Why Japan skipped U.S. trip
<a href=www.dailyherald.com>Daily Herald By Kent McDill Daily Herald Sports Writer Posted April 03, 2003
This is the kind of story that has in-law relations written all over it.
You know how it goes: I mistreat you the way you mistreat me.
Last week, the Japan Football Association decided not to send its national team to the United States for a pair of well-advertised and highly touted exhibition games. Safety concerns in light of the U.S. war against Iraq were the reasons given.
But there is no game more complicated than international politics, with the possible exception of in-law relations. That's why it is not surprising to find there might have been another reason Japan didn't make the trip.
The San Diego Tribune reported last week that Japan was retaliating against the United States because Major League Baseball did not send the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's for a scheduled opening series to the 2003 season.
Security issues were cited as the reason for those games being canceled as well.
Reportedly, officials in Japan decided payback was the proper play, and soccer games scheduled for San Diego and Seattle were altered.
"If you don't think the two incidents are related, you're smoking something," one U.S. soccer official was quoted. "You have to understand the Japanese culture. If Americans didn't think they were safe in Japan, then for sure the Japanese are not going to come to a country that just started a war and feel safe here."
Japan's scheduled game against Uruguay in San Diego was canceled, while the U.S.-Japan game was turned into a far less attractive U.S.-Venezuela game.
This was to be the first visit ever to the United States by Japan's national team, and a visit to Seattle - with its large Asian population - was expected to be hugely popular.
Organizers of the MLB games in Japan reportedly lost millions of dollars in preparation costs.
In other war-related news, an exhibition game between the national teams of Brazil and Colombia scheduled for April 30 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey could be postponed or canceled because of international tensions.
Stadium plans: While the Chicago Fire continues to look for a hospitable place to build a permanent home, Columbus Crew Stadium is about to get its first facelift.
An extension of an existing relationship with a local bank has reaped more than $3 million in building projects in and around the 4-year-old, 22,555-seat stadium.
Columbus Crew Stadium was the first stadium built in the United States specifically for soccer, and it set off a hunger around the nation for similar structures.
While many other soccer-specific stadiums have been suggested (including the semi-permanent Firehouse that was discussed in Arlington Heights), the second such facility is just now being completed in suburban Los Angeles for the Galaxy.
There are continuing talks about a soccer-specific home for the Dallas Burn, and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars are in late negotiations about a home in Harrison, N.J.
The Burn stadium is near the groundbreaking stage as officials in suburban Frisco, Texas, are set to agree to foot a large portion of the $65 million bill for a complex that will include 16 playing fields, a hotel and other businesses.
While this first wave of stadiums gets ready to unfold, Columbus Crew Stadium is about to get a new party and banquet center; its 30 loge boxes will be enclosed, with two such boxes being converted into more elaborate suites; and auxiliary locker rooms are being added with an eye toward hosting events beyond MLS games.
Crew Stadium has hosted two World Cup qualifiers and the NCAA College Cup, events that could be spread out to other soccer-specific stadiums around the nation.
Punishment for Hristo? There may be repercussions ahead for Hristo Stoitchkov, the former member of the Chicago Fire who delivered one of the most devastating tackles of his career last week.
In a scrimmage between Stoitchkov's D.C. United team and American University, Stoitchkov put a slide tackle on AU freshman Freddy Llerena that left the college player with a compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula.
Reportedly, the injury left some players physically ill, and most certainly left Stoitchkov heartbroken.
The former Fire forward openly cried as medical personnel tended to Llerena. The game was halted after just 10 minutes of play.
"What do you expect when you go in for a challenge like that?'' AU coach Todd West asked. "You don't expect it from a player of that stature and that caliber. I know he is devastated by what he did, but we've got a guy who we hope is walking again."
Major League Soccer reportedly is considering punishment for Stoitchkov. West later referred to Stoitchkov's foul as "criminal."
In a statement released by United, Stoitchkov offered "a thousand apologies.
"I have never done anything like this before in my career,'' he said. "My heart is with the player and his family."
"I'm sure it's going to haunt him for a long, long time, and certainly haunt our boys for a long while,'' United coach Ray Hudson said.
Congrats to Sigi: The Los Angeles Galaxy, the defending MLS champion, has signed coach Sigi Schmid to a new contract for at least the next two seasons.
• Kent McDill's soccer report appears each Thursday in Sports. If you have comments, please e-mail him at kmcdill@dailyherald.com.