That, and to a lesser extent the Fernando Valenzuela fans in the 80's. In Mexico, baseball is second only to fútbol, but there was still a large spike in Mexican-American attendance, not to mention Mexican flags in the stands, when Fernando and the Freaking Dodgers came to the Dome back in the '80s.
Does it really matter?...Everybody do things for personal reasons, it's the action that matters, i.e: cheering for Yao AND the Rockets.
Hi Sabonis( or should I call you Stuart? ). Thank you for sharing such a good story with us. Base on your privious posts, you might be living in Bar Area. Maybe someday, I can have a taste in your father's restaurant when I drive to SF.
I got to this thread a little late and I could argue a lot of post but ill just leave it at this. Respecting, admiring, following and cheering for someone just because they are of your same race or nationality is stupid and simple minded. People should be admired and/or respected for what they do or believe IN life not by what they look like when they start it.
Hey Happy (or should I call you Ricky?) I live in the bay area now, but originally from Detroit, so that's where you would have to go to visit my pops. Though, I don't think you want to waste any of your free time visiting Detroit. Stuart
I'm sure you have been "Respecting, admiring, following and cheering" for the K. Malones, the Stocktons, etc, for all of your life for what they did on bball court.
If Yao is ignorant, disrespectful, inconsiderate, or acting superior, he would NOT be admired, respected, followed and cheered, by Chinese. He would be called STUPID, in Chinese, and tons of other Asian languages. But he's not, he's gentle, humble, respectful, hard-working, and competing at the highest level of basketball. Therefore, people like him. Because lots of Asian people feel related to him, they like him more. Those Asian people also respect other great players with good characters, just don't follow them as much as others, perhaps. I would assume all your family members are good citizens, and you respect and love them, there are tons of other good citizens out there, you probably won't love them as much as you love your family. If someone has a problem with that, now, we will call that guy stupid and simple minded.
Thank you. I agree with that statement and it goes for everyone, not just yao fans. But your member number 1,6xx so wait your opinion doesn't matter. Only the internet geeks with 100000 or more posts should be allowed to start new threads.
no, thank you. your supreme objectivity has opened my eyes. i will stop being so simple-minded and rooting for the rockets because i'm from houston. how stupid of me.
If Yao brings new fans to the game. Good for Yao. I'm glad he's an abassador like that. Why do I or you or anyone care that they watch because he's a hometown(homenation) hero? It is annoying when some fans don't understand the concept of the game and follow one player more than a whole team, but that is minor. The NBA isn't exclusive, and has room for even more fans. If Yao brings some to the game, then great for Yao... Great for the game... and Great for the new fans. I hope they like it.
And respecting, admiring, following and cheering for someone because they can put balls into round hoops, or smack balls 500 feet with a long stick is a totally different scenario. Don't pull out this self-righteous bulls***, unless you're also willing to denigrate the popularity of thousands of athletes the world over who are adored for no other reason than athletic ability.
I got to this thread a little late and I could argue a lot of post but ill just leave it at this. Respecting, admiring, following and cheering for some teams just because they are in your hometown is stupid and simple minded. Teams should be admired and/or respected for what they do or believe IN life not by where they are when they start it.
You only root for the rockets if they are playing good. Hence the term, "fair weather fan". Are you also an NBA basketball fan? If the pistons play the heat do you sit down and watch the game because you love basketball? I do, and I doubt all that many of you can say the same.
Good post, I agree with that. I love Yao to death because he’s hard working respectful etc etc… But those are all things that he has control over unlike where he was born and what he looks like. I can understand people in china starting to watch the rockets and basketball because of Yao, but where it gets me and I think Keiser to is 2000+ people going to the warriors game screaming for Yao knowing damn well that if he had to sit that game out for any reason they would turn around and go home. I just don’t think that there cheering for him because he’s hard working etc etc, they think “WOW he looks like me, I want to go cheer for him”
i go to yankees and mets games because i love baseball. more often, however, i attend the cyclones at keyspan park. an afternoon at the beach followed by matinee baseball, awesome. have you been? it's really a blast and more family-friendly than games at the major-league parks.
I think I must be the most mocked bbs member ever Please stop using the hometown argument, its wrong, It is the nature of the league to cheer for your home team. That way we can all call in on the radio and talk about it, talk about it at work, at school or anywhere around the city. Just like in the Olympics we cheer for our own country because that’s the nature of that event. Good point
