The Hiroshima Carp

With a name like that, how can any baseball team be good?

Well, despite my early predjudice against them, they still didn`t prove me wrong. I went to a game in Hiroshima last weekend and watched them get their asses kicked by the Tokyo Giants. The game was fun except for the whole rain part. It hasn`t really rained in awhile here, until the day we decide to go to an outdoor baseball game. Figures. We were allowed to bring in our own cooler of drinks though, so that made the feeling of being soaking wet, a little less important. It was interesting to see the group `cheerleaders`. These are people whose job it is to get dressed up in one of the team`s gear and lead the fans in various organized cheers throughout the game. There was about one per section and these guys were something to see~ whistle and all. I don`t really think most Japanese people would have the balls to cheer on their own~ this would mean yelling out something original, by themselves, that they hadn`t practiced before and something other people around them weren`t doing at the same time. What a concept. I don`t know if they could handle that.