Warriors blog: One of the most complimentary blogs on Rockets!

When did a 27 year old Rockets fan become old money? Rookies are looked down on not because they are new to being Rockets fans, rookies tend to be looked down on because of their inability to start decent threads, their posts tend to be redundant and they tend to break the rules around here. I, nor most others do not question their fanhood because they are rooks. The only people whose fanhood I question are the X player only fans. Fans who look at a win and say, "why wasn't X playing in the 4th quarter tonight?" It's a win, who cares? I think posters who have a myopic vision of this team are not real fans. We aren't just fans of the team that is, we are fans are the teams that were and the teams that will be. One player, or a small set of players does not make a Rockets team. People who over look this annoy me.

 

Not true. New members who make quality posts are welcomed with open arms. Want an example? Clutch, the Great Man himself, praised a Pacers fan, Mattie, for her very first post, which was her take on Granger. Why? It was an excellent post. I repped her myself (and I normally don't mention such things in a post). This isn't the first time Clutch has done something like that, not by a long shot.

This was the most important thing I took from your post, btw: "Best thing to do is just discuss what you want to discuss with civility and respect." If everyone followed that dictum, the BBS would be a far more enjoyable experience.

When new members show up and immediately focus on one player, making all their posts about that one player, find fault with those who criticize said player, often finding fault in an irrational and sometimes hysterical way, without considering the fact that most of those critical posts are by members who actually like said player, and do things like accuse members of being "racist" for having the nerve to criticize said player when, again, many of those who are critical actually like that player, and do so to such an extent that threads not about said player turn into a thread about said player, becoming totally derailed, up to and including the freakin' game threads, then discussions are destroyed and mayhem ensues. So people here get a bit ticked off, you know? They also get a bit ticked off by the appearence of caring not a damn about the team, but only about the player. Why that apparently is a shock to some new members is a mystery to me.

An example of someone going off the deep end is right here in this thread. Here's the quote:

"This is not a normal circumstance or event. This is like the Jackie Robinson of the Asian-American community. This is a whole social change in the media of sports for them. This is a defining moment for them. What is wrong with that and it's celebration?"

I mean wow, just wow. So what is Yao? Chump change? The big fella is revered here, yet we read nonsense like this. I mean really. How about some of you get a grip and grab hold of reality. Quit finding a "crisis" everywhere, when the crisis is on your head. Try following a topic, and when you just have to make a post about that particular player, who so many of us like and admire, do it in one of the numerous threads about the guy. My guess is that you are embarrassing that player, who is, of course, Jeremy Lin, our starting point guard, and likely to be for the forseeable future. A talented young man finding his way. Improving game by game as he gains experience and comes to better understand what the coaching staff want, and better understands his teammates, a process every NBA player goes through.


Food for thought? Except for a handful here, we were all once "new members."

 

This is a great thread for adding to the ignore list. Repped

 

Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but my mom always taught me that when I'm invited into somebody's home, that I should take my cues from my kind hosts.

 

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Obviously, I am a person who is a "player" fan But the problem is when "player" fans turn into criticize everyone who isn't thier favorite player commentators.

When they are blinded by their love of one player instead of the love of the game. I fell in love with this team... even though not a single person from the team I originally grew to love (Chuck, Yao, Shane etc) is still with the org, I love the Rockets because of the never say die atmosphere the organization lives by. The problem with "player" only fans is that they don't see the beauty of team, they only see the beauty of one player.

Also to the OP, thanks for sharing!

 

Well said. The only thing I would add is that some of the oldtimers seem rattled by the influx of new members, with their new ideas and perspectives. They want ClutchFans to grow and stay lively but only if the new folks are all like them.

 

Sorry if I cut off a whole bunch of your paragraphs, but I wanted to focus on a few things you said.

I think your feelings are legit and you have some just cause to them. But have you not seen the large amount of posts mocking all 2012's? Who likes to be labelled and marginalized just based on their join dates? I know I don't, and it makes me want to say something as well.

I think the best way is for all of us who read this to set an example and not join in any mean spirited discussions. Not that I believe that anyone will care what we say, but less of us being angry and antagonistic will lessen the amount of vitriol being spewed.

Even the above quote that you say is out of line. I have to respectfully disagree with you.
He has an opinion that Lin is important to the Asian American community. And you don't agree. So what? Does that mean he is out of line or that he has a opposing view? We should never get mad at people who have opposing views. He likes Lin, he wants to celebrate Lin. Like he said...why not? Unless a commentator calls someone bad names or start personal insults, they should be allowed to celebrate a Rockets player. If you don't share his feelings, you don't have to celebrate with him right? Don't have to knock him down unless there are set rules in here that we need to force ourselves to talk about everyone else whether we like them as much or not.

I'm not talking about bashing other players on the team. That's a different subject of meanness altogether. But be sensitive that while you blame Lin fans for bashing other players on the Rockets, the line isn't crossed so that you allow Lin to be bashed more unfairly than others as well.

Lastly, I think it's important to understand why Yao does not appeal to Asian Americans as much as Lin. Lin is an American. Asian Americans identify as much with Yao as Black Americans people identify with Africans...skin deep. The culture, lifestyle, way of thinking...entirely night and day.
So yes, Yao is his own legend but he IS foreign. Lin is homegrown. That's really important to distinguish, and so you can't lump those two in the same cultural context. Don't believe? Lin didn't make it to the All Star game through fan votes. That's tells you everything.

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it so long...but it kept writing itself...lol!

 

+1. (coming from a new member but old fan)

 

I can tell you weren't here at that time...

We got a HUGE influx of new members when Yao came here in 2002, many of them from China. Some struggled with english, but most of the forum was understanding as long as they were making the effort.

Some were very extreme Yao fans and acted just like the Lin fans who have everyone so irritated this year. Some of the ones who came here just for Yao did eventually grow to become valued members of this community just like I'm sure some of our 2012 class will eventually.

 

I lurked a bit around that time and obviously your opinion is probably more informed than mine but Yao fans were different and had a nice loyalty for the collective rockets team that sort of offset some predispositions.

Lin fans...they are a different breed.

 

There were 150+ comments that didn't have anything to do with Lin fans but you chose to exploit that one to fit your agenda. Got it.

 

Can't really comment on some of the other fans that came for Jeremy Lin but will only comment for myself.

I am from Asia, and therefore basketball isn't really a popular sport. Soccer is the number one sport here, and players like Ronaldo and Messi are household names.

Jeremy Lin kind of ignited my interest in basketball. I started watching the sport because of him. Now my knowledge of basketball isn't fantastic, and I have been mostly learning by watching the games and reading the posts of more knowledgeable posters like torocan.

From initially following one player, I have come to love this Rockets team and I think the future is extremely bright. We have a solid starting 5 who are relatively young and have shown glimpses of being dominating against teams like GS, Memphis, Knicks. (And when I say starting 5 I include Patterson)

I am rambling a bit, but my point being, if you aren't from the area (i.e. Houston), chances are you came to support the team because of one player, and came to love and know the team from there.

Those of you who came to love the team because of Yao, the Dream or TMac should really extend the same courtesy to those of us who came to support this team because of Lin. With time, LOFs(as you so label them) will love the team just as much as you do.

All it takes is time. (That and maybe a championship or two!)

In the meantime, a lack of labels and blatant baiting would really help.

 

I've lurked this site for years before finally joining last month and I have noticed the difference with the Yao fans from years back and Lin fans now. I think mostly the initial set back with the Yao fans were the ones with the language barrier but for the most part there wasn't any trollish people. There were people that loved Yao first and foremost before the team but I don't remember anyone blaming any other Rockets member or looking for a scapegoat any struggles he may have had. That is the difference and where I think some of us Rockets fans are feeling a bit put off by some Lin fans.

That being said, not all people that have come here for Lin are like that and a lot have come to like the team and post good stuff. Some though are very extreme and have nothing positive to say about the Rockets as a TEAM. It pretty much goes like this...if you want respect, you have to give it.

 

Maybe this is why Clutchfans is bad for you.

 

Right.... I've had posters call me out saying I'm LOF, HOF, LOH, and that I'm not a real Rockets fan. That **** gets old....

 

Jedster is correct. Yao is a foreigner. He is not Asian American.

After Linsanity hit, many articles came out by Asian American writers about how it was a watershed moment. They mentioned how Jeremy Lin was just like them in a way a foreigner like Yao never was.

Just because Yao and Lin look the same doesn't mean they are the same in the cultural context. I know of old Asian American women who don't follow basketball but know who Jeremy Lin is, but they have no idea who Yao is.

Asian Americans view Yao the way African Americans would view some African from the Congo who speaks Bantu. Yao doesn't even speak the language naturally, he speaks it with an accent that will forever mark him as a foreigner, just as Black Americans will always view someone like Kofi Annan as a foreigner due to his accent, when they would never view Barack Obama that way. There are many Asian Americans who only speak English and don't understand any other language. And even if they do know some other language, English will always be their primary and preferred language, with their ability with some other language being questionable (heck, Jeremy Lin doesn't even attempt to reply in Mandarin during interviews in Taiwan or China because he doesn't speak it well)

Jeremy Lin is the first Asian American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA, and the only Asian American NBA player in recent memory unless you want to go back several decades to Wataru Misaka who barely even played.

Yao is a foreigner who has little to do with the Asian American community. Asian Americans are Americans first and Asians second, if that. Just as African Americans are Americans first and Africans a very distant second. They're not going to identify with Kofi Annan or some African tribesman who doesn't even speak English (or speaks it with a weird accent like Yao) the way they would with Martin Luther King or Barack Obama (and no, I'm not equating Lin with the stature or importance of such luminaries).

I mean, Yao Ming needed a translator to travel with him in the beginning. How much less Asian American can you be?

Yao Ming grew up in Communist China, just like some African tribesman growing up in Sudan or something. Asian Americans and Black Americans aren't going to identify with those guys just because of skin color. They will always be foreigners. Lovable and even quirky or heroic foreigners maybe, but always "Other" and "not one of us", not an American, much less Asian American or Black American.

Jeremy Lin broke racial stereotypes and provided Asian Americans with a presence on the national stage in a way Yao would never do. Jeremy was someone who spoke like them, grew up like them, thought like them. Yao is from an alien culture, as different from Asian Americans as that Bantu Tribesman is from Black Americans.

For the first time, the nation could see Asian Americans for what they were in Jeremy Lin, not the foreigner caricature stereotype that Yao reinforced. Yao is not an Asian American. I'm not trying to be xenophobic or in any way slight what Yao has accomplished, which is admirable in its own right and precedent setting. But the fact remains, he is not Asian American, nor representative of the Asian American community, and certainly not accepted or embraced in the same way as Jeremy Lin.

Houston isn't as diverse as other parts of the country, so may not understand this. But if you go to parts of the country with sizable Asian American communities, like NYC or the Bay Area, you'll find lots of Jeremy Lins, not Yao Mings. You'll see Barack Obamas, not Kofi Annans.