Tell Me It Isn't So

Baseball season is in full swing. (pun warning, too late) My favorite team (Yomiuri Giants) lost today's game. My former favorite (Seibu Lions) won. They weren't playing each other, so no problem.

The problem is (pun warning) a whole other ballgame.

Seibu played in Sendai City, in a shiny new stadium that seats more than 12,000. I couldn't believe it when the name of the stadium flashed across the TV screen. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. That could not possibly be the stadium name.

See, there's a trend now to name stadiums after business enterprises. For instance, the super trendy soccer stadium in Tokyo is called Ajinomoto Stadium. Ajinomoto is a company that makes cooking oil. It is possible to ignore that fact, because at least the word Ajinomoto sounds Japanese, even though its connection to the world of soccer is, er, slippery.

But back to the Seibu Lions playing up north in Sendai. I kept my eyes glued to the screen, waiting for the name of the new stadium to appear again, and when it did, my heart sank to new depths.

The romance is gone. I cannot wrap my mind around a playing field called Kleenex Stadium. I just can't.