Chron: Colin Pine loves job change from state department to Yao's interpreter

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1642635

Colin Pine loves job change from state department to Yao's interpreter
By JOHN P. LOPEZ
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

DENVER -- Less than a month ago, Colin Pine was sitting in a cubicle and staring at a computer screen.

This was his life. All day, every day.

"Pretty boring stuff," says Pine, who is 28 but looks like he could be a couple of weeks shy of the prom.

It was possibly the most mundane and anonymous job in America, the State Department equivalent of an assembly line worker.

Today, this friendly, witty Maryland native is a couple of live shots short of having his own groupies.

"I don't think anyone could believe how this all happened," said Pine, who is Rockets center Yao Ming's personal interpreter and one of his new friends.

The wild ride from anonymity to bright NBA lights began with an e-mail on an otherwise typically pedestrian day at Pine's State Department job.

After getting bored with a brief stint in commercial real estate, deciding against graduate studies in literature and not being sure if he wanted to follow through on law school, Pine took the job translating "open source media" for the State Department.

We're not talking CIA material here. Anything but.

Pine spent eight hours a day translating magazines, newspapers and Web material into English, then passing the transcripts up the State Department ladder.

It might not have been Pine's bliss, or even close to his dream job. But after graduating from James Madison University and traveling to Taipei for what was supposed to be a year, Pine developed a love for the Chinese people and culture.

He stayed three years on that trip. Later, he made another trip for three months before returning because he needed a job, landing with the State Department.

"I just sat in an office building, basically," Pine said. "The act of translation was what I was interested in."

Today, Pine has his dream job, and millions of people in China know Pine's face as the second-most recognizable one in the NBA, next to Yao's.

And we mean that literally -- next to Yao's.

Where there is Yao, there is Pine. They share the same house in Houston, drive together to practices and games, and have become fast friends.

The first time Yao, 22, met Pine, whose NBA arrival has been nearly as bizarre and far-flung as Yao's, was when the 7-5 center stepped off the airplane in Houston three weeks ago.

"The first thing he told me was, `You look younger than I thought,' " Pine said. "I hear that all the time. I was pretty nervous. It's been whirlwind, but I couldn't ask for a better job. My life is his life right now, and that's fine."

Where Pine once quietly and anonymously translated travel brochures and the like, following through on an e-mail he received from a friend in Norway changed things dramatically.

Today, Pine stays at five-star hotels, travels on the Rockets' team charter, does live shots on ESPN, shares the huddle with Rudy Tomjanovich and Steve Francis, and is trying to figure out how you say posse in Mandarin.

"My friends back in Maryland say they're going to quit their jobs, pack their bags and come to Houston," Pine said. "They're going to be Yao Ming's posse, since he doesn't have one yet. One friend has already claimed the job of holding Yao's cell phone. Another one is going to tie his shoes. This has been crazy."

Despite never having served as a live-voice translator, Pine has been doing a superb job by most accounts. He's fit in with the team, made friends with Yao, given Yao's family space at their west Houston home, and made accurate translations.

"There seems to be a bond that they've developed already," Tomjanovich said of Yao and Pine. "It's funny, though, because when I'm talking in the meetings, it's like, hey, there's an echo back there. Is that me?"

Pine earned the job after Yao's agent, Erick Zhang, launched an on-line search for a full-time interpreter months ago. An estimated 390 people applied for the job, including Pine, who is a lifelong basketball fan.

"The night I got that e-mail, I wrote a cover letter and sent my résumé to Erick, thinking I'll never hear back," Pine said. "I just love Chinese people and the culture, and I love basketball. Steve Francis was probably my favorite NBA player. I thought I could do it, but I didn't think I had a chance to actually get the job."

More than a month after sending his résumé, Pine received a call from Zhang, who interviewed him for an hour -- half an hour in English and half an hour in Mandarin.

In early October, Zhang called back and informed Pine he needed to get on an airplane and be in Houston on Oct. 13.

"Just like that," Pine said.

Just like that, everything changed.

Today, when Tomjanovich needs a sit-down strategy session with Yao in his hotel suite, he calls Pine. When Francis needs to explain things to Yao, he waves Pine over. When Yao has a question, he turns to Pine, who rarely is more than a step away and spends every game behind the bench.

When the Rockets huddle during a timeout, Pine often can be seen ducking his head between the elbows and shoulders of the players and listening in.

"He's good because he knows basketball terminology and the language," Rockets trainer Keith Jones said. "He listens to everything and then goes over it all with Yao so he can learn it."

When the Wall Street Journal calls, or ABC News, or the Financial Times, Pine is called, too.

"It's a surreal experience. But as exciting and cool as it has been, I know it's not me, and that's not who I am," Pine said. "I'm fortunate to be here."

Most important, Pine realizes his No. 1 priority is to make his services obsolete. Soon, if possible.

The Rockets want Yao to learn English, instead of depending on an interpreter. Yao wants to learn English, too, and he can communicate somewhat but often is embarrassed to try.

"I realize this is a job that's not a career," Pine said. "It's not a means to an end. It's something I'm privileged to do, and I want to help Yao learn as much as he can as fast as he can. If it's one year, two years, I'll be happy just to have the experience."

For now, Pine is enjoying the ride and hardly believing any of it is true. When he is not working, he is like a teenager given an all-access pass -- walking around wide-eyed, buying souvenirs, shaking his head at his good fortune.

Wednesday night, Pine and Yao walked side by side through the maze of hallways and corridors at Indiana's Conseco Fieldhouse. They were surrounded by security guards and getting the star treatment as they approached an interview room filled with nearly three dozen reporters and a bank of video cameras.

Before stepping into the room, Pine checked his suit, took a deep breath and said, "This is what makes me nervous."

The interview went smoothly, though, the only hitch being Pine's cellular phone going off in the middle of the news conference.

"I am so sorry," Pine said sheepishly to the crowd. "I'm a rookie."

Maybe he needs his own posse.