The Korean Series went on after the World Series stateside, and the trophy awarded to the KBO champion this year is the coolest thing ever.
While MLB figured out how it could safely play a season in 2020, and battled over finances for far too long, ESPN gave us early morning baseball from the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization). What we surely failed to realize, after the World Series stateside ended, is that the Korean Series was going on this month.
The NC Dinos clinched the Korean Series title with a 4-2 Game 6 win over the Doosan Bears on Tuesday. Of course there was a trophy presentation, as the champion Bears gathered around the mound to celebrate.
The Korean Series trophy is the coolest trophy ever
As the cover was pulled off the trophy, anyone watching in the United States probably expected something fairly unremarkable and surely not a replica of a weapon.
Well….
Yes, the KBO gave its champion a sword trophy. The Stanley Cup is largely considered the coolest championship trophy among the major American pro sports, and American sports as a whole if you account for college, though the others surely have their niche fans. The fact the names of the trophies given to the NBA and MLB champions are very milquetoast takes away the buzz attached to them beyond how they look.
According SB Nation, the Dinos are owned by video game company NC Soft. The sword trophy is crafted as a real-life replica of the “+9 Execution Sword” from a game called Lineage (the most valuable item in the game, apparently). Also, however disappointing it is to find out, the sword is not the official KBO World Series trophy.
Even if it’s a one-off novelty as an attachment to the NC Dinos winning the Korean Series this year, the KBO sword trophy is the coolest trophy we’ve ever seen. There will be no knocking it off that perch.