Hines Ward Receives Hero's Welcome in S. Korea

Hines Ward arrived in South Korea on Monday as part of a 10 day tour of the country. Upon winning the Super Bowl MVP, Hines was invited by the country's government to revisit the country of his birth. This story is everywhere:

Chosun Ilbo's article:

[Ward] will have dinner with President Roh Moo-hyun and the first lady in Cheong Wa Dae on Tuesday and be given honorary citizenship of Seoul at City Hall on Wednesday. On Thursday, he is scheduled to visit Ewha Womans University Medical Center, where he was born.

Having been a keen baseball player in his high school days, Ward will throw the first ball in the opening game between the Doosan and LG professional baseball teams at Jamsil Stadium on Saturday.

More articles here:
Seattle Post Intelligencer -- "Hines Ward got a welcome in South Korea that even Terrible Towel-toting Steelers fans had to admire."

Washington Post -- "Ward and his mother, Kim Young-hee, were greeted by a scrum of more than 100 reporters and photographers on arrival at Inchon airport, near Seoul. National broadcaster YTN carried the arrival live and called the event 'the return of the hero.' Hundreds of riot police stood shoulder to shoulder to clear a path for the two."

China Post -- "The Korean community has supported my mother and I for the first time in my life," Ward said at the news conference, which drew breathless live coverage by several TV channels. "Now I don't have a problem with people teasing me or what not because that's who I am ... I get the best of both worlds _ African-American and the Korean customs."

This press conference was covered by the Korean Times, LA Times, Reuters, the Associated Press you name it.

And this one is particularly interesting to me. It's about the "Wooing of Ward." It talks about the marketing frenzy to sign Ward to Korean endorsement deals.

This blog link recaps the situation for bi-racial children like Hines in South Korea prior to Hines winning the Super Bowl MVP. Hat tip to Begger on The Porch for finding the first link. The rest were google news.

pwd

Tweet