Now that he's in Japan, Indianapolis Colts running back Edgerrin James is finding out things aren't so bad after all.
James, a two-time NFL rushing champion and three-time Pro Bowler, threatened not to take the long 14-hour flight to Japan for today's American Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons, but said Friday he's glad he made the trip.
"We're gonna have some fun here," James said after a morning practice at Tokyo Dome. "We always have a good time on this team. I've been getting out to see a few things and the fans have been great to me."
Sports Illustrated reported last week that James had said he would report to camp on time but would not travel to Tokyo for the NFL's preseason opener against Atlanta. James reportedly said that the closest he would get to Japan was Benihana, a Japanese restaurant chain.
He probably won't have time to make it to the local Benihana. James and his teammates were scheduled to visit US servicemen at Yokosuka naval base later Friday before attending a function at the American Embassy in the evening.
The two teams will leave for home right after Saturday's game, the 13th American Bowl to be played in Japan.
Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning said he thought all along that James would get to Japan.
"Edgerrin says he's having a good time," said Manning. "I never had a doubt that he wouldn't make the trip."
The question now is how much James will play in today's preseason game.
James is known to dislike preseason games almost as much as he does flights. In 2002 and 2003, he had just a handful of plays during the preseason and only a couple dozen last year.
Still, the lack of playing time hasn't affected him. He has four 1,000-yard seasons and last year produced 2,031 yards from scrimmage -- the fourth time he's topped 2,000 in six NFL seasons.
Manning said the first-team offense might play more than many expect and that he wants James in the backfield.
The NFL's series of international games began in 1986, in response to growing interest in American football around the world. Since then, 39 games have been played in 12 cities outside the US.
The Colts have never played in Japan, while the Falcons made the trip in 2000 when they beat the Dallas Cowboys 20-9.
Of the 13 winners in Japan, none have won a Super Bowl. The only teams to lift the Lombardi Trophy after making the trans-Pacific flight were the 1989 San Francisco 49ers and 1992 Dallas Cowboys, both preseason losers in Japan.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later