Avoiding National Service - Korean Style

Most of the 3,500 spectators in the compact stadium on the east bank of the Pearl River stood and cheered as the batter approached the plate.

He usually plays in front of bigger crowds and faces better pitchers but this was different.

Shin-soo Choo is an outfielder for the Cleveland Indians and is what baseball scouts call a five tool player -he is good at everything. The 28-year-old is a productive hitter and last season became the first Indians player since 1901 to have a batting average of .300, hit at least 20 home runs and steal 20 bases. He can play ball.

By professional baseball standards Choo is poorly paid - $500,000 a year - but he has hired a top agent and expects to earn twenty times his current salary in the next few years.

During the off season he resides in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife. He is living the American dream but for all his skill, wealth and enviable lifestyle he had a major league problem.

South Korean men have to serve two years in the army before they are 30 and Choo was about to strike out. Two seasons out of baseball would seriously damage his career. And with North Korea stinging for World War III military service would be no stroll in the ballpark.

The Indians had explored American citizenship but the South Korean government would have cut Choo loose.

There was another way out. Gold medallists are excused national service but Major League Baseball refused to allow Choo to compete in Beijing in 2008 and baseball has been dropped from the 2012 games in London.

Choo's last chance was the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

In the four games en route to the final Choo batted. 571 with three home runs, six walks, eight runs scored and 11 runs batted in (RBI's) and here he was stepping up in the final against Chinese Taipei with his future on the line.

Choo never flinched, hit a line drive to right field and hustled to first. He then stole second before a teammate scored him with another single.

Korea were up and running and in the fourth inning scored four more runs, including a three run homer, to lead 6-1. Relief pitcher Sukmin Yoon and his curveball frustrated the Chinese Taipei and Korea won 9-3.

" Honestly if I told you I didn't think about the military service I might be a liar," said Choo after the game.

" But it wasn't the primary reason for joining the national team. I love baseball and I am really proud of my nation. That's why I want to play for this team. I am representing all the Korean baseball players."

Right now there is a man sitting at home in Phoenix, Arizona with a gold medal on the mantelpiece and heaving a sigh of relief almost as loud as the artillery on the Korean Peninsula.

A Letter From China

The Asian Games will pass under the radar of all but the most committed British sports fan but here in Guangzhou and around the rest of the continent they are a big deal.

10,000 athletes and as many journalists have gathered in this sub-tropical industrial city in southern China to play games and describe them.

As with the Olympic Games two years ago China has spent big. Stadiums, transport systems and accommodation are all new. Thousands of polite and patient locals have been hired to keep it smooth for athletes, spectators and the media.

At the China Mobile shop the staff are charged with putting the media community online. They, too, are long on politeness and patience. They had to go the distance for this iDiot and his iPad.

45 nations are taking part in the games and the enormous food hall caters for many different diets. The elongated serving counter is divided into Guangzhou Flavor, Asian Flavor and Western Flavor which mostly look and taste the same.

There is also a Muslim Flavor section but it is taped off and has different colour seats - presumably to keep out the sweet and sour infidels.

The organisers have thought of almost everything. They have, though, underestimated the Anglo-Saxon capacity for alcohol. By day three there was no more beer, gin or vodka. The finger of suspicion was pointed at the Aussies who were too busy stockpiling the remaining wine, brandy and whiskey to care.

It is too early to judge the quality of the 42 sports but in the women's cricket match between Malaysia and China the first ball of the match was a looping full toss which the batter missed and was bowled. The commentator almost stifled his guffaw.

Other sports are exotic. Rallies in soft tennis go on for ever, wushuw is martial arts dancing with grimacing and floppy swords and sepaktakraw is foot volleyball. They make for colourful television.

Work is full on but there was a day to acclimatise and three colleagues headed downtown. Guangzhuo is the third largest city in China and the fastest growing in the world. It is modern and busy but no tourist attraction.

Perhaps that was why we were treated as curiosities. People chatted, took pictures and pointed and giggled at the Westerners wearing shorts and shades in winter.

Even on a work day the streets were jammed with shoppers eager to be parted from their Yuan. Trade roared in small shops and department stores alike.

China has embraced capitalism but the state remains authoritarian and slightly sinister. Social networking and blogging are banned as is having more than one child or dog.

For the visitor there are ways round the censor. It will be decades before its 885 million official residents are allowed to do what they like.

The Forgotten Champion

On a summer's evening, beer to hand, the ageing athlete recalled how he became the last amateur to win the Australian Open.

On the grass courts of Kooyong Tennis Club Bill Bowrey beat Juan Gisbert of Spain 7-5 2-6 9-7 6-3 6-3. Bill is a modest man and reminded the listener the tournament took place in turbulent times and the defending champion and many other professionals were excluded.

In the late Sixties tennis was a world away from the revolutionary streets of Paris and the radical campuses of America but the leading players were determined to counter the culture of amateurism.

Roy Emerson had won the title five years in a row but, like Bill's other mates, Rod Laver, John Newcombe, Ken Rosewall and Lew Hoad he was now officially playing for money.

Titles and glory came to them all in the Open era but Tex (he once fell off a stationary horse in front of his tennis pals) never turned professional or won another Grand Slam.

Soon after his triumph in a Melbourne suburb he married Lesley Turner (twice a French Open champion), retired in 1972, became a coach, ran tournaments and raised a family.

Most tennis fans have never have heard of Bill but those who have heard him on Radio Wimbledon every year recognise a knowledgeable, perceptive and skilful broadcaster.

He knows what to say, how to say it and when to say it. He takes the job but never himself seriously and is a joy to listen to.

The BBC reportedly pay five-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe £200,000 for his contribution over the fortnight. Bill never threw tantrums, took drugs or was called an asshole by the novelist and tennis enthusiast Martin Amis but on the wireless he is sharper, funnier and warmer.


The kind of bloke who you would like to buy a beer.