From H-TEN’s Daily Sports Online column / デイリースポーツの連載コラムから
The Hanshin Tigers are at long last able to play at home again! While I love the national high school tournament held every August, I do not love what it forces my team to do: play 20+ straight games on unfamiliar, unfriendly soil (artificial though it may be). This year, the team went 10-14 during this stretch (including 1-5 at their “second home” Kyocera Dome) and despite the losing record, are sitting firmly in third place. If all goes well in the final 22 games of the season (16 of which are at Koshien), we could even climb into second and host a few playoff games!
I, meanwhile, spent about as many days away from “home” as the Tigers did during the summer, as I traveled back to my original hometown (Winnipeg, Canada) for a much-needed time away from Japan. Don’t get me wrong – I love Japan and will probably be buried here – but I also had an incredible time, especially at a Canadian Football League (CFL) game. Let me share with you a few of the things I felt and learned.
First, what a feeling it was to once again live (and cheer) without masks on! The crowd at the Winnipeg Blue Bombers game was absolutely electric the entire night. Sure, Koshien is back to full capacity in 2022, but not being allowed to yell, sing, and cheer makes the experience only half of what it would otherwise be. The role that fans have in determining the game’s outcome is often forgotten during these pandemic times, but that one night at IG Field, I was able to remember. (The Bombers lost in overtime, mind you, ending their perfect season after a 9-0 start.)
And speaking of cheering, it might interest you to know (if you didn’t already) that the crowd is at its loudest when the visitors are in control of the ball. On one hand, that is the same as Japanese baseball, right? I mean, in baseball, the pitcher is the one who dictates the pace of the game. Without him, nothing happens! But in Japanese baseball, crowd madness is not intended to mess with the pitcher’s mind so much as it is an attempt to rally the troops who are trying to put the ball into play and score runs! In football, the pandemonium is almost entirely meant to screw with the offense’s ability to communicate with each other and get their game going.
But the biggest thing that I took away from the game was something that is fairly simple, yet extremely vital to the fans and to the environment. IG Field in Winnipeg has Elkay water bottle filling stations in various places on the concourse, allowing fans to whet their whistles without having to purchase plastic and toss it away at game’s end. Each dispenser also has an indicator of how many bottles have been saved so far.
Now, think about it: football teams play about one-tenth of the games that baseball teams do. And the capacity at Koshien Stadium is roughly 45% greater than that of IG Field. Can you imagine how many bottles would be saved in Koshien and all the other NPB parks had bottle filling stations made available to fans? I know what you’re thinking: money. Sales would drop drastically and profits would be reduced. But come on now, we seriously have to stop thinking so much about money when it comes to saving our earth. Winnipeg and IG Field are far from perfect when it comes to the environment, but I will say that giving everyone free water and reducing the amount of plastic created at these events would go a LONG way towards helping the environment! Let’s do this, Koshien! Give us free water!!!