Well, so far the men's team are winless, having just lost a five-setter to host China late last night and still have the undefeated U.S. team and a winless Venezuela. The women are 2-1, their only loss coming to the U.S. but still have undefeated Cuba and the host team in their way to the elimination round.
It looks like the men are statistically out of it. They would need to win their last two matches and have either Italy, Bulgaria or China lose all their remaining matches. And even then, I don't know what the tie-breaker would be.
The women are on better ground. If they win one more match, I believe they're in although it wouldn't hurt if Poland and Venezuela keep losing.
But hey, I don't think that people are coming here looking for results. They're looking for the pretty pretty pictures. Well, rather than right click a bunch of Reuters photos, I'll just point people in the right direction:
Japan Volleyball Association Men's Senior Team
Japan Volleyball Association Women's Senior Team
Both teams at the Mainichi Daily News
Yahoo Japan's Beijing Volleyball Photo Gallery
A lot of players play in the V. League, Japan's highest level of pro volleyball
Photo gallery of the Women's Team
Men's team member Takahiro Yamamoto
Men's team member Yu Koshikawa
Miyuki Takahashi (Shin) Livedoor photo gallery
Megumi Kurihara (Princess Megu)'s Blog
More Women's photos at Sponichi
Nikan Sports Photo gallery
By the way, Japan volleyball keeps the Japanese tradition of naming their national teams after their current coaches. Thus Japanese announcers may refer to the Women's team as Yanagimoto Japan for their coach, Shoichi Yanagimoto. Likewise, the men are Ueta Japa for coach Tatsuya Ueta.
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Friday, August 15, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Six Things February 10, 2008
1. Super Bowl XLII. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Who knew you could spell schadenfreude with an 18 and a 1? A week later and it's still the gift that keeps on giving. Bill Simmons gets all emo. Some Pats fans can't let it go. Even the Onion joins in on the fun. I'm glad I recorded the replay because I can watch that fourth quarter over and over again.
2. Gyoza-gate is still one of the top stories in the news here.
3. "JapanSoc is a social bookmarking site, devoted to news and stories about Japan."
4. There is a new English wikipedia entry for 筋肉番付 (Kinniku Banzuke -- known as Unbeatable Banzuke on G4 in the US). The person who created the page is trying to do a translation of the Japanese page. If you want to practice your Japanese this might be a nice little exercise.
5. Frozen Grand Central by Improve Everywhere.
6. Huh, Hawaii's caucuses might actually matter for once. Cue the "Barry Obama, Hometown Boy!" campaign! Of course once the primaries are over Hawaii will follow this up by having absolutely no impact on the general election.
2. Gyoza-gate is still one of the top stories in the news here.
3. "JapanSoc is a social bookmarking site, devoted to news and stories about Japan."
4. There is a new English wikipedia entry for 筋肉番付 (Kinniku Banzuke -- known as Unbeatable Banzuke on G4 in the US). The person who created the page is trying to do a translation of the Japanese page. If you want to practice your Japanese this might be a nice little exercise.
5. Frozen Grand Central by Improve Everywhere.
6. Huh, Hawaii's caucuses might actually matter for once. Cue the "Barry Obama, Hometown Boy!" campaign! Of course once the primaries are over Hawaii will follow this up by having absolutely no impact on the general election.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Six Things February 3, 2008
Hey! I'm still here! Sorry I haven't been putting anything up recently. Was a bit busy last month.
Anyway, I often have blog ideas that I don't think always deserve their own post. While I'd like to drive up the number of posts I um..post, I'd rather devote time to a select number of posts, especially the ones that I can really flesh out. So here goes an experiment: Six Things. Every Sunday I will try to put up a quick list of six things on my mind that are notable but not single post-worthy. They may not always be Japan related though. Of course this experiment will probably fizzle out and die by March but whatever. On with the show!
1. Super Bowl XLII is this Sunday if you're in America. If you're in Japan the game will be broadcast Monday morning on NHK BS-1. Coverage starts at 8:10 AM. Go Giants! The Patriots losing may or may not make Bill Simmons cry. That would be enough of a reason for me even if I weren't a long-time Giants fan. The Patriots are overwhelming favorites (a 12 point spread last I read) and are going for a perfect season. I'm hoping that this game will be similar to Super Bowl XXXVI with the overwhelming offensive juggernaut taken down by the underdogs with destiny and luck on their side.
2. Koda Kumi (倖田來未) has been suspended by her label for saying something stupid. And she has a new album coming out soon which she won't be able to promote. Wow. Just goes to show how much control talent agencies and record labels have over their clients. Say something or even blog something wrong and you pay a price.
3. Today is Setsubun (節分)! Throw them beans!
4. Aso Taro is my favorite Japanese politician because frankly, he's crazy:
"I've been saying that Japanese agricultural products are expensive but taste good and are clean and safe," Aso said. "To be blunt, the agricultural cooperatives should thank China. Great value has been added (to Japanese products)."
5. The L Word hit DVD rental shelves today in Japan.
6. The first time I saw this commercial for au's Infobar I thought, "Hey, it sounds like the Futurama theme song."
Like so many other people, I later found out that the opening was inspired by Psyché Rock by Pierre Henry which is the song the au commercial uses.
Anyway, I often have blog ideas that I don't think always deserve their own post. While I'd like to drive up the number of posts I um..post, I'd rather devote time to a select number of posts, especially the ones that I can really flesh out. So here goes an experiment: Six Things. Every Sunday I will try to put up a quick list of six things on my mind that are notable but not single post-worthy. They may not always be Japan related though. Of course this experiment will probably fizzle out and die by March but whatever. On with the show!
1. Super Bowl XLII is this Sunday if you're in America. If you're in Japan the game will be broadcast Monday morning on NHK BS-1. Coverage starts at 8:10 AM. Go Giants! The Patriots losing may or may not make Bill Simmons cry. That would be enough of a reason for me even if I weren't a long-time Giants fan. The Patriots are overwhelming favorites (a 12 point spread last I read) and are going for a perfect season. I'm hoping that this game will be similar to Super Bowl XXXVI with the overwhelming offensive juggernaut taken down by the underdogs with destiny and luck on their side.
2. Koda Kumi (倖田來未) has been suspended by her label for saying something stupid. And she has a new album coming out soon which she won't be able to promote. Wow. Just goes to show how much control talent agencies and record labels have over their clients. Say something or even blog something wrong and you pay a price.
3. Today is Setsubun (節分)! Throw them beans!
4. Aso Taro is my favorite Japanese politician because frankly, he's crazy:
"I've been saying that Japanese agricultural products are expensive but taste good and are clean and safe," Aso said. "To be blunt, the agricultural cooperatives should thank China. Great value has been added (to Japanese products)."
5. The L Word hit DVD rental shelves today in Japan.
6. The first time I saw this commercial for au's Infobar I thought, "Hey, it sounds like the Futurama theme song."
Like so many other people, I later found out that the opening was inspired by Psyché Rock by Pierre Henry which is the song the au commercial uses.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Urawa Reds win AFC Champions League
The Urawa Red Diamonds of Saitama, Japan defeated Sepahan F.C. of Esfahan, Iran 2-0 in Saitama (3-1 on aggregate).
Story from the official site here.
Although the story says that the Reds are the first Japanese side to win the Champions League, the league itself has only been around since 2002. Before that, there was the Asian Club Cup where the last Japanese champion was Jubilo Iwata back in 1999.
Yuichiro Nagai and Yuki Abe scored the goals for the Reds.
Story from the official site here.
Although the story says that the Reds are the first Japanese side to win the Champions League, the league itself has only been around since 2002. Before that, there was the Asian Club Cup where the last Japanese champion was Jubilo Iwata back in 1999.
Yuichiro Nagai and Yuki Abe scored the goals for the Reds.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Selecting a sports team to cheer for...
When the Red Sox completed their sweep of the Rockies I realized that the Japan Series was still going on and I wondered if I should post about them to balance things out (especially after the combined perfect game to win it) but I got kind of burned out on baseball at that point. Five of my seven posts in October were about the MLB and seven of eight of my posts were about sports (the eighth being about murder, not something I really want to constantly blog about).
It was about that time that I realized that the reason I didn't really care about the Japan Series was that I didn't have anyone to cheer for or root against. In the World Series I was cheering for Daisuke but against Boston.
As I said before, I am a Mets fan and generally cheer for New York teams. I was a big fan of the Patrick Ewing-era Knicks and I was glad that Mark Messier was around to help the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup.
Due to the influence of some friends from England I follow West Ham whenever I remember to look at the scores. Hey, middle of the table is better than fighting to simply stay in the Premier League.
I also have certain players that I cheer for. Alex! is one. Brent Barry is another. After watching the Knicks/Nuggets game on NHK BS I think I *heart* Renaldo Balkman. Hey, I never said the players I cheered for were superstars.
Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to follow some Japanese sports teams to see if it will get me a bit more interested in what's going on locally.
Now unfortunately, I live in Yamaguchi prefecture which doesn't have any big league teams. There are two local football (soccer for us Americans) clubs in the area though:
FCバレイン下関 (FC Baleine Shimonoseki) is a football club that is something like three leagues below the J League. Baleine is French for くじら.
A bit higher on the scale (I think!) is レノファ山口FC (Renofa Yamaguchi). The word Renofa is a combination of Reno from renovation and Fa from either fight or fine. Yup.
That's a start. Not quite the same as following the big leagues though although the fight to get promoted to a bigger league is something I wish the U.S. would do more often. (By the way, if you ever need to make your mind boggle, try to follow the chart at the bottom of the wikipedia entry for the English football league system. And those are just the leagues, not teams.)
So...taking into consideration that geography is always important when choosing who you cheer for (I have an excuse for cheering for New York teams since I'm from Hawaii which has no pro teams in any sports and you have to figure it out for yourself) I'll be following サンフレッチェ広島 (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) as my designated J League team. They even have a similar history to West Ham: They did a lot early on and not all that much since.
Also, since I was planning to blog about it eventually, I will try to follow ライジング福岡 (Rizing Fukuoka - the z is because they are hard core!) of the unfortunately named bj league. Japan has a bit of an odd situation that the US hasn't seen in a while -- two competing leagues of roughly the same level. While the Japan Basketball League (which has two divisions) is probably better known club teams can choose between the JBL and the bj league. Kobe Bryant's father, Joe Bryant, is the head coach of the bj league's Tokyo Apache.
Since the baseball season is over, I will take the time to mull over whether or not I will cheer for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks or the Hiroshima Carp. I'll probably choose the Hawks since I often inadvertently read the name Hiroshima Carp as the Hiroshima Crap. Sorry guys..
It was about that time that I realized that the reason I didn't really care about the Japan Series was that I didn't have anyone to cheer for or root against. In the World Series I was cheering for Daisuke but against Boston.
As I said before, I am a Mets fan and generally cheer for New York teams. I was a big fan of the Patrick Ewing-era Knicks and I was glad that Mark Messier was around to help the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup.
Due to the influence of some friends from England I follow West Ham whenever I remember to look at the scores. Hey, middle of the table is better than fighting to simply stay in the Premier League.
I also have certain players that I cheer for. Alex! is one. Brent Barry is another. After watching the Knicks/Nuggets game on NHK BS I think I *heart* Renaldo Balkman. Hey, I never said the players I cheered for were superstars.
Anyway, I've decided that I'm going to follow some Japanese sports teams to see if it will get me a bit more interested in what's going on locally.
Now unfortunately, I live in Yamaguchi prefecture which doesn't have any big league teams. There are two local football (soccer for us Americans) clubs in the area though:
FCバレイン下関 (FC Baleine Shimonoseki) is a football club that is something like three leagues below the J League. Baleine is French for くじら.
A bit higher on the scale (I think!) is レノファ山口FC (Renofa Yamaguchi). The word Renofa is a combination of Reno from renovation and Fa from either fight or fine. Yup.
That's a start. Not quite the same as following the big leagues though although the fight to get promoted to a bigger league is something I wish the U.S. would do more often. (By the way, if you ever need to make your mind boggle, try to follow the chart at the bottom of the wikipedia entry for the English football league system. And those are just the leagues, not teams.)
So...taking into consideration that geography is always important when choosing who you cheer for (I have an excuse for cheering for New York teams since I'm from Hawaii which has no pro teams in any sports and you have to figure it out for yourself) I'll be following サンフレッチェ広島 (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) as my designated J League team. They even have a similar history to West Ham: They did a lot early on and not all that much since.
Also, since I was planning to blog about it eventually, I will try to follow ライジング福岡 (Rizing Fukuoka - the z is because they are hard core!) of the unfortunately named bj league. Japan has a bit of an odd situation that the US hasn't seen in a while -- two competing leagues of roughly the same level. While the Japan Basketball League (which has two divisions) is probably better known club teams can choose between the JBL and the bj league. Kobe Bryant's father, Joe Bryant, is the head coach of the bj league's Tokyo Apache.
Since the baseball season is over, I will take the time to mull over whether or not I will cheer for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks or the Hiroshima Carp. I'll probably choose the Hawks since I often inadvertently read the name Hiroshima Carp as the Hiroshima Crap. Sorry guys..
Monday, October 29, 2007
Red Sox win World Series 4-0
Well, that was fairly lopsided. The Red Sox pretty much beat up the supposedly well-reseted Rockies. While both teams were riding winning streaks into the series I guess the Rockies momentum got killed by the down time and the Red Sox had too much talent to overcome.
Hideki Okajima gave up another homer, this time in the 8th inning which helped close the gap but it wasn't enough. A bit of an up and down post-season for Okajima as everyone was singing his praises through the ALCS and after Game 2 but he gave up two homers in his last two appearances.
Daisuke Matsuzaka became the first Japanese pitcher to win a World Series game and would have been slated to start Game 7. After his shaky Game 3 start in the ALCS he caught a lot of criticism but one wonders if his wins in Game 7 of the ALCS and Game 3 of the WS (which some people were saying was one of his best starts of the year) are enough for the Red Sox Nation to lay off on him for a bit (not that they care at this point). Oh, and 103 million dollars. He also was the victim of a trick on national TV as someone stuck a bubble gum bubble on the top of his hat which he was unaware of for a couple of minutes.
Kazuo Matsui was pulled towards the end of the game. I wasn't really paying attention as to why. But he ended with a .294 average and went 5-17. While he wasn't lighting it up he was one of the lone fairly bright spots for the Rockies. NHK also showed lots of shots of him looking down-trodden while sitting on the bench.
Congrats to the Red Sox. I don't mind the Celtics winning it all because I like Kevin Garnett but I really really hope the Patriots don't win the Super Bowl. In fact, I hope the Pats go through the regular season undefeated and then lose after the first-round bye. That would be fun. Not for them of course. Or Bill Simmons. But that's kind of the point.
There's always next year Mets fans!
Oh jeez. NHK is airing a highlight package and they have lots of happy shots of Matsuzaka and Okajima (to be fair they show Okajima giving up the homers) but they show pretty much every Matsui strike-out and the last shot of him is when he was sitting on the bench. Poor guy.
Hideki Okajima gave up another homer, this time in the 8th inning which helped close the gap but it wasn't enough. A bit of an up and down post-season for Okajima as everyone was singing his praises through the ALCS and after Game 2 but he gave up two homers in his last two appearances.
Daisuke Matsuzaka became the first Japanese pitcher to win a World Series game and would have been slated to start Game 7. After his shaky Game 3 start in the ALCS he caught a lot of criticism but one wonders if his wins in Game 7 of the ALCS and Game 3 of the WS (which some people were saying was one of his best starts of the year) are enough for the Red Sox Nation to lay off on him for a bit (not that they care at this point). Oh, and 103 million dollars. He also was the victim of a trick on national TV as someone stuck a bubble gum bubble on the top of his hat which he was unaware of for a couple of minutes.
Kazuo Matsui was pulled towards the end of the game. I wasn't really paying attention as to why. But he ended with a .294 average and went 5-17. While he wasn't lighting it up he was one of the lone fairly bright spots for the Rockies. NHK also showed lots of shots of him looking down-trodden while sitting on the bench.
Congrats to the Red Sox. I don't mind the Celtics winning it all because I like Kevin Garnett but I really really hope the Patriots don't win the Super Bowl. In fact, I hope the Pats go through the regular season undefeated and then lose after the first-round bye. That would be fun. Not for them of course. Or Bill Simmons. But that's kind of the point.
There's always next year Mets fans!
Oh jeez. NHK is airing a highlight package and they have lots of happy shots of Matsuzaka and Okajima (to be fair they show Okajima giving up the homers) but they show pretty much every Matsui strike-out and the last shot of him is when he was sitting on the bench. Poor guy.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
All eyes on Daisuke
While the hottest team in baseball (The Colorado Rockies, 21 wins in the last 22 games, including sweeps in both rounds of the play-offs) has been sitting at home since the 15th of October the ALCS is going to a game seven.
Down 3-1 the Red Sox have forced a game seven behind the pitching of Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling and now it's down to one of the biggest signings of 2007.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-12 regular season, 0-1 postseason) will face off against Jake Westbrook (6-9, 1-1) for the second time in this series. Westbrook and the Tribe took game three 4-2 and knocked Matsuzaka out after four and 2/3rds innings of work.
D-Mat (not Dice-K) will be under pressure to deliver by the Red Sox Nation. Having someone spend 103 million dollars on you will do that.
Matsuzaka was not quite the sensation everyone expected him to be. Neither was he a bust. He was...just there. He has had control problems throughout the season (80 BB, enough for 6th in the AL although he tempered that with 201 SO, also good for 6th) and he has underwhelmed in the post-season in two starts despite a supposed reputation as a big game pitcher (I don't really know where that rep came from -- the Koshien? In the Japan League?).
Daisuke is also pitching against history. According to one of the announcers during game five (I pre-apologize if this is wrong) no Japanese starter has won during the post-season, going a combined 0-4 over the years.
Hero? Goat? Neither? In about ten hours we shall see.
Personal note: Honestly, I am not that big a fan of the Red Sox. I can't stand Curt Schilling and would have been perfectly fine with the Sox losing game six behind a sub-par effort from Mr. Was-it-really-blood-or-not? And a column of Bill Simmons whining about D-Mat and the Sox would just be annoying. I liked Fever Pitch though (the movie with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon). Oh, and this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t12qml7up-o <-- of course this isn't exactly something a Red Sox FAN would want to see (or hasn't seen already). I am a Mets fan after all.
Game Seven of the ALCS will be broadcast in Japan on BS-1 from 9:15 AM Monday morning and on BS-Hi from 9:45.
Related stories:
Howard Bryant at ESPN
ESPN's MLB ALCS page
Tim Brown at Yahoo! Sports
Other notes:
Kaz Matsui continues the streak of Japanese players making it to the World Series. If the Red Sox make it, that would guarantee there being a third year in a row a Japanese player has won a World Championship.
As of right now, the NHK BS Sports page doesn't have Game Seven listed although the NHK daily TV schedule does but originally had it at 7 in the morning.
The BS live broadcast (whoops) doesn't seem to have the English commentary but the night replay does.
Down 3-1 the Red Sox have forced a game seven behind the pitching of Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling and now it's down to one of the biggest signings of 2007.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-12 regular season, 0-1 postseason) will face off against Jake Westbrook (6-9, 1-1) for the second time in this series. Westbrook and the Tribe took game three 4-2 and knocked Matsuzaka out after four and 2/3rds innings of work.
D-Mat (not Dice-K) will be under pressure to deliver by the Red Sox Nation. Having someone spend 103 million dollars on you will do that.
Matsuzaka was not quite the sensation everyone expected him to be. Neither was he a bust. He was...just there. He has had control problems throughout the season (80 BB, enough for 6th in the AL although he tempered that with 201 SO, also good for 6th) and he has underwhelmed in the post-season in two starts despite a supposed reputation as a big game pitcher (I don't really know where that rep came from -- the Koshien? In the Japan League?).
Daisuke is also pitching against history. According to one of the announcers during game five (I pre-apologize if this is wrong) no Japanese starter has won during the post-season, going a combined 0-4 over the years.
Hero? Goat? Neither? In about ten hours we shall see.
Personal note: Honestly, I am not that big a fan of the Red Sox. I can't stand Curt Schilling and would have been perfectly fine with the Sox losing game six behind a sub-par effort from Mr. Was-it-really-blood-or-not? And a column of Bill Simmons whining about D-Mat and the Sox would just be annoying. I liked Fever Pitch though (the movie with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon). Oh, and this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t12qml7up-o <-- of course this isn't exactly something a Red Sox FAN would want to see (or hasn't seen already). I am a Mets fan after all.
Game Seven of the ALCS will be broadcast in Japan on BS-1 from 9:15 AM Monday morning and on BS-Hi from 9:45.
Related stories:
Howard Bryant at ESPN
ESPN's MLB ALCS page
Tim Brown at Yahoo! Sports
Other notes:
Kaz Matsui continues the streak of Japanese players making it to the World Series. If the Red Sox make it, that would guarantee there being a third year in a row a Japanese player has won a World Championship.
As of right now, the NHK BS Sports page doesn't have Game Seven listed although the NHK daily TV schedule does but originally had it at 7 in the morning.
The BS live broadcast (whoops) doesn't seem to have the English commentary but the night replay does.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
MLB Play-Offs and Japan
Well, the Major League Baseball season has concluded and my sort-of-beloved Mets imploded and went from first in the NL East to sitting on their butts at home. But in Japan, there is still something to look forward to since a total of 6 Japanese players are on play-off bound teams:
Boston Red Sox: Pitchers D-Mat-not-Dice-K and Hideki Okajima
New York Yankees: Outfielder Hideki Matsui and pitcher Kei Igawa (Igawa is not on the 25 man active roster though)
Colorado Rockies: Infielder Kazuo Matsui
Philadelphia Phillies: Infielder Tadahito Iguchi
D-Mat, Okajima and Igawa are in their first year with MLB so this is their first time in the MLB play-offs. Kaz Matsui is also playing in his first play-off series since he was traded by the Mets before the end of the season when they won the NL East in 2006.
Hideki Matsui has ample play-off experience with the Yankees who have made the play-offs every year he has played for them.
Tadahito Iguchi was the first everyday Japanese player to win a World Series ring when he played the White Sox in 2005.
Of course like the American media, most of the games being aired on NHK BS 1 are the ones involving the Red Sox and Yankees. Sorry on behalf of NHK to all those Colorado and Philly fans.
Other stats:
At least one Japanese player has made it to play-offs every year so far this decade.
If any one of these players wins the World Series it would mark the third year in a row a Japanese player has been on a World Champion (Iguchi in '05 and Taguchi in '06).
There has been at least one Japanese player on a World Series team since 2002.
For more up-to-date news on how your favorite Japanese player is doing, go to Japanese Ball Players for daily news and stats. Oh, and also, sorry on behalf of MLB to Korean and Taiwanese baseball fans since they get their players kind of squashed into the side of the Japanese Ball Players page.
Boston Red Sox: Pitchers D-Mat-not-Dice-K and Hideki Okajima
New York Yankees: Outfielder Hideki Matsui and pitcher Kei Igawa (Igawa is not on the 25 man active roster though)
Colorado Rockies: Infielder Kazuo Matsui
Philadelphia Phillies: Infielder Tadahito Iguchi
D-Mat, Okajima and Igawa are in their first year with MLB so this is their first time in the MLB play-offs. Kaz Matsui is also playing in his first play-off series since he was traded by the Mets before the end of the season when they won the NL East in 2006.
Hideki Matsui has ample play-off experience with the Yankees who have made the play-offs every year he has played for them.
Tadahito Iguchi was the first everyday Japanese player to win a World Series ring when he played the White Sox in 2005.
Of course like the American media, most of the games being aired on NHK BS 1 are the ones involving the Red Sox and Yankees. Sorry on behalf of NHK to all those Colorado and Philly fans.
Other stats:
At least one Japanese player has made it to play-offs every year so far this decade.
If any one of these players wins the World Series it would mark the third year in a row a Japanese player has been on a World Champion (Iguchi in '05 and Taguchi in '06).
There has been at least one Japanese player on a World Series team since 2002.
For more up-to-date news on how your favorite Japanese player is doing, go to Japanese Ball Players for daily news and stats. Oh, and also, sorry on behalf of MLB to Korean and Taiwanese baseball fans since they get their players kind of squashed into the side of the Japanese Ball Players page.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Get ready for the D-Mat Explosion on the news tonight! Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his MLB debut! 松坂大輔: メジャーデビュー
In a story that will definitely not be ignored by the Japanese media, Daisuke Matsuzaka (Dice-K to some, D-Mat in our hearts) made his Major League debut against the Kansas City Royals. His line? (taken from Matsuzaka Watch
7 IP
6 hits
1 HR
1 ER
1 walk
10 K
108 pitches
He got the win. Naturally the U.S. sports media covered this story here, here, here and here.
Since the game happened in the morning in Japan it's just hitting the news but the on-line Japanese versions of the Asahi, Mainichi and Yomiuri are all running it on the front page.
By all accounts (I actually didn't have time to read all the stories) it looks like a solid outing for the D-Mat man. Expect this to be all over the news tonight.
7 IP
6 hits
1 HR
1 ER
1 walk
10 K
108 pitches
He got the win. Naturally the U.S. sports media covered this story here, here, here and here.
Since the game happened in the morning in Japan it's just hitting the news but the on-line Japanese versions of the Asahi, Mainichi and Yomiuri are all running it on the front page.
By all accounts (I actually didn't have time to read all the stories) it looks like a solid outing for the D-Mat man. Expect this to be all over the news tonight.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
最強の男は誰だ!!壮絶筋肉バトル!!スポーツマンNo.1決定戦XXXV 新王座決定戦は話題のアイドル対決 Sportsman No. 1 Geinojin Battle Muscular Athlete Championship Challenge Battle
Results from the Sportsman No. 1 Geinojin (Entertainer) Competition
Conquistador
Final: 諸星和美 Morohoshi Kazumi vs. ダンテ Dante
Winner: ダンテ Dante
Pectocross
Winner: 源 Gen (70 Kg)
Monster Box
Three-Way Tie (19)
ワッキー /源/ダンテ Wacky/Gen/Dante
Muscle Gym
佐藤弘道 Sato Hiromichi
Shot-Gun-Touch
ワッキー Wacky
6. 230 points 源 Gen
5. 270 points ダンテ Dante
4. 300 points 佐藤弘道 Sato Hiromichi
3. 355 points 白井涼 Shirai Ryo
2. 375 points 高橋光臣 Takahashi Mitsuomi
1. 450 points ワッキー Wacky
Notes: There were many new contestants this time around and the two men who have won the last seven Geinojin Battles (なかやまきんに君 Nakayama Kinnikun and 池谷直樹 Iketani Naoki) were not competing. ワッキー Wacky, due to his past performances seemed like a shoo-in to win but he didn't take the lead until the Shot-Gun-Touch and part of that was due to the fact that ダンテ Dante tried to go for too much at the beginning and couln't hold off the rest of the competitiors. It looks like TBS is trying to make 佐藤弘道 Sato Hiromichi a new Muscle Ranking star, judging by how hard they promoted during this program and SASUKE.
Like SASUKE, there were a lot of new things. Shot-Gun-Touch and Monster Box are holdovers from before but Conquistodor and Pectocross are completely new while Muscle Gym is a new version of Quick Muscle.
Conquistador
Final: 諸星和美 Morohoshi Kazumi vs. ダンテ Dante
Winner: ダンテ Dante
Pectocross
Winner: 源 Gen (70 Kg)
Monster Box
Three-Way Tie (19)
ワッキー /源/ダンテ Wacky/Gen/Dante
Muscle Gym
佐藤弘道 Sato Hiromichi
Shot-Gun-Touch
ワッキー Wacky
6. 230 points 源 Gen
5. 270 points ダンテ Dante
4. 300 points 佐藤弘道 Sato Hiromichi
3. 355 points 白井涼 Shirai Ryo
2. 375 points 高橋光臣 Takahashi Mitsuomi
1. 450 points ワッキー Wacky
Notes: There were many new contestants this time around and the two men who have won the last seven Geinojin Battles (なかやまきんに君 Nakayama Kinnikun and 池谷直樹 Iketani Naoki) were not competing. ワッキー Wacky, due to his past performances seemed like a shoo-in to win but he didn't take the lead until the Shot-Gun-Touch and part of that was due to the fact that ダンテ Dante tried to go for too much at the beginning and couln't hold off the rest of the competitiors. It looks like TBS is trying to make 佐藤弘道 Sato Hiromichi a new Muscle Ranking star, judging by how hard they promoted during this program and SASUKE.
Like SASUKE, there were a lot of new things. Shot-Gun-Touch and Monster Box are holdovers from before but Conquistodor and Pectocross are completely new while Muscle Gym is a new version of Quick Muscle.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
新 SASUKE 2007 春! The Sort of Live Blog! An account of a guy in Japan watching SASUKE/Ninja Warrior as it plays out on TV!
Rather than do this live blog in terms of time, I will be doing this blog first by stage then by contestant number with comments in between. I'll go beginning at the top and end at the bottom. I'll probably update during the commercial breaks.
Danger, Will Robinson! Everything from here on in will be spoilers for people watching SASUKE anywhere other than Japan.
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Here we go!
Whoa, there is a race for the numbers! 1200 meters to get to the numbers. Some guy from his university's barbell club (?) is in the lead.
Random white guy sighting! It's the soldier from the G4 promo.
Ooops, barbell boy falls behind. Choshu Korikki is participating. He's almost dead last.
The first people grab numbers!
Shunsuke Nagasaki grabs a number.
Mister Sasuke gets 73.
Nagano gets 96.
Korikki gets 9.
Damn that was confusing.
A quick preview of the new course. Holy crap that looks hard.
1. A pro snowboarder is our first contestant. And he wipes out on the first obstacle! You have to ride a rope to a pontoon like thing. He overshot.
2. A comedian (Black Mayonaise)! He's short!
3. A Korean Comedienne. She's off and didn't get off the platform! She didn't hold on to the rope.
4. Aoki, the weird sculptor guy! He overshoots too!
9. Is Choshu Korikki. Did they skip some people? He's off! But his foot catches the water! He's not out! He's the first to make it to the second obstacle! The Log Grip! But he can't hold on!
10. The squid guy! Kuramochi? He's off and he can't keep his balance!
12. Nomura Masaki! He gets through the first part but can't hold on to the Log Grip!
13. Hang Glider guy! He can't hit the pontoon and goes face first into the water!
15. Weightlifter guy! Don't know him. He hits the first safely. (Rope Glider). He can't hold on to the Log Grip!
They skip some people who can't get through the Rope Glider and Log Grip.
20. Some guy with a nice body. He hits the first. The Log Grip! He's clear! The next up is the Pole Maze! He gets the first but can't hit the second! Well, he's the farthest so far.
21. A guy from Tokushima. He's got fans! He looks confident! Rope Glider no problem. Log Grip is scary but he's through. Pole Maze..NO!!!!
Man, this is hard with the new obstacles.
24. A 22 year old..University baseball player? Go team! Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Yes! Pole Maze! Whoa! Yes! Yes! Jumping Spider! Noooooooooooooo!
Jumping Spider is the 2007 Jump Hang. Mister SASUKE sighting!
More flame outs. About four people don't get their full moment in the sun.
26. Lee Enchi! The Taiwanese rock climber! He's our first true hope to get through the first stage. Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Yes! Pole Maze! Yes and....Whoa! Yes! Jumping Spider! Can he do it? NOOOOOOOOO!
Umm..Yeah it's harder than last year reporter lady.
28. A female MMA fighter! She overshoots!
30. Kampei! Can he do it? Doh...our first commercial break. My hands are getting tired.
So we have Rope Glider, Log Grip, Pole Maze and Jumping Spider.
We're back!
30. Is Kazama Kampei! Rope Glider! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Timing and balance are the key!
33. Athen Olympic Silver medalist cyclist! He's off! Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! No!!
34. Johns Jacap? An American living in Japan! He's through Rope Glider. Log Grip? No problem! Pole Maze! Yes! Jumping Spider! NO! His family is now sad.
36. Master of something! He almost wipes out on Rope Glider but gets through. But the Log Grip is his nemesis!
More clips of people who can't make it. Eigo no sensei!!!
39. TV actor guy! Ishimaru Kenjiro! He falls on his back on the Rope Glider and hits the water! Oshiiiii!
40. Guitar Samurai! Hatta Yoku! Yamaguchi-ken represent! His journey is cut short by a commercial! Here we go! No! Zannen! Rope Glider! Zannen!
Oops. One of the qualifier guys from last year! Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Yes! Pole Maze! Yes! Jumping Spider! NOO! The END!
45. Yamashita Shinji! Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Slowly...Yes! Pole Maze! Yes! Jumping Spider! He makes the jump! Bungee Bridge! He's from Hokkaido! Yes! Great Wall! First chance! No! Second! No! Third! No! He can't grab the rope! Time Up!
More guys wipe out! Masked Wrestler guy! NO!!!
48. Sports Instructor! Suzuki Naohiro! His try-out video! Kids are there! To be sad! Rope Glider! Whoa! Yes! Log Grip! Don't rush it! Yes! Pole Maze! Clear! Jumping Spider! He makes it! Bungee Bridge! Yes! Great Wall! Get that rope boy! No! Catches his breath. YES! First through the Great Wall! China is sad. Flying Shoot! Yes! Tarzan Rope! CM! Dammit.
So Rope Glider, Log Grip, Pole Maze, Jumping Spider, Bungee Bridge, Great Wall, Flying Shoot and Tarzan Rope.
We're back! Only ten seconds! Come on! NOOOOOOOO! Time UP! Children are sad! Told ya.
The SASUKE ALL-STARS! Look worried!
The first miss on the Great Wall may have cost him too much time.
So far, 48 and no one has cleared.
More failures. No bonus for you Salaryman!
52. Another Salaryman with a high opinion of himself. Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Feel up that log! Pole Maze! He didn't hold on to the pole! No bonus for you!
54. A Cappoeira instructor. More children to be sad. Rope Glider. OK! Log Grip! No problem! Pole Maze! He's taking too long. It may cost him. As will that flip. Jumping Spider! He can't make the jump that counts!
More children are sad. SASUKE prepares kids for the real world!
56. Zoo guy! He has lots of free time at work! Rope Glider! It's night now. Log Grip! OK! Pole Maze and Jumping Spider are no problem! Bungee Bridge. OUCH! Ochimasen! Great Wall! No! Great Wall! China is sad. Flying Shoot! He needs to hurry. Thirty seconds left! OK! Tarzan Rope! Hurry up! Fourteen seconds. The alarm is going off. Hurry! NO! Time up! Children are sad sad sad.
60. Nagasaki Shunsuke's younger brother! Did he teach him the keys to success! Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! It's a legacy! Pole Maze! Hayai! Jumping Spider! Sasuga trampoline star! Bungee Bridge. Nagasaki Brothers! Great Wall! China is VERY sad! He got it on the first try. Flying Shoot! Yes! Man, if you miss that you go flying. Tarzan Rope! Will he be the first! Thirty seconds left! He climbs! YES! With exactly 16 seconds left! THE FIRST!
Our first SASUKE All-Star!
61. Yamamoto Shingo! Does he have the gas to do it! HAHAHA! I kill me. Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! Yes! Pole Maze! Safe! We can hear the others cheering him on. Jumping Spider! Yes! All-Stars! All-Stars! Bungee Bridge! OK! Great Wall! China is not sad! Wait! China IS sad! Flying Shoot! Yes! Go...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
He missed the net. He needs to clean his uniform!
More people wipe out.
70. Moto cross rider! Something Yuuji! A-kyu license! Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! OK! Pole Maze! Yes!
Jumping Spider! Yes! Bungee Bridge! OK! Great Wall! China! Is! Sad! Flying Shoot up next. His crotch is on TV! Yes! Tarzan Rope! San jyu byo! Clap! Clap! Clap! Ten! Nine! Yes! 9.3 seconds left! Two are through!
2 out of 70!
72. Kawashima Takayuki! Trampoline guy! He has red hair. Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! OK! Pole Maze! OY! He almost touches the water! But he's through. Jumping Spider! OK! But will he have enough time! Bungee Bridge trips him up but he's okay. Great Wall! He trips! Not his brightest mmoent. Is he tiring? China claims another victim.
73. HERE WE GO! Mister SASUKE! He's wearing NINJA BOOTS! Will they help! Can he do it? Yamada Katsumi! You're up on deck! Honestly, there's no shame in failing the first stage now because it's brand new. Not that I won't be pleased if he can't do it. OH BOY!
Rope Glider! Dammit! Yes!
Log Grip! YA-MA-DA! YA-MA-DA! No! I mean Yes!
Pole Maze! Oy vey! He's through!
Jumping Spider! There is no GOD! He's through.
Bungee Bridge. He's through!
Great Wall! DAMN YOU WALL! DAMN YOU! BE HIGHER NEXT TIME!
A commercial break enables me to calm down.
Although..hmm...Do I hate KimuTaku more than Mister SASUKE! Only a thorough thrashing of both will give me the answer.
WE'RE BACK! I'M IN ALL CAPS!
We have to relive Jumping Spider and Bungee Bridge.
Great Wall! He's *sigh* through.
Flying Shoot! Okay...is there enough time!
Tarzan Rope! Is time a factor! TIME! TIME UP! TIME UP! TIME UP! TIME UP! TIME UP! TIME UP!
Whew.
Ha! Stare at the button! Stare at it!
77. Crazy! Japanese! Military! Guy! If he gets through he'll be my favorite FOREVER.
Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! NO! YOU'VE LET YOUR COUNTRY DOWN BOY! Lucky sevens mean beans!
78. Sato Hiromichi! NHK exercise program guy! Oh good, children. Commecial break! We're back. Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! Whoa! OK! Pole Maze! OK! Jumping Spider! Tondaaa! Bungee Bridge! Through! Great Wall! China is..ah, you know. Flying Shoot. Damn, I want to see someone completely miss. AND HE DOES! SORRY ABOUT THAT!
(#! BOBBY NO OTOUTO! ROPE GLIDER! NO!
OK< I SCREWED UP MY KEYBOARD! ALL CAPS FOR RIGHT NOW!
MORE GUYS WIPE OUT!
TAKEDA TOSHIHIRO! I'M MISSING NUMBERS LEFT AND RIGHT! TAKEDA IKIMASU! ROPE GLIDER! OK! LOG GRIP AND POLE MAZE! NO PROBLEM! JUMPING SPIDER! OK! BUNGEE BRIDGE! MAN< THAT'S HARDER THAN IT LOOKS> GREAT WALL! OK! IKKAI! IKKAI! FLYING SHOOT! CAN THE ALL=STAR DO IT! COMMERCIAL! CAN I FIGURE OUT MY KEYBOARD?
FLYING SHOOT! CLEAR! THIRTY SECONDS! TARZAN ROPE! I'M STILL IN ALL CAPS! TA=KE=DA! TA=KE=DA! AND THEN THERE WERE THREE!
MORIMOTO! HE'S FIFTEEN! ROPE GLIDER! OK! LOG GRIP! OK! POLE MAZE! NO PROBLEM! JUMPING SPIDER! NO! HIS ARMS ARE TOO SHORT! MORIMOTOOOOOOOO!
)$> US ARMY GUY! ROPE GLIDER! OK! LOG GRIP! OK! POLE MAZE! OK! JUMPING SPIDER! NO! HIS FOOT SLIPPED! IT'S ALL GW'S FAULT!
ONLY THREE OF NINETY=FOUR!
)%> SHIRATORI BUNPEI! ROPE GLIDER! OK! JUST! LOG GRIP! OK! POLE MAZE! OK! JUMPING SPIDER! NAGANO IS WORRIED ABOUT THIS! OK! NO! HE SLIPPED! USO! NANDE! DOUSHITA SHIRATORI!
96. NAGANO MAKOTO! CAN HE DO IT! HE IS CHARACTERISTICALLY WORRIED! FIRST STAGE START! ROPE GLIDER! OKAY! LOG GRIP! NO PROBLEM! POLE MAZE! OK! JUMPING SPIDER! OKAY! BUNGEE BRIDGE! HE'S ON A RECORD PACE! GREAT WALL! CHINA FALLS AGAIN! FLYING SHOOT! BE CAREFUL! OK! TARZAN ROPE UP NEXT! NA=GA=NO! NO PROBLEM! "#>" SECONDS!
97. NAGASAKI SHUNSUKE! HIS BROTHER IS THROUGH! WILL HE FEEL THE PRESSURE! COMMERCIAL BREAK! ROPE GLIDER! OKAY! LOG GRIP! OK! POLE MAZE! NO PROBLEM! JUMPING SPIDER! TRAMPOLINE NAGASAKI! BUNGEE BRIDGE! OK! GREAT WALL! FIRST TRY AND CHINA IS NO MATCH FOR HIM! FLYING SHOOT! HE'S THROUGH! TARZAN ROPE! LOTS OF TIME LEFT! !'>( LEFT! SHUNSUKE IS THROUGH!
98. TAKAHASHI KENJI! HE'S FROM SAITAMA! ROPE GLIDER! OK! LOG GRIP! HE'S HOLDING ON! POLE MAZE! CLEAR! JUMPING SPIDER! WHOA! CAN HE HOLD ON? HE'S SHAKY> OKAY! EDIT TO THE FLYING SHOOT! EDIT TO THE END! HE'S CLEAR! THAT'S SIX!
NUMBER ONE HUNDRED! IYOIYO CLIMAX! ROPE GLIDER! DAIJOUBODA! LOG GRIP! SLOWLY! OK! POLE MAZE! NO! HE SPINS INTO THE WATER! AND THAT'S IT FOR THE FIRST STAGE!
STAGE TWO!
LOTS OF NEW STUFF HERE TOO> SIX MADE IT TO THE SECOND STAGE>
NAGASAKI'S YOUNGER BROTHER IS FIRST> LOOKS LIKE NINETY SECONDS TO CLEAR> THE SECOND OBSTACLE LOOKS HARD> AND IT IS! HE CAN'T MAKE IT! SALMON LADDER!
SORRY IF I HAVEN'T BEEN UPDATING> I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!
MOTOCROSS GUY IS NEXT! SALMON LADDER SEEMS TO BE THE BIG ONE HERE! NO! HE CAN'T GET IT>
TAKEDA IS NEXT! HE'S OFF! THE SALMON LADDER CONQUERED THE FIRST TWO> CAN HE DO IT? NANABANME! HE GOES FOR IT! NO! NO! HE'S OUT!
Okay, I had to reboot my computer to fix whatever was going on.
Nagano is next! He is the last hope of the SASUKE All-Stars! Can he do it! He's the almost there! Can he be the first to clear the Salmon Ladder? Yes! Net Bridge is up next! Okay! Metal Spin! Okay! I turned my head and he's through!
Nagano salvages the All-Stars pride.
Nagasaki is up next. Shunsuke! Commercial
Really sorry about what happened in the middle. No sense fixing it though. It's live!
We're back! Past the Salmon Ladder and Sliding Bar! Net Climb is up next! Metal Spin! Ita! It's the lift weights across a platform thing from VIKING! And that's two!
Takahashi Kenji, Mr. Edit, is next. Salmon Ladder! Can he join Nagano and Nagasaki? Whoa! Okay! Net Bridge! OK! Metal Spin! Itta! He's through! That's three in a row by the way.
Wow, he's um..unhandsome.
THIRD STAGE!
Whoa. The Cliff Hanger is different -- the middle part angles upward and then the third gets smaller as it reaches the end.
Can one of these men reach the final? Nagano! Nagasaki! Takahashi!
Nagano up first. Arm Ring is the same. Arm Bike is next (it was an old obstacle brought back). Curtain Swing is up next instead of the Curtain Climb. Through all four curtains. Is Nagano going to break the new SASUKE already? It's the new Cliff Hanger. He looks nervous. Not his deprecating nervous. Legit nervous. He's through the first two parts! Commercial!
March 30th! Geinojin Sportsman No. 1! I'm there!
We're back! WHOAAAAAAA! He almost doesn't make it! He's through to the next obstacle. NO! Controversey! He touched the non-grip part of the obstacle! That's against the rules! Nagano is a cheater! He's out! He's philosophical in defeat.
Nagasaki Shunsuke is up next. Arm Rings are no problem. He's a hottie! Arm Bike is no problem. Cutain Swing up. No problem. Cliff Hanger up next. Can he do it? There he goes. This is the part he really trains for as it's where he failed prior to the 17th competition. Commercial!
I need to download the new SASUKE for the keitai.
We're back. He's getting ready to go for it. Right hand is there! Gambare! Agh! No! It's the water for Shunsuke! Mata mo kowareta! The minor change is enough to get him.
And then there was one.
Takahashi is up next. Arm Rings are no problem. I believe this is his first SASUKE. Arm Bike is the same. Curtain Swing. He's an unproven commodity. Can he do it? I wasn't worried about Nagasaki and Nagano. He's through. He's the Dark Horse! It's Cliff Hanger time. Here we go. Help him Obi-Wan, he's our only hope. First two are no problem. Commercial.
Here we go. Gambare yo! NO! He tried to swing his whole body as opposed to Nagaski who went one hand at a time. Neither worked. Well, that's that. Just to rub it in, TBS shows us the unseen final obstacles (but not the final stage).
Well, that was fun! Trying to blog the first stage was hectic and well, the all caps thing didn't help because I couldn't update at the time. All in all it was a nice experience but I don't know if I have the stamina to do something like this again.
Until next time SASUKE lovers!
UPDATE! A guy in Japan has some low quality screen shots of famous people failing the first round here.
Danger, Will Robinson! Everything from here on in will be spoilers for people watching SASUKE anywhere other than Japan.
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
Here we go!
Whoa, there is a race for the numbers! 1200 meters to get to the numbers. Some guy from his university's barbell club (?) is in the lead.
Random white guy sighting! It's the soldier from the G4 promo.
Ooops, barbell boy falls behind. Choshu Korikki is participating. He's almost dead last.
The first people grab numbers!
Shunsuke Nagasaki grabs a number.
Mister Sasuke gets 73.
Nagano gets 96.
Korikki gets 9.
Damn that was confusing.
A quick preview of the new course. Holy crap that looks hard.
1. A pro snowboarder is our first contestant. And he wipes out on the first obstacle! You have to ride a rope to a pontoon like thing. He overshot.
2. A comedian (Black Mayonaise)! He's short!
3. A Korean Comedienne. She's off and didn't get off the platform! She didn't hold on to the rope.
4. Aoki, the weird sculptor guy! He overshoots too!
9. Is Choshu Korikki. Did they skip some people? He's off! But his foot catches the water! He's not out! He's the first to make it to the second obstacle! The Log Grip! But he can't hold on!
10. The squid guy! Kuramochi? He's off and he can't keep his balance!
12. Nomura Masaki! He gets through the first part but can't hold on to the Log Grip!
13. Hang Glider guy! He can't hit the pontoon and goes face first into the water!
15. Weightlifter guy! Don't know him. He hits the first safely. (Rope Glider). He can't hold on to the Log Grip!
They skip some people who can't get through the Rope Glider and Log Grip.
20. Some guy with a nice body. He hits the first. The Log Grip! He's clear! The next up is the Pole Maze! He gets the first but can't hit the second! Well, he's the farthest so far.
21. A guy from Tokushima. He's got fans! He looks confident! Rope Glider no problem. Log Grip is scary but he's through. Pole Maze..NO!!!!
Man, this is hard with the new obstacles.
24. A 22 year old..University baseball player? Go team! Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Yes! Pole Maze! Whoa! Yes! Yes! Jumping Spider! Noooooooooooooo!
Jumping Spider is the 2007 Jump Hang. Mister SASUKE sighting!
More flame outs. About four people don't get their full moment in the sun.
26. Lee Enchi! The Taiwanese rock climber! He's our first true hope to get through the first stage. Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Yes! Pole Maze! Yes and....Whoa! Yes! Jumping Spider! Can he do it? NOOOOOOOOO!
Umm..Yeah it's harder than last year reporter lady.
28. A female MMA fighter! She overshoots!
30. Kampei! Can he do it? Doh...our first commercial break. My hands are getting tired.
So we have Rope Glider, Log Grip, Pole Maze and Jumping Spider.
We're back!
30. Is Kazama Kampei! Rope Glider! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Timing and balance are the key!
33. Athen Olympic Silver medalist cyclist! He's off! Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! No!!
34. Johns Jacap? An American living in Japan! He's through Rope Glider. Log Grip? No problem! Pole Maze! Yes! Jumping Spider! NO! His family is now sad.
36. Master of something! He almost wipes out on Rope Glider but gets through. But the Log Grip is his nemesis!
More clips of people who can't make it. Eigo no sensei!!!
39. TV actor guy! Ishimaru Kenjiro! He falls on his back on the Rope Glider and hits the water! Oshiiiii!
40. Guitar Samurai! Hatta Yoku! Yamaguchi-ken represent! His journey is cut short by a commercial! Here we go! No! Zannen! Rope Glider! Zannen!
Oops. One of the qualifier guys from last year! Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Yes! Pole Maze! Yes! Jumping Spider! NOO! The END!
45. Yamashita Shinji! Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Slowly...Yes! Pole Maze! Yes! Jumping Spider! He makes the jump! Bungee Bridge! He's from Hokkaido! Yes! Great Wall! First chance! No! Second! No! Third! No! He can't grab the rope! Time Up!
More guys wipe out! Masked Wrestler guy! NO!!!
48. Sports Instructor! Suzuki Naohiro! His try-out video! Kids are there! To be sad! Rope Glider! Whoa! Yes! Log Grip! Don't rush it! Yes! Pole Maze! Clear! Jumping Spider! He makes it! Bungee Bridge! Yes! Great Wall! Get that rope boy! No! Catches his breath. YES! First through the Great Wall! China is sad. Flying Shoot! Yes! Tarzan Rope! CM! Dammit.
So Rope Glider, Log Grip, Pole Maze, Jumping Spider, Bungee Bridge, Great Wall, Flying Shoot and Tarzan Rope.
We're back! Only ten seconds! Come on! NOOOOOOOO! Time UP! Children are sad! Told ya.
The SASUKE ALL-STARS! Look worried!
The first miss on the Great Wall may have cost him too much time.
So far, 48 and no one has cleared.
More failures. No bonus for you Salaryman!
52. Another Salaryman with a high opinion of himself. Rope Glider! Yes! Log Grip! Feel up that log! Pole Maze! He didn't hold on to the pole! No bonus for you!
54. A Cappoeira instructor. More children to be sad. Rope Glider. OK! Log Grip! No problem! Pole Maze! He's taking too long. It may cost him. As will that flip. Jumping Spider! He can't make the jump that counts!
More children are sad. SASUKE prepares kids for the real world!
56. Zoo guy! He has lots of free time at work! Rope Glider! It's night now. Log Grip! OK! Pole Maze and Jumping Spider are no problem! Bungee Bridge. OUCH! Ochimasen! Great Wall! No! Great Wall! China is sad. Flying Shoot! He needs to hurry. Thirty seconds left! OK! Tarzan Rope! Hurry up! Fourteen seconds. The alarm is going off. Hurry! NO! Time up! Children are sad sad sad.
60. Nagasaki Shunsuke's younger brother! Did he teach him the keys to success! Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! It's a legacy! Pole Maze! Hayai! Jumping Spider! Sasuga trampoline star! Bungee Bridge. Nagasaki Brothers! Great Wall! China is VERY sad! He got it on the first try. Flying Shoot! Yes! Man, if you miss that you go flying. Tarzan Rope! Will he be the first! Thirty seconds left! He climbs! YES! With exactly 16 seconds left! THE FIRST!
Our first SASUKE All-Star!
61. Yamamoto Shingo! Does he have the gas to do it! HAHAHA! I kill me. Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! Yes! Pole Maze! Safe! We can hear the others cheering him on. Jumping Spider! Yes! All-Stars! All-Stars! Bungee Bridge! OK! Great Wall! China is not sad! Wait! China IS sad! Flying Shoot! Yes! Go...NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
He missed the net. He needs to clean his uniform!
More people wipe out.
70. Moto cross rider! Something Yuuji! A-kyu license! Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! OK! Pole Maze! Yes!
Jumping Spider! Yes! Bungee Bridge! OK! Great Wall! China! Is! Sad! Flying Shoot up next. His crotch is on TV! Yes! Tarzan Rope! San jyu byo! Clap! Clap! Clap! Ten! Nine! Yes! 9.3 seconds left! Two are through!
2 out of 70!
72. Kawashima Takayuki! Trampoline guy! He has red hair. Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! OK! Pole Maze! OY! He almost touches the water! But he's through. Jumping Spider! OK! But will he have enough time! Bungee Bridge trips him up but he's okay. Great Wall! He trips! Not his brightest mmoent. Is he tiring? China claims another victim.
73. HERE WE GO! Mister SASUKE! He's wearing NINJA BOOTS! Will they help! Can he do it? Yamada Katsumi! You're up on deck! Honestly, there's no shame in failing the first stage now because it's brand new. Not that I won't be pleased if he can't do it. OH BOY!
Rope Glider! Dammit! Yes!
Log Grip! YA-MA-DA! YA-MA-DA! No! I mean Yes!
Pole Maze! Oy vey! He's through!
Jumping Spider! There is no GOD! He's through.
Bungee Bridge. He's through!
Great Wall! DAMN YOU WALL! DAMN YOU! BE HIGHER NEXT TIME!
A commercial break enables me to calm down.
Although..hmm...Do I hate KimuTaku more than Mister SASUKE! Only a thorough thrashing of both will give me the answer.
WE'RE BACK! I'M IN ALL CAPS!
We have to relive Jumping Spider and Bungee Bridge.
Great Wall! He's *sigh* through.
Flying Shoot! Okay...is there enough time!
Tarzan Rope! Is time a factor! TIME! TIME UP! TIME UP! TIME UP! TIME UP! TIME UP! TIME UP!
Whew.
Ha! Stare at the button! Stare at it!
77. Crazy! Japanese! Military! Guy! If he gets through he'll be my favorite FOREVER.
Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! NO! YOU'VE LET YOUR COUNTRY DOWN BOY! Lucky sevens mean beans!
78. Sato Hiromichi! NHK exercise program guy! Oh good, children. Commecial break! We're back. Rope Glider! OK! Log Grip! Whoa! OK! Pole Maze! OK! Jumping Spider! Tondaaa! Bungee Bridge! Through! Great Wall! China is..ah, you know. Flying Shoot. Damn, I want to see someone completely miss. AND HE DOES! SORRY ABOUT THAT!
(#! BOBBY NO OTOUTO! ROPE GLIDER! NO!
OK< I SCREWED UP MY KEYBOARD! ALL CAPS FOR RIGHT NOW!
MORE GUYS WIPE OUT!
TAKEDA TOSHIHIRO! I'M MISSING NUMBERS LEFT AND RIGHT! TAKEDA IKIMASU! ROPE GLIDER! OK! LOG GRIP AND POLE MAZE! NO PROBLEM! JUMPING SPIDER! OK! BUNGEE BRIDGE! MAN< THAT'S HARDER THAN IT LOOKS> GREAT WALL! OK! IKKAI! IKKAI! FLYING SHOOT! CAN THE ALL=STAR DO IT! COMMERCIAL! CAN I FIGURE OUT MY KEYBOARD?
FLYING SHOOT! CLEAR! THIRTY SECONDS! TARZAN ROPE! I'M STILL IN ALL CAPS! TA=KE=DA! TA=KE=DA! AND THEN THERE WERE THREE!
MORIMOTO! HE'S FIFTEEN! ROPE GLIDER! OK! LOG GRIP! OK! POLE MAZE! NO PROBLEM! JUMPING SPIDER! NO! HIS ARMS ARE TOO SHORT! MORIMOTOOOOOOOO!
)$> US ARMY GUY! ROPE GLIDER! OK! LOG GRIP! OK! POLE MAZE! OK! JUMPING SPIDER! NO! HIS FOOT SLIPPED! IT'S ALL GW'S FAULT!
ONLY THREE OF NINETY=FOUR!
)%> SHIRATORI BUNPEI! ROPE GLIDER! OK! JUST! LOG GRIP! OK! POLE MAZE! OK! JUMPING SPIDER! NAGANO IS WORRIED ABOUT THIS! OK! NO! HE SLIPPED! USO! NANDE! DOUSHITA SHIRATORI!
96. NAGANO MAKOTO! CAN HE DO IT! HE IS CHARACTERISTICALLY WORRIED! FIRST STAGE START! ROPE GLIDER! OKAY! LOG GRIP! NO PROBLEM! POLE MAZE! OK! JUMPING SPIDER! OKAY! BUNGEE BRIDGE! HE'S ON A RECORD PACE! GREAT WALL! CHINA FALLS AGAIN! FLYING SHOOT! BE CAREFUL! OK! TARZAN ROPE UP NEXT! NA=GA=NO! NO PROBLEM! "#>" SECONDS!
97. NAGASAKI SHUNSUKE! HIS BROTHER IS THROUGH! WILL HE FEEL THE PRESSURE! COMMERCIAL BREAK! ROPE GLIDER! OKAY! LOG GRIP! OK! POLE MAZE! NO PROBLEM! JUMPING SPIDER! TRAMPOLINE NAGASAKI! BUNGEE BRIDGE! OK! GREAT WALL! FIRST TRY AND CHINA IS NO MATCH FOR HIM! FLYING SHOOT! HE'S THROUGH! TARZAN ROPE! LOTS OF TIME LEFT! !'>( LEFT! SHUNSUKE IS THROUGH!
98. TAKAHASHI KENJI! HE'S FROM SAITAMA! ROPE GLIDER! OK! LOG GRIP! HE'S HOLDING ON! POLE MAZE! CLEAR! JUMPING SPIDER! WHOA! CAN HE HOLD ON? HE'S SHAKY> OKAY! EDIT TO THE FLYING SHOOT! EDIT TO THE END! HE'S CLEAR! THAT'S SIX!
NUMBER ONE HUNDRED! IYOIYO CLIMAX! ROPE GLIDER! DAIJOUBODA! LOG GRIP! SLOWLY! OK! POLE MAZE! NO! HE SPINS INTO THE WATER! AND THAT'S IT FOR THE FIRST STAGE!
STAGE TWO!
LOTS OF NEW STUFF HERE TOO> SIX MADE IT TO THE SECOND STAGE>
NAGASAKI'S YOUNGER BROTHER IS FIRST> LOOKS LIKE NINETY SECONDS TO CLEAR> THE SECOND OBSTACLE LOOKS HARD> AND IT IS! HE CAN'T MAKE IT! SALMON LADDER!
SORRY IF I HAVEN'T BEEN UPDATING> I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!
MOTOCROSS GUY IS NEXT! SALMON LADDER SEEMS TO BE THE BIG ONE HERE! NO! HE CAN'T GET IT>
TAKEDA IS NEXT! HE'S OFF! THE SALMON LADDER CONQUERED THE FIRST TWO> CAN HE DO IT? NANABANME! HE GOES FOR IT! NO! NO! HE'S OUT!
Okay, I had to reboot my computer to fix whatever was going on.
Nagano is next! He is the last hope of the SASUKE All-Stars! Can he do it! He's the almost there! Can he be the first to clear the Salmon Ladder? Yes! Net Bridge is up next! Okay! Metal Spin! Okay! I turned my head and he's through!
Nagano salvages the All-Stars pride.
Nagasaki is up next. Shunsuke! Commercial
Really sorry about what happened in the middle. No sense fixing it though. It's live!
We're back! Past the Salmon Ladder and Sliding Bar! Net Climb is up next! Metal Spin! Ita! It's the lift weights across a platform thing from VIKING! And that's two!
Takahashi Kenji, Mr. Edit, is next. Salmon Ladder! Can he join Nagano and Nagasaki? Whoa! Okay! Net Bridge! OK! Metal Spin! Itta! He's through! That's three in a row by the way.
Wow, he's um..unhandsome.
THIRD STAGE!
Whoa. The Cliff Hanger is different -- the middle part angles upward and then the third gets smaller as it reaches the end.
Can one of these men reach the final? Nagano! Nagasaki! Takahashi!
Nagano up first. Arm Ring is the same. Arm Bike is next (it was an old obstacle brought back). Curtain Swing is up next instead of the Curtain Climb. Through all four curtains. Is Nagano going to break the new SASUKE already? It's the new Cliff Hanger. He looks nervous. Not his deprecating nervous. Legit nervous. He's through the first two parts! Commercial!
March 30th! Geinojin Sportsman No. 1! I'm there!
We're back! WHOAAAAAAA! He almost doesn't make it! He's through to the next obstacle. NO! Controversey! He touched the non-grip part of the obstacle! That's against the rules! Nagano is a cheater! He's out! He's philosophical in defeat.
Nagasaki Shunsuke is up next. Arm Rings are no problem. He's a hottie! Arm Bike is no problem. Cutain Swing up. No problem. Cliff Hanger up next. Can he do it? There he goes. This is the part he really trains for as it's where he failed prior to the 17th competition. Commercial!
I need to download the new SASUKE for the keitai.
We're back. He's getting ready to go for it. Right hand is there! Gambare! Agh! No! It's the water for Shunsuke! Mata mo kowareta! The minor change is enough to get him.
And then there was one.
Takahashi is up next. Arm Rings are no problem. I believe this is his first SASUKE. Arm Bike is the same. Curtain Swing. He's an unproven commodity. Can he do it? I wasn't worried about Nagasaki and Nagano. He's through. He's the Dark Horse! It's Cliff Hanger time. Here we go. Help him Obi-Wan, he's our only hope. First two are no problem. Commercial.
Here we go. Gambare yo! NO! He tried to swing his whole body as opposed to Nagaski who went one hand at a time. Neither worked. Well, that's that. Just to rub it in, TBS shows us the unseen final obstacles (but not the final stage).
Well, that was fun! Trying to blog the first stage was hectic and well, the all caps thing didn't help because I couldn't update at the time. All in all it was a nice experience but I don't know if I have the stamina to do something like this again.
Until next time SASUKE lovers!
UPDATE! A guy in Japan has some low quality screen shots of famous people failing the first round here.
新SASUKE 2007春! On! Tonight! (plus G4 tantalizes viewers of Ninja Warrior!)
Well, in about five hours a nation's pain will come to end as TBS will air the latest edition of SASUKE! (Or Ninja Warrior to G4 viewers). The last competition was aired on October 11, 2006 and since then TBS and Monster 9 have decided that they should overhaul SASUKE (to the point of virtually blowing up the final stage):
鋼鉄の魔城がついに陥落！
あれから半年・・・生まれ変わったSASUKEの新ステージがいよいよ登場!
(I can't give a good word for word translation but basically, "The previous challenge has been conquered and now, half a year later a new SASUKE stage has been born!")
They go on to ask of the first stage: "Will there be a jump hang?" "What of the rolling log?" "Is SASUKE All-Star Nagano not the 100th entrant?" "What about loser boy ?" Oops. That last one is supposed to be "What about Katsumi Yamada?"
We will find out from 6:55!
I will try to do a sort of live blog of the show. At the very least I will have results up after the show is finished. Stay tuned!
Extra: So what is a SASUKE fan to do when there is no SASUKE? Well, there are a couple of things:
We know about the Sportsman No. 1 competition on New Years Day.
But also there is the Muscle Musical which features several SASUKE and KUNOICHI (SASUKE's female only competition) participants. It was partially created to give earlier SASUKE flame-outs something to do.
And you can always go to the Muscle Park! It's an indoor mini-theme park based with various games based on SASUKE et al that adults and kids can try. And you can have the Monster Burger! which is based on the Monster Box competition from Sportsman No. 1.
Extra the Second: So on G4 TV's website on their Ninja Warrior page (let it be noted that I wish they had kept the original name) they mention that new episodes would be airing from the 19th of March. Now, we know the following points:
SASUKE is pre-taped.
It will be aired in Japan on the 21st of March.
G4 was there and did a behind the scenes look at the 18th competition.
Thus, lots of people (myself included) assumed that the new episodes were going to be of the 18th competition.
Well, G4 promised new episodes of Ninja Warrior. People got new episodes of Ninja Warrior. But new episodes of Ninja Warrior are not the same as new episodes of SASUKE. G4 has gone back and subbed and dubbed past competitions and is airing them, perhaps in a run-up to the 18th SASUKE. Viewers were confused and mildly annoyed. I was mildly amused because that means I still get to see the show before almost everyone else. Heh.
Oh, I should add that SASUKE is broadcast as a single three hour program in Japan, not in half-hour episodes like on G4. The live blog will attempt to cover the whole program which means SPOILERS!
鋼鉄の魔城がついに陥落！
あれから半年・・・生まれ変わったSASUKEの新ステージがいよいよ登場!
(I can't give a good word for word translation but basically, "The previous challenge has been conquered and now, half a year later a new SASUKE stage has been born!")
They go on to ask of the first stage: "Will there be a jump hang?" "What of the rolling log?" "Is SASUKE All-Star Nagano not the 100th entrant?" "What about loser boy ?" Oops. That last one is supposed to be "What about Katsumi Yamada?"
We will find out from 6:55!
I will try to do a sort of live blog of the show. At the very least I will have results up after the show is finished. Stay tuned!
Extra: So what is a SASUKE fan to do when there is no SASUKE? Well, there are a couple of things:
We know about the Sportsman No. 1 competition on New Years Day.
But also there is the Muscle Musical which features several SASUKE and KUNOICHI (SASUKE's female only competition) participants. It was partially created to give earlier SASUKE flame-outs something to do.
And you can always go to the Muscle Park! It's an indoor mini-theme park based with various games based on SASUKE et al that adults and kids can try. And you can have the Monster Burger! which is based on the Monster Box competition from Sportsman No. 1.
Extra the Second: So on G4 TV's website on their Ninja Warrior page (let it be noted that I wish they had kept the original name) they mention that new episodes would be airing from the 19th of March. Now, we know the following points:
SASUKE is pre-taped.
It will be aired in Japan on the 21st of March.
G4 was there and did a behind the scenes look at the 18th competition.
Thus, lots of people (myself included) assumed that the new episodes were going to be of the 18th competition.
Well, G4 promised new episodes of Ninja Warrior. People got new episodes of Ninja Warrior. But new episodes of Ninja Warrior are not the same as new episodes of SASUKE. G4 has gone back and subbed and dubbed past competitions and is airing them, perhaps in a run-up to the 18th SASUKE. Viewers were confused and mildly annoyed. I was mildly amused because that means I still get to see the show before almost everyone else. Heh.
Oh, I should add that SASUKE is broadcast as a single three hour program in Japan, not in half-hour episodes like on G4. The live blog will attempt to cover the whole program which means SPOILERS!
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Watching March Madness while in Japan
Just a quick post.
I've talked about watching U.S. sports while in Japan before. Well, right now it's March and the NCAAs are already into the second round. Of course there's pretty much no way to see college sports on Japanese TV but thanks to CBS we can catch the first three rounds on the internet for free! Go to March Madness on Demand and sign-up. You may have to wait in line for some of the more popular games (I'm not sure why I was able to get in as soon as I logged on -- it may have something to do with location. I may be the only person in Japan up at 2:30 in the morning watching college basketball) but it's better than nothing. I'm watching Xavier vs. OSU right now!
Update: Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster! Guess what? I've been watching games off and on since I first wrote this post. Seven hours and six games later I'm eating breakfast and getting ready to go out. It was a great day for basketball as three games went into OT and so far today (only two more games left) no game has been won by more than seven. MMoD was pretty good at the beginning but after a while (I think as the number of games and thus viewers increased) the picture started to go out (but the sound kept going -- I had to minimize then re-open the window) overall, I'm going to keep this site bookmarked for the future, wherever I am. I miss March Madness!
I've talked about watching U.S. sports while in Japan before. Well, right now it's March and the NCAAs are already into the second round. Of course there's pretty much no way to see college sports on Japanese TV but thanks to CBS we can catch the first three rounds on the internet for free! Go to March Madness on Demand and sign-up. You may have to wait in line for some of the more popular games (I'm not sure why I was able to get in as soon as I logged on -- it may have something to do with location. I may be the only person in Japan up at 2:30 in the morning watching college basketball) but it's better than nothing. I'm watching Xavier vs. OSU right now!
Update: Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster! Guess what? I've been watching games off and on since I first wrote this post. Seven hours and six games later I'm eating breakfast and getting ready to go out. It was a great day for basketball as three games went into OT and so far today (only two more games left) no game has been won by more than seven. MMoD was pretty good at the beginning but after a while (I think as the number of games and thus viewers increased) the picture started to go out (but the sound kept going -- I had to minimize then re-open the window) overall, I'm going to keep this site bookmarked for the future, wherever I am. I miss March Madness!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
The Great Sasuke tries to fly even higher! Is he the next governor of Iwate?
Masanori Murakawa, known to puroresu fans world-wide as The Great Sasuke is currently a member of the Iwate Prefectural Assembly (scroll down to the bottom - he's the third to the last) but this Sunday he's planning to announce his candidacy for the office of governor of Iwate! I guess he's following in the footsteps of Sonomanma Higashi. For those who don't know who Sasuke is, this is a pretty good example (thanks to Youtube user kinnikumask):
He was one of the first Japanese pro wrestlers who tried to mix the lucha libre style with puroresu, especially with the organization he founded, Michinoku Puroresu. If you watched the WWF/WWE back in the late '90s you'd recognize some of the guys who wrestled for Michinoku Pro. But Sasuke has also wrestled for anyone who'd have him, including ECW, NJPW, the late FMW and pretty much everywhere else in Japan. He's had classic matches with Chris Benoit, Jushin Lyger, TAKA Michinoku and has broken his mind many times just to please his fans. He was/is a high flyer and well, not exactly an accurate one. That video up there of the Space Flying Tiger Drop? He was just as likely to botch that move and nearly kill himself as he was fly gracefully through the air and actually hit his opponent. Naturally, you'd love him when he was on but you'd still watch with morbid fascination when he was in such bad condition that his seconds had to spray various parts of his body during the match. While not my absolute favorite Japanese wrestler he is always worth a rental from the video store. Hey, I'd vote for him! The Great Sasuke in 2007!
Note: The Japanese version of the article has the date of the election as April 8th.
Extra: The Great Sasuke at work! In the mask no less! Also find The Great Sasuke on YouTube! (and ignore all those stupid AMVs for Naruto)
Monday, February 26, 2007
Attention SASUKE Lovers! 新SASUKE 2007春!
Since 2001, I have been a big fan of SASUKE, a televised obstacle course on TBS. I have several shows on tape plus the 筋肉番付 マッスルウォーズ21 game for the PS2 which I still have never completed because it's the analog stick game from hell. Even though I tape it I watch every broadcast live because there's no better way to watch it. Actually, the only reason I ever go back to watch old tapes is usually to laugh at certain portions. Usually, I laugh at anything involving this man:
This would be 山田勝己 (Yamada Katsumi). Or as people (the broadcasters at TBS, random people and most annoyingly, Yamada himself) call him Mr. サスケ. I laugh because he hasn't been able to pass the first stage in years. He fails on a consistent basis and is basically coasting on the success he had early on in the life of SASUKE (not coincidentally this was before I started watching seriously). I mean, it's just...
He fails.
Then he fails again.
And again.
I know. I know. I certainly can't pass the first stage but I can't help it. I mercilessly mock the guy whenever he shows up on my TV. I was actually scared at the last SASUKE because the announcers were teasing that someone was going to finish it for the first time in seven years. I thought it was going to be Yamada (thank god it was Nagano). I mean, what's the fun in him finishing it and realizing his dream?
Anyway, the reason I'm writing this post is to let people know that the newest version of SASUKE will be out soon (according to the Japanese SASUKE wikipedia page):
第18回大会 2007年 3月21日（「新・SASUKE2007春」として18:55～21:48の3時間放送予定
That's the 18th tournament being aired on March 21st at 6:55 to 9:48 PM on TBS.
WOO HOO!
I guess they're calling it the New SASUKE because at the end of the 17th (after 長野 誠 - Nagano Makoto - finally finished the course) they "blew up" the old final stage and debuted a new one.
Will anyone be able to make it to the new final stage?
Will all of the SASUKE All-Stars participate? Several of them considered quitting after the 17th.
But more importantly...
How will Yamada fail this time?
This would be 山田勝己 (Yamada Katsumi). Or as people (the broadcasters at TBS, random people and most annoyingly, Yamada himself) call him Mr. サスケ. I laugh because he hasn't been able to pass the first stage in years. He fails on a consistent basis and is basically coasting on the success he had early on in the life of SASUKE (not coincidentally this was before I started watching seriously). I mean, it's just...
He fails.
Then he fails again.
And again.
I know. I know. I certainly can't pass the first stage but I can't help it. I mercilessly mock the guy whenever he shows up on my TV. I was actually scared at the last SASUKE because the announcers were teasing that someone was going to finish it for the first time in seven years. I thought it was going to be Yamada (thank god it was Nagano). I mean, what's the fun in him finishing it and realizing his dream?
Anyway, the reason I'm writing this post is to let people know that the newest version of SASUKE will be out soon (according to the Japanese SASUKE wikipedia page):
第18回大会 2007年 3月21日（「新・SASUKE2007春」として18:55～21:48の3時間放送予定
That's the 18th tournament being aired on March 21st at 6:55 to 9:48 PM on TBS.
WOO HOO!
I guess they're calling it the New SASUKE because at the end of the 17th (after 長野 誠 - Nagano Makoto - finally finished the course) they "blew up" the old final stage and debuted a new one.
Will anyone be able to make it to the new final stage?
Will all of the SASUKE All-Stars participate? Several of them considered quitting after the 17th.
But more importantly...
How will Yamada fail this time?
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Daisuke Matsuzaka and the Internet
Spring Training is upon us (Go Mets!) and while Ichiro and Hideki Matsui are the established names, most eyes will be on the newest Japanese player on the block, Daisuke Matsuzaka.
The Internet being what it is there are already sites up for either shilling Dice-K merchandise or almost obsessively um...watching Dice-K.
By the way, I absolutely despise the "Dice-K" name. I almost prefer the already played-out first name initial, last name first syllable (J-Lo, K-Fed) name of D-Mat. Besides, someone was already using the Dice-K name and those Red Sox shirts that say Dice Man? Please.
Anyway, the always entertaining, sometimes controversial Deadspin presented a link the other day to another D-Mat blog but this one playing more on an interesting picture of Daisuke at Spring Training.
Ladies and gentlemen...
FATSUZAKA
A blog pretending to be D-Mat (that's what I'll be calling him dammit!) that claims 1) his achievements in Japan were "Hollywood special effects", 2) he will be using his 103 million dollars to buy Combos and 3) he will be spending his time making fun of fellow Red Sox pitcher Hideki Okajima.
Obviously a joke but I'm on the fence as to whether people (especially Japanese people -- D-Mat is going to have to learn that the net is not a nice place for athletes playing in America) should be offended or just take it for the joke it is. Either way, all eyes (and Japanese cameras) will be on the D-Mat man!
The Internet being what it is there are already sites up for either shilling Dice-K merchandise or almost obsessively um...watching Dice-K.
By the way, I absolutely despise the "Dice-K" name. I almost prefer the already played-out first name initial, last name first syllable (J-Lo, K-Fed) name of D-Mat. Besides, someone was already using the Dice-K name and those Red Sox shirts that say Dice Man? Please.
Anyway, the always entertaining, sometimes controversial Deadspin presented a link the other day to another D-Mat blog but this one playing more on an interesting picture of Daisuke at Spring Training.
Ladies and gentlemen...
FATSUZAKA
A blog pretending to be D-Mat (that's what I'll be calling him dammit!) that claims 1) his achievements in Japan were "Hollywood special effects", 2) he will be using his 103 million dollars to buy Combos and 3) he will be spending his time making fun of fellow Red Sox pitcher Hideki Okajima.
Obviously a joke but I'm on the fence as to whether people (especially Japanese people -- D-Mat is going to have to learn that the net is not a nice place for athletes playing in America) should be offended or just take it for the joke it is. Either way, all eyes (and Japanese cameras) will be on the D-Mat man!
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Super. Bowl.
Since we in Japan are in the future there is no such thing as Super Bowl Sunday. Live, the game always falls on a Monday morning (thanks Eastern Standard Time!). Gathering your friends together to watch the kick-off with a bowl of cereal and then having to leave before the second quarter because you have to go to work doesn't quite have the same vibe. Heck, you don't even get to see the commercials. However, if you do have Monday morning off and you want to watch the game at home BS is your friend. Specifically NHK BS1 and NHK BS hi will be airing the game from 8:05 AM (Japan time) with a rebroadcast at 6:15 PM on BS1. You do pay your fees to NHK right? For those without BS tuners 日本テレビ (Nihon Terebi) will have a rebroadcast at 12:26 AM.
Ever since I got a (relatively) new TV I've been able to watch more (tape delayed) NFL and NBA games in the last few months than I've seen in the last four or five years combined. With NFL games you get whoever is the national broadcast team (i.e. John Madden on Monday night games..brr). With the NBA it's whoever aired the game that night. This means the occasional game with Bill Walton on the mike which is for me is simply great. I (heart) me some Bill Walton.
Anyway, some links:
The Super Bowl!
The NFL schedule! For those of you who REALLY need to watch the Pro Bowl (scroll to the bottom).
The monthly NBA broadcast schedule. Don't worry, it changes automatically every month.
Bonus! I also (heart) me some Patrick Ewing/Charles Oakley/John Starks era NY Knicks and this is a great moment.
And finally...go Bears I guess. I'm not a big fan of the Colts.
Ever since I got a (relatively) new TV I've been able to watch more (tape delayed) NFL and NBA games in the last few months than I've seen in the last four or five years combined. With NFL games you get whoever is the national broadcast team (i.e. John Madden on Monday night games..brr). With the NBA it's whoever aired the game that night. This means the occasional game with Bill Walton on the mike which is for me is simply great. I (heart) me some Bill Walton.
Anyway, some links:
The Super Bowl!
The NFL schedule! For those of you who REALLY need to watch the Pro Bowl (scroll to the bottom).
The monthly NBA broadcast schedule. Don't worry, it changes automatically every month.
Bonus! I also (heart) me some Patrick Ewing/Charles Oakley/John Starks era NY Knicks and this is a great moment.
And finally...go Bears I guess. I'm not a big fan of the Colts.
Monday, January 01, 2007
スポーツマンNo.1決定戦XXXIV! Paul Anthony Terek beats a lot of Japanese guys and wins a Nissan Skyline!
Results from the 34th Sportsman No. 1 (最強の男は誰だ！筋肉バトル!! スポーツマンNo.1決定戦XXXIV) program on TBS.
6th - 315 points - 赤田将吾 Akada Shougo
5th - 330 points - 永井大 Nagai Masaru
4th - 385 points - 宮崎大輔 Miyazaki Daisuke
3rd - 390 points - 池谷直樹 Iketani Naoki
2nd - 435 points - 木下典明 Kinoshita Noriaki
1st - 470 points - ポール A テレック Paul ANTHONY Terek (They kept saying his middle name for some reason)
Event Results
Beach Flags: Iketani Naoki 池谷直樹
Burn Out Guys: Kinoshita Noriaki 木下典明
Monster Box: Iketani Naoki 池谷直樹
Power Force: Paul ANTHONY Terek
25: Paul ANTHONY Terek
Tail Impossible: Paul ANTHONY Terek
Shotgun Touch: Kinoshita Noriaki/Akada Shougo (tie) 木下典明/赤田将吾
There was also the Power Battle between bigger athletes.
4th - 110 points - 斉藤祐也/石田力哉 Saitou Yuya/Ishida Rikiya (tie)
3rd - 170 points - 把瑠都 Baruto
2nd - 190 points - 琴光喜 Kotomitsuki
1st - 240 points - 朝青龍 Asashouryuu
Event Results
Spin Out - Kotooushuu 琴欧洲
The Tug of War - Kotomitsuki 琴光喜
Gallon Throw - Asashouryuu/Sasaki Kensuke 朝青龍/佐々木健介 (tie)
6th - 315 points - 赤田将吾 Akada Shougo
5th - 330 points - 永井大 Nagai Masaru
4th - 385 points - 宮崎大輔 Miyazaki Daisuke
3rd - 390 points - 池谷直樹 Iketani Naoki
2nd - 435 points - 木下典明 Kinoshita Noriaki
1st - 470 points - ポール A テレック Paul ANTHONY Terek (They kept saying his middle name for some reason)
Event Results
Beach Flags: Iketani Naoki 池谷直樹
Burn Out Guys: Kinoshita Noriaki 木下典明
Monster Box: Iketani Naoki 池谷直樹
Power Force: Paul ANTHONY Terek
25: Paul ANTHONY Terek
Tail Impossible: Paul ANTHONY Terek
Shotgun Touch: Kinoshita Noriaki/Akada Shougo (tie) 木下典明/赤田将吾
There was also the Power Battle between bigger athletes.
4th - 110 points - 斉藤祐也/石田力哉 Saitou Yuya/Ishida Rikiya (tie)
3rd - 170 points - 把瑠都 Baruto
2nd - 190 points - 琴光喜 Kotomitsuki
1st - 240 points - 朝青龍 Asashouryuu
Event Results
Spin Out - Kotooushuu 琴欧洲
The Tug of War - Kotomitsuki 琴光喜
Gallon Throw - Asashouryuu/Sasaki Kensuke 朝青龍/佐々木健介 (tie)
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