Fooled again by WBC website

It’s problematic for a reporter, but I’m one of those people who is constantly confused by dates and times. It’s been said successful people tend to think they’re right and others are wrong. But if you’re like me and continually get days and dates mixed up, it’s easy to assume that you’re the one who’s wrong.

In 2009, after double checking, triple checking and body checking my travel dates for the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals and finals and then purchasing my non-refundable air tickets, I found I had the dates wrong.

A few days before the start of the competition, I checked the WBC website for something, only to find out the dates I thought I needed to travel on were off by one day. So I called the airline and for $300 I had my tickets changed. The next day, I checked the website again to find that the dates had reverted to the ones I had originally planned my travel around.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who was caught out, as some MLB staff in Tokyo told me there had been a temporary problem with the website.

A few weeks ago, it happened again. For a few days, the teams in the WBC qualifying groups were re-arranged. While explaining to a colleague that Brazil is a “strategic pocket” in MLB’s international plans, I wanted to show him how Brazil had been moved out of the tough Central and South American qualifying group they advanced from last time. But lo and behold, the website said that instead of being in Brooklyn in September, trying to qualify against Israel, Pakistan and Britain, the Brazilians were competing in Panama City.

How did I get that wrong?

Checked again today and saw that the old groups had returned. Are they being hacked? Is someone messing with the website to see if anyone is paying attention?



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