Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Hines Ward is currently being lionized in the Korean press due to his team’s recent success and entry into the NFL’s Super Bowl XL:
It might be the most glorious day of the year for the Steelers, who have clinched a berth in the Super Bowl for first time since 1995, and for Ward, who began to play for the team in 1998. It is also a memorable one for Korean people who find a source of national pride in Korean sports stars’ performance overseas.
“Well, actually I don’t know him a lot. But it’s so nice to have a Korean playing in the Super Bowl,’’ said a 28-year-old Korean man, working for a small local company in Seoul.
Kim Ji-young, a Korean woman attending a college in Seoul, said, “I don’t know much about American football, except it is the most famous sport in the United States. Nonetheless, I would not be alone in being proud of him among Koreans. He did a good job.’’
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With more Koreans now turning their eyes to the NFL than ever, Ward is expected to get another chance to bring his half-home, Korea, big joy with his Feb. 5 Super Bowl performance.
I think it is great that more Koreans are getting interested in American football but I think they may be getting interested for the wrong reasons. I would rather have Koreans interested in American football because of the team, toughness, and strategy aspects of the sport, not because of Korean nationalism.
Hines Ward in the article is referred to as a “Korean”. Hines Ward is not Korean, he is a Korean-American. This same Korean identifier has been tagged to other Korean-American athletes as well most notably Michelle Wie. Than when one Korean-American athlete expressed the fact that she was in fact American she was criticized by the Korean press for it. Than to call Korea Hines Ward’s half home is also ridiculous because he has not been back to Korea since the age of one. How does that make Korea his half home? I just think that these athletes and Korean-Americans in general should be recognized for who they are, Americans that are of Korean-American ethnicity not simply “Korean”.
One Korean-American blogger out there, Jodi from the Asia Pages shares her thoughts on this topic as well.
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