Christina Kim Interview With Asian American Sports

bangkokbobby · 10-03-2009, 01:16 PM

An interesting...well, its Christina, so you know it'll be interesting...interview with Kim Cho Rong...I actually disagree with her opinion on the LPGA language rule when she states it applied to everybody on tour not any one group of players...that is true while not being true...it does apply to everybody but it is a bit disingenuous to not acknowledge the rule was pointedly aimed at the Korean players...also, she backed off the Asians are hurting the tour question...that's fine, she has every right to do that...but skirting the question doesn't diminish the issue...one thing I would say is I think Christina was a supporter of the last Commissioner and perhaps that comes across in some of her answers here...as always, I could be wrong...its all opinions, you know...Christina has her very well informed opinions...I just happen to disagree with a few of them...but she's still super cool...

CLICK IMAGE TO PLAY VIDEO

NTB · 10-03-2009, 04:35 PM

Wouldn't you love to hang out one evening with her. Very positive

Saint-Just X · 10-03-2009, 04:40 PM

What I found interesting was,that of the two pertinent questions she was asked,she shied away from answering one,then gave an embarrassingly disingenuous response to the other.

I guess it is true that an empty vessel makes the most noise...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

ctmurray · 10-03-2009, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by Saint-Just X

What I found interesting was,that of the two pertinent questions she was asked,she shied away from answering one,then gave an embarrassingly disingenuous response to the other.

I guess it is true that an empty vessel makes the most noise...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

I did not think she was so vacuous that she deserves the empty kettle metaphor. I think she has seen what happens when players stray into LPGA black hole subjects and chose to avoid them. Almost no matter what their opinion they get hammered by one side or the other. If she indeed had expressed an opinion strongly that agreed with your thoughts, you would be happy, but there would be another half of the fans mad at her.

Saint-Just X · 10-04-2009, 12:41 AM

Originally Posted by ctmurray

I did not think she was so vacuous that she deserves the empty kettle metaphor. I think she has seen what happens when players stray into LPGA black hole subjects and chose to avoid them. Almost no matter what their opinion they get hammered by one side or the other. If she indeed had expressed an opinion strongly that agreed with your thoughts, you would be happy, but there would be another half of the fans mad at her.

Vacuous ? Perhaps not.

But neither is she any klnd of iconoclast of the links.

For someone who is supposedly happy to embrace her Korean heritage,she was hardly supportive of her Korean 'sisters' in that interview.

Mind you,Christina Kim was the woman who was convinced that Carolyn Bivens' status was secure,and any notion of her being ousted was a media-created conceit,at the same time the players were meeting to demand her removal.

She's like the Baghdad Bob of the LPGA...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

Blue · 10-04-2009, 09:00 AM

Christina is one of the most intelligent and articulate players on the LPGA Tour. There is a reason she is a player rep on the LPGA Board.

However, she is also, like almost every player, extremely diplomatic. She has a reputation for being outspoken and outrageous. But if you follow her, she almost never says anything controversial. She never criticizes her fellow players. She is quick to try to say the most diplomatic thing about almost any controversial situation. Her so-called outspoken, controversial personality rarely extends beyond her wardrobe and fist pumps on the golf course and her fast-talking though, again, non-controversial talk off the course.

So her unwillingness to address the issue of Koreans on the LPGA fits with this, as does her comments on the English language policy. Several Korean and Korean-American players came out in favor of the policy, albeit too quietly, too late, or in a way that was not able to heard by the media.

She is also right that the media overplayes everything (I would correct that to many things) that happen on the LPGA. But that's not the media's fault. It's the fault of the abyssmally bad LPGA PR staff that have a genius talent for taking a bad situation and making it worse.

bangkokbobby · 10-04-2009, 12:07 PM

A lot of players were in favor of the policy, including Se Ri Pak, Seon Hwa Lee and Jeong Jang. What they were not as much in favor of, and what turned me against the policy, was what many felt were draconian penalties, the threat of suspension. Some players like Paula Creamer questioned not the policy, but the suspensions. So did Lorena Ochoa.

Lorena Ochoa Criticizes LPGA English Rule

Lorena isn't saying learning English is a bad policy, just that the penalties were a little drastic. That is just as diplomatic as Christina was trying to be. Lorena gave a very soft criticism, but a criticism, no less. Why not a series of fines, using a sliding percentage of earnings, instead? Even most Seoul Sisters fans agree the Korean players who don't speak English should learn at least some rudimentary phrases to communicate (although I wonder if Suzann Pettersen gave her awards speech in Korean when she won there, Korean television being the biggest guaranteed source of income for the LPGA the past few years).

And who determines what is conversational English? The LPGA? If so, could the LPGA say a player passes their litmus test, but then some sponsor in a pro-am decides the player he or she is paired with doesn't meet their personal standard of fluency and complain to the tour? Then what does the tour do?

Frankly, I agree that the Korean ladies should try to learn English, but I felt the penalties stated by the tour were too severe so I could not support the LPGA policy as presented. And to be honest, completely honest, I have always suspected the last three or four years that eventually the LPGA would come up with a system to limit the flow of Korean players to the tour. But they would have to come up with a system that was not an outright quota. I saw the language policy as a first step towards that. I still think they will try something else.

So yes, many Asian players agreed that they should learn English...but also, many questioned, including non-Asian players, the penalty system. Sometimes we forget that it wasn't just a policy to improve the English of all players. That we can agree on to varying degrees. But you can't separate the policy from the penalties. That was a big part of the LPGA's proposal. If they had been more flexible with the penalty system, it might have gone over better.

Concerning Christina's answers, she can answer whatever she wants. I have no right to say otherwise. I just disagree to the extent that all she says is, "hey I can learn swahili so what's the problem." Well, maybe not everybody can do what you can do. Learning a foreign language is very tough for some people, especially when the language is from a different family tree than your own. Learning Mandarin Chinese, for an adult English language speaker can be a lot tougher than learning Italian for an adult Spanish language speaker. And it's not only about the learning of the language. It's who determines the acceptable level and why such a severe penalty. Christina only speaks to the learning of the language part of the policy, but not the penalty phase of the policy. Both go hand in hand.

Blue · 10-04-2009, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by bangkokbobby

So yes, many Asian players agreed that they should learn English...but also, many questioned, including non-Asian players, the penalty system. If they had been more flexible with the penalty system, it might have gone over better.

Definitely.

The way the policy was introduced with penalties of suspension and fines that most likely would have never had to be implemented, was a big mistake.

Worse, as I've said before, the LPGA didn't do any of the fundamental PR necessary with the public or the media to assure them that the basic policy was a good idea and supported by the players (sans the draconian threats). As a result the media and a lot of the fans went crazy with notions that the LPGA was racist and the law was illegal. The former is probably stretching the truth and latter is flat out not true.

ctmurray · 10-04-2009, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by Saint-Just X

Vacuous ?

She's like the Baghdad Bob of the LPGA...

Pax Vobiscum
Saint-Just X

Great summary (even if I disagree). I wonder how long Baghdad Bob will be remembered. It took me a second to recall, then I got a bid smile!

ctmurray · 10-04-2009, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by ctmurray

Great summary (even if I disagree). I wonder how long Baghdad Bob will be remembered. It took me a second to recall, then I got a bid smile!

Sorry BIG SMILE!

10-03-2009, 01:16 PM	#1
bangkokbobby Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: New York Posts: 2,896	Christina Kim Interview With Asian American Sports An interesting...well, its Christina, so you know it'll be interesting...interview with Kim Cho Rong...I actually disagree with her opinion on the LPGA language rule when she states it applied to everybody on tour not any one group of players...that is true while not being true...it does apply to everybody but it is a bit disingenuous to not acknowledge the rule was pointedly aimed at the Korean players...also, she backed off the Asians are hurting the tour question...that's fine, she has every right to do that...but skirting the question doesn't diminish the issue...one thing I would say is I think Christina was a supporter of the last Commissioner and perhaps that comes across in some of her answers here...as always, I could be wrong...its all opinions, you know...Christina has her very well informed opinions...I just happen to disagree with a few of them...but she's still super cool... CLICK IMAGE TO PLAY VIDEO __________________ Don't fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail. ---Bruce Lee http://bangkokbobbysports.wordpress.com/

10-03-2009, 04:35 PM	#2
NTB Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: hot springs village arkansas Posts: 2,288 Images: 4	Wouldn't you love to hang out one evening with her. Very positive __________________ God Bless America \"Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.\" - William Penn

10-03-2009, 04:40 PM	#3
Saint-Just X Senior Member Contests: Joint 3nd place overall winner 2010 Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1,676	What I found interesting was,that of the two pertinent questions she was asked,she shied away from answering one,then gave an embarrassingly disingenuous response to the other. I guess it is true that an empty vessel makes the most noise... Pax Vobiscum Saint-Just X __________________ I have sent the most relevant posts you made about Paula Creamer to her lawyers. Hope they take action against your statements - Elf

10-03-2009, 11:22 PM	#4
ctmurray Donating Member Contests: Joint 3rd place overall winner 2010. Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,176	Originally Posted by Saint-Just X What I found interesting was,that of the two pertinent questions she was asked,she shied away from answering one,then gave an embarrassingly disingenuous response to the other. I guess it is true that an empty vessel makes the most noise... Pax Vobiscum Saint-Just X I did not think she was so vacuous that she deserves the empty kettle metaphor. I think she has seen what happens when players stray into LPGA black hole subjects and chose to avoid them. Almost no matter what their opinion they get hammered by one side or the other. If she indeed had expressed an opinion strongly that agreed with your thoughts, you would be happy, but there would be another half of the fans mad at her.

10-04-2009, 12:41 AM	#5
Saint-Just X Senior Member Contests: Joint 3nd place overall winner 2010 Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1,676	Originally Posted by ctmurray I did not think she was so vacuous that she deserves the empty kettle metaphor. I think she has seen what happens when players stray into LPGA black hole subjects and chose to avoid them. Almost no matter what their opinion they get hammered by one side or the other. If she indeed had expressed an opinion strongly that agreed with your thoughts, you would be happy, but there would be another half of the fans mad at her. Vacuous ? Perhaps not. But neither is she any klnd of iconoclast of the links. For someone who is supposedly happy to embrace her Korean heritage,she was hardly supportive of her Korean 'sisters' in that interview. Mind you,Christina Kim was the woman who was convinced that Carolyn Bivens' status was secure,and any notion of her being ousted was a media-created conceit,at the same time the players were meeting to demand her removal. She's like the Baghdad Bob of the LPGA... Pax Vobiscum Saint-Just X __________________ I have sent the most relevant posts you made about Paula Creamer to her lawyers. Hope they take action against your statements - Elf

10-04-2009, 09:00 AM	#6
Blue Forum Moderator Contests: Joint 3rd place overall winner 2009. Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 7,650 Images: 6	Christina is one of the most intelligent and articulate players on the LPGA Tour. There is a reason she is a player rep on the LPGA Board. However, she is also, like almost every player, extremely diplomatic. She has a reputation for being outspoken and outrageous. But if you follow her, she almost never says anything controversial. She never criticizes her fellow players. She is quick to try to say the most diplomatic thing about almost any controversial situation. Her so-called outspoken, controversial personality rarely extends beyond her wardrobe and fist pumps on the golf course and her fast-talking though, again, non-controversial talk off the course. So her unwillingness to address the issue of Koreans on the LPGA fits with this, as does her comments on the English language policy. Several Korean and Korean-American players came out in favor of the policy, albeit too quietly, too late, or in a way that was not able to heard by the media. She is also right that the media overplayes everything (I would correct that to many things) that happen on the LPGA. But that's not the media's fault. It's the fault of the abyssmally bad LPGA PR staff that have a genius talent for taking a bad situation and making it worse.

10-04-2009, 12:07 PM	#7
bangkokbobby Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: New York Posts: 2,896	A lot of players were in favor of the policy, including Se Ri Pak, Seon Hwa Lee and Jeong Jang. What they were not as much in favor of, and what turned me against the policy, was what many felt were draconian penalties, the threat of suspension. Some players like Paula Creamer questioned not the policy, but the suspensions. So did Lorena Ochoa. Lorena Ochoa Criticizes LPGA English Rule Lorena isn't saying learning English is a bad policy, just that the penalties were a little drastic. That is just as diplomatic as Christina was trying to be. Lorena gave a very soft criticism, but a criticism, no less. Why not a series of fines, using a sliding percentage of earnings, instead? Even most Seoul Sisters fans agree the Korean players who don't speak English should learn at least some rudimentary phrases to communicate (although I wonder if Suzann Pettersen gave her awards speech in Korean when she won there, Korean television being the biggest guaranteed source of income for the LPGA the past few years). And who determines what is conversational English? The LPGA? If so, could the LPGA say a player passes their litmus test, but then some sponsor in a pro-am decides the player he or she is paired with doesn't meet their personal standard of fluency and complain to the tour? Then what does the tour do? Frankly, I agree that the Korean ladies should try to learn English, but I felt the penalties stated by the tour were too severe so I could not support the LPGA policy as presented. And to be honest, completely honest, I have always suspected the last three or four years that eventually the LPGA would come up with a system to limit the flow of Korean players to the tour. But they would have to come up with a system that was not an outright quota. I saw the language policy as a first step towards that. I still think they will try something else. So yes, many Asian players agreed that they should learn English...but also, many questioned, including non-Asian players, the penalty system. Sometimes we forget that it wasn't just a policy to improve the English of all players. That we can agree on to varying degrees. But you can't separate the policy from the penalties. That was a big part of the LPGA's proposal. If they had been more flexible with the penalty system, it might have gone over better. Concerning Christina's answers, she can answer whatever she wants. I have no right to say otherwise. I just disagree to the extent that all she says is, "hey I can learn swahili so what's the problem." Well, maybe not everybody can do what you can do. Learning a foreign language is very tough for some people, especially when the language is from a different family tree than your own. Learning Mandarin Chinese, for an adult English language speaker can be a lot tougher than learning Italian for an adult Spanish language speaker. And it's not only about the learning of the language. It's who determines the acceptable level and why such a severe penalty. Christina only speaks to the learning of the language part of the policy, but not the penalty phase of the policy. Both go hand in hand. __________________ Don't fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail. ---Bruce Lee http://bangkokbobbysports.wordpress.com/ Last edited by bangkokbobby; 10-04-2009 at 12:43 PM.

10-04-2009, 12:42 PM	#8
Blue Forum Moderator Contests: Joint 3rd place overall winner 2009. Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 7,650 Images: 6	Originally Posted by bangkokbobby So yes, many Asian players agreed that they should learn English...but also, many questioned, including non-Asian players, the penalty system. If they had been more flexible with the penalty system, it might have gone over better. Definitely. The way the policy was introduced with penalties of suspension and fines that most likely would have never had to be implemented, was a big mistake. Worse, as I've said before, the LPGA didn't do any of the fundamental PR necessary with the public or the media to assure them that the basic policy was a good idea and supported by the players (sans the draconian threats). As a result the media and a lot of the fans went crazy with notions that the LPGA was racist and the law was illegal. The former is probably stretching the truth and latter is flat out not true.

10-04-2009, 12:45 PM	#9
ctmurray Donating Member Contests: Joint 3rd place overall winner 2010. Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,176	Originally Posted by Saint-Just X Vacuous ? She's like the Baghdad Bob of the LPGA... Pax Vobiscum Saint-Just X Great summary (even if I disagree). I wonder how long Baghdad Bob will be remembered. It took me a second to recall, then I got a bid smile!

10-04-2009, 12:45 PM	#10
ctmurray Donating Member Contests: Joint 3rd place overall winner 2010. Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,176	Originally Posted by ctmurray Great summary (even if I disagree). I wonder how long Baghdad Bob will be remembered. It took me a second to recall, then I got a bid smile! Sorry BIG SMILE!

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