TOKYO -- At 6 feet 3 inches, and only 169 pounds, right-hander Hisashu Iwakuma kept the Koreans at the plate for most of the game.

On the offensive side of Japan's lineup and earning his spot as the championship's hero was Ichiro, who at 5 feet 9 inches and 160 pounds drove in two runs with an up-the-middle line drive after a patient, samurai-like at-bat.

There is no denying that Japan is likely the skinniest baseball team not only to win the World Baseball Classic (twice in a row), but probably to even play in it. Coming from a country whose main foods are noodles and fish, most of these players would probably scoff at the notion that injecting their bodies with steroids would make them better athletes.

As if somewhat proving this point, Japan firmly manhandled the United States in the semifinals, 9-4, like a horde of miniature players overtaking a country that boasts baseball as its national pastime. But in truth, there is no country that loves baseball more than Japan.

At the crack of Ichiro's swinging bat as it drove the ball into center field, bringing two runs home in the top of the 10th inning yesterday, the room full of some 40-odd Japanese students I was in erupted in riotous cheers. "Pressure's on, Korea!" one student yelled.

Baseball came even closer to dying this week as Alex Rodriguez, the sport's highest-paid player, admitted that he took steroids for three years. The shocking news came after Sports Illustrated sourced anonymous people in baseball who exposed the scoop.

A-Rod's admission was enough to prompt a related question at President Barack Obama's first press conference. He said it "tarnishes an entire era" of baseball and worried what kids will think.

Normally, the standard thing to do here would be to write about what Rodriguez should do next, or what baseball should do next, or ask why the 103 other players who tested positive on that same steroids test a few years back are still unknown. But I'll leave that to the baseball insiders.

We here at Bright Hall like the lighter side of things. So here's the best part about baseball scandals: a run-down of the best tabloid newspaper headlines in the country!

Obviously, we'll start with A-Rod's hometown papers, the New York Post and Daily News. The Post cleverly blares, "A-Roid finally tells ugly truth" above "LIAR. CHEAT." in pink, block letters. Playing off a shirtless photo of Rodriguez sunbathing in Central Park, the Daily News proclaims, "BODY OF LIES!"

On their websites, the Post fronts, "ALEX DROPS A-BOMB: I LIED," while the Daily News asks, "The Yankee Fibber?"

USA Swimming banned Michael Phelps from participating in competition for three months, beginning February 5. The punishment was in response to the controversy over a photograph of Phelps holding a marijuana pipe to his mouth.

If only somebody had a photograph of Bernie Madoff holding a piece of paper and a pen we could just skip the entire trial and move straight to sentencing!

At any rate, how consequential is USA Swimming's decree? If one refers to the calendar of events scheduled for the next three months by FINA, the International Swimming Federation, Phelps will be prevented from participating in a bunch of diving and water polo events, which he would have sat out of, anyway, but the next event he would actually enter isn't scheduled to be held until July 19, two and a half months after his ban will be lifted.

Translation: Michael Phelps has not been punished, at all, for having been photographed with a device that he has not been proven to have even used for any illicit purpose.

Remember, kids: don't not do the crime if you can't not do the time!

Touch-what now?

Late in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIII, right after Arizona Cardinals' receiver Larry Fitzgerald scored to give his team the lead, viewers in Tucson, Arizona, were treated to a touchdown celebration of a different sort: porn.

Comcast customers in the area accidentally received a feed from adult channel Club Jenna, which, despite only lasting for a few seconds, still managed to include full frontal male nudity. The feed started with local NBC affiliate KVOA before reaching Comcast customers. However, only customers with standard broadcast or analog service experienced the interruption in regular programming. Yet another reason to upgrade to digital, folks.

As of yet, Comcast has not discovered the cause of the disruption. All signs point to the only Pittsburgh Steelers fan in Arizona, though his prank was witnessed in vain given the final score.

Thanks to Comcastus Interruptus and Bruce Springsteen's suggestive slide toward the camera during the halftime show (see below), this was the sultriest Super Bowl since Nipplegate. And I'm not even counting Conan O'Brien's Bud Light commercial.

This season could be the boiling point for opponents of the much-maligned Bowl Championship Series, despite similar pressure seen in previous years to no avail.

Irrespective of the outcome of the BCS championship game tomorrow night, a handful of teams are insisting their squad is the best in the country. Similar disputes have marred the vast majority of the BCS system's 11-year history, with no consensus method to resolve these perennial contentions.

No other major sport faces the endless uncertainty of college football, which is why all college football fans should hold our collective breath for Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff's potential anti-trust lawsuit against the BCS alleging a conspired monopoly.

O.J. Simpson was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Friday for robbery, kidnapping, and assault. He was arrested in September of 2007 for leading a group of armed men in an attempt to steal sports memorabilia from two dealers in Las Vegas. Simpson said the items were actually his. Clearly the court did not agree.

Simpson was convicted October 3, 2007, 13 years to the day after he was found innocent in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Despite the lingering skepticism surrounding the acquittal, the court maintains that the 15 year sentence this time around is not an attempt to right a wrong, but is a typical sentence for these kinds of charges. He will be eligible for parole after nine years.

Below is a clip of Simpson from the classic cop movie spoof The Naked Gun. This clip is ironic for two reasons. One: it features Simpson's character failing to stealthily break into someplace. Two: he's playing a cop.

Megan Baker, the news editor of the Cardinal Courier, is not writing this to attack or defend the motives of herself or the staff of the Cardinal Courier, but to pose the question of whether the story involved was fair game for a college newspaper.

One of the most prominent players on the St. John Fisher College men's basketball team decided to quit. The Fisher newspaper, the Cardinal Courier, decided to cover the story, getting exclusive reports from the head coach and the player that decided to quit.

Was this good journalism or was it taking advantage of a situation? That's the question a lot of Fisher students have been discussing today, the day after the story broke on cardinalcourieronline.com.

St. John Fisher is a Division III school with a successful basketball program, but over the past couple years, the seasons have not been going as well as usual. And with one of the team's leading scorers deciding to quit after just one game, the state of the team has been on the minds of many Fisher students.

When the Courier learned that junior Chris Baltz would be leaving the team, sports editor Mike Spier approached Baltz, who consented to an interview. Coach Rob Kornaker also contacted Spier to offer his thoughts on the situation.

Once the story hit the web, students had mixed feelings on whether or not they felt the story was appropriate or even ethical for the Courier to pursue. Being a Division III school, some felt that this was unimportant and that Baltz should have been left alone. Others felt that the Courier was writing to its audience, the students of St. John Fisher.

What with the constant stream of news about the tanking US economy, a six year old criminal investigation and a presidential campaign in limbo between the primary and general elections, it's understandable why the 2008 Olympics in Beijing haven't made bigger headlines. Well...not really.

Between stories of athletes suspended for doping and the on-again off-again rumors of internet censorship, the fact that the opening ceremonies are two days away seems to have gotten lost.

The Olympics are more than just a gigantic sporting event. The games are a reminder of sports bringing together nations when diplomacy couldn't; the games are a reminder of political victories won by athletic prowess, not military might; in short, the games are a call to put international issues in perspective and to dream for a time when nations compete athletically, not diplomatically or militarily.

That message has mostly been glossed over this year, but it's something to look forward to and a reason to watch the games when they start later this week.

Here's a cliche theme we've heard before: change versus experience. But did you ever think you would chalk that phrase up to a baseball match with the game's best players?

Only four of the nine stars in the American League's starting line-up for tonight's All-Star Game are younger than 30. The National League has six such players, and three of them are 25 or under.

I'm not saying the bicentennial John McCain and the Republicans are rooting for the AL while newborn Barack Obama and the Democrats are cheering the NL. But could the game bring about any foreshadowing for the Nov. 4 presidential election?

For months, we've heard about plans to ready China for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

And, with only a month to go before the opening ceremony, we'll likely hear more about those plans. The government still needs to meet its pledge to deliver clean air in one of the world's most polluted cities, and it must finish two new subway lines and a railway line.

Even with such major capital projects left to be completed, China is focusing on other improvements: most recently, stripping Mao Zedong from the currency and attempting to ready the environment in and around Beijing.

You may have heard about the Fresno State Bulldogs' stunning run to the top of the 2008 NCAA College World Series. For a team which barely qualified for the CWS' 64-school bracket, the Bulldogs' victory - only the second national championship, in any sport, in school history - has been called one of the greatest Cinderella stories ever.

Whether that's fact or hyperbole doesn't matter. I can't overstate how much this means for Fresno and the Central San Joaquin Valley, my home of 18 years. No team in the Valley, in any sport, drives such passion and pride as the Fresno State Bulldogs. This area doesn't see the national spotlight often, and when it does, it's usually because of a scandal or other embarrassment.