Monday, April 4, 2011

No rest for the weary!

So, senbatsu is over and things have died down, right?

Wrong!

While these teams have been battling for the title, prefectural spring tournaments have started in some areas.

Now, these spring tournaments don't actually count towards anything.

That I know of anyways.

But, they are a way for teams to get a dry run in before the real thing begins a couple of months later.

So, while I may not be able to do full brackets, I can at least cover which teams are doing well. Keep in mind though that because some teams were at senbatsu, they may not actually compete in the spring tournaments...

...which is odd.

4 comments:

Deanna said...

Not in Tokyo! Nichidai San and Kokugakuin Kugayama are both playing this Thursday at Meiji Jingu #2 as their first games at the spring taikai. They were both seeded teams.

I'd go but I think it'd be a little weird. Shutoku and Teikyo are both playing this Wednesday but... it's just hard to fit in as a gaijin.

Goro Shigeno said...

Right, I said in some areas like in the Kyushu region. All others start later so the senbatsu teams will compete.

And as for going to other games, you go to Tokyo Big6 now, so going to a game one level lower I don't think is too weird.

Middle school? Probably would be weird. Not HS though.

Deanna said...

Also for the record, yesterday Teikyo lost (WTF) and Shutoku beat Kanto Daiichi (!). Nichidai San and Kokugakuin Kugayama both advanced today as well, Sanko in a 12-2 6-inning called game.

As for the awkward factor... to be fair, even poorly attended Big 6 games like Tokyo vs. Anybody, are still going to have like 5000 people there. The high school games, in a tourney like this, get a LOT less. Crowded games, it's easy to just kind of blend in, only the nearby people are going to be turning and pointing. But a sparse game, there's gonna be a lot of WTF going on, especially for a white *female*, and especially if I bring my camera with me.

Hell, even at today's Hosei preseason game, there were maybe 100 people there, and a whole bunch of giggling/pointing. Though it died down somewhat after I chatted with a few fans I knew in the stands, and a few of the Hosei players came up to say hi to me. It's still awkward. Some other Hosei players who don't know me were very WTF about my presence.

I wanna go see Shutoku because one of my JHS boys is going there now. So I want to learn about this year's team and all. But I don't want to embarrass him!

Goro Shigeno said...

I guess I can see what you mean, (and I'm sure you may question it) - but if you've been trying all this time to get random people you interact with to talk to you in Japanese to get rid of the assumption that just because you look like a gaijin doesn't mean you can't speak Japanese, I don't see why you should be bothered about the awkwardness of being at a preseason/HS game. If they ask, then you can just bust out your knowledge and leave them speechless.