Maybe I misunderstood your post, but how is a respected professor from a top university a "questionable character"?
Thank you Pryuen for providing the details. Actually, that's what I was trying to refer. I read that from Yao's book years ago and just too lazy to dig it up.
Can't Yao wear something over his toe to protect it from getting stepped on? I mean, the shoe didn't make his nail come off in the first place...
Except that HP was responding to this quote Which basically says exactly what you said which is macfan did not say that Yao was taking the shot at JVG. He said that a shot was taken and since it was said by the agent that's who I assume he meant did it. I totally agree. JVG is always protecting his players and I think even more so than Yao's agent.
Martina Hingis sued her shoe company for jacking up her feet. Shoes are about fit and Reebok should be more responsive in customizing their shoes to fit Yao's feet. Yao is a 310 pound basketball player, he needs shoes that can help indure 100 games a season.
you're still getting it confused. i understand he didn't say yao was taking a shot at jvg but he did say this: which is an even more illogical conclusion.
If some of you want to chat with Huizinga, here is his contact info: John Huizinga Deputy Dean for Faculty The University of Chicago 1101 E 58th St Chicago, IL 60637-1511 USA He makes a lot of money from this deal, I am sure he doesn't mind talking to a few fans.
I don't think it matters. It appears to be public information anyways. http://gsbportal.chicagogsb.edu/por...in_year=20064&max_year=20073&person_id=164395 I am sure he has a secretary screening his emails and phone calls.
Yao says his shoes are OK. Of course, he's getting money from Reebok so he probably is not allowed to say bad things about them, although one could perceive a lack of an endorsement a tacit approval of JVG's statement. He seems to have given his approval to Reebok here. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4243615.html
How he does in his academic field is irrelevant to his dealings with Yao, the Rockets, and the shoe company. The guy gets paid by Reebok through his representation of Yao. Under their contractual obligations, neither he nor Yao can say anything bad about Reebok. While some of his statements quoted in Jonathan Feigen's article are factual, such as "The fact of the matter is, he is wearing the same shoes now he wore all through the World Championships," others are borderline BS. "He is wearing his favorite shoes, the ones he loves the most." Is Yao free to wear other brands of shoes, such as Nike or Adidas, when he plays for Rockets or CNT? How does he know Yao won't like them better than the Reebok shoes he's been wearing? "I'm saying I don't think shoes are inherently the problem. I don't know where Jeff is coming from. Maybe he (Yao) is allergic to Jeff Van Gundy." It's well documented that Yao's foot problems, including that of his left big toe, started way before the '05-'06 NBA season. In case Huizinga forgot, then CNT head coach Del Harris noticed Yao's foot was already a bloody mess in the '04 Summer Olympic Games. As a Yao's agent, for Huizinga to say JVG contributed to Yao's foot problem is ignorant and irresponsible, and certainly out of character as a member of Team Yao. "You could have him out there in steel work boots," Huizinga said. "But they're big and they're heavy and it's tough to play basketball in them. Huizinga can continually act as a Yes Man to the shoe company sponsor (conflict of interest is another suspect here) and talk like a juvenile, but the most readers' experiences/opinions tell Reebok makes inferior sports footwears, compared to Nike, or even Adidas. The technology employed by Reebok's competitors shows that steel work boots are not the only alternative to athletes, if the design and materials of the shoes they previously wore made them more vulnerable to injuries.
Typical story of total incompetance. No one is proactive. Everyone but JVG is waiting for someone to tell them what to do. Problems don't fix themselves. 1) Reebok says they aren't late. They probably aren't late because they never agreed to a deadline for the revisions. The fact is, if Kevin Leary wasn't incompetant, he would have found out when Yao needed the shoes for playing and would have had them on his doorstep in time for that. 2) Yao's agent is incompetant because he isn't chewing Reebok's a** to get them. He should have made sure Kevin Leary was under a fire to get them by training camp, but apparently he didn't. 3) Kevin Leary doesn't even know why his biggest endorser has a foot injury. What the heck is his job? Why wasn't he on a plane, and talking to Yao's doctor to figure out how he can help. Saying he would come to see Yao if he was asked is a MAJOR cop out. You don't ask. You "Just Do It" (excuse the pun). If Leary isn't trying to fix it, he is causing it.
Huizinga was simply responding to JVG's comments. JVG did insinuate that Yao wasn't doing enough to ensure his new shoes would be here already and Yao's agent called him out on it. Yao's refuted JVG's comments and most here are just thrilled by a fairly inane (and typical JVG) outburst. Yao can say if Reebok has been a little slower getting him than he'd like getting him the shoes without contractual consequences. Instead he has refuted JVG's remarks without calling him out. Reading through this thread it seems most believe JVG and think Yao's somehow entrapped by his sponsor. Those that don't believe Yao's statements must believe he's a coward. What a joke. JVG lives in JVG world and he's lucky to have Yao not just casually say "Jeff doesn't know what he's talking about here." To me this is no big deal, but I can't believe people here have the balls to indict Yao's comments and subscribe to JVG's blather. I'll bet you anything either Les, JVG or Yao himself has told JVG to shut up about this. If not I hope JVG runs his yap and incurs Reebok's wrath and the legions of fans inclined to take Yao at his word over monetary considerations. After all Reebok would not want to incur Yao's wrath no matter what it might cost them because it could kill them longterm.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Fact. JVG said exactly what he should have to get what he wanted. I can guarantee you this just went up quite a few notches on Reebok's priority list because of the humiliation. Anyone want to guess when those shoes will arrive now? In addition to that, they should be in Austin looking into it and trying new stuff to prevent future injuries. Hey Reebok... carbon fiber... hint hint hint. FYI, it is common practice in the sport of cycling to endorse a product and not use it. Several Tour de France cycling teams have riders that don't ride the sponsor's bikes. They have their own custom frames, and just paint it to match the team's bikes. Yao can just get his own shoes made, and slap a Reebok sticker on the side. Problem solved. Is Reebok going to complain? How humiliating would that be?
Read Yao's comments and read Feigan's report. The fact is that Yao has been waiting for a modified shoe. Yao didn't refute anything Van Gundy said about the shoes not arriving. He simply said he didn't blame Reebok's shoes. And who "indict[ed]" Yao's comments? Perhaps he has the contract in mind, perhaps he genuinely has a good relationship with Reebok and is forgiving for their negligence, who knows? All that people have been trying to explain to you delusional conspiracists is that there is no "Yao/JVG rift" to be read into this story.
Man, I've got a grin on my face from the series of posts earlier analyzing Heypartner's post. Amazing! HP must think it's a riot, lol.
I'm glad there are so many experts here about Yao's toe problems and how "it must be the shoes" (somewhwere Spike Lee's busting a gut). I also think it's funny to suggest Reebok couldn't stuff a sock in JVG's mouth if they wanted to, and to their benefit. Van Gundier, anyone here who's suggesting JVG's right in his comments and Yao's wrong in his is essentially indicting Yao's statements, and inferring Yao has been negligent to not have his new shoes earlier. I know JVG's ball-busting seems to be popular here whether he's right or not, but I do have a problem with him insinuating Yao has been negligent, and going after one of his sponsors for problems Yao flatly denies are related to the shoe. I do expect JVG to give Yao the benefit of the doubt about his training and his sponsors without going to the media. But if JVG thinks he can humiliate Yao, or one of his sponsors I hope said sponsor and Team Yao attack with a vengeance. Yo'ure right: there is no rift between Yao and JVG. But JVG would be wise to not insult (intentionally or not) people Yao is loyal to, because coaches are temporary at best, and JVG is one Yao (or T-Mac) sentence from being retired for a good while. This is a tempest in a teapot to be sure, but Huizinga has demonstrated his contempt with the "allergic" line but Yao will have to answer for it and it may not be how JVG expects.
You have no reason to call him a "questionable character". That is ridiculous. Please provide evidence for your false assumption that Prof. Huizinga gets paid by Reebok. If you really think that Prof. Huizinga seriously said that JVG contributed to Yao's foot problem, I have to wonder why I am even wasting time to answer your post. Please provide evidence of your false assumption that Prof. Huizinga "makes a lot of money from this deal". Also, the e-mails of GSB professors do not get screened, they answer them personally. Therefore, I would like to strongly discourage everyone from giving Houston Rockets fans a bad name by molesting Yao's chosen representative by sending unsolicited e-mails complaining about his representative trying to protect Yao's commercial interests.
