Never Give Up, Never Surrender

So says Commander Peter Quincy Taggart of the N.S.E.A. Protector in the hilarious movie Galaxy Quest. That could pretty much be the motto of the day.

We have a neighbour (in the least metaphorical meaning of the word) who seems to think that every Saturday, around midnight, the entire neighbourhood would just love to hear his (or her) throbbing techno music. This week, because it is Obon holiday, he (or she) must have reasoned that we would all be happy to be woken up at 03:30 to enjoy a little E.B.M. Honestly, where are the police when you need them to put a truncheon through someone's sound system? Being a light sleeper, that was my sleep finished for the night. Still, "Never give up, never surrender." I got up at 06:30 and did the housework.

At 11:00 I left home to go and watch some baseball games at Koshien Stadium. So did half of the Japanese population, apparently. When I was about twenty people in line away from the ticket booth, they ran out of tickets and closed the booths. Still, "Never give up, never surrender." I continued to wait in line with thousands of other wannabe spectators in the hope that later, after the game currently in progress, a number of people would leave the stadium and tickets would go on sale again. Good choice! After waiting for two and a half hours outside the stadium, tickets went on sale once more. I managed to purchase a ticket this time and entered the stadium just after 14:00.

I am so glad I didn't give up on going to Koshien Stadium this afternoon, because the first game I watched was, without doubt, one of the best games of baseball I have ever watched. The reason why it was so good was because both teams deserved to win because of their dogged determination and, "Never give up, never surrender," attitude. Seiryo opened the first inning with an incredible five points. Saibi scored one point in the third inning, but by the seventh inning Seiryo were ahead seven points to one. Then, at the bottom of the seventh inning, something incredible happened; Saibi scored eight points to take the lead nine points to seven!  Undaunted, Seiryo said, "Never give up, never surrender," and scored another two points in the eighth inning to equalise. So the ninth inning ended nine points each.

In the tenth, eleventh and twelfth innings, both teams used incredibly strong fielding and pitching to prevent their opponent from scoring. Seiryo then ended the zero-zero stretch by scoring two points. I didn't think Saibi would be able to match that after three zero scoring innings but, guess what? They must have said, "Never give up, never surrender," because they ended the game with a four points home run to win 13 points to 11. I felt so proud of both teams and I think that is the first time I have ever shed a tear at a baseball game. Simply phenomenal playing.

After such a thrilling game, I simply had to stay to see the final game of the day, even though it didn't start until 17:10 because of the three hours plus Seiryo vs Saibi game. This game saw Kochi Shogyo play Keio Gijugu. Again, both teams played hard and showed incredible determination but, whereas in the Seiryo vs Saibi game I didn't care who won, in this game I most definitely wanted Kochi Shogyo to win because I love to see David conquer Goliath. Keio Gijugu were clearly the giants; they had one entire stadium block filled to capacity with cheerleaders, musicians, chanters and general flag wavers. That stand in the photo is full of Keio supporters. Kochi Shogyo had about one fifth of Keio's support. However, that didn't stop them from romping home to a magnificent 12-6 victory. However, in true, "Never give up, never surrender," spirit, Keio did manage to score two points at the bottom of the ninth with loaded bases. Good try, Keio, but little Kochi Shogyo were just too far ahead for you to catch up.

Here's my all-time favourite, "Never give up, never surrender," song. Reload.