Hwa-Ting Sports Podcast - Season 5 Episode 17 Terrible Coaching/Coaching Crisis

Terrible Coaches and Sports Updates

Opening Joke

SA: Stop me if you heard this one before.

JT: I probably have but please proceed, Mr. S.

SA: I saw my old karate coach in his car yesterday.

JT: What’d he say?

SA: He drove a KIIIIAAA. *joke sting*

JT: *blow whistle* Flag on the play!

SA: What? Oh come on!

JT: Unsportsmanlike jokes. 15 yard penalty.

SA: Where am I gonna go 15 yards?! I live in a Korean house. That’s practically into my neighbors living room!

JT: Fine then! Your penalty is to analyze the so-called coaching crisis! After this commercial break.

SA: That’s right, listeners! We’ve started a comedic beer commercial series and this is one of our songs!

Mr. Busan Shark Sacrificer guy (special)

Terrible Coaches

SA: (Start with introduction to the problems) We’re talking about terrible coaches and whether or not Korea has a coaching crisis. Get ready because it’s a heavy one today.

JT: And yes we have made at least 2 beer commercials about baseball coaches.

SA: Throughout sports history there have been terrible coaches, so we’re not gonna drill up any of those examples. However, we have more than enough data since the hashtag metoo era to work with.

JT: Starting from 2019 there was a documentary about the short track speed skater Shim being molested by her coach as a minor. During that time she sent text messages to her brother saying she wanted to die. The coach got wind of the messages, stole her phone and reformatted it, which doesn’t erase the text messages already sent.

SA: Coach Jae-beom Cho was eventually convicted in 2021 of multiple charges and sentenced to 13 years in prison. Shim continues to skate professionally and won gold for Korea in this year’s Olympics.

JT: When SBS aired the documentary, more cases came out that year. A disturbing case was reported in the Hanky in which Coach Son molested a judo player dating back to 2011 and through her school days. When confronted by the paper’s reporters on the phone, he said the sexual relationship was consensual, leaving out the part when he told her if their relationship was discovered, they would have to jump into the Han river. The girl’s diary revealed evidence he paid for her pregnancy tests and trips to the gynecologist for ultrasound tests and tried to cover it up with 5 million won.

SA: Coach Son got 6 years in prison for his crimes and faces numerous civil lawsuits as well. And there were plenty of other dirtbags. A women's basketball assistant coach in Daejeon was sentenced to three years in prison for repeatedly sexually harassing a female elementary school student in 2015. The coach was also accused of forcing her to run in the gym naked because training. See why school sports ain’t popular anymore?

JT: The pros even got hit in 2019 when Gyeongju’s women’s pro team KNHP coach Ha was fired after allegations of sexual harassment went to the team’s owners. What makes this case even more egregious was that KFA’s research team warned KNHP that Ha had prior allegations after they had found harassing messages that he sent to female employees while he was coaching the national girls teams in 2016. But KNHP told the press they hired an outside firm and found no issues with coach Ha. Can’t blame anyone but themselves for this screwup.

SA: The situation in sports got so bad that President Moon got involved and spoke to his cabinet on January 14th, saying quote "Sexual violence in the sports world is a shameful sight amidst a sports powerhouse." and he called for severe punishment to be carried out. This situation led to Haetae Tigers legend Kim Seong-han being removed from consideration for the job as the head of the Jincheon National Team Athletes' Village because he had a coach violence case on his record.

JT: He was the coach that beat catcher Kim Jin-yeong in the head with a bat so many times that he developed vision and neck problems and the team paid him 20 million won in settlement money. On the club's website he wrote, "It was all my fault and negligence," but also said, "Striking players' helmets is not corporal punishment, but rather an expression of affection encouraged by the leader and means to focus on training or games.” That’s a great way of saying brain damage is part of the job.

SA: So now you understand the background of the coaching crisis I’ve been alluding to in previous episodes of our show. Though there have been fewer sexual violence cases these days, there are still controversies abound, like the marathon coach that grabbed the runner who crossed the finish line and got suspended for prior violations but the suspension was changed to a slap-on-the-wrist reprimand by Gangwon Sports Council because of procedural problems. Or when Jung Su-jin was disqualified at the Asian Games because her Judo coaches told her not to worry about the random weigh-in and she ate too much before the random weigh-in chose her.

JT: The NHRCK and the MCST have been cleaning things up but there are other issues that need to be worked on. Especially these days.

SA: There have been so many reports that the Sports Ethics Center, an agency in charge of handling complaints from athletes and organizations, is losing staff. Started in 2020 as a result of the death of Choi Sook-hyun, a sportswoman who died after enduring systemic abuse, the current acting director Han Minsoo is focusing on staff welfare and preventative education according to reports in Chosun Daily. They have a staff of 58 to process 1,250 cases and 6,597 counseling cases, and their salaries are the lowest among government agencies.

JT: Sounds like they need to hire a whole company just to stay ahead of the paperwork. Especially after the Ryu Seung-min table tennis case ended in no prosecution.

SA: We’re going to start with the most recent football controversy. U23 Manager Lee resigned after the tournament and apologized to players and fans for the difficult position he put them in and for the stress of treating each game like it was the gold medal game in remarks he made to reporters after the tournament.

JT: He led the team to gold. So why would he quit before the Olympics?

SA: Ever since he took over in 23, the team looked cooked with multiple losses to Saudi Arabia of all teams. Fans complained about his lack of tactical acumen and expecting the star player to do most of the work.

JT: So much like the rest of the K-League he came from, then?

SA: Indeed. The last straw was losing to Japan in the Asian Cup and barely beating Vietnam in the 3rd place game. So he went into the Asian Games knowing he wasn’t coming back to coach the team in the Olympics.

JT: I take it he’s not the only problematic coach in football.

SA: (Coaching problems in K-League) K-League’s had some issues though this year has been better than last year, at least in regards to abusive coach scandals. Last year former coach Choi Tae-wook got fined 5 million won and Ansan Greeners coach Im Jong-heon along with others were sentenced to prison and lost millions of won over a bribery scheme to get Choi’s students and others on that team as well as on a Thailand league team Choi coached at.

JT: Some of the bribes from parents involved money for a Mercedes and Rolex watches. Shit now I wish I coached the school team! Listen up parents! You want your son on the starting 11? I am not that greedy, I just better see the keys to the oscar meyer weiner mobile on my desk the day before with a glizzy! *joke sting*

SA: Then there was the fan meeting from hell when Jeonnam Dragons manager Lim Kwan-sik had a fan meeting after the team lost 2 to 1 against Paju on August 2nd. Naturally the heat and the losing streak led to yelling between them. Then Coach Lim loosened his tie and started cussing out the fans, so the fan group Mir didn’t cheer for the next two games. But that led to wins for the Dragons and player Choi Han-sol gave a tie to the supporters group leader.

JT: We gotta start going to fan meetings! So much bullshit and viral moments! This is the stuff careers are made of, Mr. S!

SA: Indeed Mr. J! And while I was writing this, the volleyball federation KOVO dropped a bombshell in which two unnamed coaches were disciplined for sexual misconduct issues investigated by the Sports Ethics Center. Coach L got a 5 year suspension from coaching and Coach K got a 3 million won fine.

JT: Shocked I tell you! (sarcastic) OK, not that shocked.

SA: (coaching problems in baseball/Asian Games/little league) And of course there are many issues with coaching in baseball too, which has even made it overseas. I don’t think I mentioned it but in the Little League World Series the announcers criticized the South Korean coaches for ordering their cleanup hitter to bunt with two outs and a runner on, which naturally did not work when the bunt bounced off the player.

JT: But hey he didn’t break his nose like Do Young. And in Do Youngs case that wasn’t the coach's decision.

SA: The little league coach must have been his coach too. “Joke Sling” But I digress, they also had bases loaded in the last inning and tried to fake out the pitcher with fake bunts there too, which didn’t work either.

JT: What happened to the fun Mr. S? Unfortunately when it comes to the international stage national pride and over coaching outweighs the importance of letting the kids swing away and have some fun.

SA: Exactly as we saw in the Asian games, baseball team coach Ryu received a lot of flak but his foibles and victory was the wakeup call the national team needed with possible investments in winter training facilities as well as regular Korea vs Japan baseball matches on the horizon. And now we need to talk about the KBO because yeah… they got some problems.

(opinion on baseball coaching and Hanwha replacing their manager with the national team coach [confirmed tuesday], Coach Yeom grabbing umpires, that Kiwoon coach, NC blowing out their bullpen’s arms)

JT: Yes, we need to talk about coaching in the KBO, because lately it feels like some of these managers are competing to see who can make the worst decision. First, Hanwha replaced their manager with the national team coach. That’s a pretty massive move. Do you think bringing in a coach who barely coached his way past a bunch of amateurs is the right move?

SA: (your opinion) I’m not giving his success great odds because KBO fans will recall he managed LG in 22 to second place but he got outcoached by Kiwoon in the playoffs. His replacement Yeom led the team to 2 championships with a lot of the same players. I think the pressure will be heavy on him to prove he can produce wins without relying on high-end talent?

JT: And speaking of pressure, we’ve got Coach Yeom grabbing umpires, coaches losing their tempers, At what point do we stop calling this passion and start calling it a lack of professionalism? You can argue with an umpire, you can get tossed, but physically grabbing an official? Come on, man. You’re the leader of the team! Hyong nim or not Mr. Yeom, If I was the ump, your assistant coaches would be dragging you to the clubhouse after I tossed you literally and metaphorically from the game.

SA: (Opinion) Yeah I was surprised he wasn’t tossed after the belly swipe. Thought the umpires had more, you know, spine than that.

JT: Then of course we had Kiwooms hitting coach driving drunk right into a cop car. Probably the best hitting Kiwoom is done all year “Joke Sling” My new saying for hitters having a rough day, “That guy couldn’t hit the broad side of a cop car.”

SA: They should have got him a pinch driver. *joke sting*

JT: Well he got one after the hit. Unfortunately he didn’t make it home. Finally, we come to NC DInos coach who single handedly is trying to donate his bullpen to the Tommy John Surgery Foundation, as bullpen struggles with numerous blown saves and late game collapses so he started to overwork the good closers creating fatigue and dead arm and possibly the cause of their late season collapse that knocked them out of wildcard contention. Their bullpen ended up with one of the league worst bullpen ERA hovering around at 5.30. It takes lots of skills to have the worst bullpen in the KBO.

SA: (Opinion) They brought in Coach Lee to bring in a better, more aggressive offensive strategy but they were only hitting 271 with runners in scoring position. You can’t win games if you can’t score when it counts. So next season he might be on the hot seat, especially with the fans calling him their worst manager ever.

JT: Seems to be the case

SA: Last week Friday I called a friend of the show to see what he thinks about my idea of a Coaching Crisis.

DREADS segment (add to transcript after recording)

SA: Welcome back to the show, a famous YouTube cable streamer, Dreads. All right, we've got some questions about coaching in Korea, specifically baseball in Korea. So we'll start my first question. You've been watching the KBO for a decade now, yet you decided to start a special YouTube short saying you would be a better manager than the current crop out there. Why start this series now?

DR: A couple years ago after Hanaw fired Subaru and then they brought in the replacements who was the buddy of the GM and he was doing very poorly. This is the same time I was a season ticket holder for Hanaw. I actually put out a video talking about how they have a problem. They need somebody that understands analytics and somebody that also understands kind of the tradition of baseball, someone that can bridge the gap from the current way of following the 1980 style of managing to the modern day analytic style, somebody that understands both sides, which means a younger coach and a coach that looks more at all of the possibilities. And I put out that video and it was really well received. I would be walking into the stadium, Anua Stadium, and people would stop me and be like, oh, please, I hope that they call you, things like that. And I didn't think anything of it. Again, I didn't expect any callbacks or anything like that from Hanwa, because it's Korea. And that turned out really well. Then I stopped streaming just Hanwa last year, and started streaming all games, didn't matter matter what team and I started noticing a lot of tendencies from these managers that just go against everything that is talked about in today's game of baseball outside of Korea and I would bring these up during live streams and a lot of people will be like, have they ever contacted you to manage a game? Have they ever contacted you for an interview to be a manager? Things like that, lots of different viewers are like, oh, you should be in the dugouts if you're able to predict what's happening from these teams, if you're able to predict what types of pitches they're going to be throwing, if you're able to do all of this, they should hire you to be in the dugout, and that would solve a lot of the problems and improve the teams. So being a social media influenced all of these teams and companies in the world now, I decided to put the social media aspects with the knowledge aspect and put those two together to create the series of doing a 5K every single day until a cable team invites me in for an interview for a front officer, a dugout manager. That and a combination of a lot of people talk about how like complain about things, but they don't offer solutions for things. So by doing this daily walk, where I talk about what they did wrong and why it was wrong, not just complaining about a specific manager, specific team, or things like that, but it also shows what they should have done in a different situation or why they shouldn't have done it. So that kind of together makes it so that I'm not just complaining, but I'm also showing that I am qualified even though I didn't play professionally or play in the KBO, I'm still qualified enough. And then also, I don't just leave my focus on the losing team. A lot of KBO fans, if their team wins, they don't have any complaints about it. And that's not reality. Just because you win a game doesn't mean that there's not things that you can improve on. A lot of Korean fans really focus on just the wins and losses. And, oh, our coach coach is winning he's a good coach. No, you may have really good players that are winning despite your coach not because of your coach.

SA:That's something that I've heard in NBA basketball a lot. They call it being bailed out by high-end talent.

DR: Actually I would say there's three teams that are constantly bailed out by high-end talent. Actually, I would say there's three teams that's are constantly bailed out by their roster because their coach puts them in situations that's or their manager puts them in situations that aren't ideal. And it's because of that series and then a couple other things in the Korean sports world that have been going on specifically related to coaching that's got me and my pod partner wondering if there is a big issue in the way coaching is being done in Korea.

SA: So in your opinion is there a coaching crisis in Korean sports?

DR: There is a coaching crisis but that coaching crisis is actually from what I would call a culture crisis and what I mean by that is in Korea, they don't develop players at all. They don't develop them to, you know, they draft them out of high school and then the following season, suddenly they're pitching in the KBO. They don't develop these kids, and I call them kids because they are, they're teen years old, playing in the top league in the country. And there is a big jump between high school and college and high school, college, and professionals. You can see that in leagues like the MLB that you're drafted out of high school, maybe you're a really high pick, but you go through, you know, the Arizona Fall League, and then you go through a, and the developmental ball, and a double A, and triple A, and triple A, and then maybe finally after two, three, four years, you get the call to Major League Baseball. But in Korea, teams are so focused on winning now, but they don't think about developing players so that they can be a sustainable franchise or a sustainable winning product on the field. And that goes back to, as you know, the Bali Bali culture, where everything has to be done quickly. They're more worried about speed and the quick turnaround, oh, we had a high traffic, suddenly we're gonna win the Korean series next year, even though they had a high traffic because they finished, you know, and they're nice in the league, and they think this one player is going to turn their franchise around and suddenly they're going to be able to do, you know, whatever to win the Korean series. The GMs of all of these teams have a tremendous corporate pressure to win now and then that translates down to the manager on the field, which in turn has actually created an issue with Korean sports, at least in terms of baseball, where Korean sports is not improving in the game of baseball. Korean sports is very stagnant in both the managing aspect and the development aspect. Sure, you have more guys going to the MLB and you have young guys like Kwokbein and Kim Doyong who are seen as potential MLB guys, but that is more on terms of the MLB is now focused more on international players than suddenly there's these really great players and if you think about some of the players that have been in the KBO and it went to the MLB like Ijangu, Kemassang, Kema Song, all of these guys who are MVPs in the KBO, most of them are role players at best in the MLB. So that tells you how big the gap is, and the gap isn't shrinking at all. The gap is getting bigger because other countries are developing more, starting fundamentally from the bottom, and then they, especially like Japan's league, where they have multiple levels, they develop these players to become great players instead of develop them to be good enough to succeed in the KBO.

SA: So I think that during the Asian games, there was a time when the Korean team was struggling against China in the early innings of their Super Round match. Then of course we have the Chusok catastrophe where they lost the first of the two Chusok games to Japan in the Super Round.

DR: Right, and if you go back, I believe, two Asia games before, they actually lost to, I believe, Taiwan, and then this year, the game against Taiwan was close until I think the fifth or sixth inning. And if you think about the games in the Asia games, the two Asia games before, that's whenever there was all the controversy with Oh Ji-WAN and him being selected to the national team, and there was all the controversy about they stopped the league and in order to have the Asian games and then after that they had the big issue with the Olympics where even though it was COVID and they only had I think six teams in the Olympics they still finished in fourth and that's what prompted the rule change to they only suddenly take 24 and under players and on top of that they no longer stop the league for it. The main reason why they were successful or at least why the Korean team won was because of Gwak Bin who is 26. So he is what is called the wild card. They're allowed three wild cards, which are players that are over 24 years old, and that was Moonbog Yang Kwakbin and No Shuan. And they beat Japan in the finals because they were using players that technically didn't qualify that had to have a special exemption. And again, Korea is the only country that sends their professional athletes to the Asia games, and they're expected to win easily. But they almost, I would say, barely won a medal. That there, and then you talk about the WBC, where Korea, you know, needed an absolute miracle against Australia to advance and then they advance and then they just got absolutely destroyed and 10 run rules by the team that they were playing against. So it's obvious that Korean baseball is not improving. It's the fans are improving, the amount of spectators they have at games are improving, but the overall ability and the overall quality is definitely not improving. It is stagnating and I would even say the pitching is taking a step back.

SA: Speaking of which, as you watch the games the past two seasons, whereas when coaching mistake, you can definitely see coaches make, it's obviously probably going to point to the bullpen, but I'm thinking of, besides drunk driving, of course.

DR: Right, obviously, one, I don't know how that happens in Korea with the debris system, but obviously every manager in the KBO makes massive amounts of stakes, specifically with bunting. Also, there are a couple things. You mentioned bullpens. So there's with bullpens, I see, and I've seen more and more recently, I actually attribute this to one of the reasons why LG is struggling right now. These managers, especially with the bullpins, they get in love with two, three, four arms in the bullpen, and they use them over and over and over again.

SA: Isn't that kind of a relic from when Samsung had their really good bullpen arms in the early 2010s when they had their dynasty, does it seem like the league kind of copied them in some ways?

DR: I think it's a trust issue. Again, I think these managers manage scared, the managers manage absolutely terrified of losing, and what happens is, you know, they find guys that can get some out, and then they just run them into the ground. Obviously, Hanwa's manager, there's the issue last year where he ran his pitching staff, his bullpen, into the ground in the regular season, and by the end of the season, they couldn't get outs. And that's part of the reason why they didn't win the regular season is because the manager ran them into the ground and then, especially once you got into the playoffs, they couldn't get out anymore. And then this year, they were so worn out from the long season last year, going to the Korean series and then a lot of them played in the Czech Republic games, the friendly games, and then a lot of them played in the Japan game, and then they were also, you know, having practice for the, you know, the WBC team, some of them didn't make that team or whatever, but they had those long, long practices in the long season where their arms weren't built up yet. They didn't have, you know, that many previous seasons with a lot of pitching or a lot of innings, and a lot of these managers, they don't think about the entire aspect. You have warming up in the pool pin. Then you come into the game and you throw some pitches as you're warming up, then you go, you get your outs or whatever, and then oftentimes it's called an up down. And what it is is you bring the the reliever up and he gets out of the inning and then he sits back down, but then you want him to warm up again and then go back out. And it's really bad for relievers because relievers are taught 100% efforts, maximal efforts for, you know, two, three, four outs. And it ends up making it so that they bring them back out. And oftentimes, they can't get an out or can't get enough outs to get out of the next inning, and that runs into a problem. A lot of these managers, they have, you know, a four run lead, and they bring in the closer instead of bringing in a different guy, they rely so heavily on these three, four, five arms that nobody else gets a chance. And then what I've been seeing a lot of is these managers sending out relievers two days in a row, which is standard, but I see them sending them out three days in a row. In the fact, in this month alone, I've seen teams send out five different relievers, four time, or three days in a row. I talked about it in one of my walks, Sonju Young specifically, the manager brought him out in three consecutive days. In games before he did that he'd given up three earned runs three runs he had three different games where he did not give up a hit or a walk since that time uh... the nine games after that he's given up seven he now has dead arm where he you know it doesn't seem like, but the ball's not moving as much or the velocity's off a little bit and that specifically led to a bunch of blown saves against Kia and that's a series against Kia that switched spots from LG in third place to LG down in fourth place and then Kia jumped them. So one of the big things that I noticed is outside of bunting. There is two specific games that I would talk about bad baseball management decisions outside of the bullpen. The bullpens are getting overused and it's causing a lot of problems towards the end of the season for a lot of these teams that are in close games because of the bad baseball management and the bad dugout management and bad personnel management from these managers.

SA: But this should be something that coaches should know at least in the past two seasons, no doubt, but they keep making the same mistake.

DR: Yeah, exactly. They don't learn from the mistakes at all, and that is part of the issue with the current crop of coaches, and it's not going to change, honestly. It's not going to change because the system is broken. The system rewards managers for doing the exact same thing. They don't reward being able to get the most out of your team. They don't reward being, realizing the situation. There's no situational awareness from the managers and the players. I talk about it a lot of my walks, how players will force things or they don't realize the situations, you know, perhaps single to right right field with the runner, and that's a runner, and so they say there's one ounce, there is a runner on first, and there's a kind of a slow single into right field, the right feelers playing back a little bit, and oftentimes the right fielder tries to throw the runner out at third. Now the problem with that is, one, you're supposed to throw it basically at the cutoff man, and if the cutoff man decides they should let it go, they let it go, if the batter runner rounds a little too hard, they cut it off, and then they can get the out at first. But often what happens is the players want to be these YouTube stars and they launch the ball to third to try to get the out at third, well when they do that then the batter runner ends up going to second. So now instead of a runner at first and third with one out where you still have a double play opportunity, you have a runner at second and third and now you no longer have a double play opportunity. So now these managers bring the infield in, which is also a horrible, horrible idea in the early innings, trying to save one run, and a ball gets through, and now you've got a two run inning instead of what would have been an ending inning double play. And this is all situational awareness where the coaches don't do anything, they don't understand the actual game, they don't understand the numbers behind it. They basically just managed the way that their managers managed when they played, and that just makes it worse and worse, because now these kids that are playing now, they see how the game is managed, unless they go overseas to play, they're gonna think that this is the good way. They're gonna think that this is the right way and these GMs, again, oftentimes are former players, so they don't see anything wrong with it because that's the way it's done. And a lot of KBO fans say, oh, it's the KBO, it's different. It's not different. It's different because there's no adaptation, there's no advance. There's no change, there's no thinking about the plays. The KBO isn't different because it's the K is different because the KBO doesn't want to change, that KBO doesn't want to improve. They're so worried about tradition and things that don't belong in the game anymore that they refuse to improve and they refuse to get better.

SA: What do you think was the worst coach moment of the season? I watched a few of your shorts and I was thinking you might be considering day, the video from day 134, where you said that the Doosan bears lost to KT because of their low IQ manager, you specifically brought up the tired bullpen arms and bad bunting decisions, because I felt like that might be the worst coaching moment in some ways, because Dusan wasn't able to get back into fourth place at that point.

DR: That one, yes, was bad, but there are two other games, more recent games, that I actually probably don't even have uploaded yet, maybe I do. Editing is taking way longer than I was expecting. There is two specific games that I view as the worst managed games of season. Number one was, there was a game, it was, I believe, NC versus Hanwach, White was on the mound, maybe it was Zimmerman, I can't remember, or it could have even been Wong, it was a regular pitcher, on the mound, they ended up with a leadoff single and then a double behind them and then another double. So they're already up two to nothing, a hit by pitch, and then another single. So you've, the first five guys of all reach base, and the NCA's manager decides to buns. And the problem is, I don't know if it was a missed sign or what, but the player ends up pulling the bat back, but the runner on second had already almost taken off for third and ends up, he gets picked off. Then that number six hitter ends up getting a single, there was another single behind that, and another single, so they ended up batting all the way around every single player on the team reached base successfully the first time through the lineup. But they already had an out because of a bunt when you are running the pitch count way up for the starter in the first inning. So that was one of the worst ones, just because runner-on first and second, you bunts, yes, you raise your chance of scoring a run, the slightly one run, but you lower your chance of scoring more than one run, but it's the first inning. Five guys have already reached base successfully. The guy that you have up is the number six hitter. It's not like it's your number nine hitter that's hidden, you know, one 80 or something that he's only there because he's a really good defender. It's a guy that is a regular mainstay in the lineup, a regular guy that actually can hit and they ask him to buns and he can't get it down and, you know, that ends up causing issues. I don't remember who won the game, but that was one of the worst managed games. The other one is from your favorite team. I think-

SA:The Tigers, of course-

DR: Yes, I specifically remember this and this is why I believe that Kia has the worst manager in the league. This one game had so many bad managing decisions that I almost didn't want to finish streaming the game because it was so upsetting to watch. So the worst decision in that game, so it was a 5-4 game, it was against KT, and KT only got to two innings, maybe three innings out of their starter Logan. And then O'Lansok came in after that and he pitched the fourth and the fifth inning. So you've already gone through two relievers in the KT bullpen. You're up five to four. Then you get a lead off single from Nassong-Gom and then you get an infield single from Kimsong Bin, then you have your number seven hitter come up who is left-handed so the likelihood of him being doubled up is a little bit lower and the worst part is it's their DH they pinch bunt not pinch hit, pinch bunt or their DH in the sixth sending sending against in the when the bullpen guy has come in and he's already given up two hits and they take out their DH to put in Pakjangu and he ends up not being able to get to the bun down. Then on top of that he ends up not being able to the bun down. Then on top of that he ends up not being able to get a hit. He ends up, he ends up getting a hit. He ends up getting a hit. He ends up striking out. And at that situation, behind him is another issue, then Kim Tay-Goon, the actual catcher, ends up hitting into a double play. So they still ended up hitting into the double play and they got rid of their DH and they played for one run in the sixth inning against the third bullpen guy and they got rid of their basically backup catcher because their backup catcher was DHing. Then if you actually go to the top of the next inning they ended up having two hits right off the bat. It's not a, oh, well they got to hit the next inning, they would have got to hit that previous inning, but it kind of is the only thing you can go off of. And they ended up losing by three runs. You could easily have scored multiple runs but a key is the manager. Again the worst manager in the league in terms of pretty much every single aspect of managing.

SA: Okay so yeah for the last we're almost out of time. For the last question: who's your pick to win it all now that the playoff field has almost set?

DR: It has to be KT. There's, there for multiple reasons. Number one, KT is the regular season champion only twice in the history of the KBO since they've gone to this format has the regular season champion not won. And then if you look at the other teams, that Doosan has huge offensive liabilities, LG is just kind of a mess at this latest point. Kia: their bullpen is not good at all. And outside of Naile and Oller, I don't know who is gonna be a reliable starter, especially in the playoffs. Then you go to Samsung. Samsung now is probably going to be without Gu ja-wook, and then they have Jurado and Paddock to start, but Paddock now has an injury where he was scratched from his last start, Jurado did not pitch well on his last start. Juan Tejin has not pitched particularly well, and Choi Wan-tay is statistically outside of last year, been I believe the worst regular starter in KBO playoff history.

SA: Thank you for coming on today.

DR: No problem. Thank you for having me.

Copy Yonosim ad here

Grabbag miscellaneous sports stories.

JT: And now we’re onto stories we haven’t had time to cover this month because we are not Reuters news agency. Though if Reuters or AP ever comes calling, we don’t mind throwing stories their way for pay.

SA: First up are some big changes at the Volleyball Federation! Starting next season the men's league gets two foreign players and 1 Asian quota player while womens gets 1 foreign player and 2 Asian Quota players, along with substitutions before season starts not counting and 2 subs per season.

JT: Because of lengthy visa rules, which by the way didn’t keep gambler Puig out, Korean sports leagues can’t exactly call up Freddy on Friday and have him at practice on Monday, so teams can get stuck with an injured foreign player for a time. This rule change simplifies the process on the team’s end.

SA: Rookie signing fees are abolished because their quality is too low and they can’t play well, so they increased the 1st round draft pick contracts to 60 mill and banning agents who propose illegal contracts for 1 year which is probably the Kawhi Leonard Law.

JT: Lots of work for KOVO to do to get all these rule changes sorted. But a while back you said that they were switching to FIVB rules as well, right?

SA: Yup, they changed the line rule this season. If any part of the ball touches the line, it is called IN. But if it completely misses the line, it is called OUT. And then the umpire makes a loud grunt like the Future’s Leagues umpire did at the game we went to. *Joke sting*

JT: Change comes slowly to Korean sports at times. Let’s hope the line judges practiced their grunting this season. What’s next in the grabbag?

SA: (Story 2 KFA reporting period for match-fixing) Starting last month and running until halloween-

JT: That’s not scary at all-

SA: The KFA is running an intensive reporting period to eradicate unfair practices that threaten fairness in football fields according to reports in the Chosun Daily. They are looking for acts of proposing, demanding, or conspiring to manipulate match outcomes, intervening in or soliciting referee decisions and exerting undue influence, providing or accepting money or favors, concealing or condoning related facts, and obstructing reports.

JT: Literally everything we’ve covered over the past year.

SA: I can see Ji So-yeon writing additional reports about the refs who said her team was on their periods that game. But yeah they wanna keep everything in-house and under their investigative eyes instead of getting blown out to the press, like what happened with the ref sex scandals recently.

JT: You know Bucheon and Gwangju fans are probably furiously filing reports every time their team loses. Smoke coming off the keyboards and everything. *Joke sting* Maybe that’s why Gwangju beat second-place Ulsan last week?

SA: I bet Jeonbuk fans are filing reports every time they lose or tie, though they won against the Japanese team in the AFC Elite last month. They would blame match-fixing on why they don’t win.

JT: (Story 3 The marathon death cases) Before we run out of time today, I’ve got a story. According to Cheongju City and others, Mr. Kim Jong-yoon, a 20 something member of the Cheongju City Hall Workplace Sports Team, died in early December after being seriously injured in the head and other areas after being hit by an 80-year-old Mr. B driving a 1-ton Porter truck during a marathon event held on the 10th of November in the Okcheon County section of North Chungcheong Province. He had been receiving life-sustaining treatment since being transferred to the hospital. A famous actor knew a runner who heard about the tragedy and called for reforms.

SA: Closing the whole road does disrupt traffic flows but it does protect the runners.

JT: And just this weekend a famous amateur runner and a KAIST graduate student Yoo Ji-won died after collapsing during the half-course race on the 11th of this month. She was just a mere 500 meters from the finish line. Earlier this year she completed a marathon in just under 3 hours.

SA: Our condolences to the families of both runners. May everyone’s races in the future be finished safely.

GOTW

SA: What’s on our TVs this weekend, it’s Game of the WEEK!

JT: There’s fun for everyone and you won’t be a sweaty mess afterwards! A first in a long time *joke sting* !

SA: First up is KOVO’s opening round tournament in Yeosu. The ladies started playing last week and the finals are this weekend, then on Monday the first of the men’s volleyball matches will begin and run till next weekend. This year they actually avoided scheduling mishaps and FIVB rules violations.

JT: Checking the rules is an important part of operating an internationally recognized federation. Especially with the city of Yeosu getting annoyed over the lost revenue from last year.

SA: What’s on your plate this weekend?

JT: My first pick as you know me and I will be in attendance at this game (so if you're watching look for a ravishingly good looking person with 2 children and I will be the foreign dad next to my wife and kids), but of course I am talking about KBO playoffs! Which starts Saturday, after an exciting week where KIA beat LG on Monday to take 3rd place on the final game of the season (I was also in attendance at that game and the atmosphere was electric). Then Wednesday night LG won the wildcard game with 6+ strong innings from Carrasco and an Austin Dean first inning home run to advance to a best of five series against KIA. Again it is Saturday October 17th at Champions Field at 2pm. KIA had a nice 4 day break.

SA: Kia really needed that rest time. Let’s see if they put it to good use.

JT: My next pick is KBO Fall League in Busan 기장 and Ulsan 문수! There are many teams participating in this years tournament, including the independent 고양 team and an American team composed of the Long Beach Coast and many other players from the Pioneer League in America! The fall league will run from this weekend to the last weekend in October. I suggest going on the weekend because there might be rain on Monday.

SA: Baseball games you can actually get tickets for! Hurray! My last game is KBL basketball on Saturday with Wonju DB hosting the Samsung Thunder at 2pm. Samsung is off to an amazing start this season and Wonju is a projected favorite so this is the Thunder’s chance to prove they actually are good and not over hyped.

JT: If Samsung wins it’ll also show DB isn't up to the hype. A lot of basketball to go but predictions are already flying around!

Ending

Copy Ending from previous multi-host episode

SA: A shoutout to our listeners in Tainan City Taiwan! One of the few places I’ve actually visited! Their football team is the best in the country and their basketball team the GhostHawks has the best name!

JT: It goes pretty hard in the paint and the streets!

SA: We’ll be back in two weeks with a Korean series preview!

JT: It’s always infrastructure week in Korea *joke sting*.

SA: Get your hard hats and betting slips ready, Korean sports fans.

(AI voice) Guests of the Hwai-ting sports podcast get household knicknacks from ThirdDateGivaways! Are you looking for a very plain reading lamp? Need a boring inspirational book to liven up your coffee table? How about a 50% off silver necklace that will give you a rash? Need some off-brand expired candy? Come to ThirdDateGivaways in Yeosu and take your pick of discarded date presents across the peninsula!

NOTES:

Hyun Joo-yup details family hospitalization, 30kg loss after exoneration

Former Samcheok Director's Suspension Overturned, Reduced to Reprimand

Prosecutors Request Reinvestigation of Ryu Seung-min Case

Grabbag 1: KFA Launches Intensive Reporting Period to Eradicate Match-Fixing, Referee Interference

Grabbag 2: KSOC investigates referee remarks about Ji So-yeon and pledges gender equality reforms - CHOSUNBIZ

Grabbag 3: The Wonder Coach Ends With Historic Open Finale (Talk about Wonder Dogs TV show and team)

Grabbag 4: The marathon death cases (koreatimes)

(Talk about U23 Coach Lee resigning instead of staying)

Jung Kwan Jang Head Coach Ko Hee-jin Resigns Amid Incident

Han Minsoo Prioritizes Staff Welfare Amid Case Surge at Sports Ethics Center

Choi Tae-wook fined, Ansan officials jailed in football admission scandal