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Secretasianman

Tuesday - 10/30/07

Matsuzaka Gets Specialty Sushi Plate Named After Him

Dice-K has been recognized by a restaurant in Boston with his own special menu. Fugakyu is the name of the restaurant and Chef Hiro San is the artist who has created such masterpieces as the Matsuzaka Maki Roll, a glorified lobster roll with lobster, mushrooms and asparagus and the Matsuzaka Martini which blends vanilla vodka, creme de cacao, and Godiva White Chocolate liqueur. Hmm, while the menu sounds pretty good I would have reservations about eating at a restaurant called Fug-a-kyu. "So what shall we do tonight? How about FUGAKYU!"

  Dice-Mania is still alive and well.

Yao and Rockets' Survive Season Opener over Lakers

The Rockets beat the Lakers 95-93 tonight in a very close game in where the Rockets lost it down the stretch blowing a 10 point lead. They were lucky that Shane Battier hit a 3 pointer with 2.5 seconds to give them the lead and the win. Yao had 25 points with 12 rebounds and Tracy had 30 points to lead the Rockets. Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 44 points, nearly half the Lakers' total. I guess Kobe decided to actually try tonight but the Rockets never should have let it get so close to begin with. Luckily Yao played well despite being asked to stay away from his preferred spot in the low block due to the re-tooling of Rick Adelman. I'm hoping for great things for Houston this year and another dominant year for Yao. Go Rockets!

Sunday - 10/28/07

Boston Redsox are the 2007 WORLD CHAMPIONS! Congratulations to Dice-K, Hideki Okajima and entire RedSox Nation.

Saturday - 10/27/07

Dice-K Shows the Worth on the Mound and with a Bat!

On a cold night in Colorado, Daisuke Matsuzaka made MLB history twice while also leading the Red Sox to a 10-5 victory over the Rockies. First by facing Kaz Matsui, it was the first time a Japanese pitcher and hitter ever faced each other in the World Series, not to mention that the two are friends and former teammates. Second and more importantly Dice-K became the first Japanese pitcher to win a World Series game by pitching well holding the Rockies scoreless into the sixth inning. He was pulled by Francona after issuing two straight walks but still the Sox had a 6-0 lead at that point thanks to the Diceman. Matsuzaka also worked magic with the bat as he belted a two-out, two-run single in the top of the third. It was a great showing by the $103 million dollar rookie and will certainly quiet a lot of critics. Hideki Okajima had a tougher night as he was taken deep by Matt Holliday for a three-run homer, but he recovered and got through the inning without further damage. Kaz Matsui and Colorado made a run towards a comeback but Boston was too good winning the game and taking a commanding 3-0 series.

Thursday - 10/25/07

Aviation Girls Set to Take Flight at Olympic Games

Okay this is pretty silly. In preparation for the 2008 Olympic games, China is teaching etiquette to 1,400 aviation service students in Beijing. These girls who are between 16-17 years old are receiving training at a vocational school to improve their physical condition as well as their dressing and etiquette skills. Ultimately the ones who make it will serve as stewards during the Olympic games. What are some of their exercises you ask? First there is the 'Squat like you need to Pee" position to show that Chinese hosts do not need chairs to sit down. Then there is the book balancing while holding a piece of paper between their legs tricks to show proper posture and booksmarts. And if all else fails, the thrust your pubic region into the air while forming a human pretzel move will surely impress all the foreign visitors. Chinese are wacky!

RedSocks Up 2-0 Over the Rockies

Curt Schilling at 40 years old is still an effective pitcher but at 40 years of age he is starting to show the wear and tear. Luckily for him, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon has got his back as the Red Sox won Game 2 of the World Series 2-1 giving them a 2-0 lead. "This was the Papa-jima show tonight," acknowledged Schilling. "Okajima was perfect... every singe pitch."  Boston manager Terry Francona said, "If Okie doesn't throw as many strikes, he wouldn't have been able to stay out so long. But he was so good. He was spectacular." Okajima who was born on December 25, 1975 must surely look like a early Christmas present to Boston Redsox fans as they surely got his great arm on the cheap for only $2.5 million for two seasons. Now the question is how will their big money man Dice-K Matsuzaka do in Game 3 on Saturday? Dice has already flown ahead in advance probably to acclimate himself to that Colorado air and I hope he will be ready to show his worth with the world watching.

Tuesday - 10/23/07

Japanese Baseball Equal to American Major Leagues?

With Dice-K recently struggling on the mound in October, a bit of negativity has started to surface on the internet regarding Matsuzaka and Japanese baseball. Some say that Dice is tired and others say that Japanese baseball is played at a lower level which they say explains why Matsuzaka has struggled here. So is Japanese baseball inferior to MLB action? Trey Hillman doesn't think so. Just introduced as the Royal's 15th full-time manager, Hill had managed a Japanese major league team for the past five years and feels like he can relate to MLB talent. "We get after it in Japan. On many levels and on any given day, the quality of play (in Japan), I believe, is as good as it is here in the United States at the major league level," Hillman said.

I have to agree with Hillman. Can a Triple-A team beat the top baseball teams from around the world in the World Baseball Classic? I seriously doubt it, but a lot of haters online like to equate Japanese baseball with Triple-A. I think there is some racism there as some people want to hinder and disparage Asian success from a sport that is already one of the most integrated in the world with high numbers of Latin and Black players. That is pretty sad indeed. Is Dice-K struggling in his rookie year? Sure. Did Josh Beckett struggle his first year with Boston? Yes, just as much. No one dares question the dominant pitcher Beckett is today. My advice to Dice is don't listen to the media cause many of them wanted to peg you as a failure before the season even began. Work hard and someday soon you will get the chance to make them eat humble pie.

Kaz & Dice - Looking good in the World Series.

Sunday - 10/21/07

Dice-K Hurls the Red Sox into the World Series

Daisuke Matsuzaka knew that everything was on the line tonight as he pitched his heart out to bravely lead the Red Sox to a 11-2 win over the Cleveland Indians and got his redemption. Many were worried about him after his disappointing game 3 loss as he seemed very depressed and withdrawn but that negativity did not show up tonight. Dice came to play and he did working five solid innings and allowing two runs on six hits. But most importantly he left the mound with the Sox in the lead. Okajima and Papelbon cleaned up the rest as they have been doing all season.

Oh and what about those Boston bats that seem to be muted every time the Dice-man pitches? Well they let it all out tonight as they blew it open in the 8th inning to give Boston a commanding lead and Dice-K his first playoff win in 3 tries making him the first Japanese pitcher to record a win in the postseason. Next up is Kaz Matsui and the Colorado Rockies for game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday.  

Easy Yi Impressive in Win

Yi Jianlian showed signs of why he was picked 6th in the NBA draft last night has he put up a double-double last night leading the Bucks over the Minnesota Timberwolves 106-97. Yi scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and had 12 rebounds with 6 assists. He was particularly impressive in the way he hustled on both ends of the court showing his remarkable speed and athleticism for a big man. "Easy Yi" as some have come to call him was excited about his performance and credited his improvements to the rigorous training regimen of the Bucks organizations. Coach Larry Krystkowiak has liked what he has seen so far from Yi saying, "It's a blessing when you have players you can tell something one time, and they actually do it. It's obvious that he's real cerebral."

Nice, but hopefully that 'IQ for the Game" is not something that is tagged to Yi as it was to Michael Chang. The truth is Yi like Chang are both great athletes that won on both athletic talent AND smarts. Besides we wouldn't want Yi to be nicknamed BrainYi would we?

Game 7 of the ALCS Tonight!

GO DICE-K MATSUZAKA!!!

Tuesday - 10/16/07

Another Bad Roll of the Dice

Daisuke Matsuzaka had another disappointing start in his second post season game lasting just 4 2/3 innings while giving up 4 runs. The Red Sox last night lost this important game 3 of the American League Championship 4-2 to the Indians. While Dice was not terrible, he wasn't at his best either getting behind on the count and just missing the plate on too many pitches. After the game, Dice took it very hard and stared blankly at his locker and moped around the clubhouse for over an hour before issue a statement to reporters. "As you saw, I allowed them to score first and I wasn't able to hang on after giving up the lead. I wanted to do everything I could today to win and hand it over to Wakefield in a good way."

Not helping their cause is the fact that in this game the incredibly hot bats of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez got cold as neither guy drove in a run. The Red Sox had one hit all night with a runner in scoring position and that turned into an out. This has been the story of Dice-K's season. Whenever he pitches the run support from Boston takes a big dive. I have no idea why this is and I ain't letting Matsuzaka off the hook but luck surely hasn't been on his side much of this season. Since Wakefield lost tonight, the Indians now lead 3-1 in the series and we may not see Dice pitch again till next year. While he didn't live up to the hype, I thought he had a decent year considering all the adjustments he had to make, and I think he will definitely come back stronger next year.

Dice didn't live up to the ridiculous hype, but signs of his potential is still apparent. I'm waiting for Dice-K, season.2 before I place a judgment on his price tag.

Sunday - 10/14/07

Weekend Summary

-Yi Jianlian made his first start of the preseason on Saturday in front of his home crowd as the Bucks lost to the Utah Jazz 92-78. Yi scored 13 points on 6/13 shooting in 29 minutes but also had five personal fouls and eight turnovers. Baby steps big fella, baby steps.

- Hideki Okajima did his part along with Mike Timlin and Jonathan Papelbon to provide 4 2/3 innings of relief for the Red Sox last night only to see the game get blown wide open by poor pitching from their bench as the Indians had a 7 run 11th inning to win the game 13-6. The next game tomorrow will feature Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Jake Westbrook with the series tied 1-1. Gotta hope for a great roll of the Dice cause this is a pivotal game.

-Kaz Matsui has been a sparkplug for the Rockies in the postseason as they are now just one win away from the World Series with a 3-0 edge over Arizona. Matsui has had a complete turn-around in his attitude and performance since being traded from the NY Mets to the Colorado Rockies and it has shown on the field. He was berated by the NY fans who made racist comments while pulling back at the corners of their eyes. Pretty pathetic that fans would stoop so low. Luckily he has found a city with fans and teammates that appreciate him and sometimes that is all it takes to blossom.

Thursday - 10/11/07

NBA News

Yi Jianlian showed improvement in his second game as he scored 12 points in 26 minutes to help the Bucks beat the Utah Jazz 90-81 on Wednesday. Despite fouling out in his previous game, Yi committed only four fouls and went 4 of 11 field-goal attempts with a three pointer and 3-4 free-throw shooting. Says Yi, "I feel better compared with the first game. The whole team is good. We did good defense. We really enjoyed the defense." The Bucks are 2-0 in preseason games winning against two playoff teams from last year in the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz.

Yao Ming scored 13 points in 18 minutes as the Houston Rockets lost to the New Orleans Hornets 94-92 in their preseason opener Tuesday. In his second game tonight, Yao scored 21 points to lead the Rockets 107-70 over Euroleague champion Panathinaikos of Greece in an exhibition game. Tracy McGrady sat out with a sore knee and Stevie Francis added 11 points. The Greek team was grossly overmatched inside as their center was only 6'10. As they say you can't teach height but then Yao can also out-class and out-power most centers in the league. A triple threat?

Pitching Coach Has Answer for Wang's Poor Performance

With Chien-Ming Wang's recent meltdown in the AL Playoffs against the Indians, the question on everyone's mind is what happened to Wang? The person who probably knows best would be his pitching coach and mentor Ron Guidry. "A lot of pressure was put on him, and I'm not disappointed in the job he did as much as just tipping my hat to the Cleveland hitters, because they made a lot of adjustments, they stayed off pitches that he normally throws that guys swing at. His biggest challenge from now on is to adjust to teams when they make adjustments to him." Guidry wants to help Wang work on this approach and Wang himself wants to work on improving his slider and changeup to help him when his sinker is struggling. But still what Guidry says last is very telling. "It's not like you're talking about an Andy Pettitte or a Roger Clemens. You're talking about a kid with only 2 1/2 years in the big leagues that's still learning," Guidry said. It seems that potential aside, Wang still has a lot to learn and I hope Guidry will be around to teach him.

Tuesday - 10/9/07

Yi Jianlian's Debut Shows He has Much To Learn

Yi managed three points, two steals, a blocked shot and a turnover in his 16 minute debut in an exhibition game against the Chicago Bulls. The Bucks went on to win the contest 93-88. Yi also fouled out in the 16 minutes during which he seemed tentative to score but its all a learning process for him at this point. Says Yi, "As a rookie player in my first season there aren't just one or two points I need to work on. There are quite a lot. The rules of FIBA and the rules of NBA are different, it takes time for me to deal with this through more training." Very true and Yi will probably have a harder time adjusting than his fellow rookies due to culture and language differences as well. So baby steps for Yi would be appropriate right now.

Yi will be the center of attention this year.

Monday - 10/8/07

Yankees Season is Over, Indians Win Series 3-1

Sigh. I could hardly bear to watch as Chien-Ming Wang got pulled in the second inning after giving up 3 runs in today's AL playoff series. NY went on to lose the game 6-4 as they face another early exit for the third straight year. While Wang was pitching on short 3 days rest, he still could have done better than this and will justifiably be the focus of much scrutiny for his poor performance here as well as in game one. Unfortunately for the Yankees, their bats were also muted throughout the series so the combination of the two and swarming gnats was just too much to save Joe Torre's 12 year career. My advice for Wang would be to take the criticism like a man but hold your head up cause you got the team this far. Suck it up, learn from it and improve for next year. That's all anyone can do.

Sunday - 10/7/07

Weekend Summary

- Manny Pacquiao defeated Marco Antonio Barrera in their rematch on Saturday night winning by unanimous decision. It was a more even fight than their first confrontation nearly 4 years ago where a then unknown Pacquiao dominated Barrera towards a 11th round stoppage. Since then the Pac-man's stock has went through the roof and Barrera has gone down and then back up. This fight had no knockdowns but still had good action dictated mostly by Manny who was more active and threw the bigger shots. Barrera now goes into retirement and Pacquiao has an even bigger target on his back as the MAN to beat. Congrats to Pac-man, arguably the best pound for pound boxer in the world today. 

- Dice K lasted just 4 2/3 innings on Friday in his first postseason start against the Angels giving up 7 hits and 3 runs. Needing 96 pitches to get 14 outs Matsuzaka pitched slowly and methodically but did not instill much confidence with his start. Luckily for him Manny Ramirez hit a three run homer and the Red Sox won that game and went on to shutout the Angels in three.

- Johnny Damon hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning tonight to help the Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 8-4 in the third game of their first round AL playoff series. This was a must win game as the Indians were up 2-0 and a loss by NY would have meant the end of the season for them and perhaps the end of Joe Torre's career with the Yankees. With tomorrow's game another must win and Chien-Ming Wang the potential starter, I am seriously hoping he brings his A game and sinks the Indians to even up the series. 

- Yi Jianlian had joined the Buck's training camp this past week and scored 10 points with 5 rebounds in a scrimmage at Bradley Center on Saturday. Coach Larry Krystkowiak liked what he saw and Yi got positive reactions from the fans which is a good sign that the locals have decide to forgive and forget. Yi should be grateful for that.

Thursday - 10/4/07

Wang Gets Crushed by Indians, Kaz Matsui Hits Grand Slam

Man today's game 1 of the American League Division series between the Yankees and Indians was tough to watch. It was one of the worst performances I have seen from Chien-Ming Wang as he got hammered by Cleveland for eight runs and nine hits. It's just depressing stuff but now I just hope the Yankees can win enough games for Wang to get a chance to redeem himself.

Wang may have trouble sleeping tonight but Kaz Matsui surely won't. Kaz hit a grand slam as the Colorado Rockies defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 10-5 giving them a 2-0 lead in the National League Division series. His last grand slam came four years ago in Japan but it wasn't nearly this sweet. Says Matsui, "It's not a comparison. I mean, today was like the best, so exciting. So glad I could hit it." Kaz was traded to Colorado from the NY Mets last season. Known as the "other Matsui" he struggled in the media overload environments of New York but found that he really liked the fit with the Rockies. His teammates appreciate him too. Third baseman Garrett Atkins remarked, "Kaz has been clutch all year. He doesn't have a lot of RBIs opportunities, but he gets in done with clutch singles. As soon as he hit it, I knew it was good." Yup, real good. Kaz should sleep well tonight with his team up 2-0 and knowing he was the hero of game 2.

 "Did I just do that?"

Wednesday - 10/3/07

BusinessWeek's Top 100 Most Powerful People in Sports

It seems that some magazine must do this type of silly list every year on who is the richest, sexiest, most powerful, blah, blah, blah. This time it's BusinessWeek and they have named their 100 most powerful and influential people in the world of sports. Not surprisingly the list is extremely biased in favor of American sports. The top honor goes to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell which is kinda ridiculous if you ask me. How many countries in this world play American football? What influence does this guy have outside our borders? Shouldn't IOC president Jacques Rogge be listed up top? I am not surprised Tiger is number (2), but internationally does he have the same clout as Roger Federer (30) or David Beckham (17). Does golf really have the same international clout as tennis or soccer?

The question you are probably wondering is, did any Asians make this list? Besides Tiger, Yao Ming was the sole Asian at (89) behind such notables as Arnold Palmer (76), Maria Sharapova (73), and three Nascar Drivers. LOL. This list is a really sad joke which shouldn't surprise anyone when they realize that 90% of the 'expert' judges for this list are Americans. Guys like Yao, Dice-K, Manny Pacquiao have entire NATIONS hanging on their every word and they compete in internationally acclaimed sports but they get no love here. No offence to NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr (23), Jeff Gordon (56), or Tony Stewart ( 74) but the the American bible belt is about as international as a bowl of grits.

Tuesday - 10/2/07

Biggest Special Olympics Ever  Opens Today in Shanghai China

The Special Olympics World Summer games kicked off officially today in China with a record attendance of 7,300 disabled athletes. In attendance were Yao Ming, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Chinese president Hu Jintao. That is a pretty powerful group right there and it's good to see that they really care about promoting this important event. In the current sports world of million dollar salaries, inflated egos, and steroids abuse its good to see these real athletes competing hard against adversity and displaying the greatness of the human spirit. For the love of the game and just do it? Sounds like Special Olympians to me.

Monday - 10/1/07

Chinese Tennis Players Lack Motivation

With Chinese men's tennis failing to impress at the recent China Open, their Australian coach and mentor Bob Brett believes that he knows why. "What Chinese boys need most is motivation. I know a lot of people say Asian men's players cannot win major tournaments because of some genetic reasons, but that's not the case." Brett is the former coach of tennis great Boris Becker and was hired to work with China's top singles player and world No. 535 Sun Peng. Says Brett, "Sun is very strong and quick. Obviously he is a quick-leaner but I think he might be short of desire that's a situation I need to deal with."

Nothing against Sun but at 535 he has a long way to climb and that comment about desire worries me. I mean if he needs motivation he should look no further than to Michael Chang who reached No.2 in the world and was actually one win away from reaching the No.1 position. Talent alone is not going to do it in individual sports, you gotta have a will of stone and great desire. Just look at Roger Federer. He is so great that they are making a Terracotta warrior statue of him for the upcoming Masters Cup in Shanghai.

  Many are famous, only a few become legend.

Sun Yue Heading Back to China

Man this really sucks. Chinese prospect Sun Yue will remain with his current Chinese team for another year as no contract was signed according to Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak. Yue is known for being 6-9 tall but with the ball-handling and passing skills of a point guard. He was known as the Chinese version of Magic Johnson and was drafted 40th overall by the Lakers in this years draft. Figures that they would drop the ball under Kupchak. I don't blame Kobe for wanting out of a team that is just spinning it's wheels going nowhere. I guess for now we will just have to live with these NBA Summer League highlights.

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