Verbeek’s Megaton Stress

Pity the poor manager of the Korean national soccer team. Though a run of good fortune can make you a national hero, as one did for 2004 World Cup manager Guus Hiddink, at other times you’ll be blamed for everything. Naturally in sports when a team does poorly the manager or coaches catch the first blame, but in Korea a foreign coach catches much more than his share.

It must be particularly vexing that while the Korean pro teams have never gotten along with the managers of the national team, often squabbling with them and refusing to let players go to international competition, they don’t get the same blame. The Sports Chosun gives us a good example.

Manager Verbeek is fretting as he watches the calendar and reckons with the weather.

At the Asian Cup, which opens on the 7th of next month, Korea will participate in Group D against Saudi Arabia on the 11th, Bahrain on the 15th, and Indonesia on the 18th. With just 20 days left until the first game, manager Verbeek is feeling intense headaches.

One is the situation of pro players turning away from the team, and the other is the increasing stress of preparing step by step for the rapidly approaching tournament with the countries competing in group D.

Verbeek will select 23 names in Saturday’s ceremony for entry into the Asian Cup. There has been stuff opposition from professional players due to there being 7 games scheduled on the same day. Even though the players can quickly leave for the games, the teams say that the national team selection can be sent to the tournament in a day. Even so Verbeek insists that selection must be made 14 days before the tournament.

Relations with the tournament are awkward. Though he took over the position as manager while understanding Korea’s strongest point, its strong nationalism, he has actually given rise to the most serious discord between the manager and local soccer players out of all the foreign managers before him.

The news of injured players falling like dominoes has also inflamed Verbeek’s thoughts. Park Ji-sung, Lee Yeong-pyo and Seol Gi-hyeon have had surgery and recently even midfielder Kim Nam-il will be having it as well. Lee Dong-guk announced “If my knee doesn’t recovers will have to give up participating in the Asian Cup”, dashing Verbeek’s hopes.

On the other hand the other competing nations are busily preparing and organizing.

From the beginning of this month Saudi Arabia has had tryouts for selection and this week the UAE, Singapore, Oman, and North Korea are planning to scout in Singapore. It’s already been two weeks since Bahrain selected and began organizing its national team. And even Indonesia, classified as the weakest team, has been preparing for the past 8 weeks.

Korean Bodybuilders

South Korea may not be a place where bodybuilding is very popular, and the guys hanging around the gyms here are definitely not as big as those you’ll see in western countries, but there is a bodybuilding circuit for sure. Take a look at these photos and captions translated from the Korean version of MSN.

On the afternoon of the 21st at Olympic Park, competitors in the regular female division of the 2007 Mr. and Ms. Korea Competition show off their magnificent motions before the preliminary rounds.

This guy competed in the middle-aged division. The boys below are high school students.

Heard around the league

Today the Sports Chosun brings us a few quotes from interviews around the Korean baseball world.

– “Does he have to go to the Majors?” <Foreign hitter Cruise on manager Kim In-shik after hearing that Kim has “Major League style.”>

– “I’ve quit alcohol and cigarettes.” <Samsung manager Seong Dong-yeol, who had a lot of stress during games but now soothes his mind by giving up drinking and smoking.>

– “Thanks for coming to us. I’m sure you’ll work hard.” <LG’s Lee Seung-ho, after seeking out manager Kim Jae-bak and politely greeting him before rushing out to the first inning.>

Foreign Ballplayers in Korea

In my travels I’ve found that two of the most fun places to spot differences among cultures are movie theatres and sports events. Spending a few hours at the ballpark in Korea is very different from anywhere else — cheerleaders (male and female), boisterous fans banging drums, squid instead of hot dogs, and the whole stadium divided lengthwise into fans of the home and road teams. I’m not big on the cheerleaders, drums, or squid, but that last one could avoid some incidents like the one at Yankee Stadium a few years ago where a Padres fan’s hat was set on fire.

Having casually followed Korean baseball the last few years I’ve often wondered how good they are. Compared to Japan, of course, not that many Korean players have made it in the US, though they shocked everyone with their very strong performance in the World Baseball Classic. The Sports Chosun decided to ask the foreigners playing in the KBO — every team is allowed to have two — what they think of the quality of Korean baseball.

                    

What is the quality of Korean pro baseball as reflected in the eyes of foreign players? We went straight to the horse’s mouth.

The most common answer was that it’s between MLB and triple-A. Out of 15 players asked (except those on the Samsung Browns), 6 answered that way. Hanhwa outfielder Jacob Cruise made his estimation by saying “It’s a little better than triple-A. About 60% of players are better than triple-A but 20-30% aren’t quite good enough.” Doosan pitcher Matt Randall also said “There are a few teams better than triple-A”, adding “I don’t think it’s less than Japan. Japanese hitters focus on precision while Korean hitters focus on power.” Lotte pitcher Jose Cabrera said “The pitchers are close to triple-A. Hitters on the other hand are close to the majors. Like major leaguers, after two strikes Korean hitters bat differently.” Those who said it was the same as triple-A numbered 5. Lotte infielder Edward Rios  answered “If you combine the hitters and pitchers it’s the same level as triple-A but a few players are good enough to be in MLB.”

There were also answers emphasizing the diference in styles. SK pitcher Kenny Lavin, who experienced playing baseball in Taiwan, explained that “Hitters’ power is similar to the International League in triple-A. Korean hitters also swing hard with two strikes. Each team has one or two guys who can carry the team and get the big hit like major leaguers. Lotte’s Lee Dae-hu and Kia’s Jang Seong-ho are like that. Korea’s different from Japan and Taiwan and close to American baseball.”

Last to make his appraisal, LG pitcher Tim Halikala said “If you look at the starting lineups, one or two guys could be in the big leagues and three to four would be at triple-A. Another three or four would be double-A. If a Korean team played a season in triple-A they’d be in the lower ranks.”

Because it’s there

If you spend any time in Korea, whether hiking or just on the subway, you will inevitably see a group of older people together decked out in brand-new mountain climbing gear with stuffed backpacks and walking poles. It all seems pretty silly when you consider the low degree of difficulty of hiking mountains here, but some people are quite serious and join groups of like-minded people to travel the globe and climb its famous mountains.

None, of course, are more famous than Everest, where two Korean climbers recently died while attempting a new route to the peak.

A memorial ceremony was held on the 27th at 11 am at Seoul National University Hospital’s chapel for Oh Hui-jun (37) and Lee Hyeon-ju (35), both of Gold Win Korea and who died while on an expedition to the peak of Mt. Everest for a 30th anniversary.

One mountaineer who participated in the ceremony lamented their deaths, saying “They were the representative mountain experts of Korea and after Park Yeong-seok, Eom Hong-gil, and Han Wang-yong were runners into the new century.”

On the 16th at 1:50 am (local time), the two men were staying at the northwest side of base camp 4 (7800 meters above sea level) on Mt. Everest when suddenly they were overtaken by a rockfall and an avalanche.

Time to go down to Hangang Park!

The broad Han River runs through Seoul, splitting it into north and south, and the Hangang River Citizen’s Park runs alongside it for quite a bit of that length. It gives you a great place to walk along the banks of the Han, take a cruise on the river, or, for a few days now as the Munhwa Ilbo reports, take in a different kind of scenery.

On the 30th in the Jamsil area of Seoul’s Hangang River Citizen’s Park, Georgia (yellow uniforms) and Canada participate in a qualifying match the first day of the Seoul International Women’s World Tour Beach Volleyball tournament. The tournament will continue until June 3.