The World Baseball Classic is coming up and, rather predictably, Great Britain, who don't particularly care for baseball, are not particularly good at it, and so wont be attending. Clearly then, I need to pick a team who are. After careful thought and consideration, I decided it will be a European team. Because Geography. In a large coincidence, it also rules out all but 3 options, making a much easier decision.

The contenders than are: Italy, Kingdom of the Netherlands and Spain. In order to scientifically determine which of these teams is my ideal partner, I'll be judging them on the following ultra-important categories

• The Team - Can they play baseball? Im not glory hunting here, but I feel like if im supporting just for 1 tournament, they should have a chance to make the second round.
• Europe Things - Things about the country or team that are Europe things, that interest me. This one might make more sense once you've seen the examples.
• Pretty Colours - Yes, colors. Very good.

On to the teams then:
Italy: Team - Currently 9th in the world, so not too bad, but in a group with USA (2), Canada (6) and Mexico (11), so chances seem slim. Europe Things - Knocked England out of the most recent major football competition. They owe me one, so Im not sure if that's a positive or negative. Colours - Hmm, lets have a quick look then. Ah, Dodger Blue. Suddenly that thing from before is definitely a bad thing.
Netherlands: Team - 7th in the world, but like Italy, come up against 4,5 and 10. Won the 2011 Baseball World Cup. Also of note: they're by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, presumably to include Caribbean colonies like the Netherlands Antilles. Good baseball move, and I, as a King, can also appreciate. Europe Things - In football terms, England hates Germany. The only thing we hate more is that they dont actually care that much about us. They hate Holland, who, in turn, hate Portugal. I feel like this makes the Holland (and the Netherlands) my allies. Colours - Bright orange. Fun and Giantsey, whats not to like? They also often have very bright orange fans, who are usually amongst the best fans of any team in the world.
Spain: Team - Okay, I feel like I should get the out in the open right away, I'm....not actually the King of Spain. It was all a ruse. A lampoon. They have the easiest group of the 3 by ranking, but they're also ranked 16th in the world. Its a 16 team tournament, I believe. Europe Things - I guess we all feel a bit sorry for countries like Spain right now, probably. They've been doing a lot of football winning lately. Too much, for me. Colours - A cheery Red and Yellow number. Not dissimilar to the flag.
The Decision. It probably seems obvious by now that I'd already sort of picked the Netherlands and I'm doing this because I'm bored and dont want to go outside, doesn't it? Too anticlimactic? Fiiiiine.
And the winner is...(tense music)....The Kingdom of the Netherlands!! (Fanfare).
So, erm, yeah. Anyone else not have a team?