Thursday, October 26, 2006

The Victors!

The local team did it!

They're national champions!

They've won the Series!

Unfortunately, this post is not about the Seattle Mariners. (sigh)

The Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team, in their third year in Hokkaido, have just won the Japan Series.

They were originally based in the bustling metropolis of Tokyo, where, until they moved up here, six of the twelve Japan League teams were based.

In an impressive move of sharing the wealth, Nippon Ham moved their team up here. (Well, that and the fact that since most people in the Tokyo area flock to the Yomiuri Giants (ugh) games and none others, they couldn't pack in the fans.)

And now they're the champs.

Not that I've been a huge fan, or that I've even been to see a game of theirs, but I figured that on the night they have a chance to claim the title, I should watch the game.

I didn't want to watch it by myself, so I cruised over to Rantaro and watched it with the owners there. The three of us, and nobody else, since everyone else in Muroran had either cruised on up for the game itself or was staying at home and watching the game. Not that Muroran is a bustling cultural center or anything, but there was a serious LACK of people about.

So I watched the game, ate some food, drank some beer, and watched the Fighters win.

(Oh yeah, they're just "The Fighters". When I first heard their name, I thought it was completely ridiculous to call them "Ham Fighters" too. My mistake. The company that owns the team and uses them as an advertising tool is called "Nippon Ham". Oops.)

Congratulations, Fighters. Congratulations, Hokkaido.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home