August 26, 2022 • 20 mins
The NFL regular season is nearly upon us and football-mad America is primed for another season of its favorite sport. But have you ever wondered which country outside the US is second-best at American football? It’s not Canada or the UK. Senior producer Harry Swartout has the surprising answer – which traces all the way back to a big international game in the 70s and includes no small amount of booze-fueled hijinks.
Follow @podcasts_si | @JohnGonzalez
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we get started, please rate and review our show.
It helps people find us. On this episode of Sports
Illustrated Weekly, the NFL regular season is nearly upon US
and football mat America is primed for another season of
its favorite sport. But have you ever wondered which country
outside the US is second best at American football? Believe
(00:23):
it or not, it's not Canada or the UK. Our
senior producer Harry swartout, how's this surprising answer, which traces
all the way back to a big international game in
the seventies and includes no small amount of booze and hijacks.
I'm your host, John Gonzales from Sports Illustrated and I
Heart Radio. This is Sports Illustrated Weekly. If you had
(00:50):
to guess, which is the best country in the world
at football after the United States, of course, it's not Mexico,
despite being our neighbors to the south. It's not the UK,
no matter how many Jaguars games the NFL insists on
exporting there. You might think it's Canada despite their insistence
on playing only three downs, But in international play, the
(01:13):
second best country in the world at American football is Japan.
Who are you expecting? Japan has a great college football system,
a semi pro league which can compete with the best
from any nation. Heck, they've even got football anime. All
(01:38):
of that football passion can be traced back to one
preseason game in nineteen seventy six, played on a drizzly
day in August. The Mine Starboard Let's Go Back. Six
was a big year for Japan, at least as far
as people in colorful costumes are concerned. Polyester clad Japanese
(01:59):
disco funk Ford out of every dance hall. Super Sentai,
which would later become power Injuries in America just hit
its stride God and in the Tokyo Grand Prix, James
Hunt narrowly outdueled Niki Laudo to become F one World
(02:20):
Driver's Champion. You know, like in the movie Rush, James
Hunt pay Jake third and almost catching Patrick Depie. But
James Hunt is the world Champion. Japan had their rainbow
clad heroes in America had hours. The NFL was humming
(02:49):
along after the a f L NFL merger, and there
was no real reason for the league to be looking
to expand beyond North America. But this wasn't the NFL's idea.
St Louis Football Cardinals alumni coordinator Bob Underwood explains the
Japanese excursion was all thanks to one man. The mastermind
behind this game was a Japanese American named Frank Takahashi.
(03:12):
And Frank was a lattice farmer. He was a wealthy
businessman and an Alattis farmer. He had about two acre
farm south of Los Angeles, and he was a huge
football fan and he was a huge San Diego Charger
ban how big a sports fan. He flew private jets
around the West Coast to see the best football matchups
each week. He attended the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl
(03:33):
each year. And he named his son Unitus, after legendary
quarterback Johnny Uniteds, who played just one season for his
beloved Chargers. Takahashi wanted to share his passion for football
with others who were very far away. Frank's passion, his
dream was to bring an NFL game to Tokyo, where
(03:55):
he had some business connections, and he attempted this for
three or four years. He was on six estival and
then he must have sweetened the deal enough to where
he got the Chargers and the St. Louis Football Cardinals
now the Arizona Cardinals to accept this game in Nix,
and Frank had to pay all of the expenses, and
there was a report that the Cardinals alone their expenses
(04:17):
were over a hundred thousand dollars, which would in today's
money would be over a half a million dollars. So
he probably had about a million dollars and expenses in
today's money, you know that he had to cover. Frank
Takahashi predicted that sixty thousand Japanese fans would buy tickets
to a game, and he hoped that kind of attendance
would convince the lead to play in Japan annually eventually
get a franchise on the island, and that he would
(04:39):
own it, but one step at a time. First, there
was the problem of where to play the game. Japan
didn't have any large American football stadiums, and they definitely
didn't have one that could fit sixty thou fans. What
they did have was a cavernous old baseball stadium known
(04:59):
for host in concerts Coorakuen Stadium. You might remember it
as the first stop on Michael Jackson's bad Tour. Thank you,
Thank you very much. Good Eye. Despite kicking off one
of the greatest pop tours of all time. Coacuan Stadium
itself was not the best. Built in ninety eight, Coakuen
(05:23):
Stadium was a concrete nightmare with an AstroTurf field that,
while being state of the art for the nineteen seventies,
was still like being tackled onto sandpaper on top of concrete.
But Coakuen Stadium had another problem. There were only forty
eight thousand seats, which is less than the sixty k
Takahashi had promised. To make up the difference, Takahashi got
(05:44):
a sponsor, my Niche Daily News, an English language newspaper
in Japan, put up some money for the naming rights,
and thus was born the my Niche Star Bold. But
what really mattered Frank Takahashi was attendance. A sellout, he'd
break even if not. Frank was pretty confident they could
(06:05):
sell out the game because there was actually a college
football All Star game in Tokyo back in January of
nineteen seventy six and they had almost seventy thousand fans,
so he was pretty confident. But the days leading up
to the game, there was a report that they had
only sold twenty five thousand seats advanced tickets, and then
after the game there were some conflicting reports that you know,
(06:26):
the attendance could have been anywhere from thirty thousand and
thirty eight thousand, but either way, it wasn't a sellout.
So Frank didn't get a sellout, he lost money, but
he did achieve his dream of having the NFL play
in Tokyo. Now I know what you're thinking, how was
it transporting to football teams full of rowdy grown men
(06:48):
to Japan in the nineteen seventies? And boy, am I
glad you asked? According to Cardinal Center Tom Banks, it
started before the flight had even taken off, but it
used to be aflo hours early. I mean, yeah, there's
a bunch of guys gonna do. We went straight to
the bar and started drinking, were trying to get on
the plane, and I recognized pretty quickly it was gonna
(07:11):
be a long flight. I ordered all the sake that
they had brought to my seat and started having people
to have a have a toach with me as you
go by up and down the aisles. So that was
the kind of flight it was. And it wasn't just
Banks either. Hall of Fame tight end. Jackie Smith and
the rest of the team had their fair share to
(07:32):
drink too. It was a charter of fight. Either that
or we had to hold back end of the plane.
But I know that we were freely walking around and
doing what pretty much what we wanted, and a few
beers were consumed on the way over, and so that
was what I remember most. Jackie Smith is also a
Hall of Fame understater. According to St. Louis Post Dispatch
(07:52):
writer Doug Rose account, the team drank all of the
beer and sake on the plane. And remember Jackie said,
the team was freely walking around the cabin. That's why
Tom Banks ended up stumbling towards the cockpit and had
to be restrained by the flight attendants. Not that he
exactly remembers that'ble to me later on when I ended
(08:14):
up eating in trouble about this, you know, having a
good times against the rules. And all of this was
before they had set foot in Japan. When they got there,
things only got weird. Jackie Smith and the team arrived
on Tuesday, but the game wasn't until Sunday. It was
(08:36):
quite an experience. Nobody was looking forward to it because
nobody had been over to Japan before, but I think
we spent a week over there, so we had time
to explore the area, go up and down the streets,
and get to meet some people. And it was an
interesting visit again, a world class understatement from Jackie. Sure
they practiced every day, but not at all times. They
(08:57):
had hours to explore. Players could pay just one thousand
dollars to bring their family with them on the trip,
and so many did. But the ones that didn't, well,
they had some fun. Or eight days in August, the
Cardinals experienced the ultimate road trip, a visit to Tokyo
or a preseason game with the Chargers. Here's a shortlist
(09:18):
of what the team got into in their spare time.
Tom Banks and company went on some bar crawls who
were up a local bar and goes in it, and uh,
they didn't have any any twelve manus bottles of beer.
It was always those two and a half the bottles
of so they would only start with you too, and
then they make you leave. We shouldn't make any sense
(09:38):
to me. Roger Whirley and Guardy Hammond got food poisoning
immediately after landing. Dan Fouts himself said he went to
some sage parlors. Cardinals offensive line coach Jim Hannaffan purchased
two fighting beatles in a bamboo cage for five hundred years.
One of those beatles ended up in Conrad Dobler's bed
as a prank. Who put it there? Jaggie did put
(09:58):
that one of those beetles in k He was never
any danger, I was saying, we were worried about eating.
Jackie claims not to remember this. Remember that a Cardinals
player briefly stole a bus from their Japanese guide, and
everyone players, coaches, in front office personnel misunderstood and were
(10:20):
misunderstood by the Japanese in a farcical translation comedy type
of way. But it wasn't all hijiing s though. The
team really did try to spread the word of American
football around Japan. They even helped coach a Japanese practice.
Look at that to even run up to the line
of scrimmage. Oh my god. After a week of uh
(10:48):
cultural exchange, it was finally time for the game itself,
which honestly was a bit of a letdown after the
shenanigans during the rest of the week. Except for one
little surprise. It was ris Ling and the teams knew
the astro turf would be slick, but they didn't know
about the lines. What was interesting is the yard lines
were not chalk or paint. There was some kind of
(11:10):
foam or soap or something. And there was one of
the players that said that he got tackled where they
out of bounce line. It took like five yards out
of the yard marker off the field because it was removable.
They still not really sure what it was made out of,
but you know, it wasn't permanent, that's for sure. Despite
a lackluster ten Cardinals win in the rain, the Japanese
fans seemed to enjoy the football game, at least Jackie
(11:33):
Smith thinks, so they had not a clue what was
going on. They didn't really know anything about the scoring
or anything about the plays or what to look for,
what to cheer for, what the first down was, or
anything else. Having no clue what was happening on the
field didn't stop the Japanese fans from cheering, though, and
they wanted to be as specific as possible. All of
(11:54):
a sudden, there would be some noise breaking out and
people call it hollering and saying something that we finally
figured out it was a group of them. They were
taking names off of the roster and then they would
try to I'll say it Jackie smith S, M I
z Z. So it was as close as they could
give to it, and uh, it never did come out
(12:16):
correct as far as the way it was pronounced. I
remember the sayings being enthusiastic. I've seen a few baseball
games in Japan on TV and he's kind of saying
that being orchestrated. The shooting people stand up in the
middle of the group, and they'll be leading all these
years since they get into it. Other chants included Chargers,
(12:36):
Chargers bon bons or my personal favorite, Cardinals attacked the
ball baza at the end of the game. The fans
were ecstatic, the media in a frenzy, and the players,
(12:57):
we're just ready to go home. I like it, We're
ready all I don't have it because I'm going home perfect.
So what's the takeaway from the Mini Starbowl? What did
Frank Takahashi's let his money really buy the band? Result
was a very good time for the team and a
lot of goodwill between people's of a different nature. Japan
(13:20):
experienced a bit of a football craze in the eighties
and nineties. Tom Banks was surprised to see the beginnings
of it before a single down of the Nice Start
Bull had even been played. We went into department stores
and they were huge. This one we went into had
a sporting good section kick up most of the floor
and they had a lot of NFL memorabilia, jerseys and
(13:42):
the trash kids, pens, all this NFL stuff were he goes.
They were having the football here, what's all this stuff do?
But they loved having TV shows of NFL games. Since
Frank Takahashi willed an NFL game on Japanese soil, the
NFL has played thirteen more preseason games in Japan, but
(14:02):
none since two thousand five. The NFL has largely abandoned
Japan to focus on Europe and Mexico. But the min
Starboard did do a little bit of what Frank Takahashi
set out to do in spreading American football to Japan,
just as John Gunning, who covers Japanese football for NHK,
The Japan Times and Inside Sports Japan. If there's one
(14:23):
thing I can say about Japanese American football, it's it's
very nostalgia heavy, so a lot of the the good
old days and the glory days is a big point
for a lot of the people who would be the
power brokers in the sports. Still, it was probably as
it's then it's its peak, it's most popular point in
the twenty years following the Starboard, I would say in
(14:51):
those following years from seventy six all the way to
there was a college football all star game play in
Japan called Unimagined. It of ly the Japan Ball, and
they got to see the good stuff. Here's Bob Jackson
housing a swing pass in the first Japan Ball. Paul Jackson,
Who's going to catch them? That's hurt nobody nine and
(15:18):
the NFL even came back for a preseason game. Nearly
every year from Football in Japan was hot, but not
even the power of the football boom could resist Japan's
economic bust in the nineties. I think what did it
in was a lot of the teams that were very
popular were backed by banks. When the financial crash happened
(15:40):
in the late nineties, a lot of the banks pulled out,
so a lot of the teams lost their sponsors went
to the wall. The money wasn't there to ensure it
was on TV, and it was a cascade effect basically.
Once that sort of rug was pulled out from underneath them,
the sport declined fairly rapidly, but ironically, as it was
getting less and less popular, the level was rising. It
(16:04):
was almost an inverse curve, so you know, it got
stronger and stronger, and then probably over the last ten years,
the level has just gone through the roof. You know,
we have guys who were stars at FBS programs and
who you know, did really well in the NFL comps
and they come to Japan and they just get humiliated.
So the football is stronger than ever, at least on
(16:27):
the field, but the NFL probably won't be coming back
to Japan anytime soon. The popularity has died down. But
there's also no Frank Takashi to leave the charge Ords. Instead,
the NFL is determining its own international policy. The NFL decided,
pull on, we can put teams in other countries and
play actual games, which is what they're doing now. Japan
(16:50):
really couldn't have been a consideration for them. It's just
too far geographically, the time zones are wildly different. If
the NFL was playing here you have two m kickoffs
in the US, which would just be a non starter.
And also the language, the culture of the food, the logistics,
everything is a hundred times more difficult for an English
(17:12):
speaking American team in Japan than it would be in
for example, London or even Germany, and there is a
a path to growth in those countries. There are large
existing NFL fan bases, which you can see with the
games that are in those countries, they're sold out all
the time. I don't think Japan has the same kind
of dedicated NFL fan base. There are a lot of
(17:33):
maybe casual fans who would have gone to games, but
the football definitely doesn't have the same kind of intensity
among its fan base in Japan. A catch twenty two.
For international NFL games, you need fans to get fans.
You need to be able to see the games live.
The Starboard did that. It grabbed the imagination of the
(17:55):
Japanese people, at least for a while there. It was
an experiment. We want all out to see what it
was like. And when we got outside and there were
a lot of people want to say hi to us,
I guess or whatever, I have some photographs or some
kids on my lap and they were very family, very outgoing,
and and then now reluctant to come over and talk
(18:16):
to us at all. And they live spools, not catafilt
the kidship with the mind you we're being there, and
they were responding to if that being there making friends
is how you make future fans. Japan still loves football now.
The NFL just needs to bring the games back to Japan.
Attack the ball fun side. Thanks for listening, everybody, and
(18:45):
a reminder to please rate and review the show. It
helps people find us. Sports Illustrated Weekly is a production
of Sports Illustrated and I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. And
for more of Sports Illustrated's best stories and podcasts, visit
(19:06):
SI dot com. This episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly was
produced by Jordan Rozsieri, Jessica Armoski, and Isaac Lee, who
was also our sound engineer. Our senior producers are Dan
Bloom and Harry sward Out. Our executive producers are Scott
Brody and me John Gonzalez. Our theme song is by
Nolan Schneider and if you've stuck around this song, we
(19:30):
leave you with this. Jack was really a great teammate
and he was quite a jokester. Kane was getting getting
set for a national interview and during training camp in
UM in St. Louis, and he brought a brand new
pair of jeans and he had a face. He showed
that Phillis Shuis was gonna do it. Was her first
(19:51):
he being on the NFL broadcast and she had this
all set up to interview Conrad and Jackie took some
serzis and cut one of the legs off his new
gene and I'm standing there in the locker going told
you that guy dude that he might have a heart attack. Well,
they did it anyway, and he came. He didn't know
when he went to put his pants on, his foot
(20:13):
went through the leg and he just started screaming and
he picked up the bench and threw it into the water.
I was I really working, so he might have a
heart sack. He just was so upset and Jackie and
nobody returns who did it but Jackie and lended him
uh pair his hands up
Before we get started, please rate and review our show.
It helps people find us. On this episode of Sports
Illustrated Weekly, the NFL regular season is nearly upon US
and football mat America is primed for another season of
its favorite sport. But have you ever wondered which country
outside the US is second best at American football? Believe
(00:23):
it or not, it's not Canada or the UK. Our
senior producer Harry swartout, how's this surprising answer, which traces
all the way back to a big international game in
the seventies and includes no small amount of booze and hijacks.
I'm your host, John Gonzales from Sports Illustrated and I
Heart Radio. This is Sports Illustrated Weekly. If you had
(00:50):
to guess, which is the best country in the world
at football after the United States, of course, it's not Mexico,
despite being our neighbors to the south. It's not the UK,
no matter how many Jaguars games the NFL insists on
exporting there. You might think it's Canada despite their insistence
on playing only three downs, But in international play, the
(01:13):
second best country in the world at American football is Japan.
Who are you expecting? Japan has a great college football system,
a semi pro league which can compete with the best
from any nation. Heck, they've even got football anime. All
(01:38):
of that football passion can be traced back to one
preseason game in nineteen seventy six, played on a drizzly
day in August. The Mine Starboard Let's Go Back. Six
was a big year for Japan, at least as far
as people in colorful costumes are concerned. Polyester clad Japanese
(01:59):
disco funk Ford out of every dance hall. Super Sentai,
which would later become power Injuries in America just hit
its stride God and in the Tokyo Grand Prix, James
Hunt narrowly outdueled Niki Laudo to become F one World
(02:20):
Driver's Champion. You know, like in the movie Rush, James
Hunt pay Jake third and almost catching Patrick Depie. But
James Hunt is the world Champion. Japan had their rainbow
clad heroes in America had hours. The NFL was humming
(02:49):
along after the a f L NFL merger, and there
was no real reason for the league to be looking
to expand beyond North America. But this wasn't the NFL's idea.
St Louis Football Cardinals alumni coordinator Bob Underwood explains the
Japanese excursion was all thanks to one man. The mastermind
behind this game was a Japanese American named Frank Takahashi.
(03:12):
And Frank was a lattice farmer. He was a wealthy
businessman and an Alattis farmer. He had about two acre
farm south of Los Angeles, and he was a huge
football fan and he was a huge San Diego Charger
ban how big a sports fan. He flew private jets
around the West Coast to see the best football matchups
each week. He attended the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl
(03:33):
each year. And he named his son Unitus, after legendary
quarterback Johnny Uniteds, who played just one season for his
beloved Chargers. Takahashi wanted to share his passion for football
with others who were very far away. Frank's passion, his
dream was to bring an NFL game to Tokyo, where
(03:55):
he had some business connections, and he attempted this for
three or four years. He was on six estival and
then he must have sweetened the deal enough to where
he got the Chargers and the St. Louis Football Cardinals
now the Arizona Cardinals to accept this game in Nix,
and Frank had to pay all of the expenses, and
there was a report that the Cardinals alone their expenses
(04:17):
were over a hundred thousand dollars, which would in today's
money would be over a half a million dollars. So
he probably had about a million dollars and expenses in
today's money, you know that he had to cover. Frank
Takahashi predicted that sixty thousand Japanese fans would buy tickets
to a game, and he hoped that kind of attendance
would convince the lead to play in Japan annually eventually
get a franchise on the island, and that he would
(04:39):
own it, but one step at a time. First, there
was the problem of where to play the game. Japan
didn't have any large American football stadiums, and they definitely
didn't have one that could fit sixty thou fans. What
they did have was a cavernous old baseball stadium known
(04:59):
for host in concerts Coorakuen Stadium. You might remember it
as the first stop on Michael Jackson's bad Tour. Thank you,
Thank you very much. Good Eye. Despite kicking off one
of the greatest pop tours of all time. Coacuan Stadium
itself was not the best. Built in ninety eight, Coakuen
(05:23):
Stadium was a concrete nightmare with an AstroTurf field that,
while being state of the art for the nineteen seventies,
was still like being tackled onto sandpaper on top of concrete.
But Coakuen Stadium had another problem. There were only forty
eight thousand seats, which is less than the sixty k
Takahashi had promised. To make up the difference, Takahashi got
(05:44):
a sponsor, my Niche Daily News, an English language newspaper
in Japan, put up some money for the naming rights,
and thus was born the my Niche Star Bold. But
what really mattered Frank Takahashi was attendance. A sellout, he'd
break even if not. Frank was pretty confident they could
(06:05):
sell out the game because there was actually a college
football All Star game in Tokyo back in January of
nineteen seventy six and they had almost seventy thousand fans,
so he was pretty confident. But the days leading up
to the game, there was a report that they had
only sold twenty five thousand seats advanced tickets, and then
after the game there were some conflicting reports that you know,
(06:26):
the attendance could have been anywhere from thirty thousand and
thirty eight thousand, but either way, it wasn't a sellout.
So Frank didn't get a sellout, he lost money, but
he did achieve his dream of having the NFL play
in Tokyo. Now I know what you're thinking, how was
it transporting to football teams full of rowdy grown men
(06:48):
to Japan in the nineteen seventies? And boy, am I
glad you asked? According to Cardinal Center Tom Banks, it
started before the flight had even taken off, but it
used to be aflo hours early. I mean, yeah, there's
a bunch of guys gonna do. We went straight to
the bar and started drinking, were trying to get on
the plane, and I recognized pretty quickly it was gonna
(07:11):
be a long flight. I ordered all the sake that
they had brought to my seat and started having people
to have a have a toach with me as you
go by up and down the aisles. So that was
the kind of flight it was. And it wasn't just
Banks either. Hall of Fame tight end. Jackie Smith and
the rest of the team had their fair share to
(07:32):
drink too. It was a charter of fight. Either that
or we had to hold back end of the plane.
But I know that we were freely walking around and
doing what pretty much what we wanted, and a few
beers were consumed on the way over, and so that
was what I remember most. Jackie Smith is also a
Hall of Fame understater. According to St. Louis Post Dispatch
(07:52):
writer Doug Rose account, the team drank all of the
beer and sake on the plane. And remember Jackie said,
the team was freely walking around the cabin. That's why
Tom Banks ended up stumbling towards the cockpit and had
to be restrained by the flight attendants. Not that he
exactly remembers that'ble to me later on when I ended
(08:14):
up eating in trouble about this, you know, having a
good times against the rules. And all of this was
before they had set foot in Japan. When they got there,
things only got weird. Jackie Smith and the team arrived
on Tuesday, but the game wasn't until Sunday. It was
(08:36):
quite an experience. Nobody was looking forward to it because
nobody had been over to Japan before, but I think
we spent a week over there, so we had time
to explore the area, go up and down the streets,
and get to meet some people. And it was an
interesting visit again, a world class understatement from Jackie. Sure
they practiced every day, but not at all times. They
(08:57):
had hours to explore. Players could pay just one thousand
dollars to bring their family with them on the trip,
and so many did. But the ones that didn't, well,
they had some fun. Or eight days in August, the
Cardinals experienced the ultimate road trip, a visit to Tokyo
or a preseason game with the Chargers. Here's a shortlist
(09:18):
of what the team got into in their spare time.
Tom Banks and company went on some bar crawls who
were up a local bar and goes in it, and uh,
they didn't have any any twelve manus bottles of beer.
It was always those two and a half the bottles
of so they would only start with you too, and
then they make you leave. We shouldn't make any sense
(09:38):
to me. Roger Whirley and Guardy Hammond got food poisoning
immediately after landing. Dan Fouts himself said he went to
some sage parlors. Cardinals offensive line coach Jim Hannaffan purchased
two fighting beatles in a bamboo cage for five hundred years.
One of those beatles ended up in Conrad Dobler's bed
as a prank. Who put it there? Jaggie did put
(09:58):
that one of those beetles in k He was never
any danger, I was saying, we were worried about eating.
Jackie claims not to remember this. Remember that a Cardinals
player briefly stole a bus from their Japanese guide, and
everyone players, coaches, in front office personnel misunderstood and were
(10:20):
misunderstood by the Japanese in a farcical translation comedy type
of way. But it wasn't all hijiing s though. The
team really did try to spread the word of American
football around Japan. They even helped coach a Japanese practice.
Look at that to even run up to the line
of scrimmage. Oh my god. After a week of uh
(10:48):
cultural exchange, it was finally time for the game itself,
which honestly was a bit of a letdown after the
shenanigans during the rest of the week. Except for one
little surprise. It was ris Ling and the teams knew
the astro turf would be slick, but they didn't know
about the lines. What was interesting is the yard lines
were not chalk or paint. There was some kind of
(11:10):
foam or soap or something. And there was one of
the players that said that he got tackled where they
out of bounce line. It took like five yards out
of the yard marker off the field because it was removable.
They still not really sure what it was made out of,
but you know, it wasn't permanent, that's for sure. Despite
a lackluster ten Cardinals win in the rain, the Japanese
fans seemed to enjoy the football game, at least Jackie
(11:33):
Smith thinks, so they had not a clue what was
going on. They didn't really know anything about the scoring
or anything about the plays or what to look for,
what to cheer for, what the first down was, or
anything else. Having no clue what was happening on the
field didn't stop the Japanese fans from cheering, though, and
they wanted to be as specific as possible. All of
(11:54):
a sudden, there would be some noise breaking out and
people call it hollering and saying something that we finally
figured out it was a group of them. They were
taking names off of the roster and then they would
try to I'll say it Jackie smith S, M I
z Z. So it was as close as they could
give to it, and uh, it never did come out
(12:16):
correct as far as the way it was pronounced. I
remember the sayings being enthusiastic. I've seen a few baseball
games in Japan on TV and he's kind of saying
that being orchestrated. The shooting people stand up in the
middle of the group, and they'll be leading all these
years since they get into it. Other chants included Chargers,
(12:36):
Chargers bon bons or my personal favorite, Cardinals attacked the
ball baza at the end of the game. The fans
were ecstatic, the media in a frenzy, and the players,
(12:57):
we're just ready to go home. I like it, We're
ready all I don't have it because I'm going home perfect.
So what's the takeaway from the Mini Starbowl? What did
Frank Takahashi's let his money really buy the band? Result
was a very good time for the team and a
lot of goodwill between people's of a different nature. Japan
(13:20):
experienced a bit of a football craze in the eighties
and nineties. Tom Banks was surprised to see the beginnings
of it before a single down of the Nice Start
Bull had even been played. We went into department stores
and they were huge. This one we went into had
a sporting good section kick up most of the floor
and they had a lot of NFL memorabilia, jerseys and
(13:42):
the trash kids, pens, all this NFL stuff were he goes.
They were having the football here, what's all this stuff do?
But they loved having TV shows of NFL games. Since
Frank Takahashi willed an NFL game on Japanese soil, the
NFL has played thirteen more preseason games in Japan, but
(14:02):
none since two thousand five. The NFL has largely abandoned
Japan to focus on Europe and Mexico. But the min
Starboard did do a little bit of what Frank Takahashi
set out to do in spreading American football to Japan,
just as John Gunning, who covers Japanese football for NHK,
The Japan Times and Inside Sports Japan. If there's one
(14:23):
thing I can say about Japanese American football, it's it's
very nostalgia heavy, so a lot of the the good
old days and the glory days is a big point
for a lot of the people who would be the
power brokers in the sports. Still, it was probably as
it's then it's its peak, it's most popular point in
the twenty years following the Starboard, I would say in
(14:51):
those following years from seventy six all the way to
there was a college football all star game play in
Japan called Unimagined. It of ly the Japan Ball, and
they got to see the good stuff. Here's Bob Jackson
housing a swing pass in the first Japan Ball. Paul Jackson,
Who's going to catch them? That's hurt nobody nine and
(15:18):
the NFL even came back for a preseason game. Nearly
every year from Football in Japan was hot, but not
even the power of the football boom could resist Japan's
economic bust in the nineties. I think what did it
in was a lot of the teams that were very
popular were backed by banks. When the financial crash happened
(15:40):
in the late nineties, a lot of the banks pulled out,
so a lot of the teams lost their sponsors went
to the wall. The money wasn't there to ensure it
was on TV, and it was a cascade effect basically.
Once that sort of rug was pulled out from underneath them,
the sport declined fairly rapidly, but ironically, as it was
getting less and less popular, the level was rising. It
(16:04):
was almost an inverse curve, so you know, it got
stronger and stronger, and then probably over the last ten years,
the level has just gone through the roof. You know,
we have guys who were stars at FBS programs and
who you know, did really well in the NFL comps
and they come to Japan and they just get humiliated.
So the football is stronger than ever, at least on
(16:27):
the field, but the NFL probably won't be coming back
to Japan anytime soon. The popularity has died down. But
there's also no Frank Takashi to leave the charge Ords. Instead,
the NFL is determining its own international policy. The NFL decided,
pull on, we can put teams in other countries and
play actual games, which is what they're doing now. Japan
(16:50):
really couldn't have been a consideration for them. It's just
too far geographically, the time zones are wildly different. If
the NFL was playing here you have two m kickoffs
in the US, which would just be a non starter.
And also the language, the culture of the food, the logistics,
everything is a hundred times more difficult for an English
(17:12):
speaking American team in Japan than it would be in
for example, London or even Germany, and there is a
a path to growth in those countries. There are large
existing NFL fan bases, which you can see with the
games that are in those countries, they're sold out all
the time. I don't think Japan has the same kind
of dedicated NFL fan base. There are a lot of
(17:33):
maybe casual fans who would have gone to games, but
the football definitely doesn't have the same kind of intensity
among its fan base in Japan. A catch twenty two.
For international NFL games, you need fans to get fans.
You need to be able to see the games live.
The Starboard did that. It grabbed the imagination of the
(17:55):
Japanese people, at least for a while there. It was
an experiment. We want all out to see what it
was like. And when we got outside and there were
a lot of people want to say hi to us,
I guess or whatever, I have some photographs or some
kids on my lap and they were very family, very outgoing,
and and then now reluctant to come over and talk
(18:16):
to us at all. And they live spools, not catafilt
the kidship with the mind you we're being there, and
they were responding to if that being there making friends
is how you make future fans. Japan still loves football now.
The NFL just needs to bring the games back to Japan.
Attack the ball fun side. Thanks for listening, everybody, and
(18:45):
a reminder to please rate and review the show. It
helps people find us. Sports Illustrated Weekly is a production
of Sports Illustrated and I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. And
for more of Sports Illustrated's best stories and podcasts, visit
(19:06):
SI dot com. This episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly was
produced by Jordan Rozsieri, Jessica Armoski, and Isaac Lee, who
was also our sound engineer. Our senior producers are Dan
Bloom and Harry sward Out. Our executive producers are Scott
Brody and me John Gonzalez. Our theme song is by
Nolan Schneider and if you've stuck around this song, we
(19:30):
leave you with this. Jack was really a great teammate
and he was quite a jokester. Kane was getting getting
set for a national interview and during training camp in
UM in St. Louis, and he brought a brand new
pair of jeans and he had a face. He showed
that Phillis Shuis was gonna do it. Was her first
(19:51):
he being on the NFL broadcast and she had this
all set up to interview Conrad and Jackie took some
serzis and cut one of the legs off his new
gene and I'm standing there in the locker going told
you that guy dude that he might have a heart attack. Well,
they did it anyway, and he came. He didn't know
when he went to put his pants on, his foot
(20:13):
went through the leg and he just started screaming and
he picked up the bench and threw it into the water.
I was I really working, so he might have a
heart sack. He just was so upset and Jackie and
nobody returns who did it but Jackie and lended him
uh pair his hands up
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.