Direct From the Land of the Rising Fun

Not even our national pastime, it seems, is immune from the reality television craze.

A production company has followed the Japan Samurai Bears for much of their inaugural season in the independent Golden Baseball League, distributing cameras to players on the all-Japanese traveling team to capture priceless behind-the-scenes moments such as when one frantically tried to shoo a moth from the team bus.

“The level of fear this guy had about this moth was so huge that it was great,” said producer Matthew Asner of mod3productions.

The crew also shot footage of the players trying to pick up women in a bar.

“You get this sense of a fish out of water,” said producer Danny Gold, “but boy, when they get to that bar, they know how to pull their end.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Angels’ record for highest batting average in a season by a switch-hitter?

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Money matters: There has never been a worse time to be a cheapskate when it comes to sports, according to Sports Illustrated’s Steve Rushin.

“Now you pay a ‘convenience charge’ of $3.50 to purchase a $15 Los Angeles Angels ticket through Ticketmaster,” Rushin wrote. “This is a distant relative of the $3 ‘delivery charge’ that is added to the 18% ‘service charge’ on hotel room-service bills, which still, mysteriously, leave a space for a tip.”

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Ill no more? There is reason for optimism when it comes to Illinois football under first-year Coach Ron Zook, according to Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune.

“Zook’s first game is against Rutgers, which had a 4-7 record last season,” Downey wrote. “The next opponent is San Jose State (2-9), which gave up 56 points to Boise State, 62 to Fresno State and 63 to Rice in a game that San Jose State won by the hilarious score of 70-63.

“And fourth on Illinois’ schedule is Michigan State, which was beaten in its 2004 season opener by -- if you can believe it -- Rutgers. Now, the bad news: Illinois has lost 19 of its last 23 games.”

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Not a pretty story: Washington Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs apologized Saturday for calling Dallas Cowboy fans “the ugliest people in the world.”

While answering questions from the crowd at the team’s Fan Appreciation Day at training camp Friday, Gibbs said: “I know we don’t have any Dallas people here -- they are the ugliest people in the world.”

Gibbs later stressed that he was joking, but he felt the need to address the matter again after Saturday’s scrimmage against the Baltimore Ravens.

“I tried to make a joke,” Gibbs said. “I was joking. It didn’t come out probably like a joke or like it should’ve.”

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Trivia answer: Chili Davis, who batted .318 in 1995.

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And finally: Count Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News among those who take Barry Bonds at his word when the San Francisco slugger says he will not return until 2006.

Writes Kawakami: “I believe that an old, potential past steroids user absolutely would have trouble coming back from minor knee operations that would not have sidelined him years ago, when there was no steroid policy.”