The China Sports Blog

Mourning in Sichuan

Nicole — Fri, 23 May 2008 17:11:03 +0000

A friend sent me a copy of a poem that is making its way around the Internet about the Sichuan earthquake, written in Chinese by an unknown author and translated by a Toronto-based earthquake engineer named Alex Tang. As much coverage as the earthquake has gotten in the States - including a PSA by Yao Ming being broadcast during the NBA playoffs and lots of national coverage, with many papers having sent journalists to the region - it’s still next to impossible to get a sense of the tragedy on this side of the ocean (I’m writing from the U.S. right now). This poem really speaks to the pain of the families who have lost children in the quake. My prayers go out to them.

孩子（Child)
快 (Hurry up)

抓紧妈妈的手 (Tightly hold your Mom’s hand)

去天堂的路 (The road to heaven)
太黑了 (is too dark)

妈妈怕你 (Mom is afraid that)
碰了头 (you hit your head)

快 (Hurry up)

抓紧妈妈的手 (Tightly hold your Mom’s hand)

让妈妈陪你走 (Let Mom keep you company)

妈妈 (Mom)
怕 (I am afraid)

天堂的路 (The road to heaven)
太黑 (is too dark)

我看不见你的手 (I cannot see your hand)
自从 (since)
倒塌的墙 (the wall collapsed)

把阳光夺走 (it took the sun light away)

我再也看不见 (I cannot see )
你柔情的眸 (your lovely eyes again)

孩子 (Child)
你走吧 (You can go)

前面的路 (the road in front of you)
再也没有忧愁 (has no sorrow any more)

没有读不完的课本 (there are no books that you cannot finish reading)

和爸爸的拳头 (and your father’s fist)
你要记住 (you have to remember)
我和爸爸的摸样 (my face and your father’s face)

来生还要一起走 (let’s finish walking this road together in our next life)

妈妈 (Mom)
别担忧 (do not worry)

天堂的路有些挤 (the road to heaven is a bit crowded)

有很多同学朋友 (I have a lot classmates and friends)
我们说 (we all say)

不哭 (don’t cry)

哪一个人的妈妈都是我们的妈妈 (anyone’s Mom is our Mom)

哪一个孩子都是妈妈的孩子 (any child is Mom’s child)

没有我的日子 (the days without me)

你把爱给活的孩子吧 (give your love to the children alive)

妈妈 (Mom)

你别哭 (don’t cry)
泪光照亮不了 (tears cannot light up the road)
我们的路 (our road)

让我们自己 (let us)
慢慢的走 (walk slowly)

妈妈 (Mom)

我会记住你和爸爸的模样 (I will remember your face and father’s face)
记住我们的约定 (remember our appointment)
来生一起走 (of walking together in our next life)

It’s been a little while…

Nicole — Fri, 02 May 2008 20:40:09 +0000

I’ve been blogging over at Sports Illustrated’s FanNation site for the last few months and I’ve checked in over here a bit as well, something I’ll be doing more of in the weeks and months to come. So much of the China-related sports news has been political in the past month that it’s been tough to balance everything out - how much time to spend digesting and commenting on the political issues, while trying to remember that we’re getting ready for a sporting event, one that will be the highlight of most of the athletes’ competitive careers.

This week at FanNation I’ve posted entries on the contrasting news of the week (the torch in Hong Kong, to a mostly supportive reception; contrasted with the Tibet-China talks coming up this weekend and the criticism Beijing continues to dole out to the Tibetan side); Yao Ming’s recovery and his prognosis for the Olympics (quick note: it’s all good); and an update on the Olympic men’s basketball tournament. Check it all out here.

Yao out for the season

Nicole — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:10:12 +0000

Wow - what a tough time for the Rockets, sitting on a 12-game winning streak going into tonight’s game against the Washington Wizards.

News clips:

Houston Chronicle

International Herald Tribune

Los Angeles Times

Reuters

United Press International

Super Bowl on Chinese TV

Nicole — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:44:24 +0000

One of the regular blog readers asked this week about where he could find his beloved American football on Chinese television, and I’m hearing from friends in China that CCTV-5 is your source. Drop me a line (nicole AT wokpopcorn DOT com) if you hear differently…but hopefully it will be on and China-based American football fans can watch the latest round of the Boston-New York all-sports rivalry live and in color.

Blogging on SI.com

Nicole — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 13:13:56 +0000

No doubt you’ve noticed the silence on the blog this past month…partly it’s because accessing the blog during my December trip to Beijing was more than challenging (slow Internet connections, etc.), and partly because I’ve been invited to blog on the Beijing Olympics for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation site. The Beijing Olympics Blog was launched in early December and I’ll be blogging regularly there from now until the Olympics. I’ll also post frequently here, especially with links to articles that may not be specifically Olympics-related, so that Chinese sports fans can keep up with the latest news. In the meantime I invite you to check out the Beijing Olympics Blog. Just 216 days to go until the Opening Ceremony…

Beijing Olympics Blog at SI.com’s FanNation

Yi adjusting to the NBA

Nicole — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 23:31:45 +0000

A nice feature in yesterday’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel demonstrates how Yi Jianlian is adjusting to life in the NBA.

Today’s news

Nicole — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:23:31 +0000

A smattering of news from around the China sports world today:

Basketball

Yi’s exit leaves Chinese hoops floundering (Reuters, via Guardian Unlimited)

2008 Olympics

Track and Field: What are the Chinese medal prospects for Beijing? (IAAF.org)

China-born Li named top US athletics coach for guiding Lagat (AFP) [Editor's note: Bernard Lagat's double gold medal in the 1500 and 5000 meter races at this year's world championships were astonishing. Lagat called James Li, his coach, a "technical genius" for planning the strategy that allowed Lagat, a naturalized Kenyan-born American, to win two hot, humid, tactical races in the pressure of a world championship event. My personal sports highlight of the year.]

Adidas taps punch-bag art, Muhammad Ali to spread Olympic fever (Bloomberg.com)

China to host convention on sport science, August 1-5, 2008 (Xinhuanet)

Badminton: China on track for Olympics despite poor results - coach (Guardian UK)

Curling (yes, curling)

Chinese curling attracts younger crowd (China Daily)

Hockey in China

Nicole — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:18:09 +0000

Count hockey among the many, many “Western” sports trying to gain a toehold in the Chinese market:

NHL has visions of glory in lucrative China (Globe and Mail, Canada)

Recent BOCOG news

Nicole — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:42:20 +0000

From the news wires, recent happenings at BOCOG:

BOCOG to deal with formerly suspended ticket applications (Chinaview.cn)

PC factory for Beijing 2008 becomes operational (Chinaview.cn)

BOCOG puts top ten stories of Games to a vote (China Daily)

Progress made in preparation for Beijing Paralympics (Xinhuanet)

BOCOG official meets press on cultural activities (Xinhuanet)

Volunteers trained for gymnastics events at Olympic venue (Xinhuanet)

More on the “meaningless” comment

Nicole — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:33:20 +0000

A new article from China Daily - and a really, really close re-reading of the article linked to here on Friday from Reuters - demonstrates that the Liu Xiang/achievements-meaningless-without-Beijing-gold news report may not have been based on any new information, just (perhaps - conjecture on my part) a desire to keep Liu’s name in the sports pages as he goes into seclusion for winter training.

Coach: Hurdler Liu has yet to reach full potential (China Daily)

The aforementioned article includes the full quote from Sun Haiping, Liu Xiang’s coach: “”Officials from the State General Administration of Sports once told us if Liu could not win a gold in Beijing, all of his previous achievements would become meaningless.”

Okay, that’s still a huge amount of pressure in my book. But it doesn’t sound like Liu was given a text message about the matter last week from Chinese officials - only that “once” Liu and/or Sun were told what the gold medal would mean to China.

It’s still overstating the case to suggest his past results have no meaning, no matter how or when the comment was relayed to Liu, and it’s still too much pressure for a young man who appears to have no discernable life outside of sport because he’s been put so high on a pedestal in Chinese society that he can’t do anything without attracting attention to himself. But it’s a little less sinister-feeling than when the first reports of this comment came out last week, in my opinion.