Reb Sox: America's Vanity

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

America's Vanity

I was watching the U.S. play Japan on Sunday, and one of the announcers kept talking about how important it was for them to do well in this tournament. He asserted that it would be an embarrassment to MLB for the U.S. to not make the semi-finals in this WBC. I just kept thinking about how arrogant he was and how he sounded so much like a YES announcer in his blind-sightedness...

Many countries have been playing baseball for many, many years. The concept of baseball as "America's pastime" is antiquated. The only thing distinctly American about baseball is who pays the most for it - so yeah, it is our pastime, as in an entertainment venue we americans spend a lot of time money to support, and as a result the best players seem to gravitate here.

I went to the D.R. once and spent two weeks with a bunch of natives there. Every boy wanted to be a baseball player. We just don't have quite that kind of draw for it here in the U.S., so why should we expect to be better? That's just silly.

I've decided I'd like to see Korea Vs. Dominican Republic in the finals. That's a game I would be most interested in watching. Make it happen, ye umps.

# posted by Rebecca @ 11:53 PM