Who?

[marechal]

I said it was played in Australia. They have a professional league. I'm not claiming that it's a bigger sport than soccer, cricket, or kangaroo boxing.

All countries in some of those regions, some countries in the other regions.


Has anyone mentioned that Donald Sutherland has died?

[voice]

Only half a dozen times now

[marechal]

I was joking.

[perrykneeham]

Jun 20, 2024 21:59:21 GMT marechal said:

Jun 20, 2024 19:28:43 GMT perrykneeham said:

Yeah, a hobby. Like subuteo, which is actually more interesting and athletic than American pantomime - sorry - football.

Now, how many countries are there between ContUS and Japan? What would you consider to be the recent geopolitical distance between Japan and Korea, say in the postwar period?

Is this a non-sequitur or are you flummoxed by the meaning of "distance from America"?

Or is geography not your thing?

Can you not see the sea? Are you unaware of post-war reconstruction?

[marechal]

I can see the sea. Some 5,000 miles across it lies Japan.

What does post-war reconstruction have to do with it?

[perrykneeham]

3,300-ish, actually. Cultural unfluence. And not having to traverse other cultures. Seas are effective transport systems.

[marechal]

Cultural influence? What does that have to do with post-war reconstruction in regards to baseball?

Where do you get 3,300 from?

[perrykneeham]

Alaska. Not too tricky, that.

[perrykneeham]

Do you think that Japan (and its former colonial possession) may have been influenced by the US?

[marechal]

Ah, okay. Lots of cultural influence from Alaska I'm sure.

Now what's this about post-war reconstruction?

[marechal]

Jun 21, 2024 18:51:04 GMT perrykneeham said:

Do you think that Japan (and its former colonial possession) may have been influenced by the US?

Yes, so?

[perrykneeham]

So, I'm right. Good.

[marechal]

You're saying baseball became popular in Japan due to cultural influence from Alaska during post-war reconstruction. Is that right?

[perrykneeham]

Jun 21, 2024 18:51:40 GMT marechal said:

Jun 21, 2024 18:51:04 GMT perrykneeham said:

Do you think that Japan (and its former colonial possession) may have been influenced by the US?

Yes, so?

Okay, so in the absence of competing cultural influences (geographically) you can see how rubbish US games might have taken hold in what were previously virgin territory, sports-wise?

[perrykneeham]

Jun 21, 2024 18:53:15 GMT marechal said:

You're saying baseball became popular in Japan due to cultural influence from Alaska during post-war reconstruction. Is that right?

No.

[perrykneeham]

There's probably a PhD in this for somebody: the relative participation in various sports and games, according to precedent, geography, cultural mores and geopolitical influence.

Cricket is wildly popular, comparatively, and yet rugby or football are not so popular amongst the same groups. India and Pakistan are fanatical about cricket, but don't do contact sports.

[marechal]

Yeah okay, well you're wrong. Baseball was wildly popular in Japan since the 1920s at least.

And so what if it spread through America introducing it? Do you think soccer suddenly popped up all around the world spontaneously? Or just maybe it had something to do with the British Empire?

[perrykneeham]

Well done, Trigger. You got there in the end.

Baseball was popular in Japan (but perhaps not Korea) prior to WW2, which supports my suggestion that the "nearest" cultural influence was Americky. That influence is likely to have been enhanced by post-war geopolitics.

With me now?

[mids]

That's more like cricket which is mostly popular in former British colonies. Football is more popular in Europe and South America. The only former colonies where it is very popular are in Africa.

[perrykneeham]

Yeah, interesting, that. Cultural mores?