So I went to Japan, which was great and which I wish to return to for future radio or sports employment. Working a convenience store there wouldn't be too bad either, but for now, I'm working semi-convenience store hours at the sports radio station, which beats my former hours, 6a to 2p on glorious weekend mornings.
Working evenings at sports radio gives me access/the privilege of cutting highlights from the weekends' games and events, which is what sports is all about.
Some notes:
The Giants blew a 4 run lead, and got beat by a little fly to left by the Phillies' Shane Victorino (whatta name!), who is a decent hitter, and has paid his dues being passed over in the minors. But this homer barely made it to the stands in Philly, barely made the flower pots they have separating the stands from the outfield fences. Good for him, but what a way to lose.
On the other hand, the A's beat the Twins on Saturday on a Joe Blanton shutout, all of an hour and 40-some minutes of a game. On Sunday, little Chad G0-Dan, the goatee-wearing, French-Canadian-heritaged righty from Louisiana (one of my favorites), beat Johan Santana, the little lefty from Venezuela (born exactly a day before me, was a lefty shortstop in his home country, another one of my faves) . Frail Bobby Crosby drives in a run when his broken bat flying at the Twins thirdbaseman "breaks up" a potential double play (his off-balance throw misses secondbase, and goes into right field). Good for him - its about time he's regaining his clutch RBI powers...
and finally, golf, which I never care about. KJ Choi beats out Tiger Woods, among others. He's been decent for a long time, so good for him. I hope some of you out there won bets on that one. What a longshot!
For Johnny Laughs Sunday night update, this is Johnny Long...
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Recap Special-Editon: Tokyo- Saturday 5/12
Date: Saturday, 5/12/07
Time: 6p-10p
Place: Tokyo Meiji Jingu Stadium, north Tokyo, Japan
Game #: Yakult home #20/#38 total -JN #14 of 2007
Attendance: 37,000? (no exact figure, max is 37,933, and it was pretty damn full)
Those Present: JN, JN's mommy
The Players: The Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and the visiting Hanshin Tigers
Final Score: Tigers hold on for to 3-2 win.
update coming...
Time: 6p-10p
Place: Tokyo Meiji Jingu Stadium, north Tokyo, Japan
Game #: Yakult home #20/#38 total -JN #14 of 2007
Attendance: 37,000? (no exact figure, max is 37,933, and it was pretty damn full)
Those Present: JN, JN's mommy
The Players: The Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and the visiting Hanshin Tigers
Final Score: Tigers hold on for to 3-2 win.
update coming...
An Apology, a Welcome-back, and a Primer to the World of Hanshin Tigers Baseball
Firstly, I apologize to you who have been patiently waiting for Johnny Laugh's newest entries. I have been busy immersing myself in Japan and Japanese culture and language, to the point where I have been thinking in Japanese, which does you and me no good in this blog, since I don't write or read Japanese well, and you probably don't either.
That being said, I also had a few chances to immerse myself in Japanese baseball, between viewings of New York Yankee and Seattle Mariners baseball on Japanese TV (every single day, damn Yankees!). The funny thing is that their "Direct TV" is called "BS", Broadcast Satellite, so we were watching BS-1 and BS-3 everyday, a funny thing to yell in English.
***
Alot has been said about how the Hanshin Tigers of Japan's Central (National) League are the Boston Red Sox of Japan. They are good, but only so good, taking the Japan Series in 1985 after a long hiatus and backseat to the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants (the Japanese Yankees), and then not reappearing there until 2003 (and losing in the series then).
Their futility (many credit a curse started when happy fans threw a KFC Colonel Sanders statue into the local river in celebration in 1985) is noteworthy, and as a bigger-payrolled and more historical team (since 1935, proclaims the logo), makes them a target for Red Sox-esque failure-complex.
Also paralleled to American ball is their rabid #1 in Japan fanbase versus the old-guard by-default-type Tokyo Giants fans (think smug Yankee fans, and then loud/obnoxious Red Sox fans at whatever stadium you've been to), and their yearly, three-week, built-in road trip (when they vacate their sacred Koshien Stadium in Osaka for the national high-school baseball tournament - think March Madness, in one stadium).
All this, and from America, my mom and I have been patiently watching, thinking that the fans and the happy-go-lucky team have been A. Obnoxious, and B. Curious.
What makes these fans so so loud and crazy? Other teams have an organized fan-cheering section, and since the country is small (the size of the state of California), most teams cheering sections travel to road games (Tokyo as San Francisco, and Osaka as LA, in geographic terms), but the Tigers fans are the loudest, the most numerous, and the loudest (really).
We took a few trains to Meiji Jingu Stadium, in northeast Tokyo, to find out. Luckily, our good local friend and host got us some prime "Tigers' Corner" bleacher seats, 2nd row! and we were in the epicenter for the earthquake that is Tigers Baseball Fandom...
That being said, I also had a few chances to immerse myself in Japanese baseball, between viewings of New York Yankee and Seattle Mariners baseball on Japanese TV (every single day, damn Yankees!). The funny thing is that their "Direct TV" is called "BS", Broadcast Satellite, so we were watching BS-1 and BS-3 everyday, a funny thing to yell in English.
***
Alot has been said about how the Hanshin Tigers of Japan's Central (National) League are the Boston Red Sox of Japan. They are good, but only so good, taking the Japan Series in 1985 after a long hiatus and backseat to the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants (the Japanese Yankees), and then not reappearing there until 2003 (and losing in the series then).
Their futility (many credit a curse started when happy fans threw a KFC Colonel Sanders statue into the local river in celebration in 1985) is noteworthy, and as a bigger-payrolled and more historical team (since 1935, proclaims the logo), makes them a target for Red Sox-esque failure-complex.
Also paralleled to American ball is their rabid #1 in Japan fanbase versus the old-guard by-default-type Tokyo Giants fans (think smug Yankee fans, and then loud/obnoxious Red Sox fans at whatever stadium you've been to), and their yearly, three-week, built-in road trip (when they vacate their sacred Koshien Stadium in Osaka for the national high-school baseball tournament - think March Madness, in one stadium).
All this, and from America, my mom and I have been patiently watching, thinking that the fans and the happy-go-lucky team have been A. Obnoxious, and B. Curious.
What makes these fans so so loud and crazy? Other teams have an organized fan-cheering section, and since the country is small (the size of the state of California), most teams cheering sections travel to road games (Tokyo as San Francisco, and Osaka as LA, in geographic terms), but the Tigers fans are the loudest, the most numerous, and the loudest (really).
We took a few trains to Meiji Jingu Stadium, in northeast Tokyo, to find out. Luckily, our good local friend and host got us some prime "Tigers' Corner" bleacher seats, 2nd row! and we were in the epicenter for the earthquake that is Tigers Baseball Fandom...
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