Making the Sunset More Beautiful than Ever [Op-Ed]

* This is an article by Dr. Junseo Choi, professor, Department of Sport Industry and Management, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea. Views and opinions expressed in this article are of Choi and do not represent those of Samsung Electronics.

When an athlete, like a baseball player, has given his best throughout his entire career, we respect him. And we want these great athletes’ skill and dedication to be passed down the future generation; we consider them as sports ‘heritage’.

In Korea, Chan Ho Park, the first Korean player in Major League Baseball history, is considered as one of the greatest heritages in Korean sports. His legend paved the way for many other Korean major leaguers like Shin-Soo Choo and Hyun-Jin Ryu.

Considering Park’s achievement, I thought it was strange that the University Park graduated never paid any kind of homage to him. So, I arranged an event so that he could be honored and respected in front of his juniors. I invited him to give a speech at school. I also presented him his uniform he wore back in his college years for him to wear during his speech. I believed it was a great way to show respect to him as a professor at his former university.

*Image Courtesy of Dr. Junseo Choi

Learning to how to Honor Sports Legends

The biggest topic of the end of the 2014 Major League Baseball season in the U.S. was the retirement of the Yankees captain Derek Jeter, a five-time World Series champion and a 20 seasons veteran for New York Yankees.

Something very interesting happened at his final game at the Fenway Park, the home stadium for Boston Red Sox, his and New York Yankees all-time rival team. As many know, the rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox is one of the most viscous ones. However, at Jeter’s final game, Boston Red Sox had prepared a special message saying “WITH RE2PECT 2 DEREK JETTER” on the scoreboard in the left field Green Monster. They also invited several former Red Sox players and other sports legends to honor him. What’s more, they presented a “RE2PECT” metal Fenway placard to Jeter, signed by the 2014 Red Sox players. Not only this was an amazing gesture considering their rivalry, this appreciation also signified history, tradition, and creativity.

Throughout the season, Jeter’s supporters in various industry paid tribute to him. For instance, a famous U.S. sports magazine, Sports Illustrated, printed out Derek Jeter special edition on September 24. Nike and Gatorade, long time Jeter’s sponsors, created a tribute commercial, which had more than 10 million views online.

These tributes weren’t just about Derek Jeter himself, it was much more than that. Everything from the his relationship with the New York Yankees, passion for baseball, loyalty for the club, sacrifice and hustles he made, love for fans, the pride for his city, and professionalism, the kind of respect people have for him has been much bigger than just his baseball talents.

Studying in the U.S for more than 20 years, I realized that what is considered as ‘the typical oriental virtue’, respect, is widely practiced and embedded in the U.S. cultures as well.

Despite its relatively short history, the U.S. has kept and preserved its heritage and culture extremely well; and sports are no exception

The “Hall of Fame” buildings of each type of sports in the U.S are magnificently built and people from all over the country pay a visit. It is full of stories and vivid memories, it makes visitors feel as if they are part of a history.

Passing down Our Proud Sports Heritage to Our Children

In Suwon, Korea, there is a road called “Ji-sung Park’s road,” named after the famous retired South Korean footballer and former Manchester United midfielder Ji-sung Park who currently serves as a Club Ambassador for Manchester United.

Like this road, I hope more facilities named after our sports legends, like the 2010 Olympic champion figure skater Yuna Kim’s Ice rink, get established. Not only to respect the spirit of the legends of our generation, but also to make our children remember the history and culture by simply looking at their names.

Regardless of their status, every athlete gets anxious when facing retirement, because it makes them think that they could be forgotten by their fans when their career ends.

It would be unfortunate if the finale of the sports stars, who devoted their youth on the field, is not as beautiful as the way they inspired us. Before it’s too late to regret, we should keep, cherish, and respect our heritage, taking the Korean sports industry to the next level.