VOLLEYBALL

Brazil beats Japan to win World Grand Prix

Monday 24th August, 04:52 AM JST

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Sarge at 11:47 PM JST - 23rd August

Pukey - Afte the 2nd set and the commercial break, suddenly they were in the middle of set 4. This was a bad omen. If Japan had won set 3, they would have shown every second of it.

Agreed, if they include a Johnny juniors group in the next tournament, I'm going to have to go there and shut them up myself ha ha ha
Manny3 at 12:07 AM JST - 24th August

I wonder why they have a short concert before the matches. Doesn't makes sense since Japan usually gets their butts kicked anyway.
Pukey2 at 08:54 AM JST - 24th August

I have a feeling that they dumb the show down with these kiddy groups so that people will actually watch. I doubt whether many people here would watch just because they were volleyball fans.

Afte the 2nd set and the commercial break, suddenly they were in the middle of set 4.

I really do wish they would not merely concentrate on the points won by Japan and be a little less biased in their coverage.
n3312 at 10:11 AM JST - 24th August

Apparently the match shown on Fuji TV was a delayed telecast. At least in that game Maiko Kano got more game time.
onewrldoneppl at 10:59 AM JST - 24th August

the japanese women & their lack of any kind of killer instinct basically handed the victory to the brazilians. up 24 to 21 in a must win 3rd set, the japanese failed on numerous receptions, blocked limply and served the ball out of bounds to "snatch defeat from the jaws of victory". until they develop some kind of back bone they'll continue to be a laughingstock. although a very cute laughingstock ... ha ha ha.
AdachikuMaster at 01:20 PM JST - 24th August

Pukey - Afte the 2nd set and the commercial break, suddenly they were in the middle of set 4. This was a bad omen. If Japan had won set 3, they would have shown every second of it. Agreed, if they include a Johnny juniors group in the next tournament, I'm going to have to go there and shut them up myself ha ha ha

When will you guys understand that we are in Japan and not your home country. It will have been the same if it was in your country.....

As I remember, when I was in the US during the Olympics in Sydney. At my big surprise all the events showed on TV was about and only about the U.S Nothing else. Absolutely nothing else
AdachikuMaster at 01:24 PM JST - 24th August

Thanks for posting results to this match before the TV broadcast was finished (sigh)... let's hope the Fuji TV lawyers don't notice...

It was not live on TV. Haven't you noticed?
opposite13 at 01:51 PM JST - 24th August

It was not live on TV. Haven't you noticed?

Usually, Japanese TV stations put a legal gag on all other media outlets releasing results/scores from tape-delayed sports programming until the entire domestic broadcast is finished. During this tournament, even the Associated Press and FIVB refrained from posting official scores until Fuji TV went off-air. I was simply surprised that these restriction didn't apply to Kyodo (the original supplier of the story) nor to JT.
terebiko at 02:17 PM JST - 24th August

I am sorry, but any sporting event shown on TV should be live. Just doesn't make sense in this day and age. Nothing is worse than looking forward to watching a broadcast, and then being told the result before the game starts. I realize that they may not get as many people watching the live broadcast, but the people who do watch are true fans anyway. They are not doing me a service by taping and broadcasting during prime time.
Pukey2 at 10:03 PM JST - 24th August

adachikumaster:

You may speak for your own country and USA, but please don't assume you know what other countries are like. Where I come from, the TV cameras don't zoom in onto the local athletes' faces only and edit TV coverage so that bits where the local team are doing badly are edited out. We actually get to see the other team. Respect is given to all participants, regardless of their country. And we don't need kiddy bands and tarentos to sing and provide 'expert' opinions.

opposite13:

I couldn't find sod all on the FIVB homepage. Nothing about the 2009 Grand Prix tournament, only last year's. In fact, Wikipedia was more helpful! There are lots of tournaments shown here, and it's quite difficult sometimes to find the scores on the internet. They block access from Japan. There are even some live matches on the internet (like tennis) which is closed off to those in Japan.
Sarge at 11:16 PM JST - 24th August

Pukey, what are you talking about, the FIVB site has everything there is to know about the 2009 WGP.

The team that finally beats Brazil will be my heroes. I want to see them whipped 3-0, and held to scoring no more than 15 points in any set.
BurakuminDes at 11:58 PM JST - 24th August

I love how the Japanese Volleyball Team is proudly sponsored by Japan Tobacco. They should allow the girls to puff on the sponsors product at half time on the court - it would surely help pick up the sales amongst kiddies.
Jbizzle at 06:55 AM JST - 25th August

I agree with pukey2. Japans coverage of sporting events when their teams are playing is blatant racism. The camera never shows the other teams bench, coach etc. To me, it's disrepecful to true sports fan here. It's definantly not like that in the US. When that Murakami guy took a lucky THIRD in Javelin at the worlds the announcer almost lost his voice and started crying. lol
opposite13 at 11:50 PM JST - 25th August

The team that finally beats Brazil will be my heroes. I want to see them whipped 3-0, and held to scoring no more than 15 points in any set.

Sarge, you've apparently never been privy to the conventional wisdom on Brazil's dominance and Japan's weakness (both men's and women's), so I'll fill you in: the Brazilian authorities have ZERO restrictions on elite players migrating to different countries' professional leagues; a cursory look at Team Brazil's FIVB roster will confirm that most Brazilian players --the tall ones, the short ones, and everyone in between-- belong to professional teams in Europe. The European season runs from October to March. Once that season is over, the elite Brazilian players --along with select tall, short, and medium-sized Europeans-- come back to Brazil... to play from April to September in BRAZIL'S professional league. Do you see what I'm getting at? The players selected to Brazil's national team are not only tall (which seems to be your obsession), but they also practice and play YEAR ROUND with and against the best players --tall, short, otherwise-- in the world. So of course the Brazilians dominate. Men and women. It's common sense.

On the other hand, Japan's elite players are 100% restricted by the JVA (and -ahem- Japan Tobacco) as to where they play professionally... in other words, they are basically ALL limited to playing only against each other in Japan's domestic V.League. V.League's season runs from January to April. Foreign (read: tall) players are limited to one (!!!) per team. The rest of the year, these Japanese players are... doing what?! Jogging? Lifting weights? Power aerobics? Drills at Team Japan Base Camp? That's all well and good, but can't make up for actually PLAYING actual games against against actual teams... it doesn't matter how tall or short they are.

So you see, Sarge, there's a rhyme and a reason to Japan's lackluster performance, beyond what you blindly and blatantly chalk up to a simple height advantage. The JVA has tried and succeeded for years in buying home-court advantage (four out of six Olympic qualifying tounaments!!!), but it's all for naught unless the PLAYERS are world-class. Do you see what I'm saying? BTW I've scouted six 180cm+ setters in V.League this year... why does Manabe choose to stay with Takeshita? Perhaps because he realizes (as perhaps you should) that height isn't everything?

So, Sargie? Not that I expect a reply; every time I present a structured argument to rebuff your blind "height advantage" rants, you ignore me...
kochikame at 12:35 PM JST - 26th August

I agree with opposite13! Brazilian women's and men's teams have been strong in the worldwide stage not surprisingly. All the players have lots of experience, and play year-around, just like the men's football players. Sage's comments are too despicable. Before reaching the gold in the Olympics and any other global tournament, Brazil has had lots of disappointing results. We reached the top of the stairs little by little.