Because so much of the 'criticism' is unwarranted and not even backed by simple logic. In some ways the bias created against him can be justified because he doesn't fit the Sportscenter persona, but when you have a situation where analysts are constantly pointing out flaws and flat out refusing to acknowledge the strengths of someone's game, it makes you wonder. And if you're indifferent to this despite all the things Yao has done for Houston (on and off the court), you're probably classified as a fair-weather fan.
now i remember why he's on my ignore list. I liked the info he gave in the original post, but he's reverting back to his old ways. i think he's gonna stay on my ignore for a while.
And he will lie and pretend that he put you on his ignore list too. But he won't actually do it because he can't resist the temptation to read your posts. NewYorker is too easy to figure out.
Bradley Played one season at BYU before going off onto his mormon mission. No one had any idea what he was going to be like years later - they were just drooling over his height. Sabonis wasn't 18 when he came to the NBA - by the time he was hear, he had won olympic gold and proven he can hold his own against NBA players - he was a known quanity. Yao was very young and had never seen serious competition. No one knew what he's be like and all of a sudden he was the darling of the sports world. To be honest, I think a lot of reason he got criticism was jealousy. That this guy who never accomplished anything in basketball was being so hyped. And so they decided to rip him apart. His race was minor. He could have been from Russia, Africa, or Austrailia for that matter. It wasn't an anti-Chinese sentiment - it was jealousy and people just wanted to see him fall like Shawn Bradley. So he's always had that monkey on his back - it's not his fault, and he doesn't deserve it...but you know what - he accepted the hype, he got all those big endorsement deals, so he has to live with it - it's part of the price for fame. Meanwhile - the only thing he can do to shut them up is what he has been doing. He's working hard on improving his game constantly. You know what, maybe all the criticism is good for him. Maybe you should be happy, because maybe it really does inspire him to prove every one wrong deep down inside.
A broadcaster has no obligation to acknowledge the strengths in Yao's game. He can say whatever he wants. But I don't agree that it's a race issue. As for the criticism being unwarranted - it's a matter of perspective. If you say he deserves to be under the microscope for being 7'6" and coming in with all the hype - then so be it. If you say he's proven himself already and that's that - then so be it. Either position can be defended. My only point is not to play a race card so quickly. I mean, calling all of Yao's critics racists is actually WORSE then their criticism. I hope you and everyone see that. As for me, I just enjoy seeing the Rockets win. I don't have anything against any player, and wish they all do well. And there's nothing more to say about it. I'm a fan of every player except perhaps Bonzi Wells. Do I think Yao gets bashed unecessarily? Absolutely! Why does he get bashed? Because he doesn't fit the ideal vision of what people think a great big man should be - which is Shaq. Is that fair? No. But here's the thing - so what???? Yao is a celebrity and a man. This is part of the price one pays. The man is living out a dream - we should all be so lucky as to be Yao Ming. He doesn't need our sympathy or anyone else's there are plenty of other people in this world who deserve that first. He can take it, so why does everyone get so bent out of shape about it? Just cheer for the guy - you don't need to call his critics racists.
Yao IS the standard for a 7'6" guy. I can't think of one person his height that was ever as good. I've watched NBA basketball for 20 years, and Muresan, Bol, Bradley, Nevitt... I can't think of anyone else that tall ever playing. Muresan is the only one I can remember with comparable size and weight, and he succumbed to foot injuries and acromegaly or thyroid problems (I think). I think Bol has problems walking nowadays. Let's face it, guys 7'6" are freaks of nature and are lucky to be playing in the NBA at all, much less 35 minutes a night against the biggest, strongest guys on the court. Many of the extremely tall people in the world must walk with the aid of a cane or otherwise have health problems. Just because you are the tallest player in the NBA doesn't mean you'll be any good.
Well last time I check, you were the one who tried to bring the race issue into a discussion whenever you could. I wonder why your tune has changed so much in the last two days. Weird huh? Anyway, feeling the heat and with his back against the wall, NewYorker talks more like a normal person now. Will he revert to his old-self again once the heat is gone? We will see. Hopefully, he has learned.
Hey, good to see the guy played. Good that he did some mistakes too. Better to know what to specifically improve out of playing lots of minutes than scattered play here and there which doesn't give you the margin for evaluation.
No this guy's stance is known to be all over the place, as long as it suits his argument at the time. His "tactics" include, but are not limited to, lying, making stuff up, exaggeration, playing loose with facts, cherry-picking, double standard and hypocrisy, backpedalling or declaring hyperbole when confronted with fact/truth seeker about his earlier claims, shifting topics when unable to answer honestly the counter points brought to him from his opponents, red herring, and last but not the least, acting like an innocent and wounded lamb by claiming you personally assaulted him (when in fact he had insulted your whole race/ethnicity in the first place) and thus putting you on ignore as a way of running away from tough questions (but NewYorker has the habit of peeking into the posts of those who are on his ignore list, and from time to time would come out to reply to them ... LOL ...NewYorker, I know you will be reading my post. It's OK, don't be shy). The overwhelming majority of these "methods" revolve around disparaging Chinese and Chinese Americans, including of course Yao Ming. Don't be fooled by his occasional half-assed praise on Yao. He knows he can't be a blatant Yao hater on this board, but he salivates at Yao's every misstep, fall, blocked shot, and awkward moment. He attempts at every opportunity to undermine Yao's stats and progress by constantly subjecting Yao to unattainable standards, while at the same time bringing up Shawn Bradley to remind people Yao is always going to be perceived the second coming of Bradley no matter what. One of his oft used tricks is to pretend to be "fair and balanced" fan of Yao, so much so that he is always on the forefront of the crusade against possible "overhyping" of Yao by some Yao supporters in the media, and warning against his definition of "complex." Still, NewYorker couldn't hide his true self for too long -- even a first grader can tell NewYorker is a despiteful poster when he asserted Yao was acting painful on the court after being poked in eye by Robinson! On the one hand, he rejects fervently the notion that Yao's unfair treatment by the sports media and/or refs has anything to do with Yao's race, as if we all lived in a race-blind harmonic society, on the other hand, he would have not problem bringing up race whenever he sniffs anything Chinese or when his own race/ethnicity faces media or cultural bias. The guy is a sleaze ball, egotistical snob, and obnoxious scumbag filled with inexplicably deep rooted racial hatred for China and people of Chinese descent. He can't be a Clutch fan even for one day without being a Chinese-hating racist bigot. In D&D, he downplayed Japanese' most atrocious war crimes committed on ethnic Chinese during the WWII and sided with Japanese right wingers who whitewash their criminal history. He even put China on par with Al Qaeda, intending to incite mutual animosity and antagonism in China-U.S. relation among Clutch fans. While there is no denying that NewYorker, formerly known as "Houstonian in New York", is a Rockets fan, he comes to post in GARM with hateful racist and political agenda. Anything he discusses on Yao should be put into "perspective." I understand it's a tough situation for Clutch who doesn't want to appear to be too heavy-handed in dealing with rogue poster like NewYorker for as along as he is a Rockets fan, he is entitled to be a slick racist. But I think it gives the wrong impression and sends the wrong message, however unintended, considering this board is highly regarded and viewed by millions of Chinese and Yao Ming fans of all ethnic background. Before I exit with my rant, let me tell you one more thing. NewYorker would deride some Chinese posters' English in D&D (you can guess that's when he couldn't fend off the pointed rebuttal so he tried to divert the topic), but in fact he himself is a notorious misspeller, who also frequently mis-uses simple word "then" where it should be "than", and doesn't have a clue about the difference between possessive pronoun "its" and subject-verb contracted form "it's". However, his deficiency and ignorance in his own native language (assuming he was born here) didn't prevent him from being employed, guess what, in the media industry, where high written communication standard is expected. So you have to wonder, if NewYorker, who, FYI an admitted Indian/South Asian descent (that's another fascinating story about this guy), insists race be non-issue for Yao Ming the Chinese, is himself a beneficiary of the race-based AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. LOL
Yeah I can see his stance has taken a 360 degrees turn within the last two days. Now he's calling out everyone who mentions race in the post while he was the one who tried to bring the race issue into any discussion just before two days ago. It's really fun to watch his flip-floppings.
I believe height is a poor way of evaluating whether one player should be better than another. You seem to think it's a good way. You say the standard should be higher for a 7'6" guy. I say that 7'6" guys that played in the NBA historically have sucked. So why exactly do you think there should be a sliding standard of excellence based on height?
Well said Wnes. New yorker is quiet a character! I still cant believe the thread where he lied about his ethnicity to win an argument and got caught! That was total ownage! I am not chinese and yet I can easily see his anti-chinese tone. Its subtle but it is definitely there. You know how you can tell if you have won an argument against NewYorker and he cant come up with anything to say? When he says he is gonna put you on ignore!!! Good times!
