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U.S. NBA fans kinda miffed at Yi

Today ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Yi Jianlian (易建联) is getting under the skin of a lot of U.S.-based NBA fans this season. First, he was screwing up their fantasy teams with his many single-digit scoring nights. Then, it began to look more likely that there was truth to long-held suspicions about him being three years older than he says he is. Now he's threatening to make something of a mockery of the NBA All-Star game.

As of the third round of balloting, Yi had 959,324 votes in All-Star game voting, which is open to fans anywhere in the world. He trailed Boston's Kevin Garnett by about 150,000 votes, giving him a chance to pull ahead and into Garnett's second-place spot before balloting ended. This is despite being 21st in rebounding and 31st in scoring among Eastern Conference forwards. The top two vote-getting forwards in each conference will be starters on the All-Star team (starters will be announced January 24).

Yi is not the only player who has been targeted by complaints that he's getting more votes than are warranted by his on-court performance. Tracy McGrady, Gilbert Arenas and Greg Oden are just a few of the players who have been accused of getting votes based more on popularity than recent achievement. But Yi might be the player who has overachieved most in the balloting process.

Some have questioned whether Yi is simply getting a boost from the millions of NBA fans in China (and fans of Chinese origin living all over the world), or if there has been some tampering with the process. Either way, if Yi doesn't get voted in, he's very unlikely to appear in the All-Star game. Only the starting units are selected by fans.

Yi Jianilan image: Mingxingzhongguo.cn

Tags: basketball, NBA, Yi Jianlian

Phelps signs exclusive China deal with Mazda

Today ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Michael Phelps (菲尔普斯) has signed the biggest ever endorsement contract for a Western celebrity in China, claims DMG Entertainment group, the agency that reportedly signed him to a seven-figure deal with Mazda.

Phelps, who captured the awe of China (along with the rest of the world) while winning eight swimming gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, will promote the Mazda 6 through television and print ads, as well as public appearances. According to Bloomberg News,Mazda sold 105,000 cars in China in the first 10 months of 2008. Phelps will come to Beijing soon to start pitching for the Japanese automaker.

Related: Michael Phelps' marketing in Chinese

Michael Phelps image: Hudong.com

Tags: DMG Entertainment, Mazda, Michael Phelps, sports marketing, swimming

Guo second in USSA Female Athlete of the Year vote

Wednesday, 31st December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Chinese diver Guo Jingjing (郭晶晶) finished second in voting for the United States Sports Academy's Female Athlete of the Year. Guo, who won gold in both the individual and the synchronized 3-meter springboard events in Beijing, beat out tennis star Serena Williams, who finished second in votes for the award.

Known as the "Diving Queen" in Chinese media, Guo was second to no one, man or woman, in a favorite athlete poll of Hong Kong school children, conducted by the Boys and Girls Club of Hong Kong. The question on her fans' minds now is, what will Guo do with her fame, talent and good looks? At 27 years old, she's just young enough to consider one last Olympic appearance. There were rumors in the fall that she'd suit up for Hong Kong in the 2012 Olympics, and there's always speculation about her pursuing a career in modeling or acting.

Rounding out the top five in the schoolkids' vote were, in order Liu Xiang (track and field), Lin Dan (badminton), Yao Ming (basketball) and Yang Wei (gymnastics).

Guo Jingjing image: 163.com

Tags: diving, Guo Jingjing, Lin Dan, Liu Xiang, Yang Wei, Yao Ming

Wells drops 52, but what is wrong with the CBA?

Tuesday, 30th December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

Yao Ming's former teammate Bonzi Wells is having a field day in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). After averaging 12.5 points and 4.6 rebounds over the course of his NBA career, Wells is a scoring machine in the CBA. Last night, he scored 52 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a 119-115 overtime win for his Shanxi Zhongyu over Fujian.

While Wells is blowing up the scoreboard and earning the dubious distinction of "best former NBA player in the CBA," China's professional basketball league seems to either be cleaning itself up or descending into chaos--we're reserving judgment on which one.

The news feed on the league's Web site right now features four stories about recent fines for players and teams. A recent league order required the Jilin and Jiangsu clubs to pay fines of 50,000 yuan ($7,300) each for unruly fan behavior at a game. Earlier this month, Liu Wei (a captain of the Chinese National Team and a once-upon-a-time NBA prospect) and Cai Liang, took on-court aggression off the court when they chased down opponent Gabe Muoneke after a game. Water bottles were thrown at Muoneke, who was reportedly leaving the arena with his family. Liu and Cai were fined 50,000 yuan apiece and suspended for 10 games; their club, the Shanghai Sharks, paid a 100,000 yuan fine. Also recently fined was the Tianjin club, again for fan behavior.

And while the fights and fines are getting headlines, the widespread practice of fudging players ages (making them younger so they can compete in youth tournaments) has also garnered some bad publicity. Li Zhigang, a reporter for Sports Illustrated's Chinese magazine, dug up some evidence that several players, including New Jersey Net Yi Jianlian, are a few years older than the age listed for them on official league documents.

It would be a good year for the CBA to get its act together, and a bad year for it to cement a reputation for lies and fisticuffs. The NBA is making big moves here—opening its NBA China office about a year ago, and announcing extensive arena construction plans this fall. Whether the CBA lets itself get bought out or digs in and tries to compete with a possible NBA-run Chinese league, the less shine it has on its brand image, the stronger the NBA's position gets.

Tags: basketball, Bonzi Wells, Cai Liang, CBA, Liu Wei, Shanghai Sharks, Shanxi Zhongyu, Yi Jianlian

Real estate slump a ray of hope for baseball in China?

Monday, 29th December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Beijing's Olympic baseball stadium has never had a particularly bright future. Plans to raze at least one of the two structures, built next to the much more commercially lucrative Wukesong basketball arena, seem to remain unchanged. This AP report indicates that, as China Sports Today has been told in conversations with China-based baseball professionals, the main stadium could soon be history. The reason is simple--lack of sufficient interest in the game to justify a substantial lineup of games.

But the AP story ends with an interesting observation. Real estate has been slumping in Beijing (this story cites a forecast from Jones Lang LaSalle that demand for office rentals in Beijing will dip by 10 to 15 percent next year), making 2009 a less than ideal year for the site's majority owner, ACRE, to find a new tenant for this piece of land.

AP quotes Harvey Schiller, the president of the International Baseball Federation, as saying: "Maybe current economic conditions will work in our favor, hopefully." Schiller and Major League Baseball seem to be hoping that the delay in developing new plans for the stadium site will buy them some time to get some other ducks in a row. Major League Baseball runs a youth development program called "Play Ball," and is reportedly still lobbying to get games aired on CCTV.

The stadium was christened last spring with a pair of exhibition games between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers, which were reported to be played in front of sellout crowds, despite at least a quarter of the seats being empty.

Related: Spring Training in Beijing

Tags: baseball, Beijing, MLB, Wukesong

Chinese team skipping major badminton tourneys

Saturday, 27th December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

Two weeks after pulling out of the Super Series Masters in Malaysia, the China Badminton Association announced that its players will skip the next two Super Series events in favor of recovering from injuries and attending training camp. China will miss the Malaysian Open, Jan. 6 to 11, and the Korean Open, January 13 to 18.

China's absence from the tournaments means that Olympic gold medalists Lin Dan (林丹, men's singles), Zhang Ning (张宁, women's singles), Du Jing and Yu Yang (women's doubles) will not compete.

Tags: Badminton, Du Jing, Lin Dan, Yu Yang, Zhang Ning

Wells breaks 40 in first two CBA games

Friday, 26th December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

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Bonzi Wells, the former Houston Rockets guard who recently signed with a Chinese Basketball Association team, is averaging 44.5 points after two games with Shanxi Zhongyu. In his first game, Wells scored 48 points and led Shanxi to a 107-106 win over Tianjin. In his second game, and his CCTV Sports Channel debut, Wells scored 41 but couldn't save the team from a 93-92 loss to the Beijing Ducks. Shanxi, with a record of 9-8, is now in a four-way tie for seventh place in the 18-team CBA.

Bonzi Wells image: Sports.sina.com

Tags: basketball, Beijing Ducks, Bonzi Wells, CBA, Shanxi Zhongyu

U.S. editors vote Beijing Olympics 5th biggest story for 2008

Tuesday, 23rd December 2008 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)

The Associated Press' annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors voted the Beijing Olympics the fifth biggest news story of of 2008, coming in behind the U.S. election, the economic meltdown, oil prices and the American occupation of Iraq.

It's a pretty safe bet that a similar vote in China would put the Olympics at the top of that list, followed by the Sichuan earthquake of last May.

Sports fans in the United States who want to relive more Olympic moments can tune in December 27 to NBC's look back at the games, "Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony: TV Event of the Year," hosted by Bob Costas and Matt Lauer.

Tags: Beijing Olympics

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