Korean Job Discussion Forums

[whatever]

DISCLOSURE: I AM A HUGE SAMSUNG SUPPORTER AND GO TO MOST OF THE GAMES, BOTH IN AND OUT OF TOWN.

What happened? Well, the media can now call off their love affair with the Lotte Giantsu. They were outclassed. 최강 삼성!

Props to Jerry Royster, who inherited a very dysfunctional and vane ballclub. He definitely deserves a lot of credit for the regular season success. Acquisitions, notably Garcia and Cortez were impressive. I also have a keen appreciation for their home crowds, having been to five or so games. It's clearly a magical place. A special, special venue for baseball. At times, I've almost wished I lived there to have a better reason to root for the Giants.

That said, I am sickened by the coverage of the series between Samsung and Lotte. It was so far from objective, from the commentary to the camera shots of fans, the implicit cheerleading, the focus on Lotte's supposed history (they've won two championships, compared to Samsung's four--two of them very recent--and more remarkably, Kia's nine) to the interviewing of Lotte players/managers before Samsung's every time, even though they lost all three games...what a joke. No wonder MBC cut to the credits and put on some lame-ass drama the moment game three in Daegu concluded. Shameful.

Even more arrogant were Lotte's fans. These are the mofos who actually put massive, distracting slogans on the outfield with chalk (Who in the world does that?), such as 'Be the Best for Our Fans', 'Again 1984', and 'World Best Baseball'...they've got a stadium that seats roughly 30,000 folks, but they don't yield a discernable 'Visitors' Section' unlike every other ballclub in the KBO. You want to go to their home game, well, get ready to be severely heckled and ridiculed for your mere presence. Class. And when they came to Daegu, what did they bring? A gd inflatable seagull the size of a bus. Unfurling banners for 이대호, Royster and god knows who else...on top of unsuspecting and unappreciative Samsung supporters who happened to be in the fringe seating area. Class. To top it off, when 최형우 caught the last out, they threw countless articles of trash, such as water bottles, soju and beer bottles, chicken wings and other dumb shit all over right field. Class.

Well, what can I say...we've got a tiny stadium, a fanbase that, while one of the largest in the land, would 99% of the time rather watch from home on tv, less cool traditions, cheers that require a loudspeaker to get started, less throwback jersey days (? haha), and less sellouts (both literally and figuratively).

But you know what? The Samsung ballclub and their fans have class that applies outside the confines of our home stadium. Both in skill and conscience. So the next time one of you Lotte mofos steps up in our house, show some respect.

Go Lions! Next up, Doosan...See you in Seoul.

AND I KNOW THAT 99.9% OF YOU DON'T GIVE A *beep*, AND THAT 99.9% OF THE PEOPLE I'M RANTING ABOUT ARE KOREAN. SO THE *beep* WHAT...IT'S THE INTERNET. GET USED TO IT!

[Whirlwind]

I'm sorry, I just can't get into sports where you have corporations like Samsung or Hyundai(two companies that have nada to with sports) as your team. Teams are supposed to be representative of something...not fat cat corporations. I know back home that they've done the stupid stadium naming after corporations(By the way, thank God that Candlestick Park is back!!!!) like Invesco Field or Monster Park. Just no tradition and the names just signify greed to me. Greed to make as much possible and sell out as much possible. However, at least back home, the pro sports teams are still associated with their respective city. You've still got the Dallas Cowboys...not the Texaco Cowboys. You've still got the Seattle Seahawks...not the Starbucks Seahawks .

I hear all these kids saying, "my favorite team is Samsung" or "my favorite team is Lotte" and I just cringe. There just ought to be some meaning to it. The city, the area, whatever. It just seems so plastic. And I know that corporations own and run sports teams. I know that I'm dealing with semantics. But at least teams back home still use the area, rather than the corporation, that they are associated with.

[victorology]

In Korea, baseball teams have a sponsor as part of the name but each team represents a certain city. Seoul is the Doosan Bears. Incheon is the SK Wyverns.

I don't think it's corporate greed. I don't think these baseball leagues would be able to survive without corporate sponsors. There might be a lot of interest during the playoffs or right after the Korean baseball team wins the gold medal. Other than that, I don't think they'd be viable businesses without sponsors.

[pkang0202]

[JongnoGuru]

Aw sh!t. Thought this was going to be about the chaebol.

[Ilsanman]

Granted, Roister did better than their last coach, but it seemed he wasn't willing to make necessary changes and he made a few decisions that did not pay off.

-Lee Dae Ho should be designated hitter. Get that fat *beep* off the field. He blows.
-Realize Song Seung Jun is super overrated.
-Move Garcia up to 4th spot.
-Tell your start players not to get drunk and beat up security ajosshis.

But to say Samsung fans have class, I don't think so. Ask my ex-student who got hit in the head with a ramyeon cup for cheering for LG in Daegu Stadium. But you know, all teams' fans have bad days. Lotte fans are passionate but take it a bit far.

SK for the championship. They dominated the regular season and now they're resting while Samsung/Doosan are busting their ass. This one will be in the history books sooner rather than later.

[Binch Lover]

[jvalmer]

[Whirlwind]

Relax, guys. Take a breath.I agree with some of your points. I also realize that anything regarding finances in sports is semantics anyway. I guess that I just feel that having a city attached to a sports team is important because it becomes enmeshed within that community. I simply do not associate any Korean teams with their respective cities(if indeed they are associated with it at all). I just see "Samsung" and I certainly don't think sports. I think about televisions. I hear "Pittsburgh" I think of the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins. I guess it just all comes down to semantics. Just my opinion.

[whatever]

All football teams have sponsors right smack in the middle of their jerseys. While we don't refer to ManU as 'AIG' isn't the point. It's just how it's done in Korea. The corporations own the teams and that's the only reason it's profitable. Let's move past all that and talk about baseball...Doosan will be a much more formidable opponent.

[JMO]

I'm going to take the high road and say that in Ireland, GAA teams are amateur, players only play for their local teams and people exclusively support their home county/club. I win.

Honestly though these cross sports/cross country comparisons are pointless. Corporations in the name of the teams is just a reflection of Japanese/Korean culture.

At least this is not yet another thread where people argue the relative merits of the different kinds of football.