Comments on: Ugly Americans, my ass http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/01/06/ugly-americans-my-ass/ Korea... in Blog Format Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:00:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Kimbob http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/01/06/ugly-americans-my-ass/#comment-28075 Kimbob Sat, 07 Jan 2006 07:28:19 +0000 http://rjkoehler.com/?p=2296#comment-28075 It was a same question pertaining to LA Dodgers, Korean pitcher Seo Jae-woong. His arm is tired because last year he pitched very good, but he was coming off a serious injury previous year. He needed a rest to prepare for the coming season and so he was balking at competing for the international competition. But in the end pressure of nationalism won out and he gave in to pitch for Korea. I think this illustrates how difficult it is for sports stars from Korea, playing internationally abroad. The pressure is so great to succeed because basically they are representing Korea. That can't have a positive effect on their performances that are under severe pressure and stress of an entire nation. If Korea would just let them perform without all this pressure and just enjoy sports for what it is, wouldn't that make Korean athletes perform better? It was a same question pertaining to LA Dodgers, Korean pitcher Seo Jae-woong. His arm is tired because last year he pitched very good, but he was coming off a serious injury previous year. He needed a rest to prepare for the coming season and so he was balking at competing for the international competition. But in the end pressure of nationalism won out and he gave in to pitch for Korea.

I think this illustrates how difficult it is for sports stars from Korea, playing internationally abroad. The pressure is so great to succeed because basically they are representing Korea. That can’t have a positive effect on their performances that are under severe pressure and stress of an entire nation. If Korea would just let them perform without all this pressure and just enjoy sports for what it is, wouldn’t that make Korean athletes perform better?

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