Archive for the ‘sports cultures’ Category
A passion for baseball in Taiwan
The sport of baseball has long been popular in Japan and in many Caribbean and Latin American nations. Now a passion for baseball is growing rapidly in Taiwan, mostly due to the success of one player, Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. The most popular number on shirts here these days is 40, the number on pitcher Chien-Ming [...]
Baseball in Japan
Ever wondered what baseball games are like in Japan? Bob Woods has the story in an account he wrote for Continental Magazine. He writes about both the cultural features of the sport… Although the first pitch was scheduled for 1 p.m., the Fighters and the visiting Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles had been warming up since [...]
Patriotism in Germany, Sleepy monks in Thailand
There have been some good stories this week with World Cup connections that have nothing to do with the actual games… One of the more interesting is the widely reported rise in German pride and patriotism during this World Cup. The Germans have been notoriously cautious about showing any sort of nationalism since the end of [...]
Partying in Ghana
Yes, it’s sad that the U.S. was eliminated from the World Cup. Yes, a bad call at the end of the first half changed the complexion of the game and contributed to the loss. But you have to admit, the win probably meant a lot more to Ghanaians than the loss meant to most Americans. If you want [...]
Creative Brazil, Orderly U.K., Optimistic U.S.
Lots of World Cup coverage in the news this week. Last week, one of my posts discussed the influence of culture on a country’s style of soccer play, particularly as it related to Brazil. This past Sunday, the New York Times published a sports magazine with a few Cup articles. If you read through the stories, you’ll [...]
World Cup culture
It’s June – the month soccer/football fans around the world have been anxiously awaiting, for it means the start of World Cup ’06 (June 9). With teams from 32 nations about to descend on Germany, it’s also a chance to look at how culture interacts with sports. In March, I wrote about this topic in connection [...]
Muslim sportswear
The design of most modern sportswear puts many Muslim women athletes in a curious bind: adhere to their faith and have their motions hampered or compromise their beliefs in the name of athletic performance? This is obviously a conundrum for Muslim female athletes. However, as National Geographic recently reported, a few companies have broken new ground by developing sportswear that covers the body, [...]
Spring, baseball and culture
Well, here goes. How does one start a new blog? What is an appropriate first entry? The first day of spring seems like a good time to launch a new venture, and the advent of baseball season is a sure sign of spring, so why not begin with a post about baseball and culture? Jayson Stark [...]
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Bob Riel is a writer and a traveler. Go here to read more about Bob, his work and the Travels in the Riel World blog.
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