Sonic opponent Yao hits it very big with local Chinese Many in community excited for tonight's game vs. Houston By BRAD WONG SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER In China, his age and height have earned him the nickname "Little Giant." But in Seattle, forget the "Little." Yao Ming makes his first local appearance against the Seattle Sonics tonight, much to the delight of many Chinese expatriates in the area. The 7-foot-5 rookie with the Houston Rockets is generating a huge buzz. "Someone ordered 20 tickets, and the whole family is flying over from China," said Scott Earle, a sales representative with the Seattle Sonics and Storm. A Chinese Microsoft employee, who usually doesn't attend Sonics games, splurged for a $210 courtside ticket. Another expatriate thinks the basketball player is as big as a certain film star who was known for kung fu skills. "I think Yao Ming is like the new Bruce Lee," said Tang Yinjie, a graduate student from Shanghai who will attend tonight's game. "He introduced some new ideas to the American people." Expatriates view Yao with a mixture of pride and hope -- pride that their countryman is playing this American game at an elite level and hope that he will broaden Americans' view of Chinese people. Earle expects the 17,000 seats at KeyArena to be sold out tonight. To capitalize on Yao's appearance, he worked with Chinese community members to publicize the event. An organization of Chinese scholars and students alone bought 350 tickets, he said. For weeks, the University of Washington group advertised Yao's appearance by e-mail and through a special Web page offering discounted tickets, said Cao Lan, the organization's president. He estimates there are 2,000 Chinese expatriates studying and working in the area. "One day, he (Cao) ordered 80 or 95 tickets. And 30 minutes later, he called and said he needed more. The word gets out," Earle said. Yao is igniting excitement among Chinese basketball mavens just as the Seattle Mariners' Ichiro did among Japanese baseball fans. In conversations this week, expatriates rattled off how many points he has scored and against which teams and that his parents are former basketball players. It's refreshing to see a Chinese citizen playing with the world's best basketball players, they said. "It's like feeling good that you're from Seattle because Bill Gates is from Seattle," said Charles Wu, a Bellevue resident, who works for Microsoft. On Monday, he was watching a televised Houston game. The 33-year-old is such a huge fan that he would buy season tickets if the Sonics would hire a Chinese player of Yao's caliber. "Absolutely. My wife doesn't agree. But I will go by myself," said Wu, who is from southern China. "She feels that it's fortunate that Yao Ming is in Houston," keeping her husband at home. Cao, the organization president, hopes Yao's NBA performance will bring more attention to China and show stateside residents a different side of the world's most populous country. "If Yao Ming is good, the American community will have more respect for the Chinese community," he said. Tang likes Yao, in part, because he's tall. "I was surprised that China had such tall people," the 27-year-old Seattle resident said. His popularity also has blossomed into something of a cult. Fan club Web sites have sprung up. Coco Li, the petite pop star famous in Hong Kong, sang at a Rockets game this month. She, too, is a fan. When Yao arrived in Houston in October, a Chinese Buddhist monk was among the people to welcome him. Some fans gather at Chinese restaurants in Texas to eat and watch him play. Others wave banners at games, welcoming him in Chinese. And Chinese television is beaming 30 of the Rockets games back to China. And so, what if an expatriate fan from Seattle gets to talk to him tonight? Yang Zhi Cheng, a 22-year-old graduate student, wants to say this: "It's not easy to play here. It's the same with studying in the United States. Try your best." Wu hopes to land an autograph before the night is over. He plans to download Yao's image from the Internet and have his photograph ready just in case there's an opportunity for a signature. In a few years, he said, China may have another basketball giant. Wu reads Chinese Internet sites, where there's heavy chatter about a 15-year-old who plays ball in southern China. The boy already towers 6 feet 11 inches, he said. He, too, has earned a nickname: "Little Yao Ming." P-I reporter Brad Wong can be reached at 425-453-1682 or bradwong@seattlepi.com
who is this new kid? I think at 15 he probably won't grow too much more. Won't get to 7'5 most likely.
Are you kidding? Hedo Turkoglu grew 2 inches over the summer and he was 22 years old. And I'm sure KG grew a few inches after he got into the NBA. KG swears he's 6'11" but I doubt it. He looks way too tall to be 6'11".
Speaking of hitting it big! Here's a job opportunity and a chance to really be apart of something big. http://nbateamjobs.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/r.cfm?i=1844 Sales & Marketing: Ticket Sales Chinese-Language Ticket Sales Account Executive - Houston Rockets The Rockets Organization is seeking a Ticket Sales representative that speaks Mandarin as a first language or fluently as a second language to become part of our sales team. This individual would have the ability to communicate and translate the Rockets message in a way that would develop and strengthen our relationship within the Asian community. RESPONSIBILITIES: * Selling season tickets for the Houston Rockets and Comets via telemarketing, electronic mail and corporate face-to-face presentations. * Identifying prospects for each team via aggressive networking. * Generating ticket leads and maintaining the departmental database including inputting and updating. * Working some regular season games performing various duties including providing service at ticket information table, phone coverage, and assisting at the Will Call Window on game nights. * Creating new ideas to increase ticket sales * Attaining ticket goals of department each season * Position will primarily involve outside sales * Perform basic office functions as needed QUALIFICATIONS: * Bachelor’s degree preferred, but not required. * Fluency in Modern Standard Chinese (Mandarin) * 1-4 years of experience in sales & marketing or in a related area * Candidate should be aggressive, competitive, professional, mature, and self-starting. * Strong communications/interpersonal skills are a necessity. * Prior telemarketing and outside sales experience are preferred * Familiarity with database management with a strong working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. * Any experience working for a team, athletic department, or event is beneficial. Note: When you apply for this job online, you will be required to answer the following questions: 1. Do you speak Mandarin as a fist language or fluently as a second language? 2. Do you have outside sales experience? Apply for this position Click here to see all of our employment opportunities.
In other words, the Houston Asian/Chinese community is not in the state of frenzy the Rockets had hoped for? I'll be honest...I expected to see a lot more than have been at the games. Yes, I've noticed an increase...especially the section with the Yao Ming Fan Club signs but notthing like I expected.
Check this out if you read chinese: http://sports.sohu.com/60/37/sports_news165333760.shtml The boy is Yi Jianlian, playing for Guangdong Hongyuan, a CBA club. He is 15 at 2.11 m. He was at Adidas basketball in USA last summer. He is from Shenzhen, where i live. The interesting part is he was picked by a coach at a street Basketball competition when he was 13. a street fighter..... BTW, Yao was 2.06 when he was 16, so figure for yourself.
Yeah, glad that someone on this board knows that kid! His appearance in US this summer is not a blockbuster, but I think throw him in CBA for a couple of years like what Yao Ming did for the past 5 years, he will become a much better player. I heard there are lots of universities in US wanted that kid badly, while unfortunately he is born in a country without free trade, why not sending a good coach to China for him?
You know what, if somebody really liked him, send a lawyer who understand China to talk to his parrents. The kid is 15, nobody can really bond him legally now. If the pay-off is good enough, i bet his parrents will go with you.
