BENJAMIN BARRETT WRITES – The FIFA 2022 World Cup hosted by Qatar begins in late November and history is already being made. This year, Asia is boasting a record six teams that have qualified for the tournament: Australia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, South Korea, and Qatar. Only second to Europe,…
Full Article SPORTS: ASIA’S WORLD CUP POTENTIAL
BENJAMIN BARRETT WRITES – One of the most popular football clubs in the world, Chelsea FC, is currently facing sanctions due to its Russian roots. Roman Abramovich, a Russian oligarch and owner of Chelsea, is suspected of having close ties with Vladimir Putin. According to an Al Jazeera article, Abramovich…
Full Article ROMAN ABRAMOVICH: PARTISAN OR PEACEMAKER?
TRISTIN CLINT WRITES – The prowess of Japanese baseball players is recognized internationally, and a couple of talents have personified athletic greatness just this century. Seiya Suzuki could very well join Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani as an unforgettable Japanese ballplayer. Shohei Ohtani famously took over Major League Baseball in…
Full Article JAPAN: YET ANOTHER SUPERSTAR PLAYER SCORES BIG FOR HIS COUNTRY
MILES WHITTINGHAM WRITES — In October 2021, the majority of the well-known English Premier League club Newcastle United was purchased by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The move has been met with widespread skepticism by fans and executives alike. This isn’t the first time that something like this…
Full Article ANOTHER SAUDI TAKEOVER IN ENGLISH SOCCER: IS THERE A REASON FOR CONCERN?
MILES WHITTINGHAM WRITES — Prior to the 2021 MLB season, Angels fans just wanted to see their star Shohei Ohtani stay healthy and produce what he could. But no one expected him to do what hadn’t been done in centuries. The Angels’ highly regarded two-way player has been the subject…
Full Article SHOHEI OHTANI: A ONE-TIME LONGSHOT PLAYER MAKES HISTORY
DEREK GARCIA WRITES — On August 8th this year, the Australian National Basketball team, nicknamed the Boomers, made history, winning its first medal at the Tokyo Olympics by beating Slovenia, 107-93, for a third-place bronze medal. Australia’s fantastic run in the Olympics may have felt like the opening of a…
Full Article AUSTRALIA: DOWN UNDER BASKETBALL RISES TO THE TOP OF INTERNATIONAL SPORTS
GREGORY BENNETT WRITES – By now, we are all accustomed to watching sporting events with cardboard cutouts of faces in the stands and the sounds of exciting, virtual crowds blasting from stadium speakers. But is it really as exciting as an in-person experience? Will these teams be able to support…
Full Article ASIAN SPORTS: SOME THINGS JUST CAN’T THRIVE VIRTUALLY
MELANIE MARGARYAN WRITES — Armenians have always rooted for their country and their people. Through several wars and devastating natural disasters, they have joined together with a passionate sense of national pride. This year, they have yet another reason to be proud. The Armenian national soccer team, currently in the…
Full Article SPORTS: ARMENIA HOPES TO MAKE HISTORY IN THE FIFA WORLD CUP
SHAE KUROKAWA WRITES — The Tokyo Summer Olympics is quickly approaching, with less than 100 days before its expected commencement on July 23. But the world is starting to question whether the long-anticipated games will be able to proceed on schedule as COVID-19 cases are on the rise. Talk of…
Full Article JAPAN: WILL THE TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPICS SURVIVE THE PANDEMIC?
MILES WHITTINGHAM WRITES — Baseball, widely regarded as America’s favorite pastime, has seen a definite upswing in several Asian countries over the years. First brought to Japan by Horace Wilson- an English teacher at the Kaisei Academy in Tokyo in 1873- a couple of other Asian countries have shown great…
Full Article ASIAN SPORTS: BASEBALL’S TURN AT BAT ON THE CONTINENT
GREGORY BENNETT WRITES — Declining popularity, teams that fold and a lack of funds are common barriers to ice hockey in Asia. Today, the Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH) is the only national league in Asia with eight different teams. Five of these teams are located in Japan, two are…
Full Article ASIAN SPORTS: A WORK IN PROGRESS
NICOLAS PAPA WRITES — It has been almost three years, but Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani is starting to show glimpses of the two-way talent that had previously made him one of the most anticipated players in the history of Major League Baseball. The Los Angeles Angels player had sent…
Full Article JAPAN: BASEBALL STAR SHOHEI OHTANI IS BACK IN THE GAME
CRISTINA PEDLER WRITES — The pandemic has forced South Koreans to look within the country for their golf fix. South Koreans are avid sports and outdoors enthusiasts. Their golfing population has continually been on the rise, despite declines in other golfing countries like the United States. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has strained the…
Full Article SOUTH KOREA: WHERE THE COVID BUST HAS CREATED A GOLF BOOM
GREGORY BENNETT WRITES — Hockey, in Japan? Never heard of it. Until now, the sports scene in Japan has been mainly dominated by baseball and soccer. Yet with the possibility of an NHL star being drafted to the top junior league in the United States, ice hockey in Japan is…
Full Article JAPAN: HOCKEY? NEVER HEARD OF IT
ANDREW DAHI WRITES – Jeremy Lin. Five foot three. A freshman in high school. And a dream. A dream to play basketball at the highest level, on the biggest stage in the world, the NBA. By the time Lin, a Taiwanese-American, was a senior in high school, he had grown…
Full Article TAIWAN: LINSANITY AND THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION
NICOLAS PAPA WRITES — The European footballing landscape, or soccer, as we Americans call it, is undoubtedly the pinnacle of competition for the world’s most popular sport. The greatest players from around the world congregate in Western Europe to play against the best of the best, while some of the…
Full Article CHINA: ARE INVESTORS DROPPING THE BALL ON EUROPEAN SOCCER?