Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Saying that history repeats itself is hardly a cliche. It’s an unpredictable trend. The same aphorism doubly applies to the internet. We all remembered what happened back in March after the Tohoku Earthquake. There was a great wave of sympathy directed towards Japan’s plight accompanied with a swell of hate. For whatever reason, people thought that a natural disaster was karmic retribution for World War II and deemed it socially acceptable to voice those thoughts online. As result, a UCLA political science major and a fourteen year old witnessed the internets collective moral fury firsthand. Such also seems to be the case for the Women’s World Cup. The Women’s team tied 2-2 on July 17th, 2011, but dominated with penalty kicks by 3-1 and proved victorious against USA. In light of this, “Pearl Harbor” and “Jap” is currently trending on Twitter as countlessly bitter American fans take to the World Wide Web. Granted, most of the current tweets are from those expressing outrage over such a trend, but the same thing also occurred in March. However, its doubtful that the same internet vigilantism will occur. It’s one thing to respond rancorously to the suffering of thousands and another to be a sour sport over a soccer game.
Continue reading
“Another player, from the Pohang Steelers, is accused of allegedly betting on the match after finding out the outcome would be rigged.” It looks like some major sports in Asia have fallen on hard times, ethically speaking. You may remember the huge sumo scandal in Japan last February, when it was discovered that 25 wrestlers and coaches were implicated in fixing matches and forced to retire. The scandal also forced the cancellation of all the regular sumo tournaments until this coming July. Well, in South Korea it looks like match fixing is at the center of a breaking scandal in that country’s professional soccer league. At least 10 players from three teams, the Daejeon Citizens, the Pohang Steelers, and Gwangju FC, have been accused of taking huge bribes to throw games or manipulate the outcomes. Needless to say, the South Korean sports ministry is furious, and intends to impose fines, jail terms and lifetime banishment on any soccer player found guilty in the match-fixing scheme. (BBC News Asia-Pacific – South Korean Soccer Bribes)
Continue reading