World Citizenship

Last March (2009, not this past one), my family and I went to the World Baseball Classic semifinal game featuring the United States versus Japan at Dodger Stadium (awesome location choice for the finals).  Now, as anyone can tell you, I'm not particularly nationalistic for either my Japanese or Chinese roots.  In international competitions, I hope they do well, but I mainly cheer for the US.  The World Baseball Classic was different, though.  What really turned the average American fan off is that the best players born in this country decided to stay home.  The problem with lack of American pride in players was that every other country brought its best, making them instantly easier to cheer for.

Japan was an easy choice for my affections.  Baseball runs deep in Japanese culture.  Heck, I grew up playing in Japanese youth baseball leagues.  Also, China wasn't very good even though they tried their best.  So we went, and it was unlike anything I've ever seen.  It was a different atmosphere than at a playoff game.  Sure, everyone wants their team to win, but this was more intense, as if people wanted to prove that their entire country was better than the other.  We got there early so we could take in the atmosphere, and it gave me enough time to buy my Team Japan hat.  Once we sat down, we found ourselves in a section filled with Japanese people (a lot of nationals, even), and the atmosphere was amazing.  We joined in their chants and cheered on the players (Yu Darvish!).  Japan won 9-4, and everyone went home happy (the fans for the USA didn't seem terribly disappointed).  However, since then, my cap's been in a kind of retirement since my hair is too long to support hat-wearing.

Considering that the World Cup is starting tomorrow, I've been contemplating bringing the cap out of retirement.  In fact, I might even get a hair cut tomorrow.  I would like to feel that same pride for Japan, but my heart really lies with the good old red, white, and blue.  What's more likely to be on tomorrow's schedule is a trip down to the Home Depot Center in Carson to pick up a Landon Donovan sweater.  Ah, the joys of being an enthusiastic sports fan...