Gotta Love It – Yomiuri Opens With 5 Game Skid

9 04 2008

To the rest of Japanese baseball, the lack of wins for the Yomiuri Giants in the beginning of the season is a thing of beauty.
Baseball fans come in two flavors when Tokyo’s favourite are concerned: those that love ’em, and those that hate ’em. They are every bit as polarizing a team as their US counterpart – the Yankees.

Me? I fit in the latter.
I am an “anti-Kyogen” fan (“Kyogen” being the term used for the Yomiuri Giants).

So when Yomiuri Giants open with a franchise-worst 5 game losing streak, it brings a smile to my face.  Seeing them fumble their way post that to a 2-7 record, why it’s early bliss.  Only way it could get better is if the Yankees started just as badly… fingers crossed I guess.

The only thing is, the Giants really do have a stellar team this year.  Yes, Hanshin has added offense this year… and the Dragons are doing what they always do with pitching and stingy defense… but there are too many strengths in the Kyogen line-up for me to not be wary of how they’re going to do.





Kids Screaming, Women Swooning – Doala The Koala

18 03 2008

Doala The Koala - at the Nagoya DomeJapanese women tend to have a thing for ‘cute characters’… well, at least the younger ones do.
Kitty-chan (‘Hello Kitty’), Miffy, and now… Doala The Koala.
Slim & svelte, Doala’s a mascot for Nagoya’s Chunichi Dragons – and the girls love him.

To be fair, Doala’s not a new character – he’s been around for about 14 years now (about when Nagoya’s Higashiyama Zoo obtained their Koalas – thus Doala’s connection to Nagoya), and has been the primary mascot for the Chunichi Dragons during that time.
Still, a decade ago Doala very nearly got sacked – when the Dragons moved to the Nagoya Dome from Nagoya Stadium (between Meieki & Kanayama). The powers-that-be decided that maybe a Dragon would be more appropriate.
Doala flips out as Tyrone Woods returns Home… Doala ended up staying, and the Dragons joined too – but Doala was transformed from a short, pudgy Koala into the acrobatic, back-flipping Doala he is today.

So now he’s attained cult status with young women – not just in Nagoya, but nation-wide. His fame is such that recently he released a book, ‘Doala no Himitsu’ (Doala’s Secrets).
Apparently tho’, his fame hasn’t spread to small children… who often are quite scared of the Dragon’s mascot.
No accounting for taste, I guess. 😉

(HT: Mainichi Shimbun)

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Top Sports Stories in Japan… (Sept 21)

21 09 2007

Maria Takagi is bendyFriday, and some big games of rugby to be played this weekend…

Go Wallabies!

Anyway, in today’s sports news in Japan:





Top Sports Stories in Japan… (Sept 20)

20 09 2007

Delectable Ai-chanBit of a hot spell here at the moment…

BRING ON AUTUMN!!!

Sigh…

Today’s top sports stories in Japan:





Top Sports Stories in Japan… (Sept 19)

19 09 2007

The beautiful Sayaka Ando…Overcast… damn cloudy!

Still hot as anything tho’… sigh.

So today’s top sports stories were:





Top Sports Stories in Japan… (September 18)

18 09 2007

Hot indeed…

Damn… hot again today!

Anyway… today’s top sports stories in Japan:





Top Sports Stories in Japan… (Sept 17)

17 09 2007

Jarah Mariano & friend…Day off today – National Holiday!

Yay.

Anyway, in today’s sports headlines in Japan:





Top Sports Stories in Japan… (Sept 16)

16 09 2007

Not so hot any more… but she isMixed bag last night – Hawks lost, but hey – Wallabies beat up on the Welsh!

So, in today’s sports headlines in Japan:





Top Sports Stories in Japan… (Sept 15)

15 09 2007

The lovely Reika ShiinaSaturday… and more World Cup Rugby tonight!

Life’s good…

Anyway – today’s top sports headlines in Japan are:





Top Sports Stories in Japan… (Sept 14)

14 09 2007

The delectable Sayaka AndoShowdown tonight – I’ll be watching England take on the South Africans!

Today’s sporting headlines in Japan: