Weak Side Late Assignment: South Korea Is One Of The Best Countries Around

So I’ll start this post by begging for your forgiveness:  I’m sorry for my absence.  I’ll use just returning from a work trip to Korea (South, that is, Kim Jong Il and his rocket firing didn’t even phase faze? us) as an excuse.  Or maybe you were happy to have a break from me.  

I return to the Cube, to find things a bit in disarray.  First, I have no idea why we have a Dallas Cowboys Merchandise link on our webpage.  This is blasphemy.

Second, the Redskins are just awful.  I mean, honestly.  More on that to follow, but between that joke of an organization and the rest of Washington sports, my sports life sucks.  More woes at my alma mater, Virginia, led by:  Exhibit A) the painful last breaths of Al Groh’s tenure, and Exhibit B) the painful first pangs of Tony Bennett’s tenure.  To be honest, I sat in my hotel room in Seoul on Monday morning while the Redskins were losing to the Chiefs a few weeks ago at about 6am (4pm Sunday EST) and contemplated posting, but thought better of it. 

There’s not even much light at the depths of the tunnel.  This is an old team, filled with overpriced contracts, for players who are either chronically unhealthy (see Clinton Portis) or chronically painful to watch, by way of weak offensive line/new offensive system/loopy throwing motion/poor decision making, of which the true cause we may never exactly know (see Jason Campbell).  A baseball solution is to find a team willing to take these guys for a draft pick, prospect, or player-to-be-named, then trade your guaranteed contract.  But, unfortunately, this is the NFL.  Contracts are not guaranteed, players anticipate that they can be cut with little compensation, and other teams have learned that if you just wait it out long enough, that “prized” piece (see Ryan Clark) might find his way to free agency where the cost is much less (see salary cap, see lifetime value of draft pick). 

Anyway.

This will be a long process – if they are even willing to undertake it – for Daniel Snyder & Company (corporate allusion intended), one that should have started with the dismissal of Vinny Cerrato two weeks ago instead of hiring any number of offensive consultants to design/execute complex playcalling processes mapped in Visio. 

So it’s good to be back.  Excuse my rant.  On a positive note, South Korea is an awesome country.  Everything is new, or under construction.  The people are nice.  And get this: they love golf and baseball.  Families have golf “apartments” outside of Seoul where they head for the weekend to play.  Even the baseball experience felt like what I imagine the 1950s to be like in New York.  Ask a cab driver, he knows the score to tonight’s game in the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization).  Three solid teams are located in Seoul, the Doosan Bears, LG Twins, and the Heroes.  It’s like the Giants, Dodgers, and Yankees, but on a somewhat smaller, much more Asian level.  I loved it.

Also, there are batting cages located throughout the city, which is unbelievable.  You can just walk up, give 1K won ($1), grab a bat, and start hitting.  Unfortunately you have no idea what “fast”, “medium-fast”, “medium”, “medium-slow”, and “slow” are on Korean signs, but you get a decent idea.  I ended up hitting the ball decently, and exited my batting cage with a crowd of Koreans cheering.  Will add pictures later.

Finally, and most importantly, my hotel had a driving range in it.  On the fifth floor.  I’ll leave it at that.  Now you know why I’ve been away for so long.  But it’s good to be back.

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