Ya, I figured that you meant Korean sports officials rather than Koreans in general, which is why I wasn't pissed, just somewhat annoyed. I appreciate your apology, and accept it. I also know that sketchy things seem to happen with Korea and international sports, like the Roy Jones decision from the 88 Olympics.
(I apologize in advance for this long post - just skip it if you don't want to read something political) While using terms like 'nazi' and 'terrorist' to desribe you, re your irresponsible and juvenile posting of an offensive photo of a U.S. flag with a swastika covering the field that contains the stars, it would perhaps be more appropriate to ask you to instead provide some factual information regarding these 'war crimes' you so easily accuse the President of the United States the Prime Minister of England. Also, just out of morbid curiosity, why do you not cry out against the factual 'war crimes' that saddam hussein has commited? Or is it merely ok because the innocent women and children he murdered with poison gas and nerve gas were not technically at war with him, thus we can't really call them war crimes? *sigh* (to borrow a quote from hp) I know this has nothing to do with Ming and the Rockets, but I just cannot sit idly by and not respond while brain-deads like redao try to shove their adolescent leftist utopian twaddle down everyone's throat. He has the right to say what he wants, but we likewise have the right to respond. Sports is a good diversion, a good way to forget many of our troubles, even if only for a little while.. but those troubles are still there, and still very real. We have tasted our own blood on our own shores for the first time. We don't intend to let it happen again. Saddam is universally despised, even among the Arab and Muslim worlds, and especially among his own people. When the events of 9/11 happened, no one was more vocally happy than Saddam. He cheerfully watches his enemies being tortured and killed, while he smokes his cigar and wears his cowboy hat. He happily launched what missiles he had at Israel 12 years ago, and had he had something more dangerous at his disposal, no one doubts he would have used it. He is determined to acquire a viable nuclear device, and, being smart enough not to launch it himself, since that would bring about his immediate destruction, he will undoubtedly be happy to provide the weapon to a suicide bomber. If a person is willing to kill himself for the glory of murdering people at a cafe, or on the bus to work, to kill a handful of innocent people, how much more eager that same person would be to carry a weapon capable of murdering hundreds of thousands. And you accuse Bush and Blair of 'war crimes'? These are facts. These are the harsh truths we have been faced with. One of the benefits of being the world's most powerful nation is the fact that we do, in fact, have the option to use our big stick if we believe it is absolutely necessary. The half-wit protesters exclaim, 'Let the UN be the entity that authorizes and uses force. Not the U.S.!' I agree with that in theory, except for the fact that Russia has cut side deals with Iraq for years, facilitating the breaking of the very UN Resolutions they claim to uphold. France is possibly the only nation more universally detested than Iraq. (To quote a good British friend of mine: 'The only thing wrong with France is that it's filled with French people.') Neither nation will fail to use their UN veto power to block any use of force in Iraq. So if the UN is left up to the task of dealing with saddam, then nothing is going to change, until we see a big mushroom cloud over some (formerly) densely populated city. You know who we would have to thank for that? Every last one of you 'anti-war' protester nuts. It's one thing to reserve violence as an absolute last resort to solve a problem. I personally hope there is no war in Iraq. It's another thing entirely to be totally 'anti-war' no matter what. You can be against war conceptually, philosophically, any kind of '-ally' you want, but the other guy with the guns may not share your point of view, and he may decide he likes the little plot of land upon which you live, and he may decide to take it away from you. Remember Kuwait? Anyway, this board is not really the proper place for you to be spouting your anti-intellectual political beliefs, just as it is not the proper place for me to vent mine. I promise not to do it anymore. We can only hope you will do the same. Can't wait for the Rockets to whip the Spurs tonight! Ciao
Yao ming will fly to Houston with his dad on Oct 21 (His Mom is already in Houston) http://sports.sina.com.cn/asiagames/2002-10-16/0955335626.shtml
My Point: That at 7'5'' and the #1 overall pick in the NBA draft, it is still possible to look out of condition and weak while collecting 22 rebounds and five blocks against scrubs. I wouldn't be overly surprised or impressed with the same stat line from Kelvin Cato in that particular game with the same PT, perhaps the Rocks can trade him (Cato) for next year's #1 pick???
My recollection of that Olympics: There was a fight between a Korean and an American boxer, a close one, and the American got the decision. Afterwards, the audience, largely Korean, became very animated, close to a riot. They were very threatening to the refs. Afterwards, I think exactly one decision (out of many) went against the Korean boxers. The refs (who were Olympic refs and not Koreans in general) simply were not going to allow themselves to be torn apart by the partisan home crowd. Unfortunately, the Roy Jones fight happened *after* the near riot. This was *not* a case of bad refs. It *was* a case of a partisan crowd intimidating referees to the point they were unable to make unbiased decisions. Unfortunately, the bulk of the blame does not belong to "dirty Korean refs", it belongs to overzealous fans who couldn't remain unbiased enough to allow fair play to happen. Considering the cost of Olympic tickets, and probably the small fraction of the population that actually attended, I'm not willing to blame Koreans in general either. The guys watching boxing were enthusiasts :/ Dave
If the refs are allowing four or five scrubs to gang-rape a player who may or may not have the ball, then that player will not play well, be his attackers mere "scrubs" or, say, Garnett, Joe Smith, Szcerbiak, and, uh, Nesterovic. That sort of sheeyite will not be allowed in the NBA. The play will be physical, but blatant mugging...? Nah.
From what I remember it wasn't the partisan crowd intimidating the refs, it was the cars and cash deposits the refs received that made them see the light.
Thats what I remember also. Roy Jones till this day refuses to fight outside the US because of that decision. It was worse than lewis-Holyfield I. He was blatently ripped off and from what I recall, his opponent was even ashamed of what happened.
I have also watched the whole game online and I didn't see he was 'weak' or 'out of shape'. We can start a debate on this one if you like. Just say I agree with ROXTXIA's opinion here: But that was not what you have said in your other post which I was responding to. In that post, you were saying he could not single-handedly win the game like how a 'great' player should. So you were trying to measure his performance with the standard of 'great' players. I wouldn't measure Yao Ming's performance with the standard of 'great' players at this point of his career. I may do that a few years later though. No one considered Shaq was a 'great' player when he was drafted out of LSU even though the consensus was that he would become one down the road. Here you have corrected yourself by comparing Ming with Kelvin Cato. Yes I agree Cato is a more appropriated measuring stick for Ming at this time, at least in the first three months of his NBA career. Afterall many of us agree that Cato should be our starting center for the time being until Ming is ready. Anyway, it's all good. I just want you to make yourself more clear.
Wow RF, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something? You seem a bit snippy-what would Bruce Lee say?? But I did. I would be happy to debate it with you. I was merely posting my reactions to the final as an aid to people like yourself who had to watch the game over an internet connection. Please correct me if I'm mistaken, but I'll wager my direct, live cable feed and wide-screen plasma gave me a pretty good view of the game when compared to most internet video connections. Here's where you betray a certain lack of understanding of my use of the term "great". Those who only follow the NBA might be fooled into thinking great players can only exist on that level, in that league. Think for a moment of Yao's position and stature within the Chinese National Team structure and upon reflection, you may come to see the errors in your conceptualization What you clearly have yet to grasp is that if you put Cato on the Chinese National Team, (and developed him as one of your prime guys) he too would be looked upon to carry his team down the stretch. Especially against Korea (equivalent to a decent Div I team) in the final, as four-time defending champs. As for your snide remark on my clarity, I have re-read my posts and I stand by them as valid points, articulated in a straight-forward manner. Furthermore, in my years spent hosting the Asian Basketball Show and the thousands of viewer responses we have gotten, this issue of "clarity" has never come up. When you consider that this program is broadcast from Japan to Israel, and all points in between via satellite; that means a potential audience (and I do stress the word "potential" ) of approximately 3 billion people. Your comments, therefore, seem to place you in a rather small minority
