EVENT: Closing Ceremonies (Saitama Prefecture)
By the time the ceremonial closing speech had begun, lunch had just ended and in all likelihood most students were ready for a quick nap.
"You are all, each of you, the pride of Saitama Prefectural High School Baseball," the man on stage was saying, smoothing wrinkles out of his suit only to have them reappear. He was trying a little too hard to look professional and serious, and a lot of the kids in the auditorium were only there because they'd been knocked out by the Best-4 round. Still, there were a few groups of boys whose attention was held by the idea of being the pride of Saitama, or even a national source of pride (as the speaker was saying, droning on about carrying baseball into the future on the shoulders of youth, or something).
The speech was long, with a few poorly-written but well-received jokes in too-obvious places, and then it was time for what some of the guys knew as consolation prizes but others called participation awards.
Closing ceremonies were basically an opportunity for members of rival teams in the same district to posture at one another for the next year, a way to motivate teams going into the training season to ensure a lively Senbatsu come spring. It was also a chance for friends who had separated in middle school to catch up on the high-school life in different parts of the district, and a time when the coaches who attended could arrange for practice matches.
Nobody was really expected to pay attention to the speeches, at least, though careful observation by chaperones tended to keep the volume in the auditorium to a cluster of sharp, excited whispers. Every so often, someone would laugh at a weird time, and the man on stage seemed to think the laughter was for some inadvertent comedic gem of his own. It made for a slightly long-running ceremony, but one with plenty of opportunity to meet and speak to the members of other teams so far as the audience was concerned.
"You are all, each of you, the pride of Saitama Prefectural High School Baseball," the man on stage was saying, smoothing wrinkles out of his suit only to have them reappear. He was trying a little too hard to look professional and serious, and a lot of the kids in the auditorium were only there because they'd been knocked out by the Best-4 round. Still, there were a few groups of boys whose attention was held by the idea of being the pride of Saitama, or even a national source of pride (as the speaker was saying, droning on about carrying baseball into the future on the shoulders of youth, or something).
The speech was long, with a few poorly-written but well-received jokes in too-obvious places, and then it was time for what some of the guys knew as consolation prizes but others called participation awards.
Closing ceremonies were basically an opportunity for members of rival teams in the same district to posture at one another for the next year, a way to motivate teams going into the training season to ensure a lively Senbatsu come spring. It was also a chance for friends who had separated in middle school to catch up on the high-school life in different parts of the district, and a time when the coaches who attended could arrange for practice matches.
Nobody was really expected to pay attention to the speeches, at least, though careful observation by chaperones tended to keep the volume in the auditorium to a cluster of sharp, excited whispers. Every so often, someone would laugh at a weird time, and the man on stage seemed to think the laughter was for some inadvertent comedic gem of his own. It made for a slightly long-running ceremony, but one with plenty of opportunity to meet and speak to the members of other teams so far as the audience was concerned.