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Huojianzongcai: I Have a Wish: Hiking to Houston!

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by pryuen, Sep 28, 2007.

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pryuen Member

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Well, this loyal diehard Houston Rockets fan had been dropping me mails in the past 2 years, seeking my help which I could not do anything.

He now wrote the following post there on YMM, and requested me to help him to post it here on Clutchfan site, because he is only a rookie poster here who can't create his own thread.

I think that is the only way I can help him in this pursuit of his personal and noble dream.

huojianzongcai said:

I Have a Wish: Hiking to Houston!

As a fan of the Houston Rockets, I always have high expectations on the Ming & McGrady (M&M) One-Two Punch. I deeply hope that they can play at full strength and eventually win the NBA championship for Houston. As for myself, I want to do something for this.

On August 6th, 2005, at a fans gathering, named the “Yao Tribe Approachable”, organized by the Yao Ming Chinese Official Forum, I personally handed a letter to Yao in the presence of all.

Handing the Letter to Yao Ming. Photo Courtesy of Alatin from the Yao Forum

It took me a long time to write the letter. By the time I was finished with it, it was already past 4 am in the morning. In addition to the ten suggestions that I made to Yao Ming in the letter, after having watched so many Rockets’ games, I made a wish of my own-----Hiking from Beijing to Houston!

My Planned Route of the Hiking Journey from Beijing to Houston

It has been over two year since then. The first time the thought/idea came into my mind was on December, 2004, when the Rockets started off the 2004-2005 regular season with a horrible win-lose record of 6-11. As a supporter and a diehard fan of the Houston Rockets, who has always had a lot of high expectations on the M & M One-Two Punch, this record was embarrassing and unacceptable. Many times when I was watching a low-scores Rockets game, caused by the poor performance of the Rockets players, I could deeply feel their pain by a confused as well as a frustrated expression on their faces. At that time, even if I knew it was impossible that I could do anything about the situation, I could not help but wish to run onto the court to play the game for them. I think everyone should be familiar with that kind of experience that after having been depressed for a long time, you do not want to do anything but just let the steam off, no matter if you are able to, or if you know where your depression comes from. It might be hard to explain or understand, but the fact is, indeed, the Hiking-to-Houston Thought was cultivated from the long-time deep frustration/depression.

In my opinion, one of the causes which made the 04-05 season a failure for the Rockets was that there was something missing in the M & M 1-2 Punch, and the Rockets as a whole. However, I did not know what exactly was missing there. As for the idea of hiking to Houston, it has never been converted into action owing to various reasons. Although I was keen to fulfill the wish, I was not yet so overwhelmed with the desire to make it come true.

The records of the Rockets had gotten better after that 6-11 start, and the wish had been kept deep inside my heart since then. However, after having watched the best-of-seven series of Round 1 between the Rockets and the Mavericks in the playoffs, that wish/thought, once again, had come into my mind.

Whenever there is a Rockets game, there are always tons of the live game threads or real-time chat rooms you can find on many Chinese basketball forums. I clearly remembered that the first time I started a game thread was for Game 7, the Rockets VS the Mavericks in Round 1 of the playoffs in the year of 2004 and 2005. And the forum on which I started the game thread, which has also been the only game thread I made so far was, bbs.hoopchina.com, the largest and the best basketball forum in China.

Generally speaking, you would not start a game thread until a previous game is finished already. However, I posted the Game 7 Thread even before Game 6 started. At that time, The Rockets trailed the Mavericks 2:3 in the series and if the Rockets lost in game 6, they would lose the series by 2:4. Had this happened, my game thread would have been a joke. So I hesitated for quite a while, but eventually I made up my mind and posted the game thread, for I was confident in what the M & M One-Two Punch was able to do and I believed that the Rockets could eventually defeat the Mavericks!

Everything seemed to go as I expected. The M & M One-Two Punch led the Rockets with a huge run in the fourth quarter of Game 6 to defeat the Mavericks and tie the series 3:3 after Game 6.

I was then so overwhelmed with joy and by high expectations that the Rockets could defeat the Mavericks again in Game 7.

I wanted so hard that the Rockets could triumph over the Mavericks for the classic series, but unfortunately, the Rockets were beaten so hard in Game 7 and eventually lost to the Mavericks in the series.

To be honest, I had some early thoughts on the likelihood that the Rockets would lose this game, but it never occurred to me that the Rockets would be defeated so completely and shamefully that it produced such a shameful NBA record! The way they lost the game was even more unacceptable. They just simply gave up after the third quarter and surrendered so easily to their opponents! And that should not have happened to a team whose ultimate goal is win the Championship! In the letter that I handed to Yao Ming, I directly expressed my anger! Losing would be acceptable but losing it that way would never! A lost would not be that terrible, however, we could never lose confidence!

As time went by, I came to realize that what was missing in the M & M One-Two Punch and the team as a whole. It was the heart of a champion that was not there yet! The heart of a champion that enables you to keep going forward with full confidence and never give up!

After having led the team to win the second championship, Tomjanovich, the former Rockets’ head coach, said, “We had nonbelievers all along the way. I have one thing to say to those nonbelievers: Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion.”

What is the heart of a champion? From what I have understood, it should always go together with confidence, wisdom, courage and unity. It will empower you to keep going forward. It is not that easy to have the heart of a champion, since you would not automatically have it just simply because you want to win the championship. Although the M & M One-Two Punch was absolutely capable of winning a championship, they were not confident enough to do so. It was the heart of a champion that they were missing.

Coincidently, after having handed Yao Ming the letter on August 6th, 2005, I was so lucky to meet T-Mac, the other one of the M & M One-Two Punch, during his visit to China at the end of August, 2005. The reason why I luckily got the opportunity to see him was, I took part in an activity of soliciting articles on the subject, You Are My Hero, organized by the NBA SPORTS TIME magazine, in order to give T-Mac a warm welcome to China. Obviously enough, the articles needed were those praising T-Mac. However, at that time, it was difficult to praise him for me in my article, because I thought his performance in Game 7 was really not acceptable. So the text my article went, with the title, You Are My Hero, as below:

You are my hero!

When I saw you keeping your mouth tightly shut and trying to hold back tears lingering in your eyes, T-Mac, I was not having any sympathy for you at all! No, not even a single bit!! If I have to say something, the only thing I could say would be, “you disappointed me so much! You! And You Are Not My Hero!”

The disastrous loss by 40 points was so easily and shamefully recorded in the NBA history. Although trailing by 20 points after the third quarter made it very hard to catch up, there were still a few cases in which that a great victory was pulled out from a big comeback in the fourth quarter in the history of NBA!! You had the glory of scoring 13 points in 35 seconds, but why you gave it up this time?! And why did you lose your self-confidence?! It was a Life-and-Death game, but you fell so easily. You just touched your wound off the court! You, Are, Not, A, Hero! A hero would only be gloriously defeated even if he was defeated.

I understand that no one was born a hero and the growth of a hero must be different among individuals. Believe me, obstacles are the test from God and would only make you stronger and more heroic! The fact that you did not get out of the first round of the playoffs for seven consecutive years, might have constantly bothered you and, be still lingering in your mind. And that might prevent you from keep fighting in the fourth quarter forward at that critical moment.

We all know that no sweet without sweat and I believe you have overcome the psychological barrier right after Game 7, because I have heard the message you just delivered to the world, “I will be back!!! We will be back!!!” The heroic message tells me that a hero has been made with a brave heart!!

To the best of my belief, it will not be long before the day comes when you and Yao Ming lead the Rockets to sweep away all obstacles and hold up the golden trophy of the NBA championship!! By then, I will, somewhere in the world, utter you the words, “You, Are, My, Hero!!”, and then turned away……

It can be safely said that I expressed my true feelings completely in the above-mentioned article. Full of expectations, I still deeply believe in the M & M One-Two Punch and the future of the Rockets.

I think it was because of this article that I got the opportunity to see T-Mac face to face.

Fairly speaking, T-Mac deserves to be called a hero. I still remember his 13 points in 35 seconds as well as the slam dunk over Shawn Bradley, and those movements will be kept in my mind forever. However, he has to do more if he wants to win the championship.

Losing to the Mavericks by 40 points set an NBA record for the biggest loss in the playoffs. During the game, T-Mac was substituted in the middle of the 3rd quarter and remained off the court throughout the 4th quarter. It might be true that the more you love somebody, the harsher you are on him/her, since I am still not happy that T-Mac did not fight to the last second in Game 7, the most important game in the series. Still, losing 40 points was not acceptable for me. Although I downloaded the video file of the game and saved it on my computer hard drive for over two year, I have never watched it again ever since.

It seems to me that there might be something more to be desired in T-Mac concerning his psychological endurance. Before he was traded to the Rockets, for seven years he had never gotten past the first round of the playoffs and this would more or less affect him psychologically. However, ever since I heard him say, “I will be back!!! We will be back!!!”, I have had high hopes for him while feeling his pain, because he did not remain silent as before but spoke out his mind. I felt like it was just like a plane breaking through the sound barrier. When a plane reaches the speed of sound, a powerful resistance would subject the plane to violent vibration and make it slow down. The phenomenon is popularly referred to as sound barrier. When the plane overcomes the obstacle, the whole world becomes quiet and all sounds are left behind! As for T-Mac, I really hope that he could treat all the obstacles, which prevent him from keeping going forward, as the sound barrier, and leave them all behind, like an airplane does.

When I was informed that I got the opportunity to see T-Mac, I felt that I had a lot to talk to him. However, my English was poor. So instead of preparing myself for a conversation, I made my own gift that could express all I want to say to him for me. The gift is a piece of pure bronze painting as shown below.

The Gift for T-Mac—Pure Bronze Painting I WILL BE BACK

Shaking Hands with T-Mac and Showing Him the Gift on August 30, 2005

Handing T-Mac the Gift on August 30, 2005

Because when I heard T-Mac would be here for a visit, there was not much time left before he came to china. So the preparation of the gift was not easy and I had a very hard time to finally got the opportunity to hand the gift to T-Mac. I don’t want to talk about how hard it was and what happened during the whole time, because you could never imagine how difficult it was. In short, when I handed it to T-Mac in the Kerry Center Hotel, Beijing, he was so surprise and so excited. At that time I knew everything I did, it was worth it. Owing to my poor English, I could only point to the words shown in the painting and read to T-Mac, “I WILL BE BACK!” Suddenly, T-Mac rose to his feet and studied the gift carefully. At this time I said four simple English phrases to him, “BELIEVE YOURSELF! BELIEVE YOURSELF! I BELIEVE! WE BELIEVE!”

I believe that T-Mac understood why I made him the gift, because when we shook hands to say goodbye, he shook my hand so forcefully that I knew it was a promise, a promise that I wanted the most and now I had it from him!

For people who are ambitious and eager to make further progress, trust is no doubt the best support. As for a team, chances are slim that it could luckily have a One-Two Punch, just as the M & M One-Two Punch combining both an inside force and an outside presence, each of which draws the double team from their components every night. In my opinion, the two skilled, hard-working people with so much talent, and the team with great chemistry, already constitute the basis for the championship. As long as they have the heart of a champion that never give up, with suitable strategies that would work better with their playing style, the championship would not be far away.

I am keen to fulfill my promise to hike from Beijing to Houston. It is my way to deliver them a message of support and trust from me. In the meantime, I am also looking forward to getting the promise of bring Houston a championship from the M & M One-Two Punch, if I am lucky enough to fulfill my wish and meet them in Houston.

So far as my current situation is concerned, it is very difficult for me to fulfill the wish. However, I will never give up and will try my best to make it come true. At the same time, fulfilling my wish/promise would be much easier, if I have some help offered from my friends and, all walks of life, as well.

One of the major problems which may stop me from doing this is the visa issue. Obtaining a visa permit to the United States is the start point for me. However, I do not have the slicest clue about how to get the visa in this regard. To be specific, I will need a 6-moth visa that could offer me enough time to fulfill my wish in the U.S. However, a normal tourist visa would only allow one to stay in the U.S for less than 6 month. Some of my friends have offered me two pieces of useful information which would help me to get a 6-month visa. The first one would be to have a letter of invitation, either from a company, a governmental institution, or a social organization, in the U.S. This is because only a visa application concerning business exchange can be granted a longer period. The other one which might be also working is, getting a journalist position from a news agency first, and then having the news agency (my employer) send me to Houston to work there as its overseas reporter. However; it seems to me that either way would hardly work for me, for it is difficult for me, without any help, to either have an instant connection with any of those American companies/institutions, or switch a job in a short period of time. Therefore it would be greatly appreciated if I can have any support and help from any friends or, all walks of life. Or, if any of you have any other ideas or suggestions, regarding obtaining a 6-month visa, please kindly tell me. I will listen to all of you and try my very best to fulfill my wish, which I also consider it a way of expressing my gratitude to all of you who have helped, and are helping, or will help, me. In short, the thing I have to do first is, hike from Beijing to Houston.

I would think that among those who support the M & M One-Two Punch and the Rockets, there is supposed to be that some of them might be able to offer me some suggestions or, help me apply for the visa, and fulfill my wish and promise. I know all kinds of help or suggestions will be highly appreciated and, in return for your kindness, I will offer a special jersey as a gift to someone who helps me out to obtain the visa and fulfill the wish. The reason why the jersey is special is because that it bears both the signatures of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, who sighed for me on the jersey during their visits in China. Yet I am not sure whether it is the first one with both of their signatures, or even the only one upon till now, in the world, I know it is genuine and very precious.

The preciousness of the jersey lies in that

It is a genuine jersey signed by Yao and T-Mac. Generally speaking, T-Mac only signs his names on his own jerseys. It is very rare that his signatures would appear on other players’ jerseys. However, this time he breaks his rule and signs his name on my Yao Jersey for me. What is more, the fact that the jersey bears both T-Mac’s and Yao Ming’s signatures that make it even more precious.

It was in China that the M & M One-Two Punch signed their names on the jersey. Since both of them spend far more time in the U.S than in China. Specifically, T-Mac only stayed in China for no more than ten days so far. Therefore the chances are very, very slim that one can get a jersey with both of their signatures during their stay in China.

In fact each signed on the jersey at different times. It was on August 6th, 2005 that Yao signed his name on the jersey at the above-mentioned fans gathering, organized by the Yao Ming Official Forum. As for T-Mac’s signature, it was signed on August 30th 2005 when T-Mac was at the Kerry Center Hotel, Beijing.

The signatures on the jersey are very special and rare. Firstly, Yao Ming’s signature is located right in the middle of the “1” to the left, while T-Mac’s in the middle of the “1” to the right, making it very symmetrical; secondly, Yao Ming’s dark signature contrasts finely with T-Mac’s silver signature; thirdly, Yao Ming signed his name in a from-top-to-bottom order, while T-Mac from-bottom-to top, making the two signatures very complementary to each other. Believe it or not, I did not even expect to have them sign for me at first. I did not even bring my pen, but I luckily got their signatures.

It was also very hard that I got the jersey.

On August 6th, 2005, I went to the Yao Ming Fans Gathering. The first activity of the fans gathering was answer questions given by the activity host while hitting a basketball without feet movements. The participants were given 30 seconds to do the activity. The one who could manage to do both in a time closest to thirty seconds would be the winner. Yao Ming and five fans took part in the activity. There were one top prize, two second prizes and three third prizes. The award for the top prize was a basketball signed by Yao Ming. The award for the second prize was a genuine jersey signed by Yao Ming and the third a photo of Yao Ming with his signature. Among 50 fans who attended the gathering, five were selected to participate in the activity by searching and picking up the ID pictures of the 50 fans randomly on the big screen. Luckily enough, I became one of the five participants and was even luckier to rank the third for the second prize----the genuine jersey with Yao Ming’s signature.

Luckily, my ID picture was picked up randomly on the big screen, after Yao Ming pressed the searching button to generate the picking-up progress.
Photo Courtesy of Alatin from the Yao Forum

Receiving the prize, the genuine jersey signed by Yao Ming, from Yao Ming.
Photo Courtesy of Wo Ye Yao Yi Yao from the Yao Forum

Putting on the genuine jersey signed by Yao Ming.
Photo Courtesy of Faintkoo from the Yao Forum

On August 29th, 2005, in this jersey I greeted T-Mac at the Beijing Airport. And on August 30th, at the Kerry Center Hotel, Beijing, T-Mac signed his name, right beside Yao’s, on this jersey.

T-Mac Signing His Name on the Jersey.
Photo Courtesy of a Photo Journalist from the NBA SPORTS TIME

This jersey is so precious that I cannot even estimate its current value, nor can I measure its future value. However, to fulfill my promise of hiking from Beijing to Houston, I am willing to present the jersey to you in the hope that you might be able to help me.

As fans, although we are not able to play on the NBA court as our NBA heroes, we are thirsty for victories and the NBA championship just as same as our NBA heroes. The heart of a champion does not only belong to a player, a coach, a team’s manager or a team owner. It also belongs to the whole team, the whole city, and all the fans of this team! We all get together and work together with the heart of a champion! The heart of a champion is also the soul of a team. Whether or not our team has the ability to win the championship at this time or in the future, we should be confident enough to arm ourselves with the heart of a champion

I hope that Yao and T-Mac will be fully charged with the thirst for the championship deep inside their heart and their promise of bringing up the championship will not turn out to be a lip service only. No more bewilderment but play the way as is right. They are absolutely capable of winning the championship. Please, just arm yourselves with the heart of a champion! And I hate to see that many years later the M & M One-Two Punch has once been very close to the championship but just brushed past it.

With all sincerity I am keen to successfully complete the mission of hiking from Beijing to Houston. I am also eagerly expecting the moment when the Rockets wins the championship, ONCE AGAIN!

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to each one of you who once helped, is helping, and will help, me, in the future.

huojianzongcai(my web name)

Email: Rockets-CEO@hotmail.com
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#1 pryuen, Sep 28, 2007

cmpatel Member

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wow man tha guy is dedicated thas the type of fans we need!!!!

#2 cmpatel, Sep 28, 2007
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pretty big fan

i found it funny that he was wearing a bootleg jersey that both tmac and yao signed.

yeah so i will be honest that was a lot to read i just saw the pictures can someone give me the cliff notes version of it. the guy needs help he is stopping in LA if i can do something i would but i had a long day at work a bit too lazy to read through it all and see what he wants

#3 The_Yoyo, Sep 28, 2007
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WOW. I didn't read the entire thing yet, but I thought i'd post about the pics etc. I read all the captions to the pictures. Amazing he got to meet them all like that, and the framed pic to TMAC was awesome.

#4 Uprising, Sep 28, 2007
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he needs a visa that will last at least 6 months.

#5 lost_elephant, Sep 28, 2007
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cmpatel said:

wow man tha guy is dedicated thas the type of fans we need!!!!
Click to expand...

Easy....read the picture captions.

Oh, and if that's a bootleg jersey. YAO MING gave it to him.

#6 Uprising, Sep 28, 2007
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Uprising said:

WOW. I didn't read the entire thing yet, but I thought i'd post about the pics etc. I read all the captions to the pictures. Amazing he got to meet them all like that, and the framed pic to TMAC was awesome.
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I am not sure exactly how to help your friend Pryuen but I am willing.

#7 Old Man Rock, Sep 28, 2007

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Uprising said:

Easy....read the picture captions.

Oh, and if that's a bootleg jersey. YAO MING gave it to him.
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that one is real but the one that he is wearing with the tmac picture frame is not a real jersey..the one that yao and tracy signed is

#8 The_Yoyo, Sep 28, 2007
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The_Yoyo said:

that one is real but the one that he is wearing with the tmac picture frame is not a real jersey..the one that yao and tracy signed is
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EH? I think he was wearing the same jersey??? Anyone with me?

#9 chiorsung, Sep 28, 2007
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That post is too long for me to read everything in detail, but damn that was an awesome gift for T-Mac. I can imagine T-Mac really appreciating that ...

I'll have to admit that the dude is more fan than I can afford to be Hopefully he can have his wish fulfilled.

#10 rayden, Sep 29, 2007
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Wow, this guy had to know somebody! Authentic jerseys are pretty hard to get in China, right?

That's quite a lot of desert to hike through. But hey, Houston's worth it! See you at the game.

#11 Hippieloser, Sep 29, 2007
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IMHO, Houston Rockets should be the one sends him an invitation letter. Rockets also should make sure he gets his visa by talking to officials at US embassies in China. Then Rockets could update his hiking journey during every game, both on TV and at Toyota center for 6 month. I don’t know if this is first of its kind in NBA history, but it is a great publicity stunt!

#12 exiaol, Sep 29, 2007
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Isn't there a pretty big ocean on the path of that hike?

#13 Harrisment, Sep 29, 2007

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Harrisment said:

Isn't there a pretty big ocean on the path of that hike?
Click to expand...

the dude's chinese, he can kung fu it thru

#14 metalshred, Sep 29, 2007
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great

#15 pdy1031, Sep 29, 2007
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wow congrats you're officialy DIE-HARD ROCKETS FAN

#16 ReD_1, Sep 29, 2007
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And again congrats pRyuen on post

#17 ReD_1, Sep 29, 2007
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Dude should take a dump in front of AT&T Center and American Airlines Center on his way through San Antonio and Dallas.

#18 MR. MEOWGI, Sep 29, 2007

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http://bbs.hoopchina.com/htm_data/44/0709/238429.html

#19 skywater, Sep 29, 2007
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ewww

get a life, dude!

sorry but come on! it's just basketball

#20 YaoYi, Sep 29, 2007

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