Yao vs Yi
By brown sugar
Created 09/11/2007 - 18:32
I just came from the TV screen to the computer screen. I was watching the NBA game Rockets vs Bucks, "NBA's China derby" as the media frenzy coined it.
Didn't catch the first 2 quarters really, but according to the commentators the last 2 quarters feature the better performance of the two Chinese players. It's amazing to hear all the SMS messages fans sent to CCTV-5 -- how excited people are to have TWO excellent players from China on the same court and what a dilemma it is for them to choose whom to support. It took me a minute to think about that too. I've always liked Yao Ming, not just because he's a good player, but also his personalities (I admire him so much after watching a documentary about his rookie year in NBA). But, Yi Jianlian is my Guangdong "Lao Xiang", and he's new to the tough games in NBA so he deserves more support???!!!
Then the commentator said something that I couldn't agree more. "It doesn't matter whom you should/will support. What matters is that you, as a fan and basketball lover, enjoy the game and see the best performances and progress the players demonstrate, in this game, and day by day in the coming days".
It is great to see the important roles both players have played in their individual teams, which is different from the times when other forerunners who are more just for so called garbage time, or from some Chinese football players going to European leagues not based on their solid performance but on the potential economic benefits and links to the Chinese market.
Maybe that's what counts.