Sporting Events in Korea

Sporting Events in Korea

18th June 2007
I don't quite have the same travel and adventure opportunities that I used to have now that I am in full time employment. The weekends have become my time to relax, kick back and discover more about Korea. So, these are my weekend adventures. Not quite as harrowing as Rwanda, not nearly as eye-opening as Kitgum and not as smelly as Kibera. But hey, it is a developed country so waddya going to do?

Here I present all the sporting activities that I have been up to.

A day at the races

One weekend saw me spend a day at the Korean races with three Scottish lads and some Korean friends.

The race course was - I suppose - like any other race track in the world: Punters perused horses in the birdcage looking for gamy legs and suspect flanks; maniacal horses bolted from starting gates; suicidal jockeys belted the crap out of their steeds as the thundered down the straight; college funds were lost and beer drinking money was won.

The sister of one of my Korean friends worked at the race track and managed to score us some corporate boxes to watch from. Sweet! We lounged around, drank and generally lowered the tone of the place.

I had the odd flutter to make things interesting. Clawed my way back from being down $NZ 60, to be about even for the day.

Mostly I went for the atmosphere and was not disappointed. As far as gambling goes, I'll take Pusoy and rooster fights any day.

An evening at the soccer

South Korea co-hosted the World Cup back in 2002. They made it all the way to the semifinals which - depending on where you're from - was either due to the massive uplifting given to the team by the home crowds, or favorable decisions handed out by referees.

What is not disputed however is the gorgeous soccer stadiums that they now possess.

Back in my homeland we have much smaller stadiums. Some are downright ugly and depleted like Carisbrook^*in Dunedin. Some are cobbled together and trying to be big, like Jade Stadium in Christchurch and Eden Park in Auckland. And some of them are very modern, but not so big - like the Cake Tin in Wellington and the North Harbor Stadium in Auckland.

I headed to the Korea vs. Holland match one Saturday evening with some friends. The game was fun, but the atmosphere was cooler.

The organizers of the event employed some people to bash drums, holler down megaphones and lead stadium wide chants. You'd get booed and have beer thrown at you if you did this in New Zealand. Here though - and this is another thing to love about Koreans - the crowd supported it whole heartedly.

One of the people I went with told me that when he went to a previous game, one of his mates (who was not German) stood up for Germans national anthem and pretended to sing along. In New Zealand, you'd get some general ribbing for doing that. In soccer mad places like Brazil and Argentina, you'd be taking a serious risk with your personal safety. In Korea, you get your hand shaken and are given gifts. Cool.

For the record, Korea lost two zip.

An Evening at the baseball

Throw a ball to a kid in the Philippines and they'll bounce it and try to throw it through a hoop. Throw a ball to a kid in Africa and they'll kick in. Throw a ball to a kid in Korea and they'll more than likely try to find a stick and hit the ball with it.

Baseball is huge here. Not as huge as soccer in Africa of basketball in the Philippines, but huge nevertheless. You always find at least two baseball games being broadcast at any time of the day on Korean television^**.

On yet another evening I headed off to watch the SK Something-a-rathers vs. the LG Thingy-ma-jigs.

Much like the soccer stadium, the baseball stadium is huge.

It had the usual trappings of sports stadiums around the world: Fast food stands (selling noodles instead of hot dogs though), scantily clad cheerleaders and goofy looking mascots that were either: adjusting their oversized head, posing for photos or being attacked by little kids.

^* Some Dunedites are going to hate me for saying that. But come on guys, there's a "Do not urinate in the sink" sign in the men rooms, ugly concrete stands, and it doesn't even have its own website...

^** Strangely enough you'll also find at least two games of Starcraft being broadcast as well

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