I remember they said they would give him a front-office position. Is he still with the team? What is he up to now?
Also, I know that he went to Northwestern and he's around the age of 31. Do you think he and Daryl Morey knew each other before and he could put in a good word to Les about Morey?
He left and took a job with the NBA two or three years ago. I don't think he was ever a Rox employee, btw, he worked for Yao IIRC.
I think he was hired by the Rockets organization. I still remember there was a thread about the job opening not long after Yao was drafted. I can be wrong though.
Not to dog Colin Pine or anything, I think he did a great job with Yao, but with a huge Chinese population in Houston with many ABCs (American Born Chinese) that can speak Chinese and English fluently with similar credentials to Pine (not I though, but I know of many that went to MIT, Stanford, Northwestern, Yale, Harvard, blah blah blah blah blah), how in the world did a Chinese NOT get this job? I always wondered about that.
Colin Pine went to James Madison U undergrad. Yao's folks wanted a whitey I'm pretty sure. I don't recall if he was paid by the Rockets or by Yao but "Team Yao" picked him, I know that's for sure.
Can't speak for Yao Ming. But to be accepted in America and in Houston, honoring White guys with high profile jobs like that would go a long way. It's not racism but good business sense. Some Japanese baseball players such as Kaz Matsui also have a White guy interpreter.
Yeah, that's what the movie indicated. It acknowledged that there are *many* qualified Chinese people to do the job but they specifically wanted a white guy.
Colin Pine is now working for NBA Asia/China and is located in Beijing, taking up probably a marketing/public relations job. He appeared everytime when there were any NBA activities, or when Yao Ming was back. Following were some of the photos..... Last Year's Basketball Without Borders Asia Camp With Yao Ming at his fan club's gathering last summer
Don't under-estimate the great work done by Colin Pine on Yao Ming's first 4 NBA years..... Maybe Colin Pine is not in the same wave length with Yao Ming as any other American Chinese or Chinese students who studied or immigrated to USA, in terms of Chinese culture and language, but IMHO, to ease Yao Ming to gel into USA environment, culture and language seemlessly, it really requires an American. The 2 guys have developed great chemistry and personal friendship in their partnership in the past 4 years. (Note: Colin was to leave after 3 years, but at Yao Ming's request, stayed for 1 more year). Following are 2 old articles from tom.com that I translated on YMM last summer. Enjoy.
Look, Pryuen, I really respect you in regards to your work translating all the Chinese related press about Yao, but I really take issue with your statement here. By stating that "[the translator job] really requires an American," you are implying that Chinese Americans are not "American." As a Chinese American who was born and raised in the US, I consider myself American - I love football, apple pie, hamburgers, free-market capitalism, Wal-mart, Jebus, etc. I seriously doubt that any other qualified Chinese American translators who grew up in the U.S. wouldn't be able to "ease Yao Ming to gel into the USA environment, culture, language seemlessly." More melanin in my skin doesn't inhibit me from sharing the same American cultural experiences as my white counterparts. Sure, Chinese Americans might celebrate Chinese New Year and get the occasional hongbao, but we also played with GI Joes and watched Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior square off in the 80s (at least the guys did). Just like others mentioned, it was politically expedient for Team Yao to co-opt a white guy to show that Yao can relate to people of other races (especially Causcasians - building goodwill with whities never hurts). I don't blame them for doing that - it was a smart thing to do because they recognized that a lot of whites in America hold the same fallacy that you have - that Chinese Americans are not "true Americans." It is in my experience that a lot of Asians who were born in Asia feel that way - I once told a Taiwanese girl when I was in Taiwan that I was American. Her response? "You're not a REAL American." I've had similar experiences when I was traveling in China and Japan as well. The prevailing opinion is that "REAL Americans" come in only two flavors: chocolate or vanilla. It unfortunate, but most people clearly judge a book by its cover.
