton.

The Tokyo Apache lost the final to Ryukyu last season, but have been a strong team throughout their first 4 seasons in the league, when they were coached by Joe Bryant, father of some guy named Kobe. This year however, they are under new management and a new coach and are struggling mightily at 5-11, good for last place in the East. Their top scorer is Julius Ashby who played his college ball in Colorado.

The Game

I thought I'd recap the game here but found that the Japan Times does a much better job than I could.

Some additional points that I found interesting. Tokyo went on a 20-4 run to end the first quarter, but then Okinawa went on a 20-4 run to start the 2nd quarter. Tokyo never recovered from that turnaround.

In the 4th, Bryan Simpson of Ryukyu, who was a serviceman in Okinawa before being drafted by the Golden Kings, had an alley-oop followed by a flying dunk that made the score 59-49 and seemed to end any chance of a Tokyo comeback. But the Apache kept it close enough and were just 7 points down with a minute to go when they started the foul-a-thon in an effort to close the gap. With Ryukyu's poor foul shooting, this was a good gamble, and sure enough they closed the gap to 2. But the Golden Kings made 3 of their last 4 free throws to clinch the 75-70 victory.

George Leach with the hook shot

To me, Tokyo lost because of fouls and turnovers. Both teams shot around 43% but Tokyo only managed 2 trips to the line while the Kings had 31 free throws. They only connected on 17 of those (54.1%) which is why the game was much closer. Tokyo also turned the ball over 15 times compared to Ryukyu's 9. There's no doubt that the Kings are the much better team, but their one weakness seems to be the charity stripe - poor shooting there always allows the opponent to keep the game close.

5'6" Cohey Aoki guarded by 6'9" Jeff Newton

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed the game tonight - the unique venue, a good crowd (lots of Kings' supporters too) and a decent game. I do wish that they would can the MC who is always telling the crowd to scream "Defense" on every single opposition possession, but I understand that he's trying to get the energy level up. Still, this is good entertainment in central Tokyo and well worth a visit. All series are back-to-back doubleheaders, but they only play 2 or 4 home games per month (and some games are not in Yoyogi). So check their schedule and plan to see a game if you can.

Cohey Aoki with the running layup

They even have flyers that give you discounts on tickets - only 2,000 yen to sit where you want. I picked up a flyer, so I'll be going again next year. Hope to see you there!

Best,

Sean

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January Trip Booked - Atlanta, Nashville, and Florida, here I come!

My job finishes at year-end, so I've decided to celebrate with a sports road trip in January! It turns out the Toronto Maple Leafs have a 5-game road trip that starts in Washington, then heads south to Nashville, Atlanta, Tampa and Miami. I haven't been to Florida or Georgia since my 2001 trip, and I've never seen hockey or basketball down there. So when I checked the NBA schedules and found some good matchups such as Cleveland at Miami and Boston at Orlando, I decided that a two-week jaunt would be a great way to start the year.

I'll fly to Atlanta first and check out the Sabres-Thrashers and Suns-Hawks games as well as an ECHL game in nearby Gwinnett. The Southern Professional Hockey League is in Knoxville, and then on to Nashville for the first Leafs game. A long drive to Atlanta follows for back-to-back Leaf tilts, and then south to Florida for 10 days, finishing with a National Lacrosse League game in expansion Orlando. On the return to Atlanta, there's an NCAA basketball game in Macon. I'm also leaving NFL conference championship Sunday open in case New Orleans is hosting - I may just fly there for the game.

Here's the complete schedule as of December 21st - note that I sometimes make changes as events are discovered:

Jan 14 Buffalo at Atlanta (NHL) 7:00
Jan 15 Phoenix at Atlanta (NBA) 7:30
Jan 16 Charlotte at Gwinnett (ECHL)7:05
Jan 17 Pensacola at Knoxville (SPHL) 5:00
Jan 18 Toronto at Nashville (NHL) 7:00
Jan 19 Toronto at Atlanta (NHL) 7:00
Jan 20 Wofford at Georgia Tech (NCAA Men's Tennis) 2:00
Jan 21 Toronto at Tampa Bay (NHL) 7:00
Jan 22 Gwinnett at Florida (ECHL) 7:30
Jan 23 Toronto at Florida (NHL) 7:00
Jan 25 Cleveland at Miami (NBA) 7:30
Jan 26 Montreal at Florida (NHL) 7:30
Jan 27 Lynn at Florida Tech (NCAA Men's Basketball) 7:30
Jan 28 Boston at Orlando (NBA) 8:00
Jan 29 Rochester at Orlando (NLL) 7:35
Jan 30 Stetson at Mercer (NCAA Men's Basketball) 3:30 

It should be a great trip, stay tuned for posts on each game!

Best,

Sean

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Sendai Sights and Matsushima Musings

One of the benefits of sports road trips is going to places that you might not otherwise visit. The sporting event is what gets you there, but once the game is over, there's always much more to see and do. So I'll try to add some posts on the cities I visit on my trips. This past weekend I saw two games in Sendai on Saturday, but spent Sunday touring nearby towns.

Sendai Sights

With the two games on Saturday, including a soccer game that went into extra time, there wasn't much time to do any sightseeing. So this section is rather sparse.

AER Observatory

The AER building is located next to Sendai station. On the 31st floor there is a free observation deck that allows views to the east and west. To the north there is a small window as you step out of the elevators, and if you want the southern view, you have to eat at the restaurant there.

The views are quite nice from the top, although we were there on a rainy morning. You can see Kleenex Stadium if you look carefully, but it's not clear enough for a good picture. Definitely worth a few minutes to check this out, it's open from 10:30 to 8:00 and they have some star maps posted there, which leads me to think that there are some good views of the night sky on a clear night.

Looking east at the Shinkansen tracks

Marinel Burger

There is a large shopping arcade called Clis Road right across the street from the station. For those who don't know what an arcade is, it's not a place with lots of video games but a covered, outdoor shopping mall along a street. Clis Road covers 4 blocks and has plenty of shops and restaurants.

One of the more interesting eateries is known as Marinel Burger. It just opened last month and it's burgers are made of satsuma-age, which is a fried fish cake. There's only a few choices of toppings (such as miso and onions), but it's much healthier than your regular hamburger and quite good as well. Many people walking by were intrigued by the new store, but few ventured in. With only 4 cramped seats, you won't be there long, but it's worth trying out in between your meals of cow tongue (Sendai's specialty).

One More Time

Thanks to my friend J.T., who used to live in Sendai, we had a lead on a cool bar outside the downtown core. Called One More Time, it's an American style bar with a menu priced in US dollars. Sounds good until you realize that the exchange rate used there is 120yen/$ (the real rate is around 90 right now) so a $7 cocktail is 840 yen instead of a much more pleasing 630 yen. Suzuki-san is the friendly owner and was happy to talk to us about our trip. If you are in Sendai, drop by; it's a lively crowd and a good place to chill after some sightseeing.

But make sure to let them know you aren't there to support another team - since we were visiting from Tokyo, some of the people there thought we were Kawasaki supporters and were giving us the evil eye. Now I do cheer for Kawasaki, but more as a reason to increase my interest in the J League, and I wasn't the least bit upset that they had lost earlier. So once we told them that we were just sports fans, they warmed up and cheered us. It was a good way to end a tiring day.

Matsushima Musings

On Sunday, we took a short train ride to Matsuhima-Kaigan station. Matsushima is a large group of islands that is considered one of the three most scenic spots in Japan. Matsu means pine, while shima means island; and most of these islands do have pine trees covering them, so it's aptly named.

Anime train at Matsushima Kaigan station

Matsushima is also home to Zuiganji, a very famous Zen Buddhist temple. When we visited, it was under renovations, so we decided to go next door to visit Entsuin, a smaller temple that is the mausoleum of Date Mitsumune, who died at the age of 19 back in 1645. It is suggested that he was poisoned as he was considered a threat to the ruling shogunate of the time, as he died while visiting Edo castle, which was the center of power in those days.

Entsuin

As you walk away from Zuiganji down a tree-lined path, you will approach the seaside. From here you have views of the harbor and some islands, as well as Godaido Hall, a small temple located on an islet. You have to walk over a bridge that requires some concentration as there are only two slats that you can walk along. It's said that the builders of the temple made the bridge more difficult in order to ensure that visitors were appropriately respectful, a state of mind that can be achieved by concentrating as you approach over a difficult bridge.

Godaido Hall

Just down from Godaido is Fukuurajima bridge, which takes you to Fukuura Island. It costs 200 yen to traverse this bridge, and we had a boat to catch, so we passed and headed back to the pier.

Fukuura Bridge

The highlight of Matsushima is the boat cruise through the islands. There are two options: one is a round trip that returns you to Matsushima; the other is a one-way trip to nearby Shiogama. We chose the latter and enjoyed a relaxing 50-minute ride. As you pass by each island, a narrative explaining the history of the island or the reason behind its name is played over the speakers. English translations are given when you buy your ticket, which is only 1,400 yen. Definitely worth the price as there are some very interesting tiny islands, including Senganjima, which has a solitary pine tree on it.

Shiogama Sushi

The boat drops you off at Shiogama, a small town that calls itself the "Sushi Capital of Japan". With the most sushi restaurants per sq km in the nation, it is no idle boast and you should try some sushi if you visit here. By the time our late lunch was over, it was growing dark, so we wandered the streets for a bit. There are some nice small stores that you might encounter, and a few sights such as Shiogama Jinja, but it was too late to do much more, so we walked across town to Shiogama station, which is only 20 minutes from Sendai.

While on the way, I spotted a condom machine on the street here in Shiogama. I've actually never seen one of these in all my time in Japan. What was funniest was the slogan above the condoms: "Happy Family Life" - I guess when you have the most densely populated area in Tohoku, keeping families small keeps them happy!

Best,

Sean

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Sendai Saturday Sports Spectacular (Part 2) - Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix 83 at Sendai 89ers 82 - December 12, 2009

After watching Vegalta Sendai's pulsating extra time victory, the evening event beckoned. It was to be my first bj League game between Hamamatsu and Sendai. With the soccer game going long, we had just enough time to head back to the hotel to freshen up before making our way to the Aoba Gym.

bj League

Unfortunately named and poorly marketed, the basketball japan League (bj League for short) has been around for 5 years now. There are 13 teams divided into two conferences, with Sendai being the northernmost team and Ryukyu (Okinawa) being the furthest south. The schedule is 8 months long, stretching from October to May, with playoffs following. Each team plays 52 games, so there's only about 6 or 7 games per month. It seems like every road trip is also a doubleheader, with games on Saturday and Sunday (or in Tokyo's case, back-to-back weekdays).

There are some differences in the rules from the NBA, particularly with the 1-and-1 penalty and 10-minute quarters. There can be no more than 3 non-Asian players on the floor per team, and at least one Japanese player must be on the floor at all times. The foreign players seem to have played Division 1 or 2 NCAA ball but weren't good enough to be drafted.

One of the problems with the league is that home games are played in different gyms which makes being a regular fan more difficult. Imagine if the Lakers played a few games in Riverside or Santa Monica - it would not work. Not all teams do this, but I did notice that the Sendai plays at 3 different gyms this season.

The league is covered in the Japan Times for English speakers, and there are a couple of cable channels that broadcast games, but overall penetration into the sports fan's mindset is not very good. After seeing the soccer game with over 18,000 people, only 1,500 or so showed up to watch the 89ers. I think Sendai is a great sports town, but for some reason, basketball just doesn't rate here.

Getting there

The gym is located just above Kita-Sendai subway station, about 8 minutes from downtown. Follow the signs to Aoba Gym, and try not to get lost - it's not a big place and not obvious from the station exit. However, there should be a few other fans going that way, so follow them.

The Stadium

This is not a stadium, it's just a small local gym that seats about 2,000 people. There are 4 seating choices, the first two are the courtside seats which should be avoided, then the fixed seats which are close enough along one sideline, then the free seating around the rest of the gym. At 3,500 yen for game-day tickets in the fixed seating, it's rather expensive, but given the turnout, it's not surprising they need to charge that much.

There's a small food stall in one corner that serves sausages and baked goods. Otherwise there is nothing worth mentioning here. My friend Chris who joined me said his high school gym back in the U.S. was bigger. The great thing though is that you are really close to the action. Basketball is a great game when viewed up close, and the high tempo displayed in the first quarter on was great to watch.

The Teams

The Sendai 89ers have been around since the bj League started in 2005. They've yet to win a title though, or even appear in a final. They were Eastern Conference champs in 2007-08 but lost the semi-final to Tokyo. This season they have four Americans, most notably Gyno Pomare, who led his San Diego Toreros to a first-round upset over Connecticut back in 2008. This season, they stand 2nd in the Eastern Conference at 10-6 going into the game.

The Hamamatsu Higashimikawa Phoenix have been around for a while, but were a new team in the bj League from last season. There were no expansion team follies here though, as they went 36-16 to take 1st place in the East. But they also fell to Tokyo in their first semi-final visit. They are back on top of the East this season with a 14-2 record. Veteran William Knight out of UCLA leads the team.

The Game

The first quarter started fast and furious. The Phoenix were on fire early, sinking their first 6 shots or so, but Sendai clawed back, ending the quarter with a 23-20 lead. It only took 20 minutes to play, and I thought that the game would be over in an hour, but the second quarter was when the game devolved into a more typical game with fouls and timeouts galore. Sendai pressured Hamamatsu into several bad shots while making their own, and went to the dressing room up 40-31, ending the quarter on a 10-2 run.

This slam by Demetrius Guions put Sendai up by 8

Halftime was highlighted by the announcer moving through the stands talking to fans. When he spotted Chris and I, he raced over and told us to say "Go Go Niners". Ugh. I had a thought to say something else but refrained and muttered "Go Go Niners" rather unenthusiastically. Wonder if my lack of energy hurt the team in the second half.

Anyway, back to the game. The third quarter was fairly even, but it was with just two seconds left that the turning point in the game happened. With 8.7 seconds left and Hamamatsu down 57-47, each team took a 60-second timeout to diagram a play. The 89ers stopped the first chance, but Wendell White got the ball in the corner and fired up a Hail Mary 3 which miraculously drained and the quarter ended with Hamamatsu down just 7 points.

Chris Holm dunks

The Phoenix had the ball to start the 4th, and quickly scored to draw within 5. Sendai was rattled and they couldn't make their shots as Hamamatsu sensed the game was theirs for the taking. Sure enough, a few possessions later and the Phoenix were on top. Sendai had no answers for the Hamamatsu defense and with 90 seconds to go, it was the Phoenix up by 7.

This is when the game stopped dead in its tracks. With little chance to catch up with the 24 second clock, Sendai was forced to foul whenever a Phoenix player had the ball. With the 1-and-1 rule, if Hisamatsu missed the first foul shot, the ball would be loose, and often Sendai would rebound, drive the floor, and shoot a 3. If they made it or not, they would foul again as soon as they could and the process would repeat. Hamamatsu often missed the first shot and Sendai suddenly was draining 3's. The lead grew smaller, and I grew more frustrated as the game had become completely stupid by this point. Fortunately the Phoenix managed to sink their last six free throws and when Sendai drained a meaningless 3 at the buzzer, the game ended 83-82 for Hamamatsu.

Masashiro Oguchi drained this 3

Knight led all scorers with 26 points in only 29 minutes while Sendai's Chris Holm out of Vermont dominated the boards with 16.

I find it difficult to analyze basketball, especially to explain how a team won a game 83-82. Sendai outshot and out-rebounded Hamamatsu but turned the ball over 21 times, many as a result of good Phoenix defense. And of course, the score is much closer than the actual game. Which brings me to the next point: the stupidest rule in sports. Why is it that a team that is in the lead must defend that lead by hitting free throws after being intentionally fouled? Even stupider, if the first FT is missed, the other team has a chance to drive for 3. Even if both free throws are made, the other team still has a chance to outscore you 3-2 on each possession. And all the fouls and timeouts kill the energy of the fans. Clearly, an intentional foul should be 3 shots from the charity stripe.

Watch the end of a close hockey game - the players are fighting for the puck and trying to win. Now watch the end of a close basketball game. Whistles, fouls, timeouts, which are great for TV but bad for fans sitting there. The simple presence of this rule is why basketball is not a lot of fun to watch. You invest your time and are rewarded at the end with either garbage time or foul after foul. Somebody needs to fix this.

Cheerleaders

The 89ers do have energetic fans, and energetic cheerleaders too. During every time out, they'd race onto the floor, dance for a minute, and race off. At game's end, with time outs all over the place, I think even the cheerleaders were more tired than the players. But they put on a great show and kept the fans entertained during the seemingly endless run of timeouts near the end of each half.

Christmas Cheerleaders with umbrellas?

Next Up

I'll be checking out the Tokyo Apache tomorrow (December 16th) and then visiting Kyoto where I will catch one more game on the 26th. After that, I should have a better idea of how good this league really is. So check back for reports then.

Best,

Sean

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Sendai Saturday Sports Spectacular (Part 1) - Kawasaki Frontale 1 at Vegalta Sendai 2 (a.e.t.) - December 12, 2009

When the Emperor's Cup Quarterfinal match locations were announced, I was interested to see that Kawasaki Frontale were going to visit Vegalta Sendai. When I checked the bj League schedule, I was happy to find that Sendai has a team, and they had a home game on the same day! It was a chance to take a real sports road trip in Japan, my first in 2009.

Sendai

The capital of Miyagi prefecture, Sendai is a city of some one million people about 200 miles northeast of Tokyo. It's the largest city in the Tohoku region (Tohoku combines two Chinese characters meaning east and north and includes the 6 prefectures between Kanto and Hokkaido. It's considered one of Japan's greenest cities and is nicknamed the city of trees. It is famous in the world of green purchasing, having hosted the first international conference back in 2004, which led to the Sendai Declaration on Green Purchasing. Of course, you still get plastic bags at every single convenience store, so they've got a long way to go to convince me.

Like most Japanese cities, there's a central train station (shown above) which defines the downtown core. From here, several lines venture out to the suburbs. There's also a single subway line that travels a 30-minute north-south route (hence the name Namboku line, which means south-north). Another line is due to be built in 2015, traveling east-west and naturally called the Tozai line (which means east-west).

There are a few attractions which I'll discuss in a separate post. There are 3 major sports teams, including the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Pacific League, who play in Kleenex Stadium. Of course, the other two teams were why I was visiting Sendai this weekend.

Getting there

Sendai is on the Tohoku Shinkansen - just 100 minutes from Tokyo station on the fastest Hayate service. There are no flights from Tokyo's Haneda airport, but there are two daily flights from Narita, which are necessary for those Tohoku residents who want to get out of the country.

Shinkansen car guide in Tokyo station

The normal Shinkansen fare is 10,590 yen one-way (about $120 with the strong yen) but there's a special DoNichi ticket that allows unlimited rides on JR (the national rail) between Tokyo and the entire Tohoku region for a weekend (DoNichi referring to Saturday and Sunday - tired of the Japanese lesson yet?). At 18,000 yen, it's even cheaper than buying a return ticket on the Shink, plus you get all your local JR rides (which excludes the subway) for free. So you can spend your Sunday venturing away from the city, which we did, going out to Matsushima and Shiogama, which I'll also write about later.

If you plan to ride the subway more than twice in a day, pick up the unlimited day pass for just 600 yen. Given that even a short ride can be 240 yen, this pass saves you money and also saves you the time of figuring out how much to pay. I was surprised at how busy the subway was, even on the weekend, but I guess when there's only one line, people don't have much choice.

Hotels are plentiful around the main station, and you shouldn't have any problem finding one to book. I'd recommend staying anywhere downtown as it's not a big city and most of what you will want to do is within 30 minutes.

The Stadium

Vegalta Sendai play in Yurtec Stadium, named after a Tohoku-based corporation. Originally named Sendai Stadium (not an original name though), it is located next to the northern terminus of the subway line. As the train approaches Izumi-chuo station, you will notice the stadium on the east side (the subway is above ground for the last few stops). When you exit the station, just walk back south about 5 minutes. You have to walk down a relatively narrow sidewalk which doesn't provide any good views of the whole venue until you are just in front. Below is the main entrance.

The gates were well spread out and there was no waiting to get in, although that was likely because we arrived only 40 minutes before game time. Once inside, you can walk freely throughout the stadium along the concourse, but when you enter the seating area, you need to show your ticket. There are specific seating areas, but most of the seats are free seating within that area, so get there early or splurge for the more expensive assigned seats. There are also standing areas at the top of each section. As is usual, the supporters sit in the end zone, so try to get a seat along the sideline as your ears will thank you afterward.

The stadium is rectangular and made specifically for soccer. A wavy roof encircles the seating area and all seats are covered, so even a rainy day poses no problem here. Along the sideline, all seats are very close and offer great views. Holding just under 20,000 fans, it is cozy and clean, but loud - the Sendai fans chant non-stop and I'd say more than half of them are participating in the cheers. If you want to fit in, wear something yellow.

Sendai Supporters

This stadium maybe one of the best in Japan. It's small enough that you're close to the action, but big enough to allow a great crowd of supporters. Definitely worth a visit if you're in town at the same time as Vegalta.

Kawasaki Frontale 1 at Vegalta Sendai 2 (a.e.t.)

Kawasaki were fresh off a disappointing finish to their J1 campaign, slipping up against cellar-dwellers Oita Trinita in late November. Their 1-0 defeat cost them the league title as I've detailed here before. As well, they had lost the Nabisco Cup Final to F.C. Tokyo and fell against Nagoya in the Asian Champions League quarter-finals, so the Emperor's Cup was their last chance at gaining silverware in 2009.

Vegalta Sendai, on the other hand, were the J2 champions and doubtless were looking to prove themselves against one of Japan's best teams before joining the top flight next season. Back in October, I saw them defeat Omiya Ardija in the 3rd round of the Cup, despite being outplayed, but they then smoked F.C. Tokyo 3-0 in the round of 16, so I had high expectations for this match.

I was not disappointed. Both teams were tentative early on, and few chances were found. It wasn't until the 35th minute when Sendai opened the scoring on a great play. Kunimitsu Sekiguchi raced forward and looked right as Takayuki Nakahara made his way to the net. All Kawasaki's defenders thought the ball was going that way, but Sekiguchi made a nifty no-look pass to Yuki Nakashima who had space on the left. He made his way into the box, looked up, and placed an absolutely perfect shot inside the far right post to send the crowd into a frenzy.

I thought Sendai might start to play a more defensive game with the lead, but I was wrong: the game became more wide open in the 2nd half. Kaswasaki nearly drew level just after the restart when Renatinho was alone in front but he put it straight at keeper Takuto Hayashi. Frontale continued to push, creating several good chances but none were able to beat Hayashi.

Meanwhile Sendai used every opportunity to counter-attack and themselves had a number of great shots, only to be denied by Eiji Kawashima, who made at least 4 stops when faced with a 1-on-1.


Kawashima bats one away

It was an amazing back-and-forth game, but Sendai finally broke through 10 minutes from time when substitute Tomoyuki Hirase crossed to Nakashima who bundled the ball home off his chest. Or so I thought. In fact, it hit his arm and the goal was immediately disallowed. There would be no Henry-like controversy to sully the Emperor's Cup!

The teams traded chances and it looked like Sendai would advance when Hayashi made a terrible error. On a cross, he chased the ball well away from his net, palming it right to Frontale midfielder Kazuhiro Murakami, who one-timed the ball into the yawning cage just 2o seconds from the end of regulation. The Sendai supporters were suddenly silenced, but I looked forward to 30 more minutes of soccer.

Naoya Tamura tries to deke

The overtime periods were more of the same - Kawasaki attacks and Sendai counters. Both keepers were up to the challenge for the first 15 minutes, but 5 minutes into the second OT stanza, Kawashima was found wanting. Sekiguchi had the ball on the far left and crossed to Hirase. Although he was well-marked, the ball was slightly low and Hirase bent to head it towards goal. The ball floated ever so slowly as Kawashima leapt in vain - the ball sailed over his outstretched arms and into the goal. The fans went crazy! 2-1 Sendai! Frontale could not overcome this deficit and Vegalta was victorious! What a great game and a great winning goal.


Hayashi parries the cross in overtime

As usual, Kawasaki were technically better but lacked finish when they needed it most. Meanwhile their opponents seemed hungrier and won a lot of the key battles - it was Kawashima who kept them close. This game reminded me of the Nabisco Cup final; I wonder why Kawasaki can't play their usual style when the pressure is on. We'll see if things improve next year.

Meanwhile, Sendai will be facing defending champs Gamba Osaka on December 29th here in Tokyo. It's a work day and a 3pm start, but I've already got the day off, and will go check it out. The other semi-final features Nagoya Grampus and Shimizu S-Pulse, and the two winners meet for Japanese soccer supremacy on New Year's Day.

For those of you who want highlights, this video is good, although a bit strange. The first 40 seconds and last minute are a repeated close-up of a female Vegalta fan cheering and adjusting her bra. Bizarre. But in between are 3.5 minutes of the best plays including all 3 goals.

Annoying Fans

A final note - although I enjoyed the experience, I found a few of the Sendai fans to be bothersome. It was very crowded, nearly sold out, so there weren't a lot of seats to be had. But I noticed one group of 5 had taken 10 seats between them. This is atypical of Japanese, who are usually considerate and follow the rules. To make matters worse, the section in front of me stood for the whole game, despite it not being a cheering section. In Japan, if you are a supporter, you go to the supporter's section, where you can stand and cheer for the whole game. But for some reason, the people near the front of the section felt that it was imperative to stand. Of course, everyone behind them had to stand, which blocked the view of part of the field. Sadly, "Siddown" doesn't translate well. What is frustrating is that there was a standing section nearby - if you want to stand, do it there! I don't want to stand for 3 hours, which is why I bought a seat!

I should note that this is only a few of the fans. The Sendai supporters are by and large very good - after all they filled the stadium when the other 3 quarterfinal games were at less than half of capacity. But as any fan knows, it just takes a few to ruin it for everyone.

It was a good afternoon though, but the day was only half-over. The bj League was also in town in the evening and I'll write about that game in my next post.

Best,

Sean

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AFC Champions League Draw

Earlier this week, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held the draw for the 2010 Champions League. Considering that the final was held just a month ago, these guys don’t waste any time getting ready for next year.The top 3 J1 clubs (Kashima, Kawasaki, Gamba Osaka) are automatically included, as will be the winner of the Emperor’s Cup. There’s also four teams from China and South Korea, and as the groups are drawn by area (16 teams from East Asia, 16 from the West), each Japanese team will play one Korean and one Chinese team.

The remaining 4 teams include two from Australia’s A League, one from Indonesia, and the winner of an upcoming playoff between teams from Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia.

The draw was not good to Kawasaki, who will face Australian champions Melbourne Victory, Chinese Super League winners Beijing Guoan, and K-League runners-up Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. For me, it’s a chance to plan some soccer road trips. I’ve never been to Beijing, so perhaps I can venture over when Frontale visits. The schedule is not set yet (although the game days are known), but I’ll be watching closely to see where I might be heading early next year.

Best,

Sean

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World Cup Thoughts

As mentioned in the previous post, the World Cup draw was held on Friday. Here are the groups along with each team's FIFA ranking and the total rankings for the group:

Group A (127)       Group B (94)      Group C (84)        Group D (84)
France        7     Argentina    8    England       9     Germany     6
Mexico        15    Greece       12   USA           14    Serbia      20
Uruguay       19    Nigeria      22   Algeria       28    Australia   21
South Africa  86    South Korea  52   Slovenia      33    Ghana       37


Group E (83)        Group F (145)     Group G (107)       Group H (74)
Netherlands   3     Italy        4    Brazil        2     Spain       1
Cameroon      11    Paraguay     30   Portugal      5     Chile       17
Denmark       26    Slovakia     34   Côte d'Ivoire 16    Switzerland 18
Japan         43    New Zealand  77   North Korea   84    Honduras    38

First, the FIFA ranking is really not that meaningful as they change every month and one win can really propel you up the standings. Still, it's interesting to see that 3 groups are almost identically ranked, while Group H looks to be the strongest as a whole. But I think you have to ignore the lowest-ranked team, which shows that it's really Group G that is the toughest. North Korea is not likely to advance, but it's quite possible for the Ivory Coast to knock off one of the other giants. The Brazil-Portugal matchup should be very interesting as they close out group play on June 25th.

France got the lucky spot in Group A, which shows that the football gods still favor Les Bleus despite Henry's handball. Italy also has a relatively easy group. Of course, England and the US will be the most anticipated match although both teams should advance regardless.

Playoffs

That leads me to the next point which is trying to figure out how the playoffs shape up. Historically, most of the seeded teams make it past the group stage. In the 3 World Cups that featured 32 teams, only 3 out of the 24 seeds fell at the first hurdle (Spain in 1998, France and Argentina in 2002). Obviously South Africa is likely to be a team that fails to make it to the next round, and they've drawn two other high-altitude nations, so their natural home advantage is somewhat diminished. I can't imagine any of the other seeds dropping out, although Germany will have it tough with 3 good teams in group D.


The round of 16 sees the top team in Group A play the second-place finisher in Group B. Similarly C1 plays D2, E1 plays F2 and G1 plays H2. The other half of the bracket sees the reversals with B1 taking on A2, etc. This way, two teams from the same group cannot meet again until the final.


In 1998 and 2006, six of eight seeds made it to the quarter-finals (only 4 did so in 2002). I think there'll be at least one seed falling here, and it might be Spain or England who face stiff competition from the crossover group.


In these three recent tourneys, the semi-finals featured 3 seeds and one "outsider". It's interesting to note though that in 2002, South Korea was seeded due as a host nation and they made it to the final four along with unseeded Turkey. In 1998 it was Croatia, and in 2006 it was Portugal - both those Cups were hosted in Europe. So I think the trend will continue, and I look for Nigeria to make it to the final four.


I like Brazil and the Netherlands to meet in the final, with the Dutch taking their first World Cup. Hey, it's no fun predicting another victory for Brazil or Italy, so I'm going out on a limb (well, picking the #3 team really isn't much of a risk). The one thing you can bet on is that everything I wrote here will be entirely wrong. Whatever the case, it should be a great tournament staring 6 months from now. I can hardly wait!


Best,


Sean

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