Champions of the World

For years I have been trying to convince my baseball coach husband that if his team practiced less, they might win more. There is no need, I said, to practice seven days a week, 365 days a year. The body needs rest and studies have shown that athletes who train too much achieve less than they could. I have scoffed at the coach of a nearby high school who holds practices at 5AM on the day of a tournament game. It's overkill. On the pro level, I've argued, American players show up for spring training overweight and out of shape, yet American Major League Baseball is the gold standard.

Yesterday, the Japanese national team held a full practice, while the Cubans just lifted weights. And look who won! Japan is now the champion of the world. My husband will never listen to his lazy American wife's advice about baseball again.