04.18.08
Posted in Sports at 9:54 am by william_lee_intern
This weekend (Fri 18 / Sat 19) China continues its gloriously successful race walking tradition as its best walkers will test their competitive skills at the biggest venue of their careers: Beijing’s National Stadium, the Bird’s Nest, for the “Good Luck Beijing” 2008 IAAF Race Walking Challenge meeting. Liu Xiang’s portrait may be hanging all over Beijing as the Olympics approach, but it is China’s race walkers who have brought their country consistently high-level performances in international track and field years before Liu’s breakthrough at the 2004 Olympic Games.
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04.16.08
Posted in Sports, Blog at 2:18 am by jon_fukutomi
As baseball is celebrating the 61st anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, we also should take time to reflect and appreciate the Asian baseball pioneer Ichiro Suzuki.
While Ichiro may not be the first Asian player in Major League Baseball, he was the first position player. The first Asian players and still the majority of Asian players that enter the major leagues are pitchers. Though pitchers perhaps requires the most refined skills in all of baseball, they do not encompass the real essence of what a ball player is thought to be. When you think of baseball you think of the players that take the field everyday and grind out the long season. The true legends of the baseball are all hitters, the ones who hit the tape measure homeruns or the clutch hit to seal the win. It is the hitters that get remembered and there is no hitter quite like Ichiro.
From the beginning Ichiro has defied traditional baseball logic. Ichiro is the only player to have his first name on the back of his jersey, he thrives on getting singles in an era where power is prized, he swings with an unorthodox motion that requires exceptional bat control. The spring training before his first season in the U.S. his manager, Lou Piniella, questioned if he could hit major league pitching. Ichiro answered that question by collecting more hits than any rookie ever, earning the American League batting title, winning the Rookie of the Year and the Most Valuable Player awards and leading the Seattle Mariners to a record tying 116 regular season wins.
In the seven seasons he has played in the majors, Ichiro already left his mark on the history of baseball and has become an undeniable superstar. He has won a gold glove award every season for his impeccable defense and astounding arm strength and accuracy. He has been voted to the All Star team each year. He is accumulating hits faster than any player in history. In 2004 he broke the 84 year old single season hit record by Hall of Famer George Sisler. A record that has stood longer than any homerun record ever had. He is currently on his way to tying the record for most consecutive seasons with 200 or more hits. Ichiro is not just a player, not just a superstar, he is becoming a legend.
Ichiro has challenged the perceptions of Asians in baseball and Asians in general. His accomplishments on the field have forced people to acknowledge his abilities and has demonstrated to other Asians that they can compete with the best in the world. His application of rigorous ideals and discipline have given legitimacy to Eastern Philosophies in a Western domain. But perhaps the most remarkable impact was seen during the Little League World Series soon after he entered Major League Baseball. When a team of predominantly Caucasian boys was asked who was their favorite baseball player they repeatedly answered: Ichiro Suzuki. He has forever affected the perception of Asians within the youth of America. These young boys were idolizing him; an Asian man.
For years Americans have seen Asian baseball players as inferior. But the current wave of Asian players have disputed that notion. Now scouts are constantly searching Asian countries for the next big star. Bobby Valentine, a former Mets manager, has frequently stated that every starting player in the Japanese baseball league could make a major league roster. Ichiro helped Japan illustrate Bobby Valentine’s statement in 2006 by winning the first ever World Baseball Classic which included teams from around the world whose rosters were full of current major league players.
Like Jackie Robinson before him, Ichiro has unwittingly changed the destiny of a race with a simple game of baseball. His unreasonable demands of himself led to staggering accomplishments and these accomplishments demand attention and respect. We as fellow Asians need to recognize this man who is one of us and who has shown us only the beginning of what we are truly capable of attaining. Ichiro may have never intended on being so prominent, but he has inspired me in a time where we lack Asian representation. Ichiro has given pride to a people, here is a hero to admire.
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04.15.08
Posted in Sports, Politics at 9:49 am by william_lee_intern
Chan, who arrived Monday to promote his latest kung fu movie “The Forbidden Kingdom,” said the games represent “unity, love and peace” and should not be used as a platform for people to express their opinions. “I hope people do not mix sports with politics. This is wrong,” said Chan. “I don’t understand why people would want to destroy the Olympics.”
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Posted in Sports at 9:47 am by william_lee_intern
The 20-year-old Ding Junhui from Jiangsu province is the youngest player ever to win three ranking titles — the China Open and UK Championships in 2005 and the Northern Ireland Trophy in 2006. When the masters of the green baize cue off at the World Snooker Championships in England on Saturday, tens of millions of people will be watching. But it won’t be the likes of Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, and Ronnie O’Sullivan that will draw the biggest audiences. Instead, the blockbuster first round clash between Chinese superstar Ding Junhui and Hong Kong veteran Marco Fu is likely to claim that distinction, with the sport’s popularity in Asia on a steep upward curve.
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04.14.08
Posted in Sports at 9:52 am by william_lee_intern
The next two months will bring some of the most intense moments and clutch play on the basketball court that we have seen in a long time. Phoenix is very choppy, the Lakers are still young, the Pistons are too old, the Magic have a lot to learn, but the newly built Celtics and Good Ol’ San Antonio Spurs will both make this year’s finals one of the most exciting match ups in recent history.
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04.10.08
Posted in Sports, China at 8:48 am by william_lee_intern
The Olympic torch concluded a topsy-turvy tour of San Francisco on April 9, its only North American stop, after chaotic protests in Paris and London. After its parade route was shifted and shortened to prevent disruptions by massive crowds of protesters, the closing ceremony planned for the San Francisco Bay waterfront was canceled and moved to San Francisco International Airport. The flame was put directly on a China Airways plane and not displayed.
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04.09.08
Posted in Sports, Media and Entertainment at 9:57 am by william_lee_intern
Jackie Chan, Lee-Hom Wang, Zhang Ziyi and Stefanie Sun will team up to sing ‘Stand Up,’ the theme song for ‘The One,’ a film about China’s first Olympian. The film, which is being made as a tribute to the 2008 Beijing Games, is based on sprinter Liu Changchun, who represented China at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, despite the efforts of Japanese occupation forces in Manchuria to stop him.
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Posted in Sports, Politics at 8:57 am by william_lee_intern
Now, a booming China is hosting the 2008 Olympics and is sending the Olympic torch to San Francisco. Many Chinese Americans are upset about the demonstrations planned by thousands of Tibetans, Burmese, Falun Gong believers, and others to protest China’s human rights record.
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04.07.08
Posted in Sports at 9:40 am by william_lee_intern
With months to go before the Beijing Olympics, no one in China wants to see their most famous athlete Yao Ming who had a stress fracture in his left foot on the sidelines for the country’s biggest sporting event ever.The Chinese government is using the combination of Chinese medicine herbal in nature to ensure that Yao Ming is up and about in time for the Beijing Olympics. According to his American doctors, the Houston Rockets center is good to go as long as he rests up and lets his foot recover nicely.The Beijing Olympics is China’s biggest effort to improve its image, so losing Yao is just not an option.
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04.04.08
Posted in Sports at 9:46 am by william_lee_intern
NBA All-Star Yao Ming arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport Thursday night, April 3, 2008. The Houston Rockets center who is sidelined because of a season-ending foot injury, will undergo tests by Chinese medical experts. Yao recently started training on his upper body but his left foot is still swollen after a stress fracture. Stuffing everyone’s shots can really take its toll on an individual.
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