not really my sport, but...

[kaigou]

Those of you reading me for awhile know I was a jock for a good while, and retain a lot of that mindset. I was on crew in high school and college, and part of choosing it in the first place was because I didn't like to run, so track was out of the question; I hated swimming (though I was actually a moderately strong swimmer); and I had the eye-hand coordination of a small rock -- which ruled out soccer, baseball, basketball, and field hockey. Crew isn't a one-season sport, either -- we were on the water all seasons except for about November through March (when hypothermia was an issue), and even then we were doing land training in prep for the spring racing season. That cut down on ever having time to be exposed to any other sports, so I never really learned to appreciate anything but, well, crew.

Now, my first partner was a former HS-level football player (center, IIRC), and it's thanks to J that I was finally exposed to the strategy in football and learned it was more than just a ball, some running, some pushing. (Also keep in mind that crew is one of the least contact-sports out there, so anything involving "pile up on the other guy" left me kind of baffled as to how and when and why.) Fast forward a few more years and the chance to attend my B-I-L's hockey game, and I got to see just how much strategy and teamwork goes into hockey (and by extension, similar sports like lacrosse and soccer).

All that said, I've never had any interest in sports movies or sports animes. Hollywood movies, bleah, because almost without exception the focus is on one person's (excuse me, one white man's) journey from inept newbie to star of the team. That never jived with me, because crew is a sport where if one person shines, it's to the detriment of the team, in terms of competition. The goal is to become a seamless group, where the whole is greater than its parts, so Hollywood's insistence that there always must be a 'star' of the team runs counter to my understanding of what it means to be a team.

And, of course, with sports anime -- do I even need to mention TeniPuri here, or did you see that coming already? -- again there's the emphasis on 'star' of the team... and a bizarre martial-arts-influenced emphasis on special moves. It's so often treated like it's all a fight, complete with sweeping lines like flying through the air, so on and so on.

I believe it was xian_pu who first mentioned Ookiku Furikabutte (Big Windup), and it was her explanation that had me intrigued enough to check it out. Mostly, I think, because she made it clear the focus wasn't necessarily on a 'star' player who single-handedly leads the underdogs to greatness (although there's shades of that in the story), but because the main character has such low self-esteem despite working so damn hard, and the team has to come together as an actual team to achieve anything. No special moves, no flying through the air, no crazy attack names, just the team and the sport.

Now the series has finally started its second season, and I'm starting to get cranky that CentralAnime is slowing on its fansubbing -- they were releasing on Wednesday evening weekly, then it became mid-day Thursday, and the most recent fansub came out on Friday evening. Slowing down, people, and meanwhile NicePitching (who does the scanlations) is so very very slow. Normally bearable, but not when they're translating a single chapter in sections and split it right at a major cliff-hanger. Cruel, cruel!

I can't believe I'm hooked on a baseball series -- but more than that, I can't believe I'm hooked on a baseball series that's actually also teaching me a lot about baseball. Hell, if any of my PE teachers in grade school had even remotely explained half of what Oofuri explains in a single half-hour segment of a game, I would've been a lifetime diehard baseball fan. Even with such miserable eye-hand coordination.

Other folks who've explained the series' virtues, better than I:

Bateszi Anime Blog: Time to champion Ookiku Furikabutte
glittertine: Oofuri Chapter 24b
littlebutfierce: Why I Love Ookiku Furikabutte

You can find the manga on Onemanga.com, and the fansubs (including first season) by searching on Tokyo Toshokan.

Comments

[kaigou]

I've always envied those whose bodies allow them to become athletes.

I HAD NO CHOICE.

No, really! My mother's rule was that I had to join a sport that was: sanctioned by the school, co-ed, competitive, team-based, and required significant physical training (like running and/or lifting weights). The honest-to-goodness reason I picked crew over the other few options (which would've been track or swimming, to be honest, given that eye-hand thing)... well, see, there were these really hot guys sitting at the crew table...

...and the rest is history.

I was out running errands today and ran into two friends who watch all kinds of sports (basketball, baseball, boxing, cricket, soccer, football, etc, etc), and asked them which sport they'd say is the most complex, strategically. Neither of them even paused to think: baseball. Very definite about it, too. And since then, we've had an ongoing conversation in this house comparing strategic elements in baseball, football, soccer, and hockey, arguing which has the most complex strategies... which is really fun, considering crew had only the simplest of strategies (and mostly focused on psychological, really), while CP was, uhm... well, I think he knew two or three people on the track team, in HS. Maybe waved to them in the hallway, and that might've been as close as he's ever gotten (or been interested in getting) to anything athletic.

I think he's still rather confused how he ended up with a jock -- but then again, given it means that I still have some base strength left, he can't complain too much. After all, someone around here's gotta be able to move the washing machine and hoist the dresser when that's needed. Though I let him open the mustard jar, so he feels like he's contributing.

[leorising]

Hahaha! Well, it sounds like your mom was very wise. And you seem to have made a choice you could love.

Sounds like an interesting discussion. I think I'd go to hockey next, then to boxing (which, I know, is not a team sport, but requires a lot of physicality and strategy and just plain old guts. Must be the Irish in me. Although I'm not as cool watching guys pound each other as I used to be, and kickboxing etc. is right out. Ah, for the days of Ali and Frazier...) It's hard to argue with 9/10ths of the world, but soccer is just soooooooo daaaaaaaaaamn slooooooooooow. American football is okay, I guess, in a pinch, when I'm desperate to watch something Not Basketball.

Very interesting, indeed. ^_^

[kaigou]

My absolute favorite spectator sport has got to be football (err, not American football, but footy/soccer) -- the sheer athletic grace of the World Cup players is just breath-taking. I might have decent basic strength for my age, and retain pretty damn good balance (necessary when you're in something as delicately balanced as a rowing shell) but I never had that kind of move-in-any-direction-at-a-blink dancer-like ability. Football only gets that kind of free-flying grace every now and then, and most often purely by accident -- it's very earth-bound, otherwise.

The only problem with British football is that the fans scare the everloving crap out of me -- they're like the Brit equivalent of Duke basketball fans!