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CJ Gets Pumped on Interleague Play (and Making 500,000 Bones)

June 23rd, 2008 · 2 Comments

For no particular reason I don’t make it over to CJ Nitkowski’s blog  all that often, but he’s got a post up now that really hones in on the appeal of the interleague play system in Japan. Ever since MLB decided that the All-star Game (”and starting in right field for the National League….Ken Griffey [...]

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Tags: Baseball - Japan

RIP: George Carlin

June 23rd, 2008 · 1 Comment

 
One of my Uncles in Las Vegas was a big George Carlin fan. He was also a big Gallagher fan, didn’t pay taxes, and was eventually audited by the IRS. Carlin died today  at the age of 71.
I can remember as a kid seeing Carlin for the first time at my Uncle’s house. This [...]

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Tags: Tributes

The Steep Price of Success For Chinese Athletes

June 23rd, 2008 · No Comments

 
Phenomenal article here entitled In China’s Medal Factory, Winners Cannot Quit, about the hell endured by many Chinese athletes on the road to, and away from, Olympic success. The focus is on Yang Wenjun, Olympic medalist in flatwater canoeing four years ago, and son of peasant rice farmers.
After medaling he was given a three-bedroom [...]

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Tags: Maolympics 2008 · Sport

Charm of Countryside Baseball

June 23rd, 2008 · 7 Comments

Great column  by Wayne Graczyk of the Japan Times online about NPB games played in the Japanese countryside. Personally, I’m a big fan of this as well, and as Graczyk indicates in his piece, staging games at these sorts of off-the-beaten-path locals ofers a unique glimpse into yesteryear.
Known as “chiho jiai” in Japanese, these games [...]

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Tags: Baseball - Japan