Watching the World Baseball Championship over the years, I noted that the fans at the Asian venues (Tokyo Dome + Korea) were extra exuberant, cheer leaders, horns, percussion, etc. So I wanted to check out a game in Taiwan to see what the fan experience is like. Well...
First, the stadium. The Taipei Dome was just finished (sort of) but the home team was on the road. So Nisa got us all tickets and we drove down to Taitung for the game. I thought the stadiums would be on the level of US AAA teams, but they are bigger than that... and nicely designed.
As the game progressed, insanity ruled. The cheerleaders came out between innings (as some MLB teams do), got the fans up singing, dancing, waving... but never sitting down! We were up for the full half inning doing the cheering thing, which, since the home team scored a couple, was about a half hour... in 85 degree heat and 80% humidity... as least we were in the shade, but the poor (and constantly energetic) cheerleaders were not).
After 6 innings of extreme interval training (up half an inning, down half an inning) in the high heat and humidity, we bailed to get to the night market. Exhausting, but so much fun. No more sedate game watching for me...