PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL IN SOUTH KOREA

PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL IN SOUTH KOREA

Like the pro baseball teams in South Korea the team names are based off the corporations that own the team. Some friends and I went to see Changwon's team: the LG Sakers.  Their website is here.  A "Saker" is a bird of some kind.

Each pro Korean team is allowed 2 foreigners on their team, which are usually big black guys who played college ball. There are two big tall foreign players on the LG Sakers named Ira and Rod Benson . Ira played ball for University of Texas and Rod Benson played ball for Cal.

I have actually hung out with and played darts with Rod Benson. He's 6"10. He's been in Korea playing ball for three years. He's active on Twitter and does  professional blogging freelance and has done some work for Yahoo. None of the LG Sakers live in Changwon. They all live in the Jamsil Sports Complex in Seoul and take a bus down for home games. So the times he does come down here he doesn't know about too many places, so there have been a handful of times where I've shown him a few places to go while out on a Friday or Saturday night in Changwon.

Rod Benson

I got into the stadium as the introductions began. The arena corridors were pitch black as I walked into the actual arena the house lights are down and there is just neon and LED lights everywhere. The cheerleaders were wearing LED butterfly wings and there were 2 LED-lit remote control birds flying around the arena. It looked like what basketball intros would look like in the year 3000. It was futuristic and surreal.

Basketball in the year 3000

The game itself was a good game. Sakers pulled off a come from behind victory. Naturally there wasn't any dunking. Also, some of the Korean players had tattoos. Koreans are not into tattoos because they believe their bodies are sacred gift from their parents so they shouldn't alter themselves. That's why in ancient times the men didn't even cut their hair (altering their body). Now, with the prevalence of plastic surgery in Korea, there seems to be a bit of a contradiction going on, but thats a conversation for another day.

The crowd was like a Korean crowd at most sporting events. Spirited and highly group coordinated. Each player had their own songs and chats. Rod's was "Call me Maybe." It sounded like this-- the stereo would be blasting: "I just met you/and this is crazy/but here's my number- and then the stereo cut out and everyone screams: ROH-DUH BEYN-SUN!! (thats a Korean accent).

The halftime entertainment was a Tae-kwon Do class of little kids punching and kicking boards. It was cute but also impressive. There were a lot of high flyers. And of course it ended with the whole class dancing to "Gangnam Style." Also there was a breakdancing bird mascot. He could put a basketball in his open beak.

Here is some video I took of the game:

Also I had to get a picture of the nicest stadium bathroom I've ever seen:

Isn't this the nicest stadium bathroom you've ever seen??