WEDNESDAY, 9/29/04 - This week YaoMingFanClub.com was able to get a short interview session with Yao Ming and author Ric Bucher about Yao's new book, "Yao: A Life in Two Worlds," as they promoted the book during a whirlwind press tour in New York. Also present in the room was Colin Pine, Yao's interpreter, but he was hardly needed since almost the entire interview was conducted in English. As expected with Yao's humor, there were many light-hearted moments during the session, especially at the beginning of the interview. First, we asked Yao what he thought about the book, and how good of a job he thought Ric did in writing it. Yao thought about it for awhile before speaking, and when the silence lasted longer than what was anticipated, Ric jokingly rose from his seat and asked, "Do you want me to leave the room?" -- which spawned a hilarious uproar! After the laughter died down, Yao said he thought the book accurately represents who he is. "The book is like I wrote it," he explained, thus affirming the byline on the book cover that reads, "Yao Ming with Ric Bucher." The humor continued after the next question when I asked Yao how long it took for him to open up and feel comfortable talking to Ric. Yao replied that it was much easier once Ric started bringing Starbucks Frappucinos to him! Ric further explained, "It took me about 6 months to catch on to that. Before I'd go over to see him, every time I would call beforehand to see what he wanted, and it was the same--vente Frappucino with crème." I was curious to ask Yao about his new documentary "The Year of the Yao," which had just premiered in Toronto less than two weeks prior to this interview. With his customary humble response, Yao replied: "I don't really like to see my face that much." I followed up by asking him if he was surprised how much his friendship with translator Colin Pine was featured in the film, and Ric jokingly chimed in, "It's really Colin's film. You know how the book says 'Yao Ming with Ric Bucher?' The movie subtitle actually says 'Colin Pine with Yao Ming.' Again, laughter erupted, including from Colin himself. It became very clear how Ric's sense of humor could get anyone -- including Yao -- to feel comfortable about opening up. http://www.yaomingfanclub.com/mania.asp?pageid=13
Yao at the Olympics I switched gears talking about the new book and documentary to discuss briefly Yao's experience at the Olympics. I was very interested to see how the Chinese national team's victory against Serbia & Montenegro -- a victory that advanced China into the final round of 8 teams -- ranked in his mind. He gave an account of how the Chinese made up a 10-point deficit in the final minutes of that game to pull out the victory, and the joy that resulted from that accomplishment. "I had never experienced that situation before (making up a big deficit as a Chinese national team player). I have played with the Chinese national team for seven years, and that was the only time I saw (us overcome a late deficit to win like that). And we also faced a team that nobody thought we could beat." [Serbia & Montenegro won the 2002 World Championships.] I then asked Yao about his stay at the Athens' Olympic Village where the accommodations were much simpler (i.e., shared showers) compared to the luxurious accommodations the NBA players enjoyed on the Queen Elizabeth II cruise liner. Specifically, I wanted to know if he thought the NBA players could have been more successful if they had stayed in the customary Olympic Village housing as most other athletes did. He wasn't able to say if he thought staying in the Olympic Village might have helped the USA team stay focused and help them win a gold medal, but he seemed to agree the NBA guys missed out. He explained, "I think it's a loss for the American players. It's a great experience (staying in the Olympic Village). Even though the accommodations are much simpler, this is not an opportunity that every person has...to be able to live with so many friends together. But what everyone is looking for is different." Expectations for the future For my final question, I asked, "Since Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato were traded this off-season, you are now one of the Rocket players with the longest tenure on the team. We know you are a vocal leader on the Chinese national team. Do you feel you are prepared to be one of the vocal leaders on the Rockets?" Yao took a few moments to answer this question, which seemed very intriguing to him. Yao finally responded, "The Rockets who traded those players are all great players. Now I know what the NBA is really like. I have to take more responsibility now. With T-Mac and the new players for the Rockets, they need some time, maybe not longer than (what it took) my first year. During this time I have to help them to feel comfortable immediately because I have played here longer than them. Every team is different and it takes time to adjust." It will be fun to watch Yao step up and be the leader we've seen with the Chinese team. http://www.yaomingfanclub.com/mania.asp?pageid=21
Q&A with Ric After the interview with Yao, I had some time to privately talk with author Ric Bucher of ESPN The Magazine. I started by saying how impressed I was with Yao's English, and Ric agreed. "His English is really good. He feels so much more comfortable now." He went on further to say that although he needs occasional assistance from Colin Pine, his interpreter, Colin's role may change to be more of a liaison for Yao this coming season. Following are the questions I asked Ric: What did you do to prepare for the book? "While we were in the negotiation phase to do the book, I was just trying to keep tabs on him through his rookie season. I read everything that was written about him, and so I went through all of that, and then I went through it with him, and that's how we were able to get that part done." How much time did you spend with Yao in writing this book? "In terms of straight interview hours, it probably ended up being 50 hours of 'sit-down' interviewing, but there was just all kinds of time where we were just hanging out or doing whatever. There were days like that and it wasn't necessarily that I had the tape recorder running. It was more like just being around him. When we first started, I thought it was going to be painful because Colin was translating everything and Yao was being very careful. We met in Hong Kong and I called his room and he agreed, and he came into my room and we talked for about 45 minutes. He had just cut his forehead during a game, and pointing to the wound, he asked me, 'It looks like a Mercedes-Benz symbol, doesn't it?' "I was thinking that I would have to set up an interpreter to get some work done, and I said, 'Let's try to do this without an interpreter,' and there were still questions that he didn't understand and things that had to be clarified, but I was getting his personality and what his thoughts were." So he eventually started opening up to you? "Yeah, whether it was me going over to China or me being on his 'home turf' (in China), he just got a lot more comfortable. He had been in a strange place having been in the NBA for a year and going back to China, and I was one person over there who could relate to what he had experienced (in the NBA). Now that he was telling me about it again, he kind of embraced somebody to whom he could relate. And his Chinese national teammates couldn't relate to him very much any more (because of his experience in the NBA), and I just think that I was in a comfort zone for him." What attracted you to this project, and how did you get involved? "When this opportunity came up, I said, this is IT because I just don't want to write that Yao had 18 points on a Tuesday night against the Clippers. I want this to be about the transcendence of sports and what it can mean. This is perfect! And so Bill Duffy (Yao's agent) was going over for a long weekend to Shanghai, and he said, 'I'm going over. Do you want to go?' And I said, 'Sure.' So I went on my own dime and thought, if nothing else, I had never been to China before¡_it was just a chance to go. And I went, and I met Yao and his family and I got that first little taste of where he was coming from, what he was headed for, and I knew he would be able to play in the NBA, and I knew he wasn't going to be as bad as everybody was thinking he would be, and I just knew that he was going to be something special. So from that point on, I said, 'I'm all in.' I wanted to make this happen, and I will do what it takes." What kind of strain did this project put on your professional and personal life? "The magazine (ESPN The Magazine) was really good. They really supported it. They wanted to see it happen. Once I got to the writing stage, it was intense. For the first couple of months of the season, they let this be my priority, and I couldn't have done it otherwise. I don't know if I could have done it, to be honest with you, in as short of time that I had if everybody I worked with weren't supportive in allowing me to work on it. "My wife carried a huge load for me to be able to make this happen. She was indispensable in making it happen because she was of the same mind to know that this was a focus. I mean, we've got a one-month old child, and I'm going to China for two weeks, and we haven't been married that long. It was tremendous stress, but she really carried a big load to allow me to make this happen. Having a young family, and having a project like this, it was a great inspiration to have. It really drove me to say that I would like to have Chance's name (his daughter) in the acknowledgments. When she grows up, she could go back and see her name in there about Dad writing this book while she was squalling at night." Can you tell us one thing about Yao that we might not already know? "I think the big thing is how much he aches to be a regular guy. You see the stardom, you see the size, and there's so many things about him that are abnormal. But I think that he's such a down-to-earth guy, and he enjoys just being a down-to-earth guy. A lot of people say, 'Oh, I don't care about the fame.' But he truly does not care and almost would rather not have it. Not that he doesn't appreciate the fame, but he doesn't want to be looked at as being any different than anybody else. He wants to be able to walk down the street and just be the average guy, and I think he has come to accept that's a little bit wishful thinking. But I know from having been around him that he genuinely wants to be. And when you get a chance just to hang out with him, that's genuinely who he is. And if I see any sort of vexation or frustration on his part, it's usually when he feels people are treating him differently. It just does not appeal to him." How much did you read YaoMing********** (which is now part of YaoMingFanClub.com) while you were writing the book? "Oh, a lot! I wasn't going to every game, and I wanted to get the blow-by-blow, and I was able to get it by reading the site. It was just an easy reference point where I was going to get unfiltered information. I mean, you've got your opinion, there is no question about it! But the game description allowed me to see exactly what was happening in the flow of the game, why Yao might have been out of the game, and what was going on. And that was just an easy way for me to keep track." What's the next book you think you will write? Will it be about sports? "Probably. How much of it will be on the court or behind-the-scenes, we'll see. Or whether it's about being in the sports world from this end and seeing it from the unique access that I have to a lot of places, and what that's all about. And part of it might be the disconnect between the media, the fans, and the players¡_and I see that happening...what one side may not understand about the other." With that being the end of the interview, I could not wait for the next time that I would be able to ask Yao and Ric more questions sometime later on in the NBA season about Yao's progress. That's one of the advantages of YaoMing********** merging with YaoMingFanClub.com -- exclusive access to Yao and the people around him. Stay tuned for more in-depth interviews and analysis! John john@YaoMingFanClub.com
