Category: Sports Related

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.’’

(…)

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.

Red Devil Soccer Team Qualifies for World Cup (1): The Korean soccer team not only qualified for the World Cup next year in Germany but also has favorable bracketing as well.

New Korean Soccer Coach (1): Former coach Bonfrere quits admid controversy new hardline coach Advocaat debuts with much fanfare.

Apolo Ohno Returns to Korea (1): US speedskater returns to Korea and wins competition.

Korean Baseball Scandal (1): US baseball had a performance enhancing drug scandal, Korea had their very own peformance enhancing cabbage scandal.

Apolo Anton Ohno who recently won two golds during the speed skating competition here in Korea last week had this to say about his reception here in Korea and the media:

“There was nothing hostile about the fans, they were just happy watching the races,” said Ohno, who regained the world No. 1 ranking from local skater Ahn Hyun-soo on Sunday with golds in the 1,000 and 3,000 finals.

Ohno regretted being denied any opportunity to hold a news conference in Seoul last week to show people another side to his character, which he figures has been largely demonized in the local media.

“A lot of media was shut away. I’m not sure why,” he said. Maybe “certain people wanted to keep that false image.”

There are a lot of certain people here that want to keep false images of Americans, not just Ohno.

The Korean payback continues for Apolo Ohno:

Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified for the second time in as many days Saturday at the South Korean World Cup speedskating event.

Ohno, the 2002 Olympic gold medallist, was called for impeding halfway through the 500 meters quarterfinals. The American was eliminated from the 1,500 meters Friday for shoving South Korean Lee Ho-suk.

I think all the Apolo Ohno haters out there will sleep peacefully tonight:

Apolo Ohno was disqualified during the finals of the South Korean World Cup event on Friday, his first race in Seoul since winning a disputed gold medal during the 2002 Olympics.

Ohno was disqualified for pushing South Korea’s Lee Ho-suk 1? laps from the end of the first men’s final at Mokdong Ice Rink.

Ohno’s appearance alone at the second World Cup meet of the year clearly struck a nerve with South Koreans, who were livid when one of their skaters, Kim Dong-sung, finished first in the 1,500 meters at Salt Lake City but was disqualified for blocking Ohno, giving the gold to the American skater.

The South Koreans appealed the decision against Kim and threatened to boycott the closing ceremony, but Ohno’s victory was upheld.

Some how I don’t expect Americans will start posting death threats Lee Ho-suk or if he ever came to America he would need 100 riot police to protect him at the airport or have his access to the media restricted:

An estimated 100 riot police stood guard as Ohno arrived at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul on Monday, ensuring no one carried out threats that were made against him after his Olympic victory.

Ohno wanted to hold a news conference for local reporters to explain his side of what happened in Salt Lake City, but organizers restricted his access to the media, according to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Hopefully this will be the end of the Apolo Ohno hate fest, but some how I doubt it.

Michelle Wie has announced that she has in fact turned pro:

Michelle Wie has turned pro, the Korean golf phenomenon announced on at the Kahala Mandarin Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii on Thursday.

“Korean golf phenomenon”? Shouldn’t that read American or Korean-American golf phenomenon? Michelle Wie is of Korean ancestry but is from Hawaii. Notice the name Michelle is American. The Korean media easily labels Kim Chorong as being too American and don’t want her to attend a golf tournament in Japan, while they clamor to claim Michelle Wie as one of their own. Notice how the CBC labels Wie:

American Michelle Wie, the most celebrated teenage player since Tiger Woods, will turn pro on Wednesday, according to Golf World magazine.

That’s right, she is an American. Later on in the article the address her as a Korean-American which is fine, but IMHO it is inaccurate to label her solely as Korean when she isn’t.

If Michelle Wie keeps making money like this from sponsorships she probably isn’t going to be to eager to be labeled only a Korean:

Wie will be turning 16 on Oct. 11 and two days later take part in the Samsung World Championship in Palm Desert, California, which will mark her pro debut. Flanked by Mike Fasulo, chief marketing officer of Sony, and Bob Wood, president of Nike Golf, Wie confirmed she signed endorsement deals with the two companies worth $10 million a year and will use Nike golf clubs.

I think it is clear Michelle Wie is becoming a “global phenomenon” not a Korean phenomenon.

Apolo Ohno has arrived in South Korea for the first time since winning Olympic Gold in Salt Lake City which caused a nation wide hatred of Ohno in Korea:

But Ohno’s appearance at the second World Cup meet of the year clearly struck a nerve with South Koreans, who were livid when one of their skaters, Kim Dong-sung, finished first in the 1,500 meters at Salt Lake City but was disqualified for blocking Ohno — giving gold to the U.S. skater.

An estimated 100 riot police stood guard as Ohno arrived at Incheon International Airport outside Seoul on Monday, ensuring no one carried out threats that were made against him after his Olympic victory.

Ohno wanted to hold a news conference for local reporters to explain his side of what happened in Salt Lake City, but organizers restricted his access to the media, according to the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Makes me wonder why the Korean organizers are restricting his access to the media? Here is what Ohno thinks about it:

“I really wanted to set something up,” Ohno said in a telephone interview on his way to practice early Tuesday. “People have questions about what I’ve been doing the past couple of years. I want them to know I’m excited to be here. I want to put a lot of things on the table. A lot of Koreans are not familiar with me. They only know what they see on the news or what somebody else says. I want to let them know a little bit about me and take it from there.”

Maybe the organizers are afraid that average Koreans might read something like this from Ohno:

“One guy wins and one guy loses, but it’s not entirely up to him,” Ohno said. “Our sport is so crazy that on any given Sunday, anybody can win. You can run the same race over and over five times, and you’ll probably get five different winners. It’s wild.”

Ohno described South Korea as “the best nation in the world for short-track speedskating” and made it clear that he doesn’t want any hard feelings to linger from his Olympic victory.

“The Korean public has so many fans of short track,” he said. “This is the place to skate. If you’re part of the national team here, you’re definitely one of the best in the world.”

Printing something like this may cause some people not to hate him any more. We can’t have that.

These people that have been protesting the MacArthur statue can now turn their attention to another symbol of anti-Americanism:

Ohno, famous for his “soul patch” of facial hair and infamous in Korea for his controversial 1,500-meter victory against Kim Dong-Sung at the 2002 Games, intends to compete in Korea for the first time since that Olympic race.

In the 1,500 final at the Salt Lake City Olympics, Kim crossed the finish line first but was disqualified for a blocking move on Ohno, who was awarded the gold medal, adding to a silver in the 1,000. The controversy triggered a barrage of 16,000 e-mails to the U.S. Olympic Committee, among them death threats.

“Hopefully some of the fans will have calmed down and kind of understand the real situation. But that’s out of my control. I’m just an athlete trying to perform my best at competitions,” Ohno said of the Oct. 7-9 event in Seoul.

Two years ago, Ohno decided not to enter an event in Jeonju City, South Korea, against a backdrop of Internet death threats and a Korean newspaper report calling him “the most hated athlete in South Korea.” With the 2006 Winter Games less than five months away, it would be much more difficult to leave Korea off his schedule.

Why people hate this guy is beyond me. He was just competing in the race and the judge made a call. Ohno didn’t make the call, he just benefited from it. How come no one was complaining in 2002 when the South Korean soccer was competing in the World Cup and got a few favorable calls that aided their success?

North Korea plays Japan tonight for a chance to play in the next World Cup. It appears North Korea will have a number of people who live in Japan rooting for them.

Lee Jae-sul was born and raised in Tokyo but like thousands of Koreans living in Japan, he’s hoping North Korea (news – web sites) will beat Japan in a World Cup soccer qualifying match on Wednesday.

Lee, 48, is one of 150,000 Korean residents of Japan with allegiance to communist North Korea.

North Korea supporters account for a quarter of all Koreans in Japan, many of whom are descendants of students and workers who came, or were forcibly brought to Japan, while Korea was a Japanese colony from 1910 to 1945.

“Of course I will support the North Korean team because since my elementary school days I have received an ethnic and ideological education sympathetic to the North,” said Lee.

Like many North Korean loyalists, Lee attended a school run by a pro-Pyongyang residents’ group, where he was taught to revere the communist state and its leaders, whose portraits hang on classroom walls.

Hard to believe there are Kim Jong Il portraits hanging up in Japanese classrooms. If they revere North Korea so much then why don’t they go live there? It is probably because many of the Nork loyalists in Japan are part of the Japanese underworld and are making a lot money with the illegal activities they are conducting which is facilitated by the North Korean regime.

Interestingly enough North Korea has two Koreans living in Japan who play in the J-League on their roster.

Adding spice to Wednesday’s match for Korean residents, two J-League pros from the pro-Pyongyang community have been tapped for the North Korean side.

“To beat Japan and win a World Cup berth has been my dream. I’m really excited,” 22-year-old Sanfrecce Hiroshima midfielder Ri Han-jae told a news conference after being named to the team.

Ri will be joined by Nagoya Grampus Eight midfielder An Yong-hak, 26, who has said he was honored but a bit anxious about playing with compatriots from a country about which he knows little.

“As a player from Japan, I can’t help but feel nervous,” he said in a recent interview with the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

“I stand out from the rest of the team,” added An, whose hair has been trimmed to fit with his closely cropped team mates.

I can’t figure out why these two players would play on the North Korean team other than they couldn’t make the Japanese team so this was their best second option to get to play at an international level. Maybe they just needed a free haircut?

Apparently it is only OK to beat teenagers while in high school in Korea and not while training for speed skating.