Well, I should have worn my scuba gear to the game, as we got rained on quite nicely (with close to freezing temps)... But the "asylum" was there in full force. When I got to the gate, the licket-tacker lady tried to tell me that the section was full and there was no place to sit. I thanked her for her concern but assured her that was all taken care of already! Both my friend and I have become known with the regulars, and they usually reserve seats for the cheering group, which we've essentially gotten to be a part of.

Our team (Ventforet Kofu) won the battle but lost the war. They won 2-1, but so did the 3rd place team, which means they advance to J-1 (first division for J-League) but we don't.

One lady commented on our Facebook group page that she promised herself she wouldn't cry... But I'm trying to be an optimist about the whole affair, so I posted up something to cheer up our troops, which I cross-post here, (with apologies to Dave Letterman)...

MY TOP 10 REASONS WHY I DON'T CARE THAT VENTFORET KOFU IS STILL IN J2
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10. We will be at the TOP of J2 (instead of the bottom of J1) next year

9. We'll all be too busy following the World Cup to mind too much about J-League...

8. Tickets are cheaper in J2

7. You get... to enjoy twice as many games as J1

6. The Kofu "Supporters" cheer just as loud in J2 as they do in J1

5. J1 or 2... You can still get those good chili cheese dogs behind the home goal

4. No annoying, stuck-up, snobby Urawa or Kashima fans to deal with

3. No matter how badly the team does next year, they can't get demoted to JFL... (yet)

2. We get another chance to score 6 - 0 against Fukuoka Avispa next year!

1. There's no shame in being second division... Some really good teams get sent to second division. Juventus... Lazio...Fiorentina...