Co-host Mr. P is busy so I replaced his voice with an AI one.
Cue 5 seconds of 30 for 30 theme song.
PM: (doing a bad Brooklyn accent as a parody of the 30 for 30 intros) I wanted to do an episode all about sports documentaries in Korea because it is a subject that has so far been largely unexplored. And that is a damn shame. Sports are the heartbeat of a country and their documentaries are the patch work of a tapestry of a kaleidoscope of the people. That’s what we’re here for.
30 for 30 Theme plays out.
PM: It’s that song!
SA: Yes it is! By popular request
PM: Mostly by me!
SA: We’re gonna do a special episode on a Korean version of 30 for 30. We call it 30 for SamShip!
PM: Like the ESPN documentary series, we look at Korean sports stories that deserve a high quality documentary. A deep dive, if you will.
SA: But maybe not a glaze story like some of them, including the one about the Sacramento mayor that later got canceled.
PM: So join us on this journey and if you have any ideas, send us an email and we’ll talk about them in the next episode.
SA: Let’s jump right into it!
Introduction
PM: First, an introduction to 30 for 30. For those not from North America, it is a wide ranging documentary movie series in which independent directors work with ESPN films to cover important sporting events. It’s called 30 for 30 because ESPN created the series to celebrate their 30th anniversary. They’ve made some great films like Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the NY Knicks but also a few that sort of sucked like Kings Ransom, the one about the Gretzky trade to the Kings.
SA: What was wrong with that one?
PM: Well, it’s a subject that deserves a good documentary but centering it around Gretzky wasn’t a great idea. He’s not a very interesting guy and his low, drone of a voice is enough to put you to sleep. The interviewer didn’t help by asking him a bunch of softball questions as well. No, the best way to do a Gretzky Trade doc is to make it all about the two owners, LA’s Bruce McCall and Edmonton’s Peter Pocklington, who orchestrated the entire thing. They were the best part of King’s Ransom but it should’ve had more to do with them.
SA: The Last Dance was another of their projects, though not their best.
PM: Uh, the Last Dance was a Netflix production. It did air on ESPN but it’s not part of the 30 for 30 family. At any rate, it’s a cultural landmark!
SA: True, but I love the volume 2 movies Broke and Ghosts of Mississippi more.
PM: OK, Ghosts of Mississippi, I can understand since you lived in Louisiana. But Broke?! Come on!
SA: Now I haven't seen much of volume 4 because of region restrictions and the bootleggers not uploading them, so it’s not my final answer on the show. But growing up, haven’t you wondered why these millionaire athletes be broke after retirement?
PM: I have and, again, it’s a great subject for a documentary but I couldn’t stand how it was presented. A bunch of athletes as talking heads not really explaining how they blew through their millions? I lost interest pretty quickly. A better approach would have been to follow three or four ex-players around, interview them and their families and chat with economists, shrinks and agents about their situations.
SA: Anyway, we literally have spent hours talking about 30 for 30 documentaries…
PM: In fact, we could probably do a 30 for 30 podcast examining each episode…
SA: Let’s put a pin in that one but now it’s time for our ideas! We’ve made a list of 4 stories each to cover.
PM: Otherwise we’ll be here for hours! And our analytics say you can’t stand our voices for more than 50 minutes at a time.
SA: Yes the analytics are quite anal on that point. *Joke sting* So we begin with my first idea; the 2011 match-fixing scandal. The scandal was well covered in the past but I feel like it needs a deep dive. It still has an effect to this very day! You can really see the difference in the attendance numbers for many sports before and after the scandal. I think if a director could get those involved to confess on camera, it’d be an easy Tony award!
PM: The Tony's are for plays, numbskull!
SA: Oh,,,d’oh!
PM: You’re thinking of the Nebula awards!
SA: Wait a minute I know that one! That’s a science fiction award!
PM: Shit I forgot too! What’s the one for TV in the States? Emmy or something?
SA: Doesn’t matter because this is a Korean documentary, but anyway, I want to call it “Wins for Wons” because a part of the scandal was football players throwing games for 50 thousand won or something. That was 50 bucks back then. I feel like the paltry salaries of many low-tier athletes kinda led to the scandal, know what I mean?
PM: No question about it! All right, my first one is entitled Hiroaki, aka Akio, aka Myong-bu.
SA: Not all that catchy.
PM: I’m not married to it. It’s about the Japanese pitcher Hiroaki Fukushi and his epic 1983 season for the old Sammi Superstars. He pitched in 60 of the club's 100 games, won 30 with 6 saves and was instrumental in the club’s massive turnaround from their disastrous first season in which they went 15-67. Somehow, he didn’t manage to win the MVP that year though.
SA: Anti-Japanese bias perhaps?
PM: Who knows? He lost out to Lee Man-soo of the Samsung Lions who was a pretty great hitter and is one of only 3 Lions players to have his number retired so I wouldn’t want to take anything away from him. Still, the Superstars improved and finished above .500 and Myong-bu was responsible for 69% of their wins. Yet, they missed the playoffs.
SA: How did the Lions do?
PM: They finished below .500 and also missed the playoffs.
SA: Didn’t any of the contenders have star players?
PM: Apparently not. Let’s just say they both enjoyed MVP caliber seasons and leave it at that. It might also be a good documentary to look at how Japanese players were used back then. Nowadays, the bulk of the stars are from the US or Dominican Republic.
SA: My next idea is a baseball story about the near miracle season of LG 2 years ago. They won the Korean Series against the KT Wiz for the first time in 29 years, in which they beat the Dolphins. There were some exciting games in that series and I think it would get the Boston vs New York treatment. I would call it From Zero to better than Hero.
PM: LG hasn’t been bad for that long. Hell they made the playoffs 4 straight years.
SA: I know but it makes a compelling story. If the eagles or Giants had won it would also be compelling because they haven’t won since the 90s as well. So now it’s your turn.
PM: It’s something we went back-and-forth with in our Olympics episode so I don’t wish to re-litigate all that but I’d like to see a complete, unbiased doc about the 1984 and ‘88 boxing scandals. As I said then, it gets on my nerves that people bring up Roy Jones Jr as though the sport wasn’t already riddled in corruption. His was the worst case of appallingly bad judges deciding the outcome of matches but it was far from the only one.
SA: So, do you imagine this being half from the Korean perspective and half from the American?
PM: Exactly.
SA: My next idea is a biography on Park Ji-Seong aka “Three-Lung" Park. We talked a little about him when discussing the K-League and why he didn’t play in it. I feel like a deep dive into his time at Man U, the abuse allegations, the frog eating thing, and the anti-racism campaign would make for a great movie or even a series.
PM: It would be… wait a sec, I heard it was frog juice he had indulged in. I never heard anything about him eating them!
SA: Yes! His dad made him eat frogs and other strange meat when he was a kid. In fact his dad was so all-in on Ji-Seong’s chances that he bought a butcher shop so he could feed him whatever he thought would work.
PM: Good lord! That would also make a great episode of weird rules on Secret Base.
SA: Yup! New rule by the KFA! You can’t make aspiring players eat frogs!
PM: You’re ribbit out of luck *joke sting*
SA: Hahaha indeed.
PM: Any ideas for a shorts episode?
SA: I think the best idea would be an episode on the Samsung Lions and the umpire they bribed slash gave money to before they won the series.
PM: Why do you put it that way?
SA: It’s wrong that team employees gave him money but it’s not clear, at least in the league’s estimation, that he rigged games in their favor. Other teams’ employees gave him money, but it might have been bad money management on his part rather than game rigging.
PM: I’m having a lot of doubts about that. This sounds like a Tim Donaghy thing.
SA: The NBA Ref Tim Donaghy did get an Untold movie so I think this one would be on the same lines, assuming the umpire in question is willing to talk about it. What about the rigging, you ask? Well, an umpire can’t help you if you can’t hit a curveball. He can’t put you in a position to score runs.
PM: My idea for a 30 for Sam Ship short would be on Sammy Lee, the Korean-American platform diver who won golds in 1948 and ‘52 despite facing prejudice. He even faced a lot of it back home after the games. He tried to buy a house but the neighbours didn’t want to have anything to do with him. He also lived a long life and was involved in Pyeongchang’s bid to host the Winter Olympics though he would sadly pass away just over a year prior to them taking place..
Other ideas:
SA: We’re getting near the end of the show, so I’d like to go over 1 idea quickly for the documentary series. My idea for season 2 of 30 for Sam Ship would be to cover the bullying scandal involving the twin volleyball players that got them chased out of Korea. What’s your idea for season 2?
PM: Red Devils: The Story of International Football’s Loudest Fans. Red Devils: just in case you confuse them with green, yellow or navy blue devils, I guess. When I first came to Korea, it was just before the 2006 World Cup and the anticipation was tremendous. I remember a student of mine telling me about how the Red Devils made everyone in the country so proud. At first, I thought he was talking about the team but no, he was referring to the fans. I couldn’t believe it! It’s sort of the inverse of the Jerry Seinfeld bit “We Won! We Won!” “No, they won, you watched” but instead it’s “We Won! We Won!” “No, they played, we cheered and won”. I make fun but it would still make for a good documentary.
SA: For a follow-up, a side piece about the North Korean football fans could go along with it. The ones that aren’t volunteers posing as fans anyway.
PM: Before we go, there’s one nagging thing that needs addressing.
SA: What’s that?
PM: Why aren’t there any Korean sports documentaries? Or if there are, where the hell are they?
SA: Good question.
PM: I have a theory that might at least explain it up to a point.
SA: Okay.
PM: The post-Bowling for Columbine documentary revolution that took over the west never came over to this side of the Pacific. When I talk to my university students about films, the majority of them will turn up their noses and claim they’re “boring”. Back in North America that may have been the case prior to the millennium (even though Hoop Dreams came out in the nineties and it's a masterpiece) but virtually everyone I know back home loves documentaries these days. Dogtown and Z-Boys, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Super Size Me. I love those movies.
SA: I think that attitude is changing, at least nowadays. The church scandal documentary got a lot of buzz, and one called Cyber Hell about the Nth room case was also popular. Do I wanna say something like quote The more lurid, the better unquote? Not really, but I guess it depends on the story being covered. A comedy documentary about the 2014 Incheon Asian games would be hilarious.
GAME OF the week
SA: It’s still early in the K-League season so I’m not putting a lot of stock in the games. However, an early test for Jeonbuk comes against Ulsan HD this Saturday. Is Jeonbuk really going to be good this year? You’ll find out tomorrow! If you’re into basketball, you might like Sunday’s Phobos vs Sonicboom in Ulsan, a matchup between two good teams! It’s the best one of the holiday weekend as the others are ass. We’ve also got handball at the Seoul Olympic Park handball stadium this weekend. Both divisions will be there so you get both for the price of 1 ticket. We love our bargains here at Hwai-ting Sports Podcast and so should you!
Ending
SA: Thanks for tuning in today! We hoped you learned something new about Korean sports!
PM: I certainly did! Please share this podcast with your friends & family, anyone you think would be interested in irreverent takes on Korean Sports.
SA: Especially give this to rookies. They need alllll the help they can get.
PM: Don’t forget to rate our podcast 5 stars of course. But don’t do it if you don’t like us.
SA: You can email the show at hwatingsportspodcast at gmail.com or leave a comment on our various podcast sites. Hate mail will be read aloud on special episodes and ruthlessly mocked.
PM: Fan mail will be mocked but in a more wholesome way.
SA: A special thanks to our listeners in Oulu Finland!
PM: Home of the 3rd best hockey team in the Finnish Elite Le ague!
SA: Our next episode will be Friday March 7th. We’ll be previewing the K-League season! Always a fan favorite.
PM: We’ll talk about the various foreign players on each team, too!
SA: Music notes like the opening song thanks to DumiAFava. Cover art thanks to our live-in cycling expert James! Until next time, Korean sports fans!
PM: Guests of the Hwa-ting sports podcast are catered by MI-5 Coffee, the hottest copycat chain to hit the shores of the Daejeon River! Like other chains named after spy agencies, this chain produces uniquely flavored blends that stretch the definition of coffee. But what makes the new the most unique is its new line of coffee blends mixed with invasive sea life captured by Gyeongnam’s top haenyo divers. Taste the future of seafood in your coffee cup today! Baristas are standing by, with globs of bizarre new seaweed at the ready!