The World Baseball Classic (WBC) premiered in March 2006 and is put on by the International Baseball Federation and created by Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and other professional baseball leagues and their players associations around the world. The WBC is the first international baseball tournament for national teams to feature professional players from the major leagues. It was created to promote baseball globally and for baseballs best players to be able to compete against one another. The WBC features teams from 16 different countries including China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Australia, Cuba, Mexico, South Africa, Canada, Italy, USA, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Panama and Puerto Rico and Japan is the defending champions. The first two rounds are double elimination and the semi-finals and finals are both single elimination. The WBC will kick off Thursday, March 5th and first round games will be in Tokyo, Mexico City, Toronto and San Juan. Second round games are in San Diego and Miami, and the semi-finals and finals will be in Los Angeles.
This year the rivalries are out in full force. Of course there are the obvious rivalries such as Japan and China, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and the USA and Canada. But what about the rivalry that is rarely spoken of, yet everyone knows exists? That is, the rivalry between Mexicans and the Mexican-Americans. The rivalry goes back to heritage and pride, birth place and what is considered a "true Mexican." Some believe that to be Mexican you must have been born in Mexico, while others believe if you are born in the U.S. and have Mexican parents then you are also considered to be Mexican. On the contrary, many believe that even if your family and parents are Mexican but you were born in the U.S., you are an American. The people on the latter raise the argument that Mexican-Americans are not proud of their heritage and thus should not be considered "true Mexicans." In 2006, Mexico went 3-3 and was unable to advance past the second round despite eliminating the U.S. On Mexico's 2006 roster, there was only one Mexican-American playing for the team in the WBC, but this year the roster includes nine Mexican-Americans. Although some Mexican fans are not so accepting, the Mexican Baseball Federation hopes that by Mexico winning the WBC the bogus rivalry will finally come to an end.
Tickets for the WBC are now on sale and can be purchased online and game schedules and the tournament bracket are also available.
That concludes this weeks edition. Make sure to tune in next week for another exhilarating update. From the Cardinals home state, enjoy the Super Bowl and until next time, Bear Down!
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