SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS NCAA BASKETBALL KJ CHOI and TIGER
Living in SKorea from 1996 till 2009, denied me the opportunity to watch professional sports on a regular basis.
As a result, I lost interest in professional sports, since as the years went by, all my favorite players were either traded or retired. I didn’t know any players on my favorite teams anymore. Plus, because I couldn't watch games with any regularity, I could not follow standings. I just lost interest.
I have friends back in the ROK who follow the NBA, NHL and NFL on the interweb, but it's not the same thing.
I've been back in LA for four months now and I’ve watched a lot of Laker Basketball. I’ve gone to a few Clipper games. AND…
For the first time in my life I watched the NCAA tournament, dubbed March Madness – the University basketball tournament leading up to the Final Four. This year, there were many ‘Cinderella Stories’, which thanks to Billy Murray’s character in Caddyshack, is now a perennial favorite colloquial for ‘A team from nowhere going all the way!’
This year, the team to watch was Butler University from Indiana, who not only made it to the Final four, but also, the Final Four game was played only 7 miles from their University.
And unlike most college sport coaches, or just about all basketball or football coaches, for that matter, who tend to be older, loud psychotic hotheads on the verge of heart attacks, Butler’s squad leader was a young bright eyed guy who looked very much like a college student. He’d dance and cheer along with his teammates, and he looked like their peer! Butler had a great team, no superstars, and a deep bench. Every player scored in the final game against Duke.
In the final game, Butler lost to Duke by only two points. Duke’s defense – they were by far the better team, some players destined for the NBA – held Butler score less for 10 minutes. Duke’s coach was a 30 year veteran; that is, 30 years as head coach of Duke’s basketball team! While Butler’s coach was barely 30 years old. At the buzzer, Butler’s guard got off a shot, way beyond the 3 point line, just inside half court. The shot soared over the key and hit the rim before bouncing away and the game ended. Duke won by a mere two points. Had the shot landed, and it was close, Butler would have won.
That’s about as exciting a finish as any sports fan could hope to get, and the Butler team did not drive the 7 miles home, feeling as though they were losers. Duke was by far the better team. Butler, by many estimates should not have even been there. There were no losers that day, only Duke got the trophy.
College basketball has become a breeding ground for the next NBA superstar. Young ghetto kids are recruited out of high school, play one year for a Uni and then go pro. During that year, that college with the hottest up and comer tends to win the final four. Sometimes, at a college like Butler, with players who do not plan to go pro, but plan to go on and have careers – sometimes, the same players play together on the same team for consecutive years, and they have a team that can win games. And it’s pretty exciting.
These days also, many high school kids go directly to the NBA. Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Kevin Garnett – not counting Shaq, those are the three most dominant players in the NBA today. Shaq, of course, is not what he used to be. Still, those other big three – Kobe, Lebron, KG – they never went to University. They went straight from high school to the NBA. Shaq, however, took Louisiana State the Final Four before joining the NBA and getting Rookie of the Year, like the others. Whatever that means.
Also, for the first time in my life, this year, I’ve watched a whole golf tournament with enthusiasm.
Golf? Who would watch golf? My brother that’s who. I’ve never watched golf before, and I’ll probably never watch it again, but it sure was fun watching golf this weekend. I never realized all the intricacies of the game. I’d never watched golf before in my life, and I’ve never in my life played golf.
It wasn’t just because it was ‘the return of the ‘Return of Tiger Woods’ which is a big deal in the minds of many. I find the whole matter disgraceful. Not what Tiger did, that is forgivable, and it’s none of my business. The way the American press and the American people have handled Tiger’s family matters is truly pathetic. The only other American who’s had to go before the entire world and apologize for marital indiscretion is Bill Clinton. And he was President! Who is Tiger Woods? Some golfer? Some profession athlete? Do American parents really believe that athletes are role models, and if so, so what? Why don’t American parents spend more time talking to their children and teaching their children how to behave, than criticizing people they don’t even know?
In any event, Augusta, Georgia was the site of the Masters’ Tournament in Golf this weekend, starting April 8th, lasting 4 days till April 11th. Like I said, I’d never watched golf before, but watching Tiger and Mickelson and Westwood swing it out was very exciting.
For me, it was not so much eventful that Tiger finished 4th, as much as Tiger finished TIED with K.J. Choi, from Wando, SKorea. K.J. Choi was one of three ethnic Koreans in the running. Choi is what we call a Korean-Korean, while the other two were Kyopo, or Korean-American.
Not only did both Tiger and Choi finish at 11 under par at the close of the tourney, but they ended each of the four days of the tourney with the SAME SCORE! Consequently, the two were paired up each of the four days. I’m sure Choi and Tiger got to know each other well, or maybe they were too busy competing to talk.
In addition to Kyung Joo CHOI, pronounced Chwe by Koreans, but Choy like bok choy by American/British announcers, there was one other Korean in the top five. Anthony Kim is actually a Korean-American, born in LA, but he’s already earned 1.7 million so far this year, and he finished 3rd in the Masters at 12 under par, ahead of both Choi and Tiger, who finished tied for 4th place.
It is interesting that 2 of the top 5 golfers in the PGA Master’s tournament in 2010 were ethnic Koreans. I wonder if the SKorean media are eating this shit up, the way you didn’t stop hearing about Hines E. Ward after Steelers won the Superbowl in 2006.
Channel 18 here on the cable station has some SKorean dramas and commercials. I watch them sometimes. As much as I’m happy I don’t live in SKorea anymore, I sure do miss aspects of SKorea. Like all the sexy women on TV. Like Se-ri Park.
LA April 12, 2010
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