SA: Dig
PM: Set
SA: Spike!
PM: Dig
SA: Set
PM: Spike! That can’t be it…can it?
SA: You forgot the scoop.
PM: Scoop? What’s the scoop? Is that like the dive?
SA: Hell no! It’s when the foreign player blasts the ball and the tiny librero player dives for it but gets knocked out. Then the janitor comes over with the snow scoop and scoops her remains off the court, dumps them in the bench. The announcers go “Whelp, she dead.”
and then play resumes.
PM: So folks, as you can tell, we’re talking about volleyball, corpse jokes aside.
SA: And we’ll talk about handball, specifically the movie Forever the Moment. Both leagues start at roughly the same time of year, so it’s best to cover them together.
Rough history of volleyball in Korea and how schools play it a lot.
SA: Volleyball, like ice hockey, is an old sport here in modern South Korea. According to the Korean Volleyball Association, volleyball was brought in by the YMCA in 1916 and games between youth teams took part. After the occupation ended, the volleyball association came into being and later became the primary group in charge of the national teams. The main focus of the group was getting volleyball into schools so kids could learn the game.
PM: That seems to be one of the main reasons behind why all the schools have a big gym. Well, for that and those boring assemblies you told me about. I never worked public school so I got to avoid those.
SA: Yeah, those were quite the snoozer. Literally. I snored once during the antidrug speech and got elbowed by my co-teachers. Anyway, the group formed and funded the national men’s and women’s teams. Those teams, despite their efforts, have not borne many fruits of success.
PM: They can’t be that bad, right? Right?
SA: Well…Let’s say their best years are behind them. Only the women’s team has won bronze in, guess where? The Montreal Games!
PM: They were powered to victory by those hot chicken sandwiches smothered in gravy and topped with peas, and all those steamed hot dogs.
SA: I hear the bagels in Montreal are good too. Though I bet they also brought the canned kimchi with them that was specially made for the Dae Han battalions in the Vietnam War. Anyway, that seems to be the high point of the national teams. Other than the Asian games, they haven’t had much success. Heck the women’s team recently lost 30 straight matches in the international league.
PM: Oh no! They’ve become the China Dragons of volleyball! What about the men’s team?
SA: They’ve only been good in the Asian games and leagues, but only 4th place finishes in the World cup decades ago. They haven’t qualified for the Olympics in 20 years. At least the women’s team makes the olympics from time to time.
PM: You’d figure with all the volleyball games at schools the country would be able to field a better team.
SA: Probably because the teachers are playing all the time too. There’s a teacher league, in which the teachers play each other usually on Wednesday afternoons and league games depending on the city. I remember being told not to hit the ball too hard so I wouldn’t smoosh the other teachers.
PM: The schools made y’all play?
SA: Some schools did. Mostly I ate snacks & samgyepsal with the other teachers. I think with the increased focus on educational results, teachers don’t have as much time to play.
PM: There’s a pro league and the bulk of the players come from there, right?
The KOVO system & scandals, this season’s changes, and some foreign players.
SA: Yes there is, but unlike baseball & football, it’s one of the youngest leagues. KOVO started the V-League in 2005 with men’s and women’s leagues. The league started with 5 teams each and now it has 7 teams with Gwangju’s AI Peppers being the most recent expansion team.
PM: We went to a Peppers game in Yeomju stadium last year. Man, finding our seats was a workout in and of itself!
SA: They did not do a good job labeling the seats, but on the bright side, the ones we chose were perfect. Far enough away from the speakers that we could hear each other!
PM: The volleyball teams seem to have this big spread in sponsors. You’ve got banks like Woori and Peppers, a fricken Korean Air team (that I wish would throw airplane peanuts into the crowd), construction companies, insurance companies, a ginseng company, and the toll road company all sponsoring teams.
SA: I think our friends with cars should go to GS Caltex games to see if the cheerleaders will throw 20% off fuel coupons into the crowd. Imagine if Chevron bought the Grizzlies. Yeah the team would still suck but attendance would skyrocket from the bottom if they showered the crowd with gas coupons.
PM: Are you suggesting the league should bribe fans to get them into the stands?
SA: They probably don’t have to, especially for the women’s games. They have some popular players that really bring the fans out, even long distances. The stadiums don’t look full on TV, except for playoff games, but the cheering sections always seem full.
PM: Speaking of famous players, do you know of any offhand?
SA: I’m not a big volleyball fan. I almost never watch the men’s game but my wife and I will watch women’s games from time to time. The ball moves a bit slower so it’s easier for rallies to start and see the strategy in action. Also in the women’s league, you REALLY see the height difference between the foreign player who's as tall as you and the Korean players who are nowhere near as tall. When you see the libero player and the tall foreigner together in pictures, it’s like whoa! You could stack two liberos to make 1 foreign player! Speaking of the foreign players, they often appear in banner ads or other paper advertisements so they’re the ones we see the most. Though if you watch a lot of TV, you might see the Korean players on cosmetic ads and whatnot.
PM: Oh so people are only following the teams because the players are pretty? That seems a bit unfair don’t cha think?
SA: Well I’m not saying the male players aren’t appearing in cosmetic ads either. Look, if you can find a skin cream they’re hawking that can repair the damage a 100 kilometer an hour ball can do to your face, shit I’d put it on every day! (laughter)
SA: Anyway, I’m not great with names but there are a few that I recall. On GS Caltex there’s a player who just retired after playing 23 years. 정대영 is her name and she played for 3 teams in the V-League. She’s the Vince Carter of Korean volleyball! Another player is Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi from Indonesia. She started playing striker for the Red Sparks in Daejeon last year and it’s really brought in the Indonesian fan base. They even had exhibition matches in Jakarta with her team against the national team. Finally, there’s Tseveenravdan Orkhon a naturalized citizen from Mongolia. She went to Mokpo Girls High school and got drafted by the AI Peppers in the expansion draft. According to the Joongang Daily, she had to pass the naturalization test before being allowed to play in the V-League.
PM: So she’s the Peppers version of Wembamyama?
SA: Might as well since they need foreign players. The Peppers lost a foreign player who took some CBD products to Korea and got in trouble with customs. She could complete the season but they wouldn’t renew her visa.
PM: The team only had 5 wins so maybe she wasn’t so helpful.
SA: Finally, two more players we need to talk about are the infamous Lee twins. They played with Heunguk Pink Spiders but were kicked off the team because of a school bullying scandal. Then the KVA tried to block them from signing a contract with a Greek team but the international league ruled against them. However, their leaving the team broke up the team’s chances at a 3-peat and they lost in the playoffs.
PM: So what’s happening this season?
SA: The international volleyball federation is requiring some rule changes that the V-league will test out. One is that there will be 2 video reviews per set. Also, coaches can call for a review while the rally is going on, even if the referee has not made a call.
PM: (sarcastic voice) that’s not going to slow down the game at all…
SA: But there is a solution, called the Green card system.
PM: Good players can immigrate to Canada now?
SA: Haha not that green card. No, it’s a ‘good sportsmanship’ award in which players can get if they admit they committed a foul before video replay gets asked. The winner is the player with the most fair play points.
PM: Does the league really think players will willingly allow themselves to cost their team a set?
SA: Probably. The video replay views seem really good these days. If you think you’re going to lose on review you might as well admit it early and get some brownie points and save everyone’s time. And speaking of time, we need to move to the important part.
PM: More scandals?
SA: Well I wanted to make a season preview but as of the time we recorded this episode, the league hasn’t released their schedule.
PM: That’s not a scandal is it? Here in Korea, things tend to get done very close to the deadline more often than not.
SA: Yes, that is true, but they gotta have an idea of when and where they wanna play by now. The arena owners are going to want to fill in their schedules for the rest of the year too. The season runs from mid-october to april. All I’m saying is that the arena owners, if they’re not owned by the team itself, are going to want to rent out those spaces for festivals and concerts. LIke how the field in Ganjin was rented out for the beer festival we went to last week.
PM: Those were some damn good fries weren’t they? Some of the best I’ve had in country.
SA: Not gonna lie- they were, though I wish they were fried a little longer.
PM: It was hot! Give the fry man a break! *Joke sting sound effect*
How to go to games
SA: As we said, the V-League is one of the big pro sports leagues in Korea. Which means it’s not a crapshoot to get tickets.
PM: The very close seats sell out pretty quick, but who wants to get hit in the head with a volleyball?
SA: Yeah this is a league where being closer to the action is a detriment to your health! So, if you want to learn about the league, go to kovo dot co dot kr. Don’t bother clicking on the English button because it only has one page in English and it’s just a message from the commissioner.
PM: (Sarcastic) Wow…super useful. See why we tell you listeners to check the gambling sites if you want info in English?
SA: On the website you can learn about the teams, see the schedule WITH the stadium name clearly written and copyable, see highlights, and get tickets- though I believe it routes you to Ticketlink. As of this writing they haven’t posted the ticket prices, but you should expect to pay around 15 thousand for a seat.
PM: So where are the teams, besides the big cities?
SA: There are also teams in Uijeongbu, Cheonan, Ansan, Suwon, Hwaseong, and Gimcheon. Strangely enough, Daegu and Busan don’t have teams. Namu Wiki’s writers mentioned that the men’s league wants an 8th team to make a better schedule. Gwangju, Ulsan, Pohang, and even Busan were mentioned as places that could host a team.
PM: But where are they going to play in Busan? The Sajik arena is booked due to both basketball teams and Gijang is too far away.
SA: KOVO doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to planning, but the loan industry has a lot of bad press so I can see a big lender stepping in, once the economy improves. Speaking of the future, I found someone interested in being a referee and I asked her a few questions.
Question 1- What made you interested in being a volleyball referee?
She said- Through volleyball competitions, I could come across referees. I believe she means she played volleyball and met many refs there.
Question 2-How often do you see the KVA’s promotions of the sport? I rarely see any mention of volleyball in the public sphere.
She said- I saw a few promotions on Instagram but off-line I can't see one of them. Steve- This confirms my reasoning that the league is not investing money in public events often enough.
Question 3-Have you met any foreign players so far? If not, are you worried about communicating with them in English or other languages? Or is there a translator/language guide that helps referees? Or do referees just talk to the coaches? I noticed a few foreign coaches but they have translators for the most part.
She said- I have. They're Southeast Asian. They communicate with their coach in Korean.
My friend, who plays volleyball at the university as an elite player, also met Mongolian players. They communicate with their coach in Korean or body language.
Usually, coaches can't speak English well, furthermore players also can't fluently speak Korean so they use body language.
Some teams teach foreign players Korean. However all professional clubs have interpreters. Steve-My sense is that the players rarely talk to the refs anyway.
History of Handball, the handball leagues.
PM: On to handball, a sport I much preferred playing in school. Did you recall playing it much in gym class, Mr S?
SA: Actually we played something called handball but it was more like wall-ball or squash but with a bouncy ball. Never saw international team handball before coming to Korea.
PM: The thing that sticks out is Mr Cave, my grade 7 gym teacher, always referring to it as ‘European Handball’ which I later learned was so we wouldn’t confuse it with the handball which you just referred to. Never tried that particular sport and never really wanted to either.
SA: But you liked European handball?
PM: Oh yeah. I wasn’t awful at it which helped. I tended goal a lot because of my height and reach. I probably would’ve tried out for the team but for one tiny problem.
SA: What was that?
PM: My school didn’t have one. In fact, there wasn’t a league either.
SA: Another one for the annals of ‘What If…”
PM: Quite. Much as I like it though, there aren’t many opportunities to see it even though we live in a country with a kind of, sort of professional league and something of a handball tradition which we should get to. So, I guess when I say ‘something of a handball tradition’ it’s worth pointing out that it’s a relatively recent sport so it’s difficult to have a long and proud heritage.
SA: And most of that tradition belongs in Europe.
PM: While the game was codified in the 1800’s, it failed to take off outside of northern Europe until well into the 20th century. Throwing a ball into a peach basket (and, later, a hoop) has been around for 125 years or so. But to play association football with your hands is less than a century old? Strange.
SA: It reminds me more of basketball and football combined together. But when did it become a big deal?
PM: Outside of Europe, I’m not sure it’s ever been a big deal and it didn’t become a full time Olympic sport until 1972 with just an appearance at the ‘36 Berlin Games prior to that. Germany, Austria and Switzerland took the medals that year which isn’t exactly a diverse trio of nations with all due respect to them.
SA: Liechtenstein didn’t come in fourth, did they? They may have concluded that it was far too regional by that stage.
Olympic handball, Forever the Moment movie, the handball league and how to go to games (Steve’ll handle the website part)
PM: Quiz time! Are you ready for the first question, Mr S?
SA: Lay it on me!
PM: What is the only non-European country to medal in men’s handball at the Olympics? Bonus points if you can guess the year it happened.
SA: This feels leading.
PM: Unless it’s a trick question…
SA: I’ll take that chance. I’m gonna say South Korea at the ‘88 Seoul Olympics.
(ding, ding, ding sound)
PM: Well done, my friend. Ready for the final question?
SA: The final question? We just started!
PM: Yeah, I never got round to preparing more. Anyway, ready?
SA: Ready!
PM: Which country leads the way in total medals won in women’s handball at the Olympics?
SA: Is the answer also South Korea?
PM: (dramatic pause) Oh! The answer we were looking for is Norway! Norway. Also the name of a potential Spider-Man-Thor team up movie: Norway Home. *joke sting*
SA: Oh my god.
PM: The Korean women’s team has captured 6 Olympic medals to Norway’s 8. So yeah, Korea has done well at the Olympics in handball. But…
SA: But what?
PM: They’ve begun to slip somewhat. The Europeans, not so much.
PM: So, it’s been tricky trying to find where this interest in handball started off for Korea but no doubt a turning point was the ‘84 LA Olympics.
SA: Why? Did they take home a medal?
PM: Well, the women did, which is impressive considering it was their first time. As for the men, they merely qualified but hey you have to start somewhere. A reason for why they managed to get in can be found in the medalists in ‘76. Men’s tournament: G: USSR; S: Romania; B: Poland. Women’s tournament: G: USSR; S: East Germany; B: Hungary. Romania was the only one who bothered to show up 8 years later. Someone else had to come in and fill the void. Then, Seoul hosted the summer games in ‘88 and some magic occurred - or so I imagine.
SA: Why? What happened?
PM: Well, not only did the women win a thriller over the Soviets to take gold (highlights of which are on YouTube), the men proved to be a sensation with a series of squeaker wins over some Iron Curtain powerhouses in the round robin. They beat Hungary 22-20 in the opener then followed it by edging East Germany 23-22 the two days later. Then they upset the Czechs 29-28 and then crushed Japan 33-24 to advance to the Gold medal game against the Soviets. They would have to settle for silver but this was still a very impressive breakout performance.
SA: It’s just too bad they haven’t done a great deal since.
PM: The Suwon Surprise of ‘88 sadly did not seem to usher in an era of Korean men’s handball as a competitive force.
SA: Suwon Surprise? Isn’t that when someone spits on your ice cream cone?
PM: It could very well be but it’s also my on the nose name for the men’s triumph. The whole handball tournament took place at the Suwon Gymnasium, you see. This Cinderella story does not get mentioned much, possibly because the women did one better and actually beat the Soviets in the final. Had the men done the same thing, this conversation might have been a lot different.
SA: But the women came out of it okay. They even got a movie out of it!
SA: So, we’ll get round to doing an episode on Korean sports movies one day but how about you tell us about the handball film Forever the Moment?
PM: How about I do exactly that?
SA: Go right ahead.
PM: I think I might.
SA: Will you just tell us about the damn movie?
PM: I’d be happy to! Well, I should begin by using a critical observation I normally steer clear of but I’ll make an exception in this instance: it hasn’t aged well. Now I don’t mean that its subject matter is problematic or the actors all have terrible haircuts (though a couple do), only that its formula has been used several times since, so it's a lot less potent than it would have been at the time..
SA: Can you provide an example?
PM: Of course! The team triumphs and the scene cuts to the family back home in front of the TV and everyone’s in tears. This is basically how every Korean sports movie which revolves around competing in either the Olympics or World Championships ends. We’ll get to this in more detail in a future episode but I would like to see just one of these films end with the characters cheering rather than all that bloody crying.
SA: People like a heartwarming story.
PM: Yeah, it’s sick isn’t it? I will say too that Forever the Moment also started a trend of the rag tag team which overcomes its difficulties and in-fighting to win in the end.
SA: Forever the Moment didn’t invent that trope. Major League did! And the Bad News Bears.
PM: Good point. But it may well have established this trope in Korean sports films, albeit in a much less funny fashion. The lead actress is Moon So-ri who plays an aging handball star whose husband is broke and is reduced to working at E-Mart and they owe a shit ton of cash to gangsters. And she has a young son who keeps running onto the court in the middle of her games and practices. This seemed to annoy me a lot more than the players themselves.
SA: Sounds like it captures how difficult it can be as a high level athlete in a niche sport.
PM: It does. And in this regard it is clearly superior to those subsequent national team movies. It’s almost like those classic 이창동 pictures from the early 2000s like Peppermint Candy and Oasis, both of which also happened to star Moon So-ri. I also like the fact that through most of the film she doesn’t quite look like a world class athlete. In fact, she looks more like someone who used to be a star but who has fallen on tough times, which is exactly what she’s supposed to be.
SA: One last thing on Forever the Moment: did you learn anything about handball itself?
PM: Not directly. So, very early on their coach is dismissed and she’s replaced by a hotshot who has been in Europe. Everyone else in the movie is scrambling paycheck to paycheck but he somehow managed to tap into all that sweet Scandinavian handball money or something. Anyway, the players chafe under his rule but he keeps insisting they play the European style. It sort of reminded me of Cool Runnings in which the captain kept nagging his teammates about racing like the Swiss.
SA: “But Darise, we’re not the Swiss team!” The girls should have shown up the next day dressed in hanbok, chanting “Korea’s got a handball team!” (laughter)
PM: Well, you should watch the film to see if that’s what they did. Either that or I could tell you that they didn’t do that at all. Spoilers!
SA: Big surprise. It seems a little hard to believe that they wouldn’t already be familiar with this so-called ‘European style’.
PM: I know. The other thing is given the financial dire straits of the players, perhaps this is why women’s handball has fallen off somewhat since the heyday of the 80’s, 90s and early 2000’s. They took home bronze in 2008, the same year Forever the Moment came out and they haven’t medalled since. So, men’s handball went into decline following their best ever result at the Olympics and women’s handball began to go downhill after the release of a very successful movie all about a popular women’s handball team.
SA: Go figure.
PM: You’ve got to think that the lack of a proper professional league has contributed to this decline.
SA: Proper is the key word here.
Handball League information
PM: It’s not like we only get to see handball every Olympics. There is an active national handball league here in Korea.
SA: Yes there is! In fact, I’ve been to a game this year! Now this is going to sound odd.
PM: Since when is it ever not?
SA: But the teams do not split up and play each other in their own stadiums like a normal league does. Instead all the teams travel to one team’s stadium and they play a week’s worth of games there. Then they go to the next one and all play there again. In fact, some teams like Doosan don’t even have their own home stadium.
PM: We talked about going to a game in April but what happened?
SA: Gwangju has a women’s team and I wanted to see them but they only played on Monday and next Wednesday.
PM: They didn’t have a single weekend game? What the hell?
SA: Precisely. You’d figure the home team would get a game when they could get the most fans…butttt that’s too hard for this league.
PM: And people wonder why they don’t charge for tickets.
SA: They might this year. I saw some info about the league on Ticketlink. So maybe they’ll charge for a whole day’s worth of games or something. Last season in Gwangmyeong the game was free. But I mean, if you’re not going to let me see the home team on the weekend, then I ain’t gonna buy tickets. I’d rather watch it at home.
PM: Where can interested people watch games these days?
SA: The H League, as it’s called these days, had a TV contract with MAXSports. I’ve seen games on Naver TV in the past so I’d look there first. There are 6 men’s teams and 8 women’s teams, with 2 pro men’s teams and 1 pro women’s team called the Sugar Gliders. Naver Sports and the betting sites will have the schedule on days you want to watch. But you can check the schedule on koreahandball dot com. They also have TV information with each game in case you’re wondering what network will cover them.
PM: When does the season start up?
SA: Men go first in mid-november starting the 10th, and then the women join in on January 1st in Cheongju. We in Gwangju get a series from the end of January to mid february.
PM: Right when our vacation time starts! Does Gwangju get any weekend games this time?
SA: The initial schedule just came out today, so let’s see…. Yes they actually get two this time! And then the playoffs start in mid-to-late April.
PM: Any famous players to watch out for?
SA: I’m not sure if she’s still playing but Gwangju had a large & in charge centerback who would bowl everyone over when she jumped to take a shot. Like boukkk! It was good to see the league have players of all body types on the court like that.
PM: Which is something I appreciate about women’s sports in general in this country. K-Pop stars all look more or less the same but that can’t be said for high level athletes. It’s nice to see women do well who aren’t necessarily beauties who starve themselves.
Worst Persons
PM: Oh no, it’s that music again!
SA: Yup, it’s that time! The Worst Persons in the sports world returns!
PM: I thought we were going to do another player profile.
SA: I did mine in the Volleyball segment already.
PM: Unngg who’s on the shit list today?
SA: The Nap award goes to… The VAR team at KBO, again! On Tuesday Sept 3rd, in the 4th inning of the LG Vs Kia game, Socrates hit a ball behind first base. The first basemen passed to the pitcher Austin as Socrates ran full speed to the bag. Both Austin and Socrates stepped on first base. The umpire ruled Socrates safe, a call I agree with. VAR was called in, and the right side camera angle shows Austin stepping on the bag one millisecond or so before Socrates does. It was clear enough that it should have been overturned.
PM: That shouldn’t matter that much in the flow of the game.
SA: Unfortunately for LG, Kia turned that mistake into a rally and scored 3 runs, this turned the game for them which they ultimately won. If I were the owner of LG, I’d be marching into the VAR Booth and throwing glasses of water at everyone like the Water Rage lady did years ago.
PM: Yes because that’s the mature thing to do! VAR makes the right call and you justify throwing a shit fit over it!
SA: They always say baseball is a kid’s game. Probably because we’re constantly throwing tantrums over bad calls. Hell, Chicago Cubs fans threw a yearlong tantrum when Steve Bartmen got blamed for the foul ball. That was a really good 30 for 30 movie too.
PM: You baseball fans need to take some Xanax or something.
SA: We need to drink more soju. The Radon award goes to…Kicker Magazine in Germany. They were covering the Hong Hyun-seok move to the Bundesliga team Mainz 05.
PM: That seems like an accurate report to me.
SA: Until you see the picture. It was Lee Kang-In! He doesn’t even play in the Bundesliga!
PM: Ohhh…crap.
SA: Yeah….I think he’s wearing the national team uniform in the photo they chose. I don’t think it resembles the Gant uniform.
PM: Is #18 even Hong’s number?
SA: No, his number is #8. They even got his number wrong.
PM: Bad journalism strikes again.
SA: I would have given them the highest award if it wasn’t for our big time troublemaker. The Plutonium award goes to the Badminton Korea Association! After An Se-young won the gold in Badminton for the first time in 28 years, she went off against the association in her victory press conference, said the national team staff failed to take a knee injury seriously last year , insisted on brutal training regiments like a marine corp boot camp and focused on doubles players over singles players. They also prevent athletes from getting their own sponsorships and refuse to let athletes compete in the olympics without their oversight. It has gotten to the point where she doesn’t know whether or not she wants to represent Korea anymore. Another issue that came up is they only allow national team members up to the age of 27 for women and 28 for men to compete in international tournaments, which seems bizarre.
PM: So if I was great at badminton at age 45, they wouldn’t let me represent Korea?
SA: Not at all! Now the Sports ministry is investigating and in doing so, they have to speed up their audit of the Football Association which means the K-League is in trouble. A rare two-for-one shellacking!
PM: I bet the KFA are real big fans of the Badminton Korea Association right now.
SA: They were like *funny voice* We’re in the clear!” and now this happens and they’re in big trouble over the salary cap and not sharing data with the Sports ministry in charge of the audits. It’s like when you and your brother made a mess in the living room but you hid yours under the carpet but your brother botches his cleanup and your parents are yelling at him but they see your mess next to his. Oops.
PM: I don’t have a brother, just a perfectly neat and tidy older sister so my folks always knew who had made the mess. Hint: it was me. But, yes, the BKA is the annoying younger sibling of the Korea sports family.
SA: And that is why they are the WORST PERSON in the SPORTS WORLLLDDD!
ENDING
PM: Thank you for tuning in today. Please share this podcast with your friends & family, anyone you think would be interested in knowledgeable takes on all Korean Sports.
SA: Especially give this to rookies. They need alllll the help they can get.
PM: Don’t forget to rate our podcast, if the site you’ve got has a rating system. 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: Our next episode will be Sept 28th or whenever we get back from Seoul. We will cover the Korea Yonsei games! They moved them back because of Chuseok.
PM: I’m just glad it won’t be a sweatbox. Early Chuseoks are a wash but it brings the end of summer.
SA: Music notes like the opening song thanks to DumiAFava. Cover art thanks to our live-in cycling expert James! Until then, sports fans! Have a happy and relaxing summer vacation!
PM: Guests of the Hwa-ting Sports Podcast stay in scenic 광개토 new town, Korea’s latest attempt to turn perfectly good farmland into a city no one asked for. Come stay at our many brand new buildings with no tenants. Look for the sign that says ‘임대’, walk right in and make yourself at home. Amenities include ice cold running water and dead pigeons to either eat or use as pillows. 광개토 new town: just because no one else lives here doesn’t mean you shouldn’t!
Notes:
Professional Sports, a History Written in Sweat : Korea.net
https://betsapi.com/ts/49084/South-Korea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_men's_national_volleyball_team
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korea_women%27s_national_volleyball_team
Scandals on the 100th anniversary
Namu Wiki on the volleyball organization (lots of scandals)
https://www.mk.co.kr/en/sports/11018912 (women’s team bad play)
Indonesian volleyball star helps KGC promote red ginseng products in her home country - The Korea Times Megawati profile
Handball
Talk about olympics, formation of the league, terrible Daegu team (winless last year) the movie, and how to find matches
https://www.koreahandball.com/
https://www.sofascore.com/tournament/handball/south-korea/handball-korea-league/18530
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_League