An American Pastime?

While watching the Japan/Korea World Baseball Classic final last night, I realized that our beloved American Pastime might not actually belong solely to Americans anymore. Maybe its the inflated salaries, bloated egos or the continuing steroid allegations that just never seem to go away but we, as Americans, have become a little less enthusiastic about the game of baseball. I'm not saying that we don't love the game anymore but you have to admit that our fervor could take some lessons from the Japanese and Korean fans. After watching the USA team "phone it in" against the Japanese team, I pretty much wrote off the rest of the WBC waiting for the end of MLB spring training. Last night I decided to tune in a few innings of the Japan/Korea final only to find myself transfixed by one of the best games I've seen in many months (including the last World Series). The Asian ballplayers and their fans treated this game as if it were their "Game 7" and the end of the season... but it wasn't. This was just an international tournament. Its not even the Olympics but the national pride on both sides was very obvious.

Japanese and Korean fans alike screamed and yelled at every opportunity and hung on to every pitch and every swing. Each time ESPN scanned the crowd, every fan would wave and clap their thundersticks and scream at the top of their lungs no matter what may be happening on the field. It was a true love for the team they were supporting. The Koreans even filled a stadium with 20,000 fans halfway across the globe to watch a live simulcast of the game taking place in L.A. Now that is what I call dedication. But, besides the fan support, the players too displayed an obvious passion for the game. Each player on the field wanted the championship trophy as bad as the other and made sure their fans would get the game they deserved.

It made me a little sad thinking that the USA team should be in the final but their minds were already somewhere else thinking of the season ahead. I only hope that I get to see another quality game like the WBC final somewhere amongst the 162 MLB games this season. Sure, baseball is an American pastime but the Asians paid homage to the game by taking it to another level the USA team never came close to matching.

Bachelor is Biggest Loser...

For fear of having my man-card punched, I will only admit that, over the last couple of weeks, I have caught bits and pieces of The Bachelor while the wife watched religiously on my HD plasma TV. That alone is enough to make any man cringe because, as everyone knows, plasma TVs are made specifically for viewing NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, MMA and the UFC in all their wondrous glory... oh, and Hawaiin Tropic bikini competitions too. That being said, I normally keep my mouth shut when it comes to the wife's choice of programming but this season's The Bachelor had an interesting twist to it. Jason Mesnick was last season's runner-up (loser) in The Bachelorette so he became the centerpiece in The Bachelor... only this time he brought his 3-year old boy along for the ride. I can't begin to tell you how wrong this is on so many levels but I gave him the benefit of the doubt hoping he wouldn't became the total ass I thought he would. Being a single dad for several years, I can count on one hand the number of women my girls met in 9 years of bachelorhood. This jerk was about to exceed that total in a matter of weeks. As I watched the finale, I caught several things that require this dork relinquish his man-card for good.

#1 - Never, never, never cry on a balcony like a little girl on national TV. This takes the "sensitive" guy concept way too far. Even women are thinking this guy is a wuss at that point.

#2 - Dumping someone is an inevitable part of life if you've ever dated. With the exception of soul mates that met in the 8th grade, most of us (men and women) have had to cut the ties with someone they were no longer interested in or had nothing in common with. This guy asks a girl to marry him, changes his mind, dumps her AND makes out with the other girl in front of her. Usually the crotch area is off-limits in any kind of altercation but she totally had my blessing to take a running start and bury her high heel in his scrotum.

#3 - Children are off-limits all the time. Period. I'm not sure how much they paid his ex-wife to agree to this crap but using your own child as a pawn in a TV show is as low as low can get. Using a dog to meet women is one thing but using your own kid to tug at the heart strings is completely different and despicable. Did anyone ever ask the kid what or who he wanted out of all this?

To sum it up. Jason Mesnick from here forth shall forfeit his MAN-CARD and will forever be relegated to the position of male wanna-be forced to attend parenting classes until said child is no longer dependent on his dumb ass for support. This is after he is given a vasectomy to prevent damage to future children under his care. Let's hope the damage he has done to the male species won't be permanent.