On the eve of his second trip to Korea coming up on the 27th of May, Hines Ward had some more to say about racism in Korea:
American football star Hines Ward, whose mother is Korean, has told a U.S. newspaper of the disturbing prejudice he encountered against mixed-race children during his recent triumphal visit to Korea. “You can’t even get into the military if you’re biracial,” the footballer, who is half Korean, said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That is their rule, 100 percent pure, you have to be pure Korean, it’s the only way to be in the military. The writer, Ed Bouchette, said Ward returned with a new mission to help biracial children in Korea.
The ROK Army now does accept bi-racial children; a development from the first Hines Ward trip, but no biracial children have signed up yet because first of all the ROK Army is not fun for pure blooded Koreans much less bi-racial Koreans. I wonder if Ward will receive the same lovefest that he received during his first trip to Korea last month or is his 15 minutes of fame in Korea up?
Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward has now arrived in Korea and even brought his mother with him. Guess who the first person to see him is?:
Korea has adopted the American football star as its own, inspired by his prowess even if most people are baffled by the game.
His rags-to-riches story and his mother’s sacrifices to raise him have touched a chord in the national psyche.
The visitors will lunch with President Roh Moo-hyun and his wife, Kwon Yang-sook, tomorrow and throw the first ball at the opening game of the 2006 Korea Baseball Organization season on Saturday at Jamsil Stadium in southern Seoul.
Yes the I’m not really anti-American president himself Roh Moo-hyun made sure he got his photo op with Hines Ward first. How about he instead go with Hines Ward to a mixed race orphanage and get a photo op there to draw attention to this problem in Korea?
Here is a shock; con men in Korea have been illegally using Hines Ward’s image:
Korean companies have jostled for position in an effort to associate themselves with Mr. Ward and his mother.
Some less ethical businessmen reportedly have registered copyrights related to Mr. Ward or have passed themselves off as his representative here.
Lim Sang-hyuk, a lawyer representing the gridiron hero in Korea, said, “If necessary, Mr. Ward will take legal action against the illegal use of his name, portrait and other things.”
For those that haven’t seen it yet, Newsweek ran an article last week about Hines Ward. I was actually contacted by the reporter to provide some insight into the Hines Ward phenomenon. It is kind of interesting to see how the blogosphere can influence the reporting a mainstream media outlet. Anyway, the article was well balanced between explaining Hines Ward life, his admiration for his mother, and the bias towards mixed race children in Korea, but nothing really ground breaking that we haven’t heard before.
I did find this passage interesting though:
Some Korean-American activists have also complained about the fact that Ward hasn’t contributed to the community yet. “If he’s going to be a role model, he should do something for the community,†gripes a representative of one Korean-American youth group.
I find it ironic that the same Korean-American groups that shunned him when he was younger are now making demands of him now. How about these groups do more for mixed race children themselves instead of making demands from Hines Ward.
Anyway the hysteria over the Hines Ward visit to Korea ought to provide some interesting blogging over the next few days at least.
It’s over, the Japanese pitcher struck out the side in the 9th to put Korea away 6-0. Ichiro seems really happy because he will not have to eat his words after all. Like I said before championship caliber teams can rise above bad calls like the one Japan had against the US and they did with a little help from the US by losing to Mexico.
So far no signs of outrageous nationalistic celebrations from the Japanese like the Koreans had after their second defeat of Japan. The Koreans did come out of the dugout and give a bow to their many fans in Anaheim though which was a classy thing to do.
The Cuba vs Japan final should be a great game.
It was a good run by Korea and hopefully the Korean media doesn’t ruin it by claiming that the WBC is flawed by having Korea eliminated after only one loss especially when they have defeated Japan twice already. I can understand the sentiment because the WBC’s format is a little strange but the Koreans signed up for the WBC and the rules format that comes with it.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ichiro just popped up to end the top of the ninth and the third baseman for Korea Jung who caught the ball just flicked it back at Ichiro. To Ichiro’s credit he did not react to the provaction. If I was him I would at least tell the guy to look at the scoreboard.
Well Korea has one more chance to put some runs on the board and the first batter has already struck out. Not good.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The ESPN announcer just butchered the Korean fans chant of Dae Han Min Guk. Quick somebody call Vank on him. The rain delay is over and the Japanese bats are still hot with them getting yet another hit. Instead of planting the Korean flag on the pitcher’s mound the Korean team may want to plant a white flag now because it is going to take a miracle to make a come back.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It is still raining out and the game continues to be delayed which is just prolonging the inevitable that Korea has gotten stomped by Japan. Any bets if Ichiro will plant the Japanese flag on the pitcher’s mound?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Okay this is getting out of hand right now. The Japanese are hitting the ball all over the place now. Japan is now winning 6-0 in the 8th inning. It is now raining pretty heavily and the game is being delayed which is only prolonging Team Korea’s misery of getting stomped by Japan. It is looking like it is going to be a Japan vs Cuba WBC Final.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I think it safe to say that Kim Byung-hyun is now the most hated person in Korea. He just threw a wild pitch advancing a runner and then gave up a double allowing the runner to score a third run off of him. Why in the world did the Korean manager put Kim in? You do not use Kim in a tight pressure packed ball game. Ask Tino Martinez.
I have long posted on how much Kim sucks and I have been proven right again. They finally took him out. Why did he take Seo out? Seo was cruising and had only given up three hits. Hopefully this next pitcher can stop the bleeding and at least keep it from becoming a blow out.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Japan is now threatening with a runner on second with no outs. The starting Korean pitcher Seo was taken out for I guy named Jun who pitched one good inning before giving up the double. Kim Byung-hyun Kim is now in and he just struck one batter out. Now Kim just did his best 2001 World Series imitation by giving up a two run home run. Japan is now winning 2-0. Is anyone now wondering why Seo was taken out of the game now?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Peter Gammons just got done interviewing Hines Ward who is at the game supporting Team Korea. Ward just commented on how well the Korean community supports there sports teams. Gammons did ask him how he thought he would be received when he travels to Korea for the first time in April. Ward thought he would be treated well and was looking forward to going.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It is now the 5th inning and the game between Korea and Japan is still stuck at 0-0. Both pitchers Uehara from Japan and Seo from Korea are pitching well and both teams have made some great defensive plays to keep the game scoreless. Ichiro has made a couple hits and stole two bases, so he has gotten off to a good start but has nothing to show for it yet.
