Baseball fans leap into river as 'Curse of the Colonel' lifted

Seeing a game at Koshien years back was like no other sporting event I'd ever experienced. In the stands all around me, it was nonstop coordinated chanting and singing and cheering straight from beginning to end. Three hours without a break. Tigers fans are cut from a different cloth, for sure.

The cops blocked off the bridge, just like they did when the Tigers won the pennant, but this time to no avail.

Congrats to the Tigers! Well done

Look at those foreigners there at the front, desperately trying to be part of the action.

Sad

What's sad about it? They were there. You were not.

Idiots are gonna idiot.

I'm happy for the non-idiot Tigers fans, though, of which I know many. (And count myself among, as well.)

And I thought the Europeans got rowdy when it comes to sports.

@RB--I knew the Giants had a media monopoly, especially in Tokyo, but to hear no mention of the Tigers in ten years is wild. Have you heard of the better Tokyo team Yakult by chance?

Must be sad to come from the US and call yourself a fan of one of the very few J teams.

Why?

I followed my local football team in Japan ( mediocre at the time ). I can’t say I had the same passion I had for my hometown team in the UK but I went to a few games a season.

Good to support local business. Made a few good friends and had some good times.

I don’t get your whining here.

Right, hard to get why you put down whatever people want to be fans of. If you followed the Kochi Fighting Dogs of the four team Shikoku Island League, that would be a cooler baseball purist move than repping the NY Yankmees just cause their hats are sold at any mall. They sell Man U and Barcelona branded balls at the malls because they are the safe and boring global brand teams.

Osaka is the place to be-a great bunch of people!

@Wandora--the latest J-league cup was won by unheralded Fukuoka. The thrill of victory following a small club vs. the empty bragging of being a fan of a mid-table mediocrity like the 2nd best team from Manchester. Not checking the PL standings so if Man U is good these days I stand corrected.

Well done Hanshin Tigers.

Good to see long-suffering fans get a bit of joy.

it was actually a Tokyo Giants fan who started it all by vowing that if they lost to the Tigers he would jump into the Dotonbori River. That was in 1985.

Tigers & giants are both in the central league. In 1985, Hanshin beat Seibu

Love it

Idiots are gonna idiot.

I'm happy for the non-idiot Tigers fans, though, of which I know many. (And count myself among, as well.)

Lighten up Francis.

So baseball celebrations okay, Halloween is a police shutdown?

LOL at the charismatic men front and center. They are not diving in to rescue squat. It takes a special kind of fan to brave the chilly sewage plunge.

So many disparaging (though not inaccurate.) remarks about how dirty the Dotonbori river is! 'filthy river', 'like swimming in toilet water'.

Remember the plan to turn it into one of the world's largest outdoor swimming pools?

https://youtu.be/a2-KY6QPbR0?si=iPTWzhmpCcimqEzo

Didnt say I’d given up, just mentioned we had never won anything, please read my comments properly in future.

Oooh lookit this one. What’s he like eh?

I was talking about true Crystal Palace fans. What makes you think I was talking about you?

’Ave a banana.

 was talking about true Crystal Palace fans. What makes you think I was talking about you?

’Ave a banana.

Article is about baseball kid.

I'm a Sendai Eagles guy (lived in Tohoku for years), but I'm real happy for the fans down in Kansai nonetheless.

They certainly have heart, and have had it through years of drought. They deserve this win!

Well, I support Crystal Palace and we’ve never won anything even after all these years, an you believe it? Anyway, if we won something I certainly wouldn’t jump in the river even though I live quite close to it. I’d go out for a couple of beers and a lamb rogan josh to celebrate, maybe karaoke after, you see.

A true Crystal Palace fan would never give up so easily. I know, it’s so queer you see.

What a palaver, what am I like eh?

Knees up mother brown

Bob Fosse

Didnt say I’d given up, just mentioned we had never won anything, please read my comments properly in future.

wolfshineToday  04:38 pm JST

Looks like fun. I guess we should be glad Ken Hasebe isn't the mayor of Osaka.

Fun for some is sitting on filthy streets with no food, drink, or music when there's hundreds of venues that provide all the above and jumping into a cesspool. LOL!

I find it amusing that Hanshin fans will do this, when it was actually a Tokyo Giants fan who started it all by vowing that if they lost to the Tigers he would jump into the Dotonbori River. That was in 1985.

Well, I support Crystal Palace and we’ve never won anything even after all these years, an you believe it? Anyway, if we won something I certainly wouldn’t jump in the river even though I live quite close to it. I’d go out for a couple of beers and a lamb rogan josh to celebrate, maybe karaoke after, you see.

I missed all this, been having a lovely trip in Tokushima with my son and partner. Those Tigers fans can get terribly excited you see.

Avoid the Hanshin lineafter any of their games, it's a bleeding nightmare.

Looks like fun. I guess we should be glad Ken Hasebe isn't the mayor of Osaka.