Seems like there's some people out there that regardless of what yao does, remain skeptic and critical, and it's obvious why: Yao is the tiger woods and ivan drago (rocky's russian nemesis) of the NBA. All the traditionalists don't undestand how this communist chinese guy can suddenly just step in and potentially dominate an American game much like how all these rich old white folk wondered how this lil colored kid just changed the face of golf. People don't understand how yao defies the typical asian/short/nerd stereotypes. When you think chinese do you think NBA star? People are scared of what they don't understand. They want yao to fail. They want to be able to confirm their assumptions and what they already think. Nobody wants to be wrong... Call it racism, call it inferiority complex, call it whatever... Even the early sportscenter lowlights of yao were bent on humiliating him as if to say "Hah, how ridiculous were we to think that a chinese guy can play in the NBA?"... well guess what... the next generation of NBA fans will grow up in a league featuring a chinese star center. I was at the sixers game and a row of kids were behind me and a lil black kid screamed out "yao ming is my brotha!" after he dunked francis's miss in. Eventually more of my fellow countrymen will be in the NBA, and being chinese and being an NBA star won't sound so funny anymore... but for now, save the hating cuz you're fighting a losing battle, brotha.
The tide has turned. They're are now more Haters Hating Yao Haters than Yao Haters. Anyone ever see the cartoon where Porky Pig had a rat in his hotel room. They sent up a cat. They couldnt get rid of the cat. They sent in a dog. They couldnt get rid of the dog. They sent in an elephant. They couldnt get rid of the elephant. They sent in a rat. Sometimes I wish the Yao Haters would come in and drive out the Haters Hating Yao Haters.
when there is a porky pig reference, someone must step in and say ENOUGH! Sometimes I wish you would STOP POSTING!!!!!!!
Speaking of Yao hatin' ... check this guy out ... From The Daily at the University of Washington:Ming has run completely afoul by Rick Chan 12/09/2002 The signs are not good at all when Yao Ming, the 7-foot-5 basketball rookie for the Houston Rockets, becomes a positive spokesman for Asian-American males. I hoped for an intellectual Asian role model who completely negates the martial-arts shenanigans of Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Bruce Lee, but now I have to put up with a new NBA player who is in league with filthy rich lowlifes from the ghetto. Does Ming bite back at the negative American images about Asian men? No, he is the new abominable Shanghai snowman joining the hall of shame of stereotypes that include the enslaved railroad worker, the kung-fu savage, the scowling communist official, the sneaky take-out owner and even the effeminate gay Asian wearing nothing but a see-through black tank top. But Ming represents a certain circumstance of racial representation –– the problem not only lies with him, but also with the NBA and its black-male dominance. The NBA is one of many organizations for which I have the lowest regard. It is one of the typical dreams –– besides being a spoiled-brat gangsta rapper –– that marginalized black boys chase. Very often, they do not see themselves as professors, doctors, politicians, literary authors or even prime ministers. Because underprivileged black boys feel cold toward more-intellectual aspirations, they can only dream of Madison Square Garden as their holy land. The NBA stage depicts the street-ball court from the ghettos of New York or Chicago, the lost paradises of gang activity, drug dealing and gun crime. But the only difference the NBA games have is that the ghetto dreams of black boys become a spectator sport for the general public. Like a raging feminist who wants to burn down the neighborhood strip club, I attest that professional basketball is a similarly degrading carnival. I noticed a game photograph from the ESPN Web site that features Ming trying to hold on to the ball while a swarm of four black players attempt, with all their predator rage, to steal the ball away. This display of savagery was exemplified by the raw exhibition of black and yellow flesh. Muscles bulge intensely from the players’ long limbs, sweat pours down their faces, and their jerseys are so light that they could care less about putting on a Chippendale’s minstrel show. So is Ming a new idol that Asian boys look up to? Absolutely not. For the Chinese-American adolescent who strives to be like Ming, he really dreams of staying out of the civilized world. And let me assure you that the civilized world is engineered by present inequality –– there are civil spaces for the status quo, like the university, the press, and Congress, and then there is the circus staffed by the marginalized. The NBA is as close as it gets these days to putting on a sideshow of six-foot tall freaks ripping each other apart. The new Chinese-American dream of becoming a basketball star bloodily spits in the face of enlightenment and progress. You dare not throw away 16 years of your education in order to shoot hoops. Some are calling Ming the Ichiro of basketball, which I absolutely reject. There is a huge gulf of difference between the two athletes. Ichiro, of the Seattle Mariners, plays the game of the white American suburb. Specifically, baseball is void of all the show of brutality that commences at Seattle’s Key Arena. Baseball is a demonstration of reason and critical thinking: players have to know when to steal third base, how fast to pitch, what pitch is thrown next and when to walk rather than hit. It demands a lot more waiting and calculation; it is American cricket with none of that all-or-nothing pestilence that rages on the basketball court. Essentially, Ichiro is Japanese, and he came from a Westernized Asian nation which called the Chinese the sick men of Asia during World War II. Between Ichiro and Ming is the binary opposition between civilization and the jungle –– a difference, for example, that the Bush administration exploits when forming its China policy. Sport, especially basketball but except baseball, is probably the least erudite of all human activities, and Ming presents more of an ethnic curse than a blessing. It is already too easy to associate black males with showing off physical aggression, and now the doors are open to attach Chinese men with similar animalistic barbarism. Even worse, Chinese men are now both emasculated and physically brutal, analogous to arguing that black males are both immature and super strong. Shame on him and thousands of Asian fans for treating this new phenomenon as a great leap forward. I find it beyond essential to encourage more Asian Americans to join the republic of letters rather than the thug gangs of the NBA. Our Asian boys need to aspire to become teachers, professors, writers, reporters and even politicians because they have a responsibility to interrogate the negative images of Asian men that circulate public space. The Abercrombie & Fitch caricatures of slit-eyed Chinese workers are a call to arms to rip open the stereotypes that exist. Only by entering the temple of wisdom and critique can real progress be made, instead of becoming one in a pack of hungry wolves. Found this at another forum, can't find anything at The Daily's website though. Maybe they erased it. Or maybe it's a hoax. Angry Asian Man mentions it (scroll down a bit), so maybe it's legit. Wild wild stuff.
It's too superficial to think that the hating is necessaily due to racial reason. It's also too superficial to think that all the haters are non-Chinese. Believe it or not there may be haters who have the same color of skin and hair as Yao Ming. Like what a poster said in another thread, these people have their own agenda.
of course i can't include EVERY single reason why someone may not like yao, and my point is not about racism. I even stated that you can draw your own conclusions. Think about it this way. 2002 was the first year that the #1 draft pick came from overseas. What does that mean? That means that for the first time in the NBA's history, the finest talent available that year was NOT an American. To make it worse, he comes from communist superpower China. Sure we aren't in the days of the cold war anymore, but could you imagine anyone rooting for a russian player drafted in the early 80's? My post wasn't to point out a particular problem, but you have to be totally ignorant to think that people diss on yao only because they question his talent... People are very protective of their traditions. All cultures are like this. There will always be conservative factions that want to preserve the status quo. I'm not here to place blame, just telling it like it is.
I am not sure if u were referring to my post when making this statement. If you were, please point out where I have said 'people diss on yao only because they question his talent'. Read a post more carefully before you reply to it next time.
Every superstar is gonna have haters, every single one. Tiger Woods is probably the most benign superstar out there and people are ripping him about the Masters. When the guy is on your team, you love him. If not, you find a way to hate him. Check out the Lakers chat rooms or radio and you'll hear fans talking about Shaq like um, like how we talk about Yao. Just give those haters a smile as we pass them up on the Yao-train.
Look, let's not try to make a culttural statement about Yao Ming ok? The man is a 7'5" foreigner who is playing the game very well right now, end of story. He's a basketball player, stop trying to turn him into some symbol for all Asian Americans to follow. And yes I'm a Chinese person, but I'm all about Yao Ming's basketball skills, not his color. BTW, Rick Chan is a totally straight up jerk who needs to get that pole outta his ass. He has a HUMONGOUS inferiority complex about being Asian.
If Sabonis played during his prime in the NBA instead staying loyal to his country, we would've saw a 7 foot Russian center shooting 3s and making brilliant passes with his on court savvy. Sports is all about winning. The doubters are the ones who doesn't have to play against the winner.
I think Noskrillwill is trolling. First of all, this guy hasn’t been here long enough to know what the trends on this site have been. Second, none of the Chinese basketball fans on this site have talked about China as a “communist superpower.” They all talk about how China is communist in name only, and nobody tries to call it a superpower, at least not yet. This is pretty clearly intentionally inflammatory language. And the inflammatory language doesn’t stop there. Noskrillwill also only focuses on the racial issues, ignoring all the other reasons why someone may prefer one player over another. “Typical asian/short/nerd stereotype.” Huh?! This may have applied to northern Chinese 10-20 years ago, but I’ve never thought of Japanese, or Vietnamese, or people from Hong Kong this way. I think he’s even misrepresenting the stereotype. “Call it racism, call it inferiority complex.” . “Could you imagine anyone rooting for a russian player drafted in the early 80's.” Huh again?! Are you equating the US’s relationship with China today with their relationship with the USSR in the early 80’s?! Better take a history lesson or two. I’m not suggesting that none of the criticism directed toward Yao has been unfair or even racist, just that I don’t think Noskrillwill is genuinely addressing these issues. I think he’s just trying to get a rise out of people. In fact, I’ve actually been quite surprised at how quickly Yao has been accepted here and in the US, and note that I am not an American.
Actually, Americans have been accepting folks from overseas since the beginning, Thats why America is known as the the land of oppertunity. Rocket fans have long been been endeared to a big fella from Nigeria....and I see the same kind of love for the big guy from China.
Couldn't care less if Yao from China or Nigeria as long as he can play. It's beautiful to watch Yao's game and that's why I'm his fan. Talk about talent, LeBron James is a WOW! now if these two somehow hook-up on the same team...imagine all those PASSES...did I mention WOW
