Wave of Yaomania ready to crest for Chinese INDIANAPOLIS -- It is half an hour before the start of the game, and what had been a cluster of Chinese-American fans is growing into a small crowd and soon will be a throng of thousands. There are dozens of red-and-yellow flags waving in the breeze from the air conditioning. There are banners with good-luck messages being unfurled, unofficial cheerleaders shouting through handmade megaphones. A row of fans spells out words of encouragement by holding up Chinese picture characters. Grandmothers and grandfathers shuffle down the aisles to their seats, and young adults hold babies in the air and literally wave them in the direction of Yao Ming, the towering 7-5 symbol of the most populous country on the planet. We do not understand how big this is. Not as followers of the NBA. Not as 24-hour, channel-flipping, Web-surfing, box-score-memorizing, fantasy-league-playing, ESPN-worshipping, nacho-eating, all-around sports fanatics. Not as anyone without direct ties to China. We cannot possibly comprehend the magnitude of this event for a nation the size of China, which only recently is allowing the veil of isolationism and mystery to be lifted from its culture. As Americans, we have been cranking out an assembly line of sports celebrities since the days of bare-knuckle fighter John L. Sullivan and Babe Ruth. And before that, bank robbers and gunslingers captured our imaginations and headlines. In China, Yao Ming is the first superstar. "Imagine if Michael Jordan were the only sports celebrity that the United States ever produced," said Amy Lin, now a resident of Indianapolis who emigrated from Shanghai in 1994. "That's what this is like. "Yao Ming is one player representing the whole country. There are no other favorites. That is why I would promise you that after this first year in the NBA, his Houston Rockets jersey will be the largest seller in the world." Stop and think about it. China has 1.3 billion people -- a billion more than live in the United States -- to buy all those jerseys. Every day brings new, staggering figures and assorted mind-numbing possibilities from the other side of the world to consider. There are the usual endorsement offers from athletic apparel companies and globally recognized corporate icons to hawk their products. There are also the unusual. Just recently, the Rockets' communications department got a phone call from a Hollywood production company that said it was interested in pitching a movie script to the No. 1 draft choice. The idea was to pair Yao with Vern Troyer of Austin Powers fame in a basketball movie. Mini-Ming? Just imagine. The giant Yao would be the coach, tiny Troyer the star player, and because it would be an over-the-top, ridiculous comedy, you know there would have to be a role for Kelvin Cato in there somewhere. "Two thumbs up!" said James Cheng, a salesman who drove in from West Lafayette, Ind., to see Yao. "He is the newest hero of our country and brings great pride to the Chinese-American community. I will support him in anything he does." The only comparable sports celebrities in China are Fu Mingxia, the Olympic diver, and soccer players Li Tie and Sun Jihai, who play in the English Premier League. But their skill level in those sports is nowhere near the potential seen for Yao, and so his impact eventually will be much greater, if it isn't already. "This is breaking down a door, a great barrier, to have an athlete from China as the No. 1 draft choice of the NBA," said Zhaobo (Bob) Wang, director of the China-America Business Institute at Fairleigh-Dickinson University. "With basketball as the fastest-growing sport in the world and Yao Ming coming to play in America, this is an opportunity that could bring the two great powers in the world together faster than any political negotiating. "This will bring China into America. It will give the large numbers of Chinese-Americans someone who will help incorporate them more into the mainstream of American society." Wang brought a group of more than 200 fans from the New York-New Jersey area to see Yao compete in the World Basketball Championships and to begin passing the message around. "I'm not sure even the NBA realizes how Yao could impact the league," he said. "There will be large crowds of Chinese supporters every place that he plays. I am already organizing back at home. You tell the Houston Rockets that when they come to the Meadowlands in New Jersey this season, I will have 10,000 new fans there to see them play with Yao. The Rockets are now the favorite team of China. "We have all known about Yao since he was 17 and have watched him develop and get better. We have waited for this day to come. All of China will follow every game, every step." The happy throng is dancing, chanting, singing, smiling, waving flags, snapping photos, reveling in the presence of Yao Ming. "He is our symbol, our hope," Lin said. We think we know. But it's bigger.
It's a little weird to read stuff like that from Blinebury. I'm not a big fan of Fran, although he writes a decent column once in a blue moon. The guy really makes me crazy. I've never forgotten how he said in '86 that the Lakers and the Celtics would be in the Finals. This was just before the playoffs started. He's still wiping the egg from his face, the chump. Fran really likes a bandwagon... he'll find fault with the team soon enough.
Not only was it positive, he actually made a funny joke/comment with the mini-ming line. He still couldn't resist throwing a cheap one at Cato, so at least he stayed true to form here. While not a good journalist, you don't et to be a head writer by being a fool. He knows the chron is going to get a few hundred million hits after every rox/ming game, and by not trashing him he builds his name as a "good writer" internationally... great for when your contracts up for renegotiation
what he said made sense and wa spretty true.That guy will be the most popular player in the world if he ended up being as good as they say.
Rox season tickets expect to see more asian fans in home games this season Yao will make big impact on the NBA
What's next, Bizarro supermen and the Rockets getting respect for winning back-to-back championships?
