So I spotted this article about the IBAF threatening to withdraw their sanctioning of the World Baseball Classic if Cuba isn't allowed to play. First off, it struck me that I can't believe this Cuba thing hasn't been resolved yet. I mean seriously, just let them play already. But then I realized that the International Baseball Federation's initials are IBF not IBAF.
What does the "A" stand for? For a moment I thought maybe it was the International Baseball Association & Federation. Perhaps they not only wanted to associate with one another, but also federate. Or maybe the Italians were prominent members of the federation and it was actually the International Base-ah-Ball Federation. Like when the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie, that's ah-moray.
I went to their website. It cleared it up for me. The "A" is the second letter in BAseball. Also, presumably they didn't want to be confused with the International Boxing Federation. The International Badminton Federation, it turns out, doesn't care enough to differentiate themselves. A quick glance at the badminton website though reveals that they're just as concerned about enhancement drugs as are boxing or baseball. Strangely enough, their anti-doping policies are listed on a page labeled Anti_Dump.
So apparently, in badminton lingo, "taking a dump" is slang for "doing drugs".
Another fascinating fact is that there already is a Baseball World Cup!
I know, right? Who woulda thunk?
Glancing at the schedule of the 36th(!?) Baseball World Cup played in Holland(!?) last September, it appears that the U.S. got their asses kicked.
That, by itself, shouldn't be so bad considering most of USA baseball is actually playing baseball in the middle of September when the World Cup is played. But among the teams that finished in front of us was the Netherlands. What's up with that?
Finally, as I was browsing through the photos to see if there was anybody I recognized, I came across this awesome photo from the USA vs Nicaragua game. It might now be one of my favoritest baseball photos ever:
And that's what I learned today.
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