More World Baseball Classic
Over the weekend, prospects for a successful World Baseball Classic went downhill about as fast as a fifth of tequila in Bode Miller's dressing room. The really bad news comes from IBAF President Aldo Notari, who said that IBAF will withdraw its sanction if the US continues to deny the Cuban team permission to enter the US to play in the tournament.
Of course, ESPNDeportes is basically the only news outlet to pick up on the story.
Now, you may be surprised to learn, as i was, that the IBAF has sponsored a more-or-less biennial baseball World Cupsince 1938. The event has been hosted by Cuba 10 times, including 4 times since Castro's revolution in 1959. (1971, 1973, 1984, 2003) The US began participating in 1969, and finished second to Cuba in both 69 and 70, when the tournament was held in Dominican Republic and Colombia, respectively. In 1973, two separate tournaments were held, one in Nicaragua, and the other in Cuba. It's hard to decode the details from the sketchy info at the IBAF site, but seeing as how Mexico and Puerto Rico were the only teams to participate in both events, i'll hazard a guess that a US boycott had something to do with it. The 73 Nicaragua games drew such baseball powerhouses as Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica, whose appearances at other World Cups have been notoriously few. Americans may have been too distracted by other events during 1973
to have paid much attention to the World Baseball Cup shenanigans.
Cuba, as may be expected, has dominated this event, winning 25 times, including the last 9. The US has won twice, including one of the 1973 events (the other was won by Cuba). The US finished 3rd at the 1984 event, held in Cuba, and has competed in the same tournament with the Cubans a total of 13 times since 1969, including the 2003 games, which were held in Cuba. Since the split 1973 events, Cuba has participated in each Cup except for 1974, held in the US, and 1982, held in South Korea.
Meanwhile, editorial opinion around the US continues to blast the Bush administration's shortsightedness, with the NY Times (subscription required), Kansas City Star, Florida Sun-Sentinel, The Chattanoogan, and others weighing in.
In an earlier post, i alluded to the idiotic statements of Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Diaz-Balart represents Miami in the US Congress, and has wondered aloud why the rest of the world ignores the plight of brown people in Cuba in allowing Cuba's participation in international events, after South Africa was denied the right to participate in the Olympics and other international sporting competitions during the apartheid era.
Here's the difference, Mr. Representative. During the 1970's, the United Nations, the International Olympic Committee and other sanctioning bodies all voted, democratically, to apply sanctions against the apartheid government of South Africa. These bodies all recognized that the white minority government was engaged in systemic and fundamental violations of basic human rights, and was not fit to participate in commom activities with the rest of the world.
By contrast, the US embargo against Cuba is routinely condemned by the rest of the world as an unwarranted act of aggression against a nation that has not committed any justifying acts. If Mr. Diaz-Balart has not succeeded in his quest to get the rest of the world to recognize his complaints, and in fact, except for a relative handful of Cuban exiles in the Miami area and the neo-con cabal that manages US foreign policy, virtually nobody else in the world sees Cuba in the same light, it might be worth his while to critically reflect on his obsession. Of course, if he wants to keep at it and prove his idiocy, it's no skin off my teeth.
Meanwhile, let's play ball, huh?
Of course, ESPNDeportes is basically the only news outlet to pick up on the story.
"Without Cuba, IBAF will withdraw its approval of the event," Italian Notari stated. "And if the IBAF does that, national federations will not be able to register their teams for the World Baseball Classic."
Notari made this statements in Chicago, where he is taking part in the NCAA's Trainers' Convention. He talked to "Dogout", a radio show broadcast by Radio 1120 AM in Puerto Rico.
Producers of the show allowed ESPNdeportes.com access to the interview, which will air on Monday.
"There is an article in the Olympic Charter saying it clearly: any kind of discrimination on political, racial or religious grounds is unacceptable," said Notari before flying to Lausanne, Switzerland.
"IBAF cannot endorse a tournament in which Olympic rules are not being respected, without leaving the Olympic movement altogether," he added.
Now, you may be surprised to learn, as i was, that the IBAF has sponsored a more-or-less biennial baseball World Cupsince 1938. The event has been hosted by Cuba 10 times, including 4 times since Castro's revolution in 1959. (1971, 1973, 1984, 2003) The US began participating in 1969, and finished second to Cuba in both 69 and 70, when the tournament was held in Dominican Republic and Colombia, respectively. In 1973, two separate tournaments were held, one in Nicaragua, and the other in Cuba. It's hard to decode the details from the sketchy info at the IBAF site, but seeing as how Mexico and Puerto Rico were the only teams to participate in both events, i'll hazard a guess that a US boycott had something to do with it. The 73 Nicaragua games drew such baseball powerhouses as Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica, whose appearances at other World Cups have been notoriously few. Americans may have been too distracted by other events during 1973
to have paid much attention to the World Baseball Cup shenanigans.
Cuba, as may be expected, has dominated this event, winning 25 times, including the last 9. The US has won twice, including one of the 1973 events (the other was won by Cuba). The US finished 3rd at the 1984 event, held in Cuba, and has competed in the same tournament with the Cubans a total of 13 times since 1969, including the 2003 games, which were held in Cuba. Since the split 1973 events, Cuba has participated in each Cup except for 1974, held in the US, and 1982, held in South Korea.
Meanwhile, editorial opinion around the US continues to blast the Bush administration's shortsightedness, with the NY Times (subscription required), Kansas City Star, Florida Sun-Sentinel, The Chattanoogan, and others weighing in.
In an earlier post, i alluded to the idiotic statements of Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Diaz-Balart represents Miami in the US Congress, and has wondered aloud why the rest of the world ignores the plight of brown people in Cuba in allowing Cuba's participation in international events, after South Africa was denied the right to participate in the Olympics and other international sporting competitions during the apartheid era.
Here's the difference, Mr. Representative. During the 1970's, the United Nations, the International Olympic Committee and other sanctioning bodies all voted, democratically, to apply sanctions against the apartheid government of South Africa. These bodies all recognized that the white minority government was engaged in systemic and fundamental violations of basic human rights, and was not fit to participate in commom activities with the rest of the world.
By contrast, the US embargo against Cuba is routinely condemned by the rest of the world as an unwarranted act of aggression against a nation that has not committed any justifying acts. If Mr. Diaz-Balart has not succeeded in his quest to get the rest of the world to recognize his complaints, and in fact, except for a relative handful of Cuban exiles in the Miami area and the neo-con cabal that manages US foreign policy, virtually nobody else in the world sees Cuba in the same light, it might be worth his while to critically reflect on his obsession. Of course, if he wants to keep at it and prove his idiocy, it's no skin off my teeth.
Meanwhile, let's play ball, huh?
Since 1949, Durhamites have slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that, in our town, erection can be depended upon. Now, thanks to the power of the internets, we can spread that security all over the world.
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