Today's Mixed Bag

Please Explain
Here's an interesting one in the Weekend Australian today:

THE Federal Opposition has accused the Government of failing to properly investigate a legal agreement which saw Australia's wheat exporter channel $290 million of its money to Saddam Hussein's regime.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said between 1997 and 2003 the Australian Wheat Board paid a Jordanian trucking company to transport its wheat through Iraq.

However, an independent investigation has now found the former AWB, now AWB Ltd, unwittingly provided kickbacks to the former Iraqi dictator via the trucking company, under the United Nations' corruption ridden oil-for-food program.

Mr Rudd said he did not want to point fingers at the AWB and suggest its members were to blame.

However, he said he believed the Australian public should be concerned about how this happened in the first place.

Mr Rudd said the AWB had informed the federal foreign affairs department in 2000 of its intention to enter into an agreement with the Jordanian trucking company and was told there was no international legal reason impeding this decision.

He was concerned Foreign Affairs minister Alexander Downer had not properly investigated the company or the agreement at the time.

"My challenge to Mr Downer is ... what was the detail of your response to the AWB request or letter to you at that time concerning the commercial arrangement with this Jordanian trucking company," he said.

"The stakes are very high here - $US221 million which went from the AWB into the pockets of Saddam Hussein personally.

"That's 14 per cent of the total amount of corrupt payments received by Saddam Hussein under this oil-for-food program."

The AWA insisted it had no idea the money it paid to a Jordanian transport group, Alia, was funnelled to Saddam's murderous regime.

What I want to know is why the ALP is beatinng about the bush with this stuff when there are bigger problems afoot.

The Off-Season Moves
So now that Joe Torre and Brian Cashman will stay with the yankees, it seems like the order of the day is to re-sign Hideki Matsui and go after BJ Ryan and a center fielder at the right price. My guess is that they will angle for a trade with the Twins for Torii Hunter, rather than sign Johnny Damon to a hefty contract.

However, the bigger news of the day is that Daisuke Matsuzaka is having problems with the Seibu Lions getting them to 'post' his contract for the MLB to bid. They figure that although the price on Matsuzaka would be high, they'd rather keep their last star player in a time when they are having trouble drawing a crowd.
The real shame is that Matsuzaka feels he's ready now:

秋季練習後に黒岩彰球団代表と話し合った松坂は「何年もかけ、準備してきたものが整ったという気持ちが強い。もっと深く話し合い、自分にとっていい方向に行けばいい」と話し、今後も粘り強く交渉する意向を示した。
　黒岩代表は「個人的には世界を目指す気持ちは理解できるが、西武グループのシンボルとして、球団を経営していく上で必要な選手だと伝えた」と語った。

Well, he figured to be the only starting pitcher the Yankees were likely to go after this off-season. In all honesty, I think this guy's headed for Pinstripes at some point. Rumours had it the Yanks were cashed up to go posting after him.

Catcher Kenji Johjima of the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, is now a Free Agent and is saying he wants to test the waters in the majors.


I think at 29, there won't be that many takers. Maybe the Mets who will look to replace Mike Piazza, but I think even they were put off by the non-performing contract of Kaz Matsui. He's a great player, but it's hard to say if his "skills will translate across the Pacific" as they like to say.

Baseball Wraps Up for 2005

88 Years Since Shoeless Joe


The Chicago White Sox beat their 88 year hoodoo and won the World Series in a 4 game sweep of the Houston Astros. It's been a longtime between drinks, going back to a team that had such notable 'Black Sox as Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Ciccote, and Buck Weaver.

HOUSTON, Oct. 26 - The baseball gods were merciless once, inflicting decades of sorrow on a franchise for one fateful mistake. They would sit in that mystical corner of sports heaven, firing thunderbolts at teams like the Chicago White Sox, who threw the World Series in 1919 and have defined mediocrity ever since.

All these years later, it turns out the gods have a heart, after all. How else to explain what happened at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday night, when the White Sox beat the Houston Astros, 1-0, in Game 4 of the World Series to clinch their first championship since 1917?

"I felt all 88 of those years," said the White Sox' owner, Jerry Reinsdorf. "I think I even felt the years that the Cubs haven't won on my shoulders."

The crosstown Cubs are more lovable and more popular than the White Sox have ever been, and they have gone 97 years and counting since their last championship. Maybe now their time will come.

Last October, the Boston Red Sox exorcised their demons in strikingly similar fashion to the White Sox. With no titles since 1918 - two years before they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees - the Red Sox finally captured the World Series by winning their last eight postseason games.

Likewise, the White Sox followed four consecutive victories in the American League Championship Series with a four-game sweep of the Astros, whose anemic offense could hardly touch the White Sox' pitching.

You can't fault that. The way these things go, it'll be the Cubs who are 97 years and counting, moaning about he curse of the goat and poor Steven Bartman.

Bobby Valentine And The Chiba Lotte Marine Sweep Tigers


Okay, so 31 is much smaller than 88 or 86, but it's long enough to be a hoodoo of sorts.
Bobby V, former manager of the NY Mets who saw the Mets to the 2000 World Series (and lost to the Yanks) has been helming the Chiba Lotte Marines this year and has led them to their first Japan Series win in 31years. The Marines swept the Hanshin Tigers of Osaka.

ボビーが甲子園で舞った—。プロ野球の日本一を決める日本シリーズは２６日、甲子園球場で第４戦を行い、ロッテが１９７４年以来、３１年ぶりの日本一に輝いた。４戦４勝での日本一は０２年の巨人以来、史上５度目。米国人として初めて日本一の栄冠を手にしたボビー・バレンタイン監督（５５）は目に涙をためて「素晴らしいですね。このチームは一番です！」と力強く叫んだ。最高殊勲選手には８打席連続安打のシリーズ記録をマークした今江敏晃内野手が選ばれた。日本シリーズを制したロッテは、１１月１０日から東京ドームで開催される「アジアシリーズ２００５」でアジアの王者を目指す。

　「あの感触は一生、忘れない」と話した歓喜の胴上げからわずか９日。一度経験を積んで心の準備ができていたボビー・バレンタイン監督（５５）は気持ちよさそうに３回、宙に舞った。プロ野球７１年の歴史で初めての米国人監督による日本一。静まりかえった甲子園に“チバ、ロッテ、マリーンズ”の大合唱が響いた。

　「スバラシイ、コノチームハ、イチバンデス」。たどたどしい日本語で、精いっぱいのメッセージを伝える。黄色一色で埋め尽くされた甲子園に「ここは世界の野球の聖地。阪神ファンが日本で一番多いことを実感させられた。でも、ロッテのファンが最高です」

　４試合での最多得点３３をはじめ、攻撃面で６個の新記録を樹立したシリーズ。毎日打線を組み替えた“ボビー・マジック”がさく裂した。その姿勢は日本一を目前にした第４戦でも変わらなかった。第３戦で５番に座らせたベニーを外して、李承ヨプ（イ・スンヨプ）を起用したことが当たった。

Indeed , the Marines simply thumped the Tigers in the first 3 games, scoring more than 10 runs in each (10-0; 10-1; 10-0) and then edged out a 3-2 win to close out the series.
They love the man over there, and as the MLB clubs looking for managers eye Bobby V once more, Lotte are trying to keep Bobby for the long term.

Cashman Stays
So after all that deliberation, Brian Cashman has decided he'll go another 3 years in the Yankee circus to a tune of 5.5million dollars. I'd do it too.

Cashman's current contract expires Monday, and the Yankees cannot announce the new deal until after the World Series, a high-ranking baseball official said yesterday in Houston, site of Game 4 of the World Series last night.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because baseball commissioner Bud Selig prohibits teams from making major announcements during the Series. The deal with Cashman still has not been finalized, the official added.
With the decisions of Cashman and manager Joe Torre to stay with the Yankees, New York can start on its offseason moves next week. It appears the Yankees' first priority will be to re-sign outfielder Hideki Matui, who is eligible for free agency.
New York also has a deal that is all-but-finalized with former San Diego and Philadelphia manager Larry Bowa, who would become third-base coach.

A lot has been said about Brian Cashman but one thing is clear, Yankee fans actually wanted him back and that says a great deal about the support he enjoys in the Big Apple.

The Northern Summer is well and truly done in deep October. I think it's time to seriously watch some Cricket now. :)

ON VP Day

Japan Apologises... Again
Is anybody listening?
Does anybody care anymore?
Here's the yahoo article
Oh screw it, here it is, in its entirety:

TOKYO, (AFP) - Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reiterated Japan's "heartfelt apology" for World War II and vowed to seek a new relationship with Asia, in a statement on the 60th anniversary of surrender.
"In the past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations.

"Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility. I express here once again my feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology, and my feelings of profound mourning for all victims, both at home and abroad, of that war," he said.

The statement echoed word-for-word much of Japan's watershed apology for the war issued on the 50th anniversary of surrender by then prime minister Tomiichi Murayama.

Japanese leaders have since used phrases from Murayama's apology in their statements on the war, as did Koizumi in an April speech before Asian and African leaders in Jakarta.

In his latest statement, Koizumi said Japan's post-war history is "60 years of peace that showed its remorse about the war through actions" such as humanitarian activities, international aid and economic and cultural exchanges.

"With Asian countries, like China and South Korea that are only separated from Japan by a narrow strip of water, I think we must join hands to ensure peace in this region.

"As we look straight at the past and correctly recognize history, I want to build cooperative relations that look to the future and are based upon mutual understanding and trust," he said.

The point, is, those people never give you credit for the ODA you gave all these years; they never say "apology accepted", they never even say it took a man to get up and say it over and over again, shouldering the blame for a nation. They just complain some more, humiliate you in their own press and ask for more economic aid. It's disgusting and on the whole not worthwhile. I think there should be a moratorium on Japanese Prime-Ministerial apologies. John Howard on the other hand is long overdue with his.

Who Says Sumo Isn't An International Sport
A Blonde, Estonain felloww going by the ring-name of Baruto has made the rank of Jyu-ryo. That means he's a proper ring fighter in the world of proper Japanese Sumo.

大相撲初の金髪関取、エストニア出身の新十両把瑠都（ばると、20＝三保ケ関）が、化粧まわしを母国ゆかりの海賊バイキングの絵柄にした。14日に行われた同部屋の土俵祭りで、明らかにした。
　化粧まわしには自身の故郷の風景などを描くことが多い。把瑠都も師匠の三保ケ関親方（元大関増位山）に「故郷の山は？　」と尋ねられたが、思いつかなかった。困った師匠から「ならばエストニアは何が有名なんだ？　」と聞かれ、パッとひらめいた。「日本人でも知っているものといえば海賊ね」。角のついたかぶとをかぶったバイキングに決めた。近日、同部屋の後援会から贈呈される。
　母国は世界陸上が開催中のフィンランド・ヘルシンキとバルト海を挟んで、わずか60キロの距離にある。「テレビで世界陸上を見て雨が降っていたらママに『今、雨でしょ？　』って電話するんだ」。04年4月の入門から1度も帰国していない把瑠都は、テレビや化粧まわしで母国を思い出して励みにしている。
（日刊スポーツ） - 8月15日9時53分更新

The gist of it is that he's going to enter his first major ring with a horn-wearing-Viking-patterned 'keshou-mawashi'. Go Baruto! I'm a fan already.

The End Of The K-K Boys
No, it's not the end of the Ku-Klux-Klan. We're talking about the duo of Kazuhiro Kiyohara and Masumi Kuwata, also known as the 'K-K-Combination' dating from their days a Highschool ball players playing for the PL School in tthe National High School Tournament. They're probably two of the most storied guys in the Yomiuri Giants outfit, but the Giants (like the Yankees and The Australian Cricket team) are looking to get younger and so their 20 year road as professional ball players might be coming to an end. They're guys my age - which dates me, but heck, there you have it. I've known of them for 20 years, and I'm surprised they're still kicking around with the Giants.

Once upon a many moons ago, the K-K Combination led the PL School to a pile of wins. Then, as 18 year old shcool leavers, they got drafted by the Nippon Professional Baseball League. Kuwata, the pitcher was the number 1 draft for the Giants.

Kiyohara, who had voice his love for the Giants ended up at Seibu. He wwnet there crying, but put together 10 solid years as a slugger who was instrumental in the late1980s dominance of the Seibu Lions.Kuwata went on to a 20 year career as the backbone of the Giants rotation until the wheels truly fell off the franchise last year. Kiyohara used his Free Agency to land a spot with the Giants, but he's been more injured than playing since then; even so, he is perhaps the most popular player they've had on the roster for many years. He sort of inspired a tear-jerking drama with his antics and heroics. I like him, but I've always liked him without knowing why. Call it charisma.

Kuwata had a shocking outing today where he pitched only a 1/3rd of an inning as a starter and got removed after pitching a dead-ball to the helmet.



Having hit his 500th homerun earlier in the year, Kiyohara is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. On top of that, he got demotedoff the regular squad. People are now saying it's the end for these guys. If so, it's the end of a truly remarkable epoch of baseball in Japan.


And that is what happened today on VP Day. :P