U.S.A!
I know as a flag-loving American and blogger that it's my duty to be critical of just about everything, especially something new and different. But I just can't find the energy or a good reason to hate on the World Baseball Classic. The set-up certainly is not ideal, the biggest problems being the inability to get all the top talent and the schedule, but I'm not sure how to fix either situation. They could try playing in November after the World Series, and maybe a few extra bodies would show up on rosters...or maybe not. Teams and players would still have injury issues to deal with and most of the top pitchers would be wary of adding extra innings to their arms. At least having it in March, the pitchers are on their normal spring training schedule. Having it in March also capitalizes on the enthusiasm of not having any baseball for the last four months, put it in November and the average fan has been a bit burned out over the last seven months and probably already moved on to football (either version).
As far as I see it, it's competitive baseball in March with some of the best players on the planet. That sounds a lot more fun than watching So Taguchi getting four at-bats a game.
I'm going to go get my face paint and flag as Team USA takes on Canada at 1pm CST on ESPN today...I'll try and stop by Parachat for the festivities.
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