Former longtime Japan resident Dave Wiggins, who was a sports columnist and television analyst in Tokyo, is now a sports writer based in Vero Beach, Florida. He contributes a bi-monthly column on the North American sports scene to The Japan Times. Wiggins, who was a TV sportscaster in Hawaii for several years prior to his time in Japan, is known for his keen observations and acerbic wit. In 2006 he was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan.
For Dave Wiggins's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Some burning questions (and answers) entering the 2017 MLB postseason. Will Cleveland and Arizona, record-breaking streakers, be able to maintain their regular season momentum? The Indians went on an American League record 22-game win streak near the end of the regular season. (The MLB mark is the ...
MAS didn't realize how far-reaching the influence of U.S. superstar wrestler Ric "Nature Boy" Flair was until he took in a high school football game in Japan some years back. That Tokyo contest had visiting Camp Zama going up against The American School in Japan. At ...
Patience is a virtue, they say. But it is one rarely exhibited in MLB, especially when it comes to rookies. Be good or be gone is usually the modus operandi practiced by most big league ball clubs in dealing with their younger players. Go great guns ...
File it under "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while," if you must. But last summer MAS wrote the following in this space: "Quarterback Dak Prescott, drafted by Dallas in the third round out of Mississippi State, will prove to be ...
These Cardinals apparently believe in letting sleeping dogs lie. Or more accurately, allowing snoozing Cubs to hibernate. Chicago's baseball variety Cubs may be down somewhat this season, but the St. Louis' Cardinals wouldn't be caught dead giving them a swift kick (peck?) They are content to ...
Move over Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees; step aside LA Dodgers-San Francisco Giants; slide down Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals. Make room for the newest rivalry in MLB: the Houston Astros versus the Texas Rangers. Yes siree, pod'nah, Houston's battle with Dallas for ...
Miami Marlins players wear a black circle containing the number 16 on their jerseys, just above their beating hearts. That patch reflects the reality of their present situation: Life goes on after death — even in pro baseball. It is in memory of the late Jose ...
King James, D-Wade and CP3 have learned the hard way that The Jordan Rules no longer apply in the NBA. Time was when a strong-willed superstar like a Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson could intimidate and bully teammates — both mentally AND physically — to ...
After two seasons of fruitless straying, Tampa Bay is once again returning to "The Ray Way" this season. You know, the modus operandi that enabled them to contend for a postseason spot yearly for the better part of a decade despite having MLB's lowest payroll, ...
Sam Hinkie may be out as Philadelphia 76ers general manager but "The Process," his much beloved/hated master plan for rebuilding the struggling Sixers, lives on. And on and on. If they were to make a movie about the situation, the most apropos title is already taken: ...
