Today.
Korea vs. Switzerland.
Businesses in Koreatown are capitalizing on the Soccer fever gripping fans of the Korean soccer team. Excerpts:
If South Korea beats Switzerland today, several Koreatown businesses plan to offer free or discounted services and merchandise.With team USA out of the competition, I'll be rooting for the South Korean team!
Up for grabs are free bowls of noodles, cut-rate hair cuts, rounds of drinks, higher interest rates on savings accounts and even a chance to win a wig.
What they will lose in sales, these entrepreneurs hope to make up in goodwill and promotion for their businesses.
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For Lee, it's more than just a sports event. Lee, an immigrant from South Korea, has three children, who were all born in the United States. She said they felt little connection to the country that she still considered home -- although soccer is starting to change that.
"In 2002, the children were too young," Lee said. "They didn't understand why I was being so crazy about the games. But now, they're starting to get it. They say, 'Oh, this is our parents' country.' And I tell them, 'These are your roots too.' "
Pride is also a driving force for Andrew Shin, manager of Bohemian, a bar on 6th Street and Kenmore Avenue that is opening early to accommodate the soccer set.
"It means a lot to us, as immigrants, to see Korea doing so well," Shin said. "A lot of people in the United States don't even know where South Korea is located. This is our time to shine, to make our mark."
On Sunday, when South Korea played France to a 1-1 tie, about 150 people gathered inside Bohemian. Shin gave out a round of drinks on the house when South Korea scored. Today, he plans to do the same: one free drink per person every time South Korea scores.
With a drink costing an average of $6, Shin knows that the bar could lose hundreds of dollars if the team performs well.
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Yang Gi restaurant at 7th Street and Vermont Avenue is expecting patrons to come watch the game on its two TVs and will take 20% off all lunch tabs today. If South Korea wins, the discount will grow to 30%.
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Thousands of South Korean fans are expected to gather in Koreatown to watch the game on big-screen TVs and projector screens. One of the main viewing areas is on Wilshire Boulevard between Serrano and Oxford avenues. Radio Korea, which is organizing the event, said it expected about 10,000 people.
[ed. note, emphasis mine]
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Not to be outdone, Pacific City Bank on Wilshire Boulevard will boost the interest rate paid on money market accounts opened in the last two months if the South Korean team advances. The initial rate of 4.25% will bump up 0.25%, the bank said, adding that a number of restrictions would apply.
A South Korean victory would kick off a raffle at Himo Inc. for a $1,500 wig. If the team advances again, the retailer will give away two more wigs. Another advance, three wigs.
At A Team Hair Salon, owner Jenny Park knows that she will have a busy day if South Korea wins this afternoon because she will offer men's haircuts for $1.99. The normal price is $20.
If South Korea moves ahead again to become one of the top eight teams in the competition, she will offer women's haircuts, normally $20, for $1.99.
And should South Korea enter the semifinals -- where the team was eliminated in 2002 -- Park will offer all haircuts for free. Each offer would be valid for only the day the team wins.
"If they come, we'll just have to give out number tickets, I guess," she said. "They'll have to wait. But we'll get to them."
Post-mortems of the failed USA effort are everywhere. The bottom line: our guys did the best they could but they just aren't at the same level as the rest of the best in the world. Excerpt:
Like the infamous "Bartman" meltdown by the Cubs, or the way the 1986 Red Sox fell apart after a ground ball squeezed between Bill Buckner's wickets, it was a symptom of systemwide failure -- not the cause. The real problem were all those plays made -- or not -- on either side of the penalty kick.
The U.S. team managed three shots in its final outing, after just one in two previous games. In hindsight, knowing that four years of work was being shrunk to a final 45 minutes against Ghana, it's fair to ask Arena, his staff and his players what they were waiting for.
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Like every other team game, soccer is about numbers. The more men committed to each attack, the better the scoring chances. The flip side is that more men forward means more open space behind them. Once the rest of the world respected the Americans enough to play them straight up, the jig was up, too. Nothing short of a supreme effort in every game could have papered over the talent gap that still exists, and the only time the U.S. players managed that was against Italy.
Why Arena didn't coax it from them sooner, or take more risks by adjusting his roster formations and tactics accordingly, are the questions he should have to answer if he wants to stay on.
And to be sure, there will be stories calling for his job, plus the usual smart-aleck commentaries about how the U.S. team being sent home is actually a good thing, because the rest of the world is mad enough at Americans as it is and now we can get back to focusing on sports we really care about.
Which is fine. Just remember it's no coincidence that the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and even the NHL are filled to overflowing with difference-making athletes carrying valid U.S. passports. And until soccer manages to siphon off a few for the cause, it will always be a lost one.
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