Thanks for the clarification. And sorry for implying any racism on your part. I don't know anything about you except for your posts and posts can be taken out of context. I'm just an angry asian man whose life experiences has made him a little thin-skinned about certain prejudices - especially if they're posted by an Amy Tan wannabe. oops- there i go again assuming things about people i don't know=(
I root for Nash because he's Canadian. I have no problems at all with Chinese people cheering for Yao.
I have absolutely zero problem with Yao bringing a lot of Chinese fans over to watch him perform and play in the NBA. In fact, like has been said, I think it is perfectly normal and natural to do this. The only issue I have with any group of people honing in on just one particular player the whole time is that some of them would rather have that player do well at the expense of the team, the team's record, etc. . For example, Yao Ming scores 30 points and gets 15 rebounds nightly but the team loses then it is still great for them even though the team sucks. If Yao's numbers are way up but we have a losing record, then that should not be okay with anyone in my book. I want them to feel that, although their representative player is over here representing China, that he should do well as a piece of the team where he is fitting in chemistry-wise and the team is playing the game correctly...as they are now. The feeling I got initially and sometimes still do is Yao is placed on a pedestal above the team and how the team does. In actuality, if Yao is doing great and the team overall is doing poorly, then Yao is not really doing that great because the team is not doing great. I guess what I'm trying to say is we all want Yao to do well...especially Chinese fans...which is understandable. But, if their not growing to appreciate the Houston Rockets and how the game is actually a team game with it not being a one-man show, then I think their kind of missing the point of why the game is played in the first place. However, that said, I think the Chinese fans that initially started out only caring about Yao and how well he did have actually come to appreciate the rest of the team and care about how the team does. At least...I hope that is the case. Otherwise, I don't feel so well.
You know what gets me..? I just get this weird feeling that if the current ownership moved the Rockets to, say, Alaska... you'd all of a sudden buy far less Rockets gear, and probably watch them on TV far less than you do now. That kinda provincialism just pisses me off. EDIT: Oh, ok, I see you asked us nicely to "stop using the hometown argument". So, presumably.. if you ever moved away from Houston, you'd instantly stop rooting for them. If your job moved you to Utah, it'd be time to cheer for the Jazz because.. that way, you can call in on the radio, talk about it at work, at school, or elsewhere around the city. Right?
Yao is really good at what he does. You're going to have people root for him because of his race. He's much better than White Chocolate or the Great White Hope. I guess races everywhere are trying to compete with black people at their sport....
Crikey! Did you even read the post that that comment was from? Incase you missed it. Note the key term in the above paragraph "stereotypes." And as a sensitive thinned skinned Asian man you should know what I mean.
The one I heard was "What's the world smallest book. Jewish Sports Heros." I think that was from Woody Allen. Sam there are Jewish sports legends out there. Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax come to mind and I think Pete Sampras is Jewish also. I read somewhere that prior to the 1950's Jews dominated basketball and the stereotype among the goy was that the conniving Jewish mind made them superior in basketball. I imagine if Chinese had dominated basketball in the 1920's it would've been said that there inscrutableness gave them an edge.
This thread has gone from bad to worse. The thing I hate about it is that my stance is more finnessed than anything Kerry could have hoped of saying. Yao only Fans from anywhere are welcome to follow Yao, and I think the NBA and the Rockets have plenty of room for them. Their contribution to a Rockets forum which are about fans of a TEAM is certainly limited in its value. I watched basketball as a kid only occasionally and it was the Rockets I was interested in. But that was only a starting place. My interest in the NBA as a whole grew because of that. I'm still a Rocket fan, but I like basketball in general, and that grew from my starting place. I became a true die-hard after the '86 finals appearence by the Rockets. Maybe these fans who are new to the game because of Yao will use this as a starting place. I dont' have a problem with that. I welcome that. That being said, I don't have much respect for anyone on a Rocket's board who cares less about Rockets wins or losses than they do about one player's personal stats.
I know it was a joke from Airplane (by Zucker, Zucker & Abraham, FWIW). Actually back in the day when there were lots of Jewish immigrants and had fewer opportunities there were a bunch of Jewish champs in boxing (although the popular stereotype of the day was that Jewish boxers were good because they wer "naturally great tacticians") I'm pretty damned sure Pete Sampras is Greek, btw. edit: google says his father's mother was jewish so you're right.
Oh I get it, the athletes on the court are just pices, we needtoadmire the game overall and not have any personal interest whatsoever. Thank you James Naismith, I'll remember to study tapes of the Princeton offense and reruns of Hoosiers to increase my basketball knowledge. by the way, can you talk a little louder, your podium is a bit too high
I caught on during the championship years, and stuck with them since I left Houston. I can make a safe bet that most die hard fans started out as bandwagoners unless it was a religious thing in their family. It's great in the long term. Yao is attracting many people of different cultures to the Rockets and the NBA. You're going to have the Yao homers clash with the Rocket homers, but any conflict will start on sports discussion regardless. There's probably fans that stopped caring because Dream got traded or JVG took over. Are they going to receive as much flak over that? Even before Yao, I've accepted that racists, psychos, and idiots can be sports fans and like my team too. When Yao retires, we'll finally know where the YOF stand. Consider it garbage day.
man, now I know why yougot Fish in you name, you bite on everything these guys throw at you. Don't makeme turn this into another Houston bashing thread (the city, not the team). btw, HuJingTao has a prettytick neck. he is one fatty b*stard
He's joking, if you were around longer, you would know howhe is. Gimme a ****ing break, stop overreacting
I knew he had some Jew in him! I had Jewish friend ask a girl at a party if she had any Jewish in her and when she said yes he asked her if she would like some more." It would've been funnier if an Irish friend hadn't asked the same thing earlier except with 'Irish' instead of 'Jewish'.
