Comeback Kids of 2005

Some familiar faces reappeared on the Japanese sports scene this year

As usual, there were a number of outstanding performances during the sports year, but there also seemed to be an unusual number of comebacks. So, as a review of what you might have missed, here’s an unscientific and slightly non-integrated look back at some of the more interesting stories of 2005.

Ruy Ramos
After drifting around in places like Okinawa for the past few years, former J. League star Ramos became a coach at Kashiwa Reysol, who were slaughtered 8-3 by Ventforet Kofu in the playoffs and relegated to J2. Ramos is being linked to the job at his former club Tokyo Verdy, another relegated side that obviously don’t need his help to lose by massive scores. Verdy do, however, make the comeback list—but only for one day. That was Jan 1, 2005, when they won the Emperor’s Cup under Ossie Ardiles. The glory days have gone again, I’m afraid.

Naoko Takahashi
Anyone who wasn’t pissed off with the way Takahashi was left off the Japan Olympic marathon squad in 2004 needs his/her head examined. It was a disgrace. The runner took her time to get fit and to get her act together, but eventually came back and triumphed on her return—in the Tokyo Women’s Marathon. Could we have two Olympic champs running in Beijing?

Osaka Soccer
The Hanshin Tigers had done it in baseball; Kansai’s soccer fans were still waiting. OK, so the Rakuten touch of death cursed Vissel Kobe all year, but the two Osaka J. League teams helped to make the 2005 title race the most exciting ever. Cerezo came out of nowhere, it seemed, to depose Gamba and take the lead going into the final game of the season, but the Banpaku Boys stole the title on the last day by a point over Cerezo and three other teams. As an added Kansai bonus, Kyoto Purple Sanga returned to the top division. Cerezo’s heroes were two forgotten old boys of the national team and comeback kings themselves: skinhead Hiroaki Morishima and blond bomber Akinori Nishizawa. It was the hairstyles that did it, of course.

Masamori Tokuyama
In Japan, most boxers retire when they lose their world title (usually on their first defense). Tokuyama went on holiday. But when he came back, he had only one thing on his mind: To wrest back the WBC super flyweight title he defended nine times before walking into a Kazushige Kawashima right hook in their first round of their June 2004 bout. Tokuyama looked supremely fit on his return and, in a brilliant display of boxing, wiped the floor with Kawashima. He’ll make
a final defense of his title in February against Jose Navarro.

Bobby Valentine
Anyone who wasn’t pissed off with the way Valentine was terminated during his first spell with the Chiba Lotte Marines 10 years ago needs his/her head examined. Bobby had unfinished business in Japan, and the man came back, talked a lot (we writers love that), turned
a ho-hum gaggle of players into self-believers, and clinched the Japan Series. When are they going to turn this into a movie?

Jumbo Ozaki
Bet you thought he’d disappeared, right? Jumbo, Japan’s greatest and richest golfer of all time, came back in spectacular and embarrassing fashion when he declared bankruptcy in November. This is a guy who was the leading money winner in the world for three years in the ’90s. It’s said he won $25 million in prize money (double that for endorsements)—and now he’s broke, owing around $15 million. Apparently the wife had a good idea of what to do with his money… Jumbo’s starting all over again at the age of 58. Meanwhile, younger brother Joe has also reappeared on the radar screen, as he qualified for the US Senior Tour, something homeboy Jumbo would never consider.

Japanese Gymnasts
Following up the spectacular success of the men’s team’s gold medal-winning effort at the 2004 Olympics, Hiroyuki Tomita clinched the overall title at the World Championships in November, the first time a Japanese gymnast has done so in 31 years. For good measure, Hisashi Mizutori took silver.

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