S Korea gets 2nd-round berth, rematch with Japan in WBC

Monday 09th March, 05:44 AM JST

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smithinjapan at 11:44 PM JST - 8th March

throwinstones: I meant to say as well before I prematurely rushed back to the Japan lack of coverage, that the Canadian media also painted the American team very highly, and I know that many of the Canadian team members had a blast playing with the Americans and praised them as well.

Sorry that's slightly off topic, but ties directly into my last post.
smithinjapan at 11:48 PM JST - 8th March

Okay, bottom line... good job, Korea. Thanks for sticking in the game. Make your next game BETTER!
Pukey2 at 12:25 AM JST - 9th March

smithinjapan:

So let's see.... so for not a SINGLE excellent game has been shown on Japanese television; only the mediocre game against China and the pathetic game against Korea yesterday.

Come on, we were all expecting this. I don't watch baseball, but I knew, straight from the word go, the Jp media would not show anything that would not involve team Japan.

Just the other day, they were showing Nishikori Kei beating a Chinese opponent in tennis. The segment lasted over a minute, and NOT ONCE did I see the face of the Chinese opponent. It was like watching Nishikori play squash by himself.

What I don't understand is why Japan was so mediocre against China and yet Korea was able to beat China and Taiwan comfortably. The Koreans must really be hurting.
Sarge at 12:47 AM JST - 9th March

Good grief, the Chinese must really suck to lose to Korea 14-0!
smithinjapan at 12:48 AM JST - 9th March

Pukey: "What I don't understand is why Japan was so mediocre against China and yet Korea was able to beat China and Taiwan comfortably. The Koreans must really be hurting."

I think it's just one of those things, you know? They knew they would beat China, so the effort was not really there. They knew, likewise, if they lost to Korea they would NEVER live it down, and so you FINALLY saw Ichiro score a couple of hits (and a bunt), and once they slaughter started others finally loosened their spinch###s enough to start hitting as well. I think the Japanese team is really uptight and even AFRAID to get points until they've gotten a few.

As for Korea, they were in their game against Taiwan, though Taiwan played poorly (the grandslam is not a result of poor playing, while after that the Taiwan teamed fell quickly into lethargy, it seems), but absolutely SUCKED against Japan. I don't know why they allowed themselves to get trampled so badly, but once it started they seemed to completely give up, be it on the field or at bat.

"Come on, we were all expecting this. I don't watch baseball, but I knew, straight from the word go, the Jp media would not show anything that would not involve team Japan."

I KNEW Japan would be like this to an extent, yes, but not to the extent that they are. It's utterly ridiculous, and if you have a petition against them getting the Olympics in Tokyo, or sites you know we can send opinions on the matter to, I'll sign both. They say they want baseball to spread around the world, and they want it in Olympics in the future, and then they show less than 10% of the games aired, with only two pools having started.... sorry. And heaven forbid if the Japanese team loses out soon -- there will be no more talk of baseball for months!
smithinjapan at 12:50 AM JST - 9th March

sarge: "Good grief, the Chinese must really suck to lose to Korea 14-0!"

And yet Japan could only top them 4 - 0. It'd be a shame if the next team to go through between Japan and Korea went down to the tie-breaker rules they decided on, which I've always felt were stupid... that would mean Japan is out based on its performance against China.
buddha4brains at 05:22 AM JST - 9th March

All the games are available on the web. Check out the WBC website. Costs about ¥1,000.
sydenham at 07:10 AM JST - 9th March

it's such a stupid system.

normally, if a team loses in the round robin they have to play against another pool's winner first, to ever have a chance of playing the winner of their own pool again. they obviously don't do it this way for geographic reasons, but they should. in the last WBC Japan lost to Korea twice before winning the final. this should never happen in a properly organized competition.

Just hold each WBC in a different country, instead of all different countries for one WBC.
soldave at 08:54 AM JST - 9th March

You always knew that the other teams wouldn't even get a mention in Japan. It was the same with the olympics and almost any event that Japanese athletes weren't involved. I understand the desire to show your own country's athletes but that's different from having a blatent disregard for anything not Japanese.
bobbafett at 10:32 AM JST - 9th March

I think its normal for a country to show high profile sporting games on Sky TV nowadays. You cannot watch rugby or football free to air in the home nations as well as the commonwealth countries. Japanese people are lucky that they can watch their national sport free to air.
IchyaWarFare at 03:44 PM JST - 9th March

With bobbafett here. What do you guys expect? This is not a free country and most of you all have been here for a good while to keep complaining like this. Just not in a hurry to go digital because I have too, but when I do, I should be able to view the other sports. But for now if you want to watch something else, you best know you have to pay, like everyone else. Nothing in life is free, but ya'll knew that.
poshdrivel at 05:59 PM JST - 9th March

"You cannot watch rugby or football free to air in the home nations as well as the commonwealth countries. Japanese people are lucky that they can watch their national sport free to air."

Watchyu talkin about willis ??? To watch terrestrial tv in Japan you are required to pay monthly fees. Skyperfect, wowow, BS, and any other cable link will set you back thousands of yen. It is a dadgum shame that such a rich and wealthy nation like Japan cannot afford to provide these games for free, I mean after all what is "advertising" for ? And why isn't Japan showing any of the other teams ? We have some great games going on at other venues and all we get is lame coverage of the most predictable group. We all knew that Japan and Korea would advance. The other pool play has had a shocker with the Netherlands beating the Dominican Republic, and Australia just pounding Mexico 17-7 this morning. What fun, but not if yer in Japan. No wonder more than 30,000 citizens off themselves every year... boooorriiinnng !
Thenewfront at 06:06 PM JST - 9th March

It is all on the internet fro free, if you blokk hard enough. A search for free wbc should getr some results. I don't if korea or Japan wins this game. In Britain we call it sill boys rounders, and after watching a few minutes i can see why, even more tedious than cricket..
IchyaWarFare at 06:46 PM JST - 9th March

Don't know what you are talking about poshdrivel, I am not paying for nothing. Barely watch the boob tube as it is, but I sure the hell ain't pay'n for it. I watch what they got on and it is Japanese TV. Why the hell would you want to watch something else unless you paying for it. Glad you found all that great stuff, pretty sure you can Tube it. If that is what you need, there is your free viewing in Japan.
onewrldoneppl at 09:22 PM JST - 9th March

taiwan and china have no major leaguers. regardless of whether you're from a baseball playin'country (e.g. italy) or not (e.g. england); to beat the best, your team must include the best. jus'ask the canadians. a lot of major leaguers but, many of them are playin' in the minors. if china and taiwan can develop their pitchin'staffs (i.e. learn to throw more effective/less predictable breakin'pitches/screwballs/sliders) they too will be able to compete with the likes of J&K. until then, it's really jus'a two-horse race with the others battlin'for asian bronze. the good news for canada however is, they do have some talent @ the skill positions. if only more major league arms would've committed to playin' in the WBC, the contest versus the USA would've had a different outcome wink