“They said they ate jjajangmyeon again today.” That’s what DB Secretary General Lee Heung-seop said with a chuckle after Wonju DB’s 94-58 victory over Seoul Samseong on the 7th, their seventh straight win to open the season.
Lee’s ‘report’ was true. It’s DB head coach Kim Joo-sung and his coaching staff’s trademark ‘jjajangmyeon routine’. There are some funny secrets behind DB’s storming run this season, including the fact that Kim hasn’t skipped a meal at a Chinese restaurant during their seven-game winning streak.
When it’s time to eat before a game, Kim and his coaching staff automatically head to a Chinese restaurant near the gym. Kim explains that if you do it often enough, you might get tired of it, but since they keep winning after eating jjajangmyeon, they keep coming back because they’re worried about “changing what they’re doing and not doing it right.
The ‘jjajangmyeon routine’ began when Kim made his debut against Ulsan Hyundai Mobis on January 7, when he was acting head coach. Kim traveled to Ulsan to have a meal with the coaches before the game and happened to find a Chinese restaurant. Coincidentally, the team won that debut 94-90, and Kim became fascinated with jjajangmyeon. It was a debut he’d never forget, and one that he couldn’t take lightly because it was Chinese food that brought him victory.
It’s a strange ‘inheritance’. When DB (formerly TG Sambo) was enjoying its golden era as a championship specialty team, Choi Hyung-gil (now Busan KCC), who headed the club’s secretariat, was the originator of the ‘jjajangmyeon jinx’. An anecdote that Choi always ate jjajangmyeon right before a game and had a high winning percentage became a hot topic. At the time, Coach Kim was a player and had no idea that he had such a jinx. After all, DB’s home town of Wonju seems to have a strange aura of jjajangmyeon. 보스토토
Unlike Jjajangmyeon, which Kim always eats, there are some foods that he avoids. Kimchi rolled noodles. When Kim went to a meat restaurant for a late dinner after the Samsung Electronics meeting on the 7th, he didn’t even bother to look at the kimchi rolled noodles among the only two dessert options: bibimbap and kimchi rolled noodles. The reason was clear. “I’m on a winning streak, and I don’t want to drink kimchi soup.”
Another secret to the DB’s success is head coach Han Sang-min’s control of the bench. The DB benchwarmers’ cheers have been especially loud this season because Coach Han has taken on the role of leading the bench fight. What’s the secret to increasing bench participation? “One of the coaches said, ‘If you don’t participate in the bench cheer, I won’t recommend you in the roster meeting,'” Kim laughed.