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Friday - 8/31/07

Liu Xiang is the New 110-Meter Hurdle World Champion!

Track and field star Liu Xiang goes by a lot of names including Olympic gold medalist, world record holder, or possibly even most popular athlete in China. Now he has a new title, Reigning World Champion. Today at the World Athletics Championships in Osaka, Japan, Liu claimed the only title missing from his resume as he edged out two American hurdlers to win the gold in the 110-meter hurdles. His time of 12.95 seconds was just good enough to edge out Americans Terrence Trammell (silver) and David Payne who finished with the bronze. What can we say about Liu that hasn't already been said? He's simply the BEST.

Liu is the most dominant Chinese athlete of our time.

Los Angeles Dodgers Saito is Vastly Underappreciated

Just saw this article on the homepage of MSN talking about the most unappreciated players of '07 which includes in its list Dodgers closer 37 year old Takashi Saito. In almost two full season of work he's got a career ERA of 1.78 whiffing 174 batters in 131.1 innings. Saito deserves to be mentioned alongside other greats such as Mariano Rivera and Jonathan Papelbon even though he never gets much recognition. Still he got a small picture on the home page of MSN as Mr. Unappreciated and for that he should show much appreciation.

You don't know who I am?!  The name is Saito and I'm a BADDD Man!

Thursday - 8/30/07

Wang So Very Close to a No - No, But No!

Chien-Ming Wang carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning today as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox, 5-0. Wang was in excellent form, tossing in good changeups and sliders to complement his trademark sinker. The party was spoiled by Mike Lowell who rolled a single through the right side in the seventh but it was probably a good thing as Wang still had 9 outs to go and he was already at his 94th pitch. He is just too valuable to the Yankees to risk injury for a no-hitter. Consider that even though Wang missed four starts in April, he is currently tied for the most victories in the major league with 16. He has 34 victories since May 7th, 2006, the most in the majors in that stretch. His work with pitching coach Ron Guidry is certainly paying off as Wang now pitches with more conviction and variety even against teams that once give him fits like the Red Sox. His efforts along with strong pitching from Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte have given the Yankees a 3 game sweep putting them at 5 games behind Boston.

Hyung-Taik Lee Advances into US Open 3rd Round

South Korean tennis player Hyung-Taik Lee defeated 14th seeded Guillermo Canas today to move into the 3rd round of the US Open. Scored 7-5, 7-5, 6-3, the match was closely contested between Lee, the sole Asian male competing in the tournament and Canas, the former Cinderella man who had beaten Roger Federer 2 times in the summer. Next up for the ancient 31 year old tennis star from Korea is British phenom Andy Murray who is one tough customer. Best of luck to Lee as he will definitely need it.

Wednesday - 8/29/07

Yi Jianlian is Officially a Milwaukee Buck

It's finally over as Yi Jianlian signs a multiyear contract with the Bucks. He will be paid roughly $3 million a year, guaranteed for the first two years and will garner a decent amount of playing time I'm sure. To get the deal closed, Bucks owner Herb Kohl and GM Larry Harris flew half way around the world to Hong Kong at the request of Chen Haitao (Owner of Yi's former team) to show their sincerity. All sides seem to be pleased with the outcome and Kohl and Harris have already taken to calling Yi by his Chinese nickname "Alian". I don't know about that nickname cause it sounds like Alien which is a word with bad connotations but it could work well in another sense. If Yi performs well and becomes a human highlight-reel then they can refer to him as "Alian, Out of this world". One can only hope?

   Props to Kohl for getting the deal done!

Tuesday - 8/28/07

Dice-K Drops Another As Losses Creep Upward

Boston needed Daisuke Matsuzaka to be sharp tonight as they faced off against their bitter division rivals the Yankees. Unfortunately he had trouble finding his spots as he gave up five runs in just 6 1/3 innings. He was punished by Derek Jeter who hit a 3 run homer and Johnny Damon's two-run blast in the seventh. The Yankess picked up the 5-3 win but are still seven games behind the Red Sox in the American League East and need every win they can get. While it's good to see Johnny Damon come to life, Matsuzaka (13-11) does need to reverse the trend if he hopes to contest the Rookie of the Year award.

Yi Jianlian Standoff Update

With virtual silence coming from both the Bucks' and Yi Jianlian's camp for the past month, I was wondering if we would ever see Yi throw down on a NBA court. According to Sportingnews.com, a deal is finally just around the corner. Sources report that a major shift in the situation is taking place to the benefit of getting Yi into a Bucks uniform. Even as I write this, Yi is attending a meeting in Hong Kong that should go a long way towards ironing all the details towards a mutually agreed upon contract agreement. In attendance at this meeting is non other than Bucks owner & U.S. senator Herb Kohl along with general manager Larry Harris. The biggest issue on the plate for Team Yi is probably negotiating playing time as they want Yi to gain as much experience as possible leading up to next years Olympics. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that is the final step before we see clear waters for Yi's entry into the NBA.

Monday - 8/27/07

David Tua Can't Buy an Opponent

Fresh off his first round knockout of Mexican champion Saul Montana last week, David Tua is hungry to fight again and wants something scheduled as early as September 7th after which he wants a third fight in October. The problem is that no one wants to fight him as fifteen boxers have turned down offers to fight Tua. I don't blame them as Tua is the most devastating knockout artist since Mike Tyson. Still, the reason his handlers want to schedule so many fights is because they want to keep him busy and prepare him for a future title shot in the next six months. The good news for the fans is that he weighed 237 lbs in his fight with Montana. This is the lowest Tua has weighed since his bout with Chris Byrd in 2001. At 34 years, he can still be a contender as long as he can continue to keep his weight down. Also encouraging was his improvements in throwing straight rights to go with his devastating left hooks in his most recent fight. With power in both hands and the toughest chin in boxing, Tua will continue his "Tua of Duty" and hopefully win a heavyweight belt within the next year. I know he can do it too cause Tua doesn't just beat his opponents he downright destroys them.

  Tua-Time is Back!

Sunday - 8/26/07

Sunday Wrap Up

K.J. Choi had a chance to win The Barclays and had the lead at one point but could not withstand a brilliant run from Steve Stricker who birdied four of his last five holes to give him a two-shot victory over Choi. Tiger Woods decided to skip this one which was the first of four playoff events for the FedEx cup. The scoring for the cup will be based on points earned in the four events and with $10 million going to the winner it has attracted all the top pros. The next stop is the Deutsche Bank Championship, but it will be no picnic cause Tiger will contest that one.

A dramatic 8th inning home run gave Warner Robins, GA a 3-2 victory over Tokyo as the U.S. wins the Little League World Series Title today. This is the third consecutive year that the U.S. has won the title, with Columbus, GA winning in 2006 and Ewa Beach, HI winning in 2005. Congrats to the kids from Georgia and Tokyo for playing a wonderful game and representing their countries well. I remember that growing up, many of the Little League championships were won by Asian nations such as Taiwan and others, and how some critics would say that American kids don't stand much chance against their Asian counterparts. They also claimed that success in Asian baseball was restricted to the little leagues and Asians could never compete well in true adult competition. With Japan winning the World Baseball Classic and the U.S. dominating Little League action it just seems kinda funny now. 

Saturday - 8/25/07

Taiwan Tells Yao Ming "STAY OUT!"

This is pretty rude. Yao Ming was denied permission to visit Taiwan next month for a charity fund-raising luncheon by the government of Taiwan. Yao would have arrived on September 7th and wanted to raise $200,000 for the island's local charity organizations. I guess the never ending politics between Taiwan and China reared it's ugly head again. This sucks cause Yao is just an athlete and is showing great heart as he really wants to help the less fortunately. He has worked on behalf of a dozen other charities in China and the USA but he still has no credit with Taiwan? Stupid!  I'm sure his stature and celebrity status could have really helped raise funds for those charities but now they have to do without.

Yao and new wife Ye attend a charity event hosted by friend and fellow humanitarian great Dikembe Mutombo. Mutombo is building a hospital in the Republic of Congo and has shown great heart and generosity to his country and people jut like Yao.

Wang Rediscovers his Dominant Form to Tame Detroit Tigers

One guy who will never have trouble visiting Taiwan is native son Chien-Ming Wang. In fact he probably gets the red carpet treatment everywhere he goes on the island nation where he is the most famous athlete who made good in America. In Taiwan his popularity has even led to the creation of sophisticated counterfeit Chien-Ming Wang apparel and products so well made that even MLB counterfeit agents could not tell with the naked eye. Thus it's a good bet the locals were watching proudly tonight as Wang tossed eight strong innings allowing the Yankees to beat the Tigers 7-2. He allowed five hits and an earned run and now improves to 15-6 just 1 win behind league leaders Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield of Boston. Johnny Damon also crushed a homer in the winning effort.

Thursday - 8/23/07

One Unlucky Roll of the Dice Dooms Matsuzaka

Dice-K always seems to struggle against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as he gave up a 2 run homer last night to B.J. Upton in the 6th and the Red Sox lost 2-1. Up until that that point Matsuzaka was pitching well holding the Rays to a single hit and three walks through his first 5 1/3 innings. But that proverbial "one bad pitch" was enough to undo all the great pitches he had thrown. He has lost 3 out of 4 when facing the Rays but it's not all on him as the run support has been almost non-existent from Boston bats when Dice is on the mound. He has had to work with two runs or fewer from his Boston offense in 12 of his 18 starts. It's a wonder he has done as well as he has up to this point. He remains at 13 wins, 2 behind his teammates Josh Beckett and Tim Wakefield both sitting on 15.   

Has Baseball Found it's Version of Yao Ming?

Zhu Dawei is a 19 year old Chinese pitcher who was picked last year by the Seibu Club of the Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan's equivalent of MLB. Zhu has been called the Yao Ming of baseball by the Japanese press. While he doesn't resemble Yao and stands a mere 6 feet tall, some think that he may be the bridge to the Chinese market, the guy to win over the hearts of minds of 1 billion+ and convert them to baseball. It will be a tough task indeed as soccer and basketball are both heavily favored over baseball in China. Still this kid who is nicknamed "baseball wonder child" was able to toss 90 mph fast balls even before gaining any professional training. Zhu also got his first chance to play against international competition this week in the "Good Luck Beijing" International Baseball Tournament where he had decent results. China did well in the tournament easily defeating France and Czech Republic but lost to Japan 5-2 in the final. Zhu will get plenty of good experience playing with the Japanese and hopefully we will see him stateside one day.

Tuesday - 8/21/07

Special Olympics Ceremony at White House

This is pretty cool. Special Olympic athletes Karen Dickerson and Oiao Meili got the opportunity of a lifetime as they got to take part in a Special Olympics global law enforcement torch run ceremony which was held on the Rose Garden of the White House. Dickerson is from Virginia and Oiao is from China. The ceremony was attended by Major Michael Teem from the Raleigh Police Department and our fearless leader/decider himself President Bush. No word on whether or not Dubya tried to get his hands on the torch but it would not be a good idea considering he couldn't even carry his own dog Barney without dropping him. 

Somebody get me my special $10 a pop presidential marshmallows.

Monday - 8/20/07

Beach Volleyball Too Hot for Beijing to Handle

What was expected to be one of the most popular Olympic warm-ups, the Good Luck Beijing Beach Volleyball Challenger drew fewer than 100 spectators. What was the problem? Well it was just simply too hot and plus being landlocked it didn't really promote a sense of true beach volleyball excitement and fanfare. For one, the luckless chaps who went hoping to see local girls in bikinis were sorely disappointed as photographers could not find even a single native woman wearing a bikini. I guess they were too shy but I would feel kinda stupid too sitting there in my swimming trunks when there is no water in sight. The night matches drew better audiences which makes sense cause many Chinese hate the sun more than vampires.

Now if it were Miwa Asao competing, I'm sure they will have no problem filling the stands!

I would suffer the sun and potential heatstroke to watch lovely Miwa play!

Ichiro Suzuki - Consistently Dominant

Ichiro went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs to lead the Mariners 11-5 over the Chicago White Sox yesterday. He singled twice and tripled once raising his average to .347 second best in the major leagues trailing only Maggilo Ordonez at .351. The three runs scored gives Ichiro 90 for the season so he should not have any problem topping 100 for the seventh time in as many years since joining the majors. He is also moving towards a seventh straight season of at least 200 hits which would extend his own record for most consecutive seasons with 200 hits to start a Major League career. In addition to being selected to another All-Star team, Ichiro figures to win another Gold Glove Award, could capture his third AL batting title and is the Mariner's Hank Aaron Award nominee. Seattle Mariners manager John McLaren even believes that Ichiro could compete for the American League home run title if he wanted to. Says McLaren, "He's not a power hitter but he's capable of hitting the ball out of the park -- any park. In my book, he's the best hitter in baseball."

I don't know if Ichiro could compete for home run titles but he definitely has incredible power and ball length for his size. Unfortunately since he is the leadoff hitter who's role is to just get on base and create scoring opportunities, we will never know. Still Ichiro is the anti-Bonds, he shows that you don't need be on steroids to be successful in baseball. Barry Bonds knew this too, some 8 years and 300 home runs ago.

Sunday - 8/19/07

Yankees get Lift from their 3 Asian Superstars

Johnny Damon was the hero today as he hit a tiebreaking homer to help the Yankees defeat the Detroit Tigers 9-3 in NY today. Damon ultimately finished with three hits as the surging Yankees (70-54) won for the 15th time in 20 games. Hideki Matsui also drove in three early runs while Chien-Ming Wang had a mediocre start on the mound allowing three runs and nine hits in six inconsistent innings. Still he picked up the win (14-6) and finished better than his past 2 outings.

Chinese Tennis Cinderella Loses to Justine Henin in Semis

Yan Zi lost yesterday to world No. 1 Justine Henin in the Rogers Cup 6-3, 6-0. Still it was probably the best week of the 22 year old, 169th ranked qualifier's career as she defeated notable opponents in Ana Ivanovic and Marion Bartoli to reach her first semifinals at a Tier 1 event. Yan hits uses two hands to hit off both wings much like Monica Seles and she used it well as she picked up a $50,000 check and rockets up to a career-high No. 72 in the rankings. Still she will have to try to qualify next week for the U.S. Open and I wish her much success. Justin went on to win the tournament beating Asian looking Serb Jelena Jankovic 7-6, 7-5 in the finals. Just saying she has the look, not saying she is Asian of course.

A Tribute to Edward Scissorhands?

These speech and hearing impaired dancers are from the Chinese dance company "My Dream" and they performed the dance 'Buddha with a thousand hands' during a dress rehearsal in the Chinese embassy in Berlin earlier this year. They will also perform during the 2008 Olympic summer games. Good stuff. You know that China wants to only show their very best for the Olympics so its good to see that these great artists will get a chance to strut their stuff on the world's biggest stage.

Saturday - 8/18/07

General News

With the recent news of Yao Ming and bride Ye Li's departure to Europe to celebrate their honeymoon, many Chinese fans have been visiting the travel agencies in hopes of following in the footsteps of the celebrity couple. While no one is certain of where they are honeymooning it is not stopping those fanatical folks with too much time & money on their hands. As quoted by travel agent Chen Zhichao, "It would be possible to bump into them if tourists apply now." Ok sure, we all how small Europe is, no problema. Well a sucker is born every minute, and I bet it's easier to find 1000 suckers who would pay to make this trek than to casually bump into Yao in Europe. Still I admit, if they get into close proximity it will be virtually impossible not to spot a 7'6 Asian man walking around a sea of short white people. Or they can camp out at the Eiffel tower cause Yao is bound to visit that landmark.

Taiwan-born pitcher Chien-Ming Wang was commended in a Bronx borough on Friday for his participation in community services and public interest activities. The 27 year old New York Yankee ace has made great contributions to community services in the city visiting hospitals to play with sick children as well as attending groundbreaking ceremonies. According to Ray Negron, a special aide to Yankees principal owner George Steinbrenner, Wang has never turned down an invitation to take part in public-interest activities. Wang was honored to receive the citation and reaffirmed his affection for children and helping underprivileged families. Way to rep Wang. As a Taiwan native myself this guy is my hero. Pure class on and off the field.

Wednesday - 8/15/07

Another Black Eye for Baseball - Racist Umpires?

I'm not one to easily throw around the race card but this story is pretty disturbing. A new study shows a trend for MLB umpires to call more strikes when the pitcher is of the same race and to call more balls when they are a different race from the umpire. The study analyzed the calls on 2.1 million pitches thrown between the 2004 to 2006 seasons and controlling for all other outside factors, it found evidence for same race bias with the benefit predominately in favor of white pitchers. Not a surprise since 71% of MLB pitchers and 87% of umpires are white. It also found that minority umpires also judged Asian pitchers more unfairly than they did white pitchers and there are no Asian umpires at all in the MLB.

Another study done last May on NBA officiating also saw a similar trend with more fouls called on players of another race. That would explain Yao Ming's entire career, cause my man has to be practically mauled before he gets a call by the officials. Reading this article makes me appreciate Asian athletes even more since being the minority in every sport, they have to deal with hostile crowds, opponents and officials from both races, none of whom wants to see Asians succeed as they probably want to maintain the status quo in American sports. It is probably similar to what African-Americans had to deal with when they first integrated sports in America but through hard work and talent they prevailed. I believe Asian athletes will too. 

Speaking of Baseball...

Dice-K had a tough time yesterday against the Devil Rays giving up six runs on eight hits and three walks in six innings while striking out five. This was Matsuzaka's worst start since he gave up six runs in five innings back on July 8. The Red Sox again did not provide him with much support and only came to life for a late rally that was too little too late. They lost 6-5 to Tampa Bay. The Dice man who recently signed with Upper Deck better find his form fast if he wants to continue to command $400+ for his signed baseballs.

The A's new backstop Kurt Suzuki belted a huge homerun today powering them to another straight victory. The 23 year old Hawaiian native homered for the second straight day, a game-winning, three run home run in the 10th inning to help Oakland beat the Chicago White Sox 8-5. The rookie catcher absolutely crushed the ball leading Oakland manager Bob Geren to describe the shot as "Loud, like a shotgun". Suzuki had also blasted a two-run homer the previous night to provide the winning margin. He is hitting .333 over his past 15 games. Way to step up Kurt! Great to see a native born Asian-American also doing well in MLB.

  Kurt Suzuki crushes the game winning homer

Tuesday - 8/14/07

Shaq Congratulates Yao Ming and Tours China

Shaquille O'Neal is currently on a promotional tour in China organized by his clothing sponsor Li-Ning. Shaq's image, name and autograph adorn the brand's basketball products with are sold throughout Asia. With regards to the marriage of his rival and friend Yao Ming, Shaq says, "I've heard the news that Yao has married a beautiful basketball player. If you let me choose a wedding gift for him, I would give Yao four 24-inch rims for his wedding ceremony." Yao however does not own a SUV, and only drives a BMW 7 series. The only customized aspect of Yao's ride is a "Y&Y" logo on the rear of the car initials for himself and wife Ye. Awwwwww, how sweet.

Shaq had other good things to say about both Yao and Yi Jianlian. "Obviously Yao has grown into one of the best centers in the league. He is awful to play against on both ends. I have to be well prepared before the games against the Rockets." Shaq also likes Yi Jianlian saying, "The other kid is also impressive, I know he can shoot, dunk and spin. I am sure he will make his place in the league. I am happy to see more and more Chinese players coming up - it is very good for the league as a whole."  Nice to hear from the Big Aristotle and much better than the Chin-Chong mockery he gave Yao way back when. Respect is earned and I think Yao may finally have Shaq's respect, though begrudgedly?

  Shaq-Fu is in da house.

Wang Continues to Struggle as Yankees Continue to Surge

Chien-Ming Wang struggled for a second consecutive start as he gave up five runs to the Orioles in six-plus innings as the Yankees won 7-6 last night. The Yankees' staff ace was troubled from the start as he gave up 3 runs early in the game. He later picked it up and pitched with authority giving up just five more hits over the next five+ inning, although one was a misplaced changeup that was homered. Luckily he had plenty of support as the Yankees continued their impressive hitting. It's fitting that they bailed him out last night as Wang had been carrying the Yankees throughout this season especially during their bad spell before the All-Star break. What worries me is that Wang has a damaged nail on his middle finger that has been bothering his pitching form. Hopefully it is nothing serious, but for now Wang is still stuck at 13 wins as he did not get the decision. The Yankees are at 67-51 and in sole possession of first place in the AL wild-card standings for the first time this season.   

Monday - 8/13/07

Techno Goliath Awaiting Clearance to Dance Again

South Korean MMA fighter Choi Hong-man can't wait to to dance again, in the ring that is. The massive 7'2, 360 lbs Choi is currently in the United States for medical tests over a suspected benign tumor in his pituitary gland. The California State Athletic Committee will not issue him a license to fight because of the tumor and Choi may have to get it removed if he wants to fight in the U.S. again. Known as the "Techno Goliath" for dancing in the ring to techno music after a victory, Choi has been a popular fighter in Japan's K-1 tournaments and has fought and defeated other cartoonishly large and freaky fighters like himself including current K-1 World Champion Semmy Schilt who stands in at 6'11, Akebono Taro, a former 517 lb Yokozuna Sumo Champion, and Bob "The Beast" Sapp. Of the four, Schilt is considered the best fighter but Choi is pretty good too considering his size. He was scheduled to fight with former WWE wrester Brock Lesnar in June of this year but that was when he was denied his fighter's license.

What I like about this guy is that he is built. Most really tall guys are either too thin or too fat but Choi's heavily muscled and evenly proportioned. I mean look at this guy, if he was in the NBA Shaq would be shaking in his size 22 boots! I hope Choi can get his house in order and fight again soon and with a clean bill of health.

 Choi: "Let's dance, I'll lead & you can wear the dress!"

Sunday - 8/12/07

Fourth Time's the Charm for Tiger as he Wins Final Major of Year

Tiger knew he had to win the PGA Champion, the final major of 2007 to salvage what has been a disappointing year for him. With his back to the wall Tiger does what he does best, he wins. He shot a final round of 1-under 69 for a 72-hole score of 8-under 292 winning by a two shot lead over Woody Austin. Instead of his parents, Tiger won this one in the presence of his wife Elin and two month old baby girl, Sam. Must have been a real special win for Tiger and a great way to reassert his will on the tour, as if he ever really needed to do it in the first place. The guys on the pro tour know the truth better than most. There is Tiger Woods and then everyone else.

  Lucky #13 for Tiger.

Saturday - 8/11/07

Daily Summary

Daisuke Matsuzaka held his own and then some last night as he dueled one of the best pitchers in MLB in Orioles' ace Erik Bedard. Dice-K struck out seven batters to set a new record for most strikeouts by a Boston rookie at 159. The previous record was 155 held by Ken Brett in 1970. Dice pitched a solid game allowing just one run and four hits in seven innings. Still the Orioles were able to beat Boston 6-5 as new Red Sox reliever Eric Gagne gave up four runs in the eighth and Hideki Okajima also got tagged for one run in the 9th. Boston currently leads the AL East at 70, five games ahead of the surging Yankees.      

Yao Ming recently treated 70 of his friends and teammates to a celebratory dinner over his marriage with girlfriend Ye Li this past Monday. Yao was definitely in a festive mood as he got tipsy over one too many a Mao Tais, a fiery Chinese spirit that is usually downed in small shot glasses. By all accounts, Yao rarely drinks but he drank quite a bit this time according to his spokesperson. He then went back to his room and fell asleep. Considering he is 7'6 and 300+ lbs, I bet he must of drunk a lot to have it affect him. Yao did not invite any Rockets coaches or teammates but plans to host a dinner when he returns to Texas. To be attended by his old friend and reunited teammate Steve Francis no doubt. Man, I can't wait for the start of the new season cause Yao, Tracy McGrady and Stevie Franchise is gonna light it up!

Thursday - 8/9/07

China's Two Rising Sons are Top Candidates for Olympic Torch Honors

With less than 1 year now until the 2008 Olympics, China is beginning to feel pressure from all sides on issues ranging from human rights and Tibet to pollution and food safety. It seems everyone with a gripe is taking a swipe at the muted Dragon on the eve of her coming out party. While I understand that China has many growing pains to address far beyond the brief respite of the Olympic games, I would like to focus a bit on the positive and what China is doing right. To see that one only has to turn to China's two "Rising Sons" and real life examples for the Olympic spirit, Yao Ming and Liu Xiang. Both young men are responsible, hard working and down to earth individuals who are exemplary role-models for young people. Both have overcome extreme challenges as underdogs in their sports to rise to the very top while exhibiting humility and maturity far beyond their years. If these two guys are representative of the current state of young people in China, then I will continue to have high hopes for China's future.   

Yao makes the 6'2 Liu look like a child at the Coca-Cola Olympic countdown ceremony. Despite Liu's greater personal achievements in his sport, I'd still pick Yao to light the torch.

Wang's Suffers through Worst Pitching Performance of his Career

Darn it! He was doing so well too but the streak had to end sometime. Chien-Ming Wang lasted all of two and 2/3 innings yesterday as he pitched the shortest of his 71 career starts, giving up a career high eight runs as the Yankees lost 15-4 to the Toronto Blue Jays. He was tagged due to poor pitching location as he threw his sinker consistently up in the strike zone. Tough to take, but I know Wang will rebound and bring it for the next game.

Tuesday - 8/7/07

David Tua Set to Return to the Ring To Clean up the Division

Former world heavyweight champion contender David Tua is stepping back in the ring to take on Saul Montana on August 18th in Sandy, Utah. Besides possessing the biggest left hook in boxing, Tua also comes into the fight with an impressive resume with victories over 2-time heavyweight champion John Ruiz and WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev. He has also defeated other former heavyweight champions including 3-time champion Michael Moorer and Hasim Rahman.

The losses credited towards Tua have always been through decisions, as no one has ever cut or knocked down the mighty Samoan terminator. Besides having one of the best chins in the sport, Tua is also known for his devastatingly powerful left hook. He has won 27 fights without going into the fourth round and two of his fights lasted less than 30 seconds against former champions no less. He knocked out Michael Moorer in 30 seconds and John Ruiz in 19. He is ranked 2nd with the most opponents knocked down in the first round, trailing behind only Mike Tyson. Tua is truly the real deal and if he can get motivated and shed the pounds I think he can do some serious damage in the current weak heavyweight division. If you have never seen a Tua fight I strongly recommend you go over to Youtube and look him up.

Tua vs Tyson would have been the ultimate slugfest!

Monday - 8/6/07

Yao Ming Takes the Plunge & Marries His Long-Term Sweetheart

Yao Ming tied the knot with girlfriend Ye Li today at a swanky hotel in Shanghai in front of 70 friends and relatives. While Yao refused interviews, he did provide a CD of studio wedding photos along with celebratory candy for the 100 reporters stalked out in the lobby. That's pretty nice of him, not like other celebrities who fight with reporters and sell their wedding photos for money. Says Yao, "After so many years we have so many good memories together, we think this is the time right now. We can stay together forever and build a new family."

Ye Li is a lucky girl cause she got herself a great husband. During his games, Yao never glances over at the sexy Rockets cheerleaders jumping up and down all nubile and flexible and sweaty and.... where was I? Umm, oh yeah he only has eyes for Ye I guess. Best wishes to them both and may they have a big happy family, with the emphasis on BIG!

Big folks with big love

While we all know Yao is an old school gentleman, is Yi Jianlian your modern day brash young Playa? Well according to his former teammate Ma Jian, Yi wants to land in a city with a big Chinese population so he can have access to better food and date more attractive Chinese women. Hmmm, who the hell is Ma Jian and why is the associated press quoting this guy with this junk? This is just sad, but even if it is true, I can't fault Yi for wanting the better things in life. Still I would tell the young Asian brother to just focus on doing something in the court first and foremost. I'm pretty sure the Bucks will hire him a personal Chinese chef if need be and with regards to the women? Come on, you're about to become a NBA player! Someone must not have sent him the memo or it was lost in translation. If you build it (NBA rep + cheddar) they will come in all wondrous shapes, sizes and colors.

Sunday - 8/5/07

Tiger Roars and Sabbatini Eats Humble Pie

When Tiger Woods is "ON", everyone else is pretty much reduced to spectators even his fellow PGA pros. Woods proved again that it's all on his club as he destroyed the rest of the field at the Bridgestone Invitational with an eight-shot victory finishing at 8-under 272. It couldn't have come at a better time either with the PGA Championship, the year's last major coming up next. Woods ended up the only player to finish under par at Firestone and he tied a PGA Tour record by winning for the sixth time on the same course. Rory Sabbatini who had lost a one-shot lead to Woods at the Wachovia championship earlier this year had said Woods looked "beatable as ever". Well the South African sure put his golf cleats in his mouth and hopefully he learned his lesson. Never question the tenacity of a cornered tiger!

Baseball News - Lucky 13 for Dice and Wang

Dice-K pitched well today to lead the Sox past the Mariners and snapped their nine-game losing streak at Safeco Field. Matsuzaka threw for seven innings, allowing six hits, two runs and striking out 10 batters as Boston won a 4-3 victory. Dice now improves to 13-8 and has 152 strikeouts his season, the second highest of all-time on the Red Sox's rookie strikeout list.

Wang Chien-Ming won his 13th start on Friday as the Yankees crushed the Royals 7-1. New York's all-star ace stifled Kansas City using his bread & butter hard sinker to great effect. Molina, only catching for Wang his second time said, "It's awesome. It's a hard, heavy sinker, and it's hard to pick it up. It's not like 89mph; it's 93 and 94. It's a little bit tough, especially when he's throwing strikes." Wang worked seven innings, walking one and striking out three to win his 10th out of last 13 starts. His record improves to 13-5.

Friday - 8/3/07

Sadaharu Oh is the REAL Home Run Champion

With all eyes watching Barry Bonds' chase of the home run record of 756, let us not forget the great achievement of Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh who had 868 homers in his career in the Japanese baseball leagues. Oh who is actually part Chinese from his father's side is a national treasure in Japan and was a classy, humble and honest player who valued hard work, courage, and dignity. He also earned all his home runs without the help of steroids.

Many pundits stateside will question the quality of the competition Oh faced in the Japanese leagues and claim that their level is only on par with AAA, but I don't know about that. Japan did win the World Baseball Classic whereas the USA wasn't even in the top four. Plus Japanese players tend to focus more on technique and fundamentals and do not abuse steroids rampantly the way they do in MLB so maybe people should reconsider the value and legitimacy of Oh's accomplishment? Barry Bonds is one of the best of all time no doubt, but the dude is seriously too big and bloated looking for me to believe that he is clean. Sadaharu Oh gets my vote.

Wacky News - Sumo Soccer Busted & King Kong has Pipe Dream

Mongolian sumo grand champion Asashoryu has been suspended from the next two Japanese sumo grand tournaments for playing in a soccer charity event in his home country. The controversy comes from his opting to sit out the summer regional tour due to his claimed waist and elbow injuries. Asashoryu apparently has had disciplinary issues before and his recent desire to bend it like Beckham was the last straw for officials. If anyone has a video of this fat dude playing soccer please upload it to Youtube cause I would love to see it!

 Ummm, David Beckham for lunch.

More wacky news as a Chinese man known as "King Kong" has launched a campaign to become a torch bearer in the 2008 Olympic games. Yu Zhenhuan who gave himself that nickname is China's hairiest man with hair covering over 96% of his body. The guy is not monkeying around and argues, "The Olympics belong to everyone - the common people and those with abnormalities included." I think this guy missed the Chinese memo that said Olympic personnel cannot wear jewelry, have long hair, have tattoos, be bald, have bad breath, have a fat butt, etc, etc. I think William Hung has a better chance of carry the Olympic torch than this guy. Still I respect him for his desire and courage and hopefully he will get to attend and participate in the Olympics in some capacity.

   I would be scared to carry a fiery torch if I was him!

Thursday - 8/2/07

Yi Drama Continues as China Finishes Second in Stankovic Cup

China beat the NBA development league team at the Stankovic Cup 82-67 today as former NBA player Wang Zhizhi, and draft picks Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue combined for 59 points. Yi threw down 28 points with 15 rebounds as China finished the tournament second to tournament leader Slovenia. Yi had also scored a game high 17 points in the previous game against New Zealand whom China crushed 93-63 in a one sided contest in Macau.

As positive as Yi's future looks on the courts this summer, off the courts it seems just as negative as the drama continues with the Milwaukee Bucks. Yi and his handler's hard stance has finally gotten to the Bucks as they were a no-show in China, electing not to send their officials over to resolve the stalemate situation with the coveted #6 draft pick. This has prompted China's top basketball official to come to the U.S. to try to resolve the conflict for both sides in what has become an international incident bordering on madness. Even as much as I like Yi, I'm getting tired of reading and following this story and can only imagine how the rest of the non-Asian sports fans must feel about this and it's not pretty. Oh well, whatever happens from this point on the ball was in their hands and if they drop it they can only blame themselves. 

Yi dominated NBA development team with 28 pts

Yao Ming, Sun Ming-Ming, and World's Tallest Man

The three tallest Chinese dudes in the world have been making a lot of news of late so let's start with the shortest of the bunch, little Yao Ming at 7'6. The growth stunted, diminutive Yao will soon marry long-time sweetheart and fiancée Ye Li, a 6'2 former national basketball team player also from Shanghai. They recently shot some wedding photos at a scenic resort in China. Since they are dressed in the Western wedding getup, I wonder if they will also dress up in traditional Chinese garb and take some pics? Either way their clothes will all have to be custom-made no doubt.

NBA hopeful Sun Ming-Ming has also been a busy man as he was recently selected as one-of-five players by the Harlem Globetrotters to compete for a spot in their entertainment group. Sun was also recently spotted at the premiere of the new Rush Hour 3 movie with Jackie Chan but at 7'8 what fool didn't spot him?

And now for the granddaddy of all tall Asians Mr. Bao Xishun, a 56 year-old 7'9 tall herdsman from Inner Mongolia. Mr. Bao currently holds the Guinness World Record as the world's tallest man and he recently married a local saleswoman who stands at only 5'6. He also met with another record seeker in He Pingping who at 2'4 inches is applying to be named the world's shortest adult. To give you an idea of how small he is, "Mini-Me" actor Verne Troyer was 2'7 inches a solid 3 inches taller. I guess it will only be a matter of time before we see both of these guys in a movie considering the way Hollywood works. Don't be surprised if they are both jumping around doing kung-fu moves in ninja suits.

And they would probably ride off the screen on these two horses no doubt.

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