One Criticism

Maybe it's just my fear o conglomerates or my left wing history but it seems sport in Korea is dominated by big business and sponsorship.

What's great is that Korean's love their sport, maybe to watch more then play, but their is no doubt the variety and interest in sports and activities in Korea makes the UK seem like a bunch of couch potatoes who only eat one flavour of crisps. Turn on the TV an not only will you catch the latest Korean soccer league games but also the English and Spanish headlining matches. Turn over a few channels and you'll find every sport from hand ball, to ice skating , coupled with UFC and Tae kwon do matches. Even females get a look in with sports from bowling to golf. It really is surprising the variety and the multiplicity of Korean sports channels.

I only have one criticism. When ever you mention a team in the UK it is usually by its place name. Such as "Man City' 'Newcastle' or with the team name like 'Celtic', 'Villa', 'Spurs'. These names, seem to me a least, to echo a connection with the area and a history of dedication to the sport coupled with historical roots. However every team in Korea goes by a company name rather than a place or title. As I mentioned earlier 'Samsung Lions' are Daegu's team. However this is mostly boiled down to just Samsung and for every other town and city they are known by their sponsor whether it be 'Hyundae' 'Ooori' or 'LG'. It's not just baseball it's every other sport too and it's always the same companies. So in the volleyball league there is a Samsung team but this time they represent Seoul and in Basketball they will be the main title for another sports club. It's all very confusing and I wonder how much these companies get out of it. It's so ingrained, it seems to me, that Daegu would rather drop the Lion before Samsung.

Maybe it's all just a financial aid to the teams and I'm just a grumpy old lefty but it just seems unfamiliar having a powerful symbol of one's allegiance reduced to a generic brand name which is chosen through purchasing power.