Seems Yao has no intention to leave Houston in the future.

Of Course, Yao has No Intention to Leave Houston

Going back to the thread title... this should be a given. The City of Houston has done great things for this guy -- not least of whom has been the Houston media. The media's been VERY KIND TO YAO. I can't imagine Yao lasting TWO years in any of the major metropolises like NYC or L.A. He'd be grilled worse than any of the "I hate Yao" threads on the cc.net boards. If YOFs really want to see "un-politically correct" things said about players, all you need to do is take a trip to Philly or NY. The local media says the worst things about its own players.

Not true about Houston.

One thing Yao may fail to recognize though is that his "incubation" period as an out-of-country rookie is just about ending. If he doesn't start ratcheting up his numbers to true "all star" levels and taking this team to the next level, then the fans, the media, and the Rox organization have every right and every reason to reassess the situation. I think a lot of the concern being vocalized about Yao's progress this year (or perhaps the lack thereof) is for fear of him reaching his peak.

I'm not sure if Yao's reached his peak, but I'll save that for another thread.



theSAGE

 

Ding ding ding! Race card -- must be time for bed.

 

I think Americans are by and large a very tolerant people.

As a Chinese born in the US, however, I do notice the PC-sensitivity shown to blacks or Latinos does not seem to apply to Asian-Americans.

I hope that some of you out there will realize that Yao is something of a Jackie Robinson to many Chinese. I think this is especially true with natural-born US citizens like myself who have lived our whole lives in America, and thus have never had the chance to root for any high-profile Chinese atheletes.

I freely admit that if Yao were white or black, I probably would never have become a Rocket fan (YOF). I can understand why some long-time, dieheard Rocket fans may find that annoying.

The innocent jokes about Chinese people, or the high-handed assessments of Chinese culture made by some admittedly white people here can be offensive and patronizing. I highly doubt similar remarks would ever be uttered about blacks or Latinos.

 

Will, if this was the way you write sports articles or handle fans as a professional journalist, you would have been fired anywhere you go.

 

I thought BOLD LETTERS were discouraged here.

 

Clutch, I understand your instinct to protect your crew. You are completely entitled to do so, just as I would tend to do when someone makes fun about Yao's culture. If Shaq's comments to Yao was defined as a racially insensitive remarks, how "6 fowls" in chinese restaurnt not a racial slur? And a racial slur is OK to be in a Yao's Chinese Restaurant thread?

Face it, just because you don't think it is a racial slur, it doesn't mean it is not racially insensitive. Obviously you came from a different culture. So if you do not feel it, I can understand.

 

Honestly, I have no idea how this thread becomes so intense and sensitive, which consists of multiple clutch crews' responses and posters accusing Will of "racial slur". It seems it's getting way out of hand.

When I first saw the joke, I didn't laugh, not that it's not funny, or it's not tricky with puns. Simply, just I wasn't in the mood. But I didn't consider it racial related. Things like that are always dependent on one's perspective, circumstances etc. Lancet felt offended, and he reacted. I don't think he's just pretending it, he really does feel that way, I believe. Of course, Clutch and other crew members felt it's just impossible to react to a joke that way. There is no absolute right or wrong in such incidents. Like I mentioned before, acting and posting as a Clutch Crew member, I hope Will could be a little bit more sensitive in some of his comments. It might be his style, and some enjoy it, some might not take it very well. Yao is in a slump, and some of his fans are in bad mood, could react to things differently than usual, you can call them over-reacting, or even over-sensitive or defensive. But they are still entitled to their opinions.

There is no point to argue what or how should one react to one joke. To keep asking why do you see it this way, you should see it as the way I intended, is not getting us anywhere. If I were Will, after the joke, someone (more than one or two users) were uncomfortable with it, I would simply say, jeez you guys are overreacting, I meant it in such such way, but if you insist, I'll just take it back. Let's move on. I guess some other posters would offer their opinions as well, but it wouldn't become such an argument. I could sense that both sides are quite upset and even angry. Come on, we are all Rockets fans, do we really need to get into a fight because of Peking Ducks? Even 6 of them? Cheers.

By the way, I had an intense argument with our VP yesterday, because he took side at a working dispute between two teamleaders. I told him that he just made things worse. Not to criticise anyone (not that I have such power). Clutch, I do feel for you. But if you guys let it go easily, probably some posters wouldn't feel so defensive. Just food for thoughts.

 

Are you guys even sure this is restaurant is by Yao Ming? I mean just because it has the name Yao doesn't imply that Yao Ming the basketball player is opening it.

 

English is not my first language. That doesn't make me dumb. Even if I did not know what a "fowl" is, I could still look it up in a million places on the web.

Just because one's first language is not English doesn't mean she/he is not entitled to her/his oppionion.

 

I think the 'fowl' joke is adequate, and not a racial slur. I do have to agree langal that the pc sensitivity offer to blacks and hispanics are not offered to asian.

That said, I think there's still plenty of racism from all sides. Growing up as a Chinese American, I've had plenty of "ching chong" and "do you know kungfu (follow by the bruce lee wu - ahhhh scream) thrown at me from people of all different racism. Though most of them are in jest and good nature ribing, the racism is still there. However, the Chinese are just as racist as any body. Just sit at a Chinese restaurant and listen to some of the conversations in Chinese and you'd be surprised at how un - PC we are. Ofcourse, we act a lot more timid when communicatting with people of other races.

 

Mr. Will’s behavior reminds of my experience during my last trip to Jamaica. When you walk on the streets on those tourist towns (such as Montego Bay, Negril), local people who are wandering in the streets with nothing to day will merrily greet you like this:

“Hey, Japanese? Konijiwa, you, sushi!”
Or,
“Hey, Italian? Ciao, you, spaghetti tomato sauce!”
Or
“Hey, Swede? Tja! You, big meaty Swedish sausage!”

 

Friends..and I certainly reguard all of you anonymous posters as my dear, dear friends... What we have here is a simple cultural misunderstanding. Sort of like we might have over the appreciation or lack of appreciation for octopus. It seems that our friends of asian persuation are very sensitive to gesture and image while our more anglo friends might call even their most beloved hero a worthless skank over one subpar outing. You must understand that we are an aggressive, insensitive, results oriented culture, barbarian if you will.

Both views are simply expressions of the love we all have for our team. Let us be united in our love, understanding there are many variations in it's expression. So to our asian friends, please just translate "YAO SUCKS" or "YAO'S A WEAK SISTER" into something like "Yao is a commendable young man who's best performances are still to come or "Though our success has not been what we would have hoped, Yao is a valuable member of our revered team". Their meanings are the same when balanced in the cultural context.

I hope this will help return harmony to our Rocket Community.

 

lol yeah the joke was about Yao's foul trouble LOL

fowl = foul (at least in this case)

 

Lancet - I was just curious, were you offended by the following? I thought this was more insensitive than Will's joke.

Originally posted by SageHare6
A single Chinese man owns a Chinese restaurant, and one day a beautiful Chinese woman walks in. He immediately walks over and asks her out on a date. She agrees. They go out for a while, and soon, the man proposes to her. She says "Yes, but before we do, there’s something you must know. I have never had the sex, but I’ve read about it." He says that it’s not a problem, and they are married.

On their honeymoon, the man tells his wife that since she’s a virgin, she can choose what they do first. She says "Oh, most honorable husband. I am honored to be your wife, even though I have never had the sex, but I’ve read about it. So, I have chosen to have the 69.

The husband looks confused, and after thinking about it, he says "You want.. the beef and broccoli?"


hee hee



hatemongerSAGE

 

Geez tiger. Everybody should just take a chill pill.

That stupid joke was just meant to highlight how silly this thread had devolved. Nobody's out to offend anybody here. Not me. Not Will. Not the Clutch Crew. Not anybody.

I know there's a lot of insensitive crap that gets thrown in the direction of ALL RACES. But for the two years or so since I've been posting on this BBS, I've never known any of the clutch crew to be "insensitive" with respect to this issue nor the vast majority (99.9999%) of the posters on the bbs. In fact, if anything, the clutch crew has been very vigilant in locking threads and cracking down on loose cannons. Moreover, the BBS, by my observation is also self-police-ing. You better believe that even NON-ASIAN posters will get up in arms if some loose cannon starts posting racist nonsense.

I know I would.



policeSAGE

 

Spare me the patronizing, please. I DID know what a "fowl" is before looking up in the dictionary. I have lived in this country for more than 10 years and I go to chinese restaurant every week. I knew what a "fowl" is and understood Will's joke. Just that I don't think it's funny. It is not blatant racial slur, but borderline.