“This isn’t how I wanted this chapter of my career to end. I did everything in my power to remain a Steeler and finish what I started here 14 years ago.

“I want to thank the organization, my teammates and coaches and everyone who made my run as a Steeler the best years of my life. To Mr. Rooney, thank you for allowing me to play for one of the greatest organizations in the world. To my fans and in particular, Steeler Nation, thank you for your support and all the great memories. I gave my heart and soul for you every down and I will always bleed black and gold.”

Ward added that he believes he still has some football left to play.

The fact that Hines Ward wants to continue to play makes me wonder if he is having money problems like so many other professional athletes at the end of their careers.  Can you believe that Terrell Owens and Allen Iverson are the latest professional athletes to go broke?  Hopefully Ward has saved his money and doesn’t meet the same fate as so many other professional athletes that go broke at the end of their careers.  It will also be interesting to see if he is able to keep his Helping Hands Foundation going after his career is over that has done great work with bi-racial children in Korea.

thletes are actively taking part in snow board events at the 93rd National Winter Sports Festival in Muju, North Jeolla Province on Thursday.

Via KBS Global.

With yet another spectacular performance Lin-mania is continuing to grow and not everyone is happy about it.  One of Lin’s critics is the boxer Floyd Mayweather who is not impressed by Lin:

“Jeremy Lin is a good player,” Mayweather tweeted Monday, “but all the hype is because he’s Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don’t get the same praise.”

Really?  Could Mayweather please name one black player that has come completely out of no where in the last week or how about the past year and led their team to six straight wins to include a win over arguably the NBA’s best player Kobe Bryant?  Sure the fact that Lin is an Asian-American and from Harvard adds to the story, but the wins and the stats he is putting up after coming out of no where and being cut by 2 different teams in the past year is why this story is so big.  If Lin was averaging lets say 10 points a game and his team was not winning this would not be the story that it is right now.

Also I have to agree with Robert Koehler after reading this article he posted, that  it’s a sad statement about our society that anyone should be concerned about Jeremy Lin perpetuating a stereotype of Asian-Americans being diligent, smart, and leading clean lives.

Somehow, the most improbable story in NBA history found himself in the most improbable place on Friday night: The ball in his hands, Madison Square Garden on its feet, and the fourth quarter genius of Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant determined to obliterate this burgeoning mythology. Out of Bryant, had come a barrage: twisted, contorted fades, a self-pass off the backboard, the A-list arsenal out of the world’s most gifted scorer.

Somehow, Jeremy Lin never flinched. Somehow, Jeremy Lin never let himself become a spectator, never stopped to wonder what in the world he was doing out here. The ball was so safe, so snug, in his hands. There was such an easy effortlessness to the downright diabolical manner with which he dismantled the Lakers and Bryant. Sheer hysteria had thundered down on the Garden floor, a phenomenon called Linsanity, and the most polished, most poised, presence happened to be Lin.

This kid out of nowhere – out of Harvard University, out of the Reno Bighorns and Erie Bayhawks – had done it again, done it with a devastating 38 points, seven assists, four rebounds and two steals in the Knicks’ 92-85 victory over the Lakers.  [Yahoo Sports]

What is most amazing about Lin is that he is winning these games without the Knicks two star players, Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire who are both out.  Watching this guy play last night it is unbelievable that no one recognized his talent until now.  Lin led his Palo Alto High School team to the California state title in 2006 and couldn’t get a Division 1 college in California to offer him a scholarship so he went off and starred at Harvard instead.  He was an undrafted free agent into the NBA and last week was given a chance to play for the Knicks because of injuries and basically desperation due to the poor season they were having.  Now that Lin has finally gotten his chance in the NBA he is making the most of it after being overlooked for so long.  I have to agree with Phil Taylor from Sports Illustrated that being an Asian-American had to be a big reason why this guy was overlooked for so long.

Watching him play last night and he immediately reminded me of how Steve Nash plays; a guy with a constant motor driving into the paint looking for open players and making open and pull up jump shots when its there.  Coaches must have saw Lin’s talent during practice but just didn’t believe he could get it done during a game because of who he is.  It will be interesting to see if NBA teams after Lin’s success will take a closer look at Asian players now.  It took a while for European and then South American players to catch on in the NBA due to a perceived lack of athleticism and now they are all over the league.  Lin is now inspiring many people to believe that it is possible for an ethnic Asian to succeed in the NBA as well.

Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae has been named one of the 11 top beauties heading to this year’s London Olympics by Pantene.

The global hair care brand under Procter & Gamble, which is officially sponsoring the 2012 Games, chose 11 of 4,800 female athletes who will be competing in London and named them as its brand ambassadors.  [Chosun Ilbo]

Son Yeon-jae is 17 years old but looks much younger in my opinion that calling her a “beauty” almost seems creepy to me.

SYDNEY — Fourteen-year-old New Zealand amateur Lydia Ko has become the youngest winner of a professional golf tour event, taking the women’s New South Wales Open by four strokes Sunday.

Ko, the world’s top amateur, broke Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa‘s mark of 15 years, 8 months, and Australian Amy Yang’s women’s record of 16 years, 192 days in the Australian Ladies Masters.

The South Korean-born New Zealander shot a 3-under 69 to finish at 14 under for the tournament, four strokes clear of Becky Morgan of Wales. Ko came close to winning the tournament last year, but missed a putt on the last hole to lose by a stroke.

Britain’s Laura Davies closed with a 71 and a 54-hole total of 216, 14 strokes behind.

“To be part of history is like a miracle,” Ko said. “It’s not something you can have by clicking your fingers.”

*****

Ko, a Grade 11 student at North Harbour near Auckland, plans to play about 30 tournaments this year, including professional events over the next two weeks at the Australian Masters at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast and the LPGA’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.- Associated Press

I won’t pronounce Ko another up and comer. There is a line forming of top Korean or Asian amateur players who have burned out or are in the process of burning out as professionals. Angela Park, Virada Nirapattpongporn, Sukjin Lee-Wuesthoff, to name a few. Maybe Ko won’t be like them but at this point I’d only be guessing.

Figure skater Kim Hae-jin grabs her third straight title at the KB Financial Group Korea Figure Skating Championship held at an ice rink in Gongneungdong, Seoul. On the last day of games Sunday, she scored 111.90 points in free skating. Combined with her score of 167.77 in the short program Saturday, she won the tournament for the third straight year. In men's single, Kim Jin-seo finished top with a final score of 186.44 points.

Via KBS Global.

Holding off some of the biggest names in women’s golf, unheralded Hee Young Park won the CME Group Titleholders on Sunday for her first career LPGA title.

Hee Young Park of South Korea shows off her prize after winning the CME Group Titleholders on Sunday in Orlando.

Park, with a closing 70, finished at 9-under-par 279 to beat Paula Creamer and Sandra Gal by two shots at sun-splashed Grand Cypress Resort to win the LPGA tour’s season-ending event. Another shot back were Na Yeon Choi and world No. 2 Suzann Pettersen. Michelle Wie, world No. 3 Cristie Kerr and world No. 1 Yani Tseng, trying to win for the 12th time this season, made brief runs at the championship before finishing in a tie for sixth, seven shots behind.

“I still cannot believe this,” Park said. “On the back nine I was getting like nervous and then getting tight in my body. So my caddie said, ‘Just keep going, keep trying to (play) like (it’s the) first round. You’re on the tee first time each hole, and just keep doing the same thing.’ And then I said ‘OK.’ ”

After a pep talk from Kerr on the driving range — “She told me to cheer up and that I could do it, that I could win,” Park said — she pocketed $500,000, by far the largest check of her career. She said a key moment in her round came after a bogey on the fourth hole. Telling herself that she was thinking too much about every shot up to that point, Park from then on just trusted her instincts and her club selection.

Park had won a professional tournament before, the last of her three victories on the LPGA of Korea Tour coming in 2006.

“My first win in the U.S., it feels totally different,” Park said. “Still same kind of goose bumps, but this win, I think could change my life, my future.”

Park, the overnight leader with Gal, had recorded only two top-10s in 20 events heading into the Titleholders. But she took the outright lead in the final round for the first time with a birdie on the par-3 eighth hole, her third birdie in four holes. With the two paired in the final group, Gal pulled within one shot with back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th holes, but a bogey at the 15th dropped her two back. Park, with a steady hand and a clutch putter, closed out her victory with 10 consecutive pars.

“She had great composure all day long,” Gal said of Park. “She’s always smiling. I’ve played with her many times, and she’s such a great competitor to play with because she’s always happy and just plays her own game.

“She didn’t make any bogeys. Her short game was great, and she made some good birdies early on, and I think that kind of gave her the momentum for the entire round.”

Added Creamer about Park: “That’s awesome playing on this course, and playing against all the big names out there. She’s a great player, and she deserved it.”

Creamer, who missed three putts inside 4 feet early in her round, made a charge with three birdies in four holes on the back nine. But just as her whole season has gone — nine top-10s, no victories — she came up just short. Park was a deserving winner today. It will have to be seen if she can follow up with more LPGA wins. The list of South Korean golfers with one or two wins is kind of long.(Birdie Kim, Jeong Jang, Gloria Park, Eun Hi Ji, Inbee Park, Jee Young Lee, Shi Hyun Ahn, and more.)

Park is only one of three South Koreans to win on tour in 2011. The others were Na Yeon Choi, and U.S. Open Champion So Yeon Ryu. Hee Kyung Seo aka ‘The Supermodel of the Fairways’ did take home the Rookie of the Year award. So much for the Koreans taking over the LPGA Tour, eh?

The LPGA hasn’t announced its 2012 schedule yet. I’m assuming it will be starting in Australia next February, but yours truly hopes for a miracle. A start up in South Florida, which was normal for the LPGA up till about 10 years ago, would be very nice not to mention convenient for me.

“Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius failed to make the final of the men’s 400 m in Daegu on Monday but will still be remembered for taking on able-bodied athletes at the Athletics World Championships on his two carbon-fiber prostheses.

The South African sprinter, who had both his legs amputated below the knees when he was 11 months old due to a crippling congenital disease, was hoping to make another piece of history at Daegu Stadium, but advancing to Tuesday’s final was always a long shot at best.

Just before the semifinal, Pistorius was checking the starting blocks in lane seven and warming up by running stretches of 40 to 50 meters. After the starting gun sounded he stayed in the hunt for the first 200 m before dropping back to finish last of the group in a time of 46.19 seconds, over one second behind his personal best.

The crowd, clearly moved by his story, showed their admiration with a huge round of applause as he bowed out of the competition. Pistorius’ story of overcoming his innate disability, and beating the IAAF by persuading the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn its ban on him running against able-bodied athletes, has won him many fans.  [Chosun Ilbo]

Three-time Olympic short track champion Ahn Hyun-soo once said his goal was to make a triumphant comeback at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

“I want to stand at the top of the victory stand at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics,” he said at the national winter sports championships in February this year. He still wants to win gold as a national team member again, but not as a Korean competitor.

○ Healing broken wings

Ahn wrote Wednesday on his page in Cyworld, a Korean social networking site, that he was seeking Russian citizenship. This came a day after the Russian Skating Union asked Moscow to grant him Russian citizenship and make him eligible to compete for Russia at the 2014 Winter Olympics.  [Donga Ilbo]

I wonder how long it will be before he regrets this decision?