Baseball And The "State Of Zen"
“I really wish I could be in a state of Zen,” Suzuki said. “I kept thinking of all the things I shouldn’t think about. Usually, I cannot hit when I think of all those things. This time I got a hit. Maybe I surpassed myself.”
- Ichiro Suzuki to the New York Times.
Our human thinking is usually cluttered and there are few moments of true silence on a day-to-day basis. Try thinking about your thoughts. Why do you keep that online commentary going, all the time? Sometimes athletes reach what has been called "The Zone" - a special, prolonged moment of intense concentration and focus - as they achieve greatness. Going for the gold seems to be a trait we all share here on earth.
There is a lot in the reporting about this World Baseball Classic, and the final game of a 16-team tournament, that I don't agree with. But I liked Ichiro's quote, and it was nice that the NYT caught it. Sports journalists should aim for the sublime, and perhaps - in some small way - help fans get over old grudges, and not feed the flames... I like how sports events here in Japan are 100% free from the kind of ugly racism and inane hatred you can encounter on the stands in Europe.
Congratulations Japan for winning fair and square, at the Dogers Stadium in LA. Hey! I have actually been there! I think it must have been in July, the summer of '87, when I saw the Cardinals (from St Louis?) and the LA team (can't remember their name) play a fun game of baseball there - and as you can probably guess, I had no idea at all what was going on.
That's Zen too - the art of just enjoying, forgetting, to not take things so seriously, to not let stuff leave a lot of impressions.
Congratulations to South Korea for being great too.
- Ichiro Suzuki to the New York Times.
Our human thinking is usually cluttered and there are few moments of true silence on a day-to-day basis. Try thinking about your thoughts. Why do you keep that online commentary going, all the time? Sometimes athletes reach what has been called "The Zone" - a special, prolonged moment of intense concentration and focus - as they achieve greatness. Going for the gold seems to be a trait we all share here on earth.
There is a lot in the reporting about this World Baseball Classic, and the final game of a 16-team tournament, that I don't agree with. But I liked Ichiro's quote, and it was nice that the NYT caught it. Sports journalists should aim for the sublime, and perhaps - in some small way - help fans get over old grudges, and not feed the flames... I like how sports events here in Japan are 100% free from the kind of ugly racism and inane hatred you can encounter on the stands in Europe.
Congratulations Japan for winning fair and square, at the Dogers Stadium in LA. Hey! I have actually been there! I think it must have been in July, the summer of '87, when I saw the Cardinals (from St Louis?) and the LA team (can't remember their name) play a fun game of baseball there - and as you can probably guess, I had no idea at all what was going on.
That's Zen too - the art of just enjoying, forgetting, to not take things so seriously, to not let stuff leave a lot of impressions.
With a pulsating 5-3 win over South Korea in 10 innings Monday night, the Japanese won their second straight Classic and remained atop the international baseball world. Until the next tournament, in 2013, the Japanese can boast about being superior to the South Koreans and any country where players pick up bats and baseballs.Winning or losing, it really doesn't matter that much, we all know that. But when you win, you get that special sense of not having to care so much. On the other hand, when you lose, you may be more frank about that fact that the winning or losing didn't actually matter that much. Very Zen indeed, either way.
Now the Japanese and the South Koreans will have to wait four years before they potentially meet in another Classic. The wait will undoubtedly feel much longer for the South Koreans. But the Japanese will savor every day between now and then because they can call themselves the best in the world. Suzuki made sure of that.
Congratulations to South Korea for being great too.
Comments
Innocence and tribal hatred. When the J-League started back in '93 I went to about 10-12 games in all and left Japan just before the final. One game we went to was Yokoham Marinos v San Frecce Hiroshima. We noticed the 'away' end was actually quite full so we decided thats where we would watch the game. Was discovered that not everyone had made the long trip east. We couldnt work it out, WHY were so many of them NOT from Hiroshima?? Who cared!! Maybe from there but now in the Kanto region. Here in England that 'disease' of hooliganism we patented - as is now still pretty serious in the likes of Italy and Holland - is basically a thing of the past. Some 'historical' feuds still exist, Liverpool v Man Utd being a prime one but on the whole... Now whole families - three generations even - go and enjoy the buzz of the beautiful game. I like the fact I was there for the birth of the J-League back then. My second game as Tokyo Verde v JEF Utd in the National Stadium. 56,000 with about 5,000 JEF fans behind one goal. Thats where I was. Unexpectedly they won 2-1 and what joyous mayhem we had that night. Sakkaa desu ne...
本当は無の境地でいたかったが、めちゃくちゃいろんなことを考えていた。今（日本では）ごっつい視聴率だろうな、とかここで打ったらおれは（ツキを）持っているなあ、とか。そんなことを考えるとあまりいい結果が出ないものなのに、出た。ひとつの壁を越えたような気がしている。
The basic thrust of his statement is much the same; the interpreter (who told me she isn't a baseball expert, but was happy to get this job) did good work in that festival atmosphere to be sure. His 無の境地 ("state of nothingness"?) is definitely close to "the zone" that athletes want to be in for high-pressure games.
It was a great game for both teams. Korea turned a lot of heads.