A must read about Yao and the NBA from Foreign Policy magazine, of all places.
Excellent first post, loquax! Totally unexpected source, very relevant and intriguing content, substantial writing and insights into Chinese government use of sports and athletes as global policy tools, as well as a view of multinational corporate strategy in the form of the NBA. I scanned the five pages, not being a big b-ball fan, but I'm sure the hoopsters among us will eat this up. Also, nice additional links/books in the "Want to know more page" (including one about soccer!).
Good post, loquax. This is the sort of stuff I joined up to read. I'm off to China next month for work, and on previous visits have had similar experiences. I work in foreign aid, however when you get down to it, foreign 'experts' and salespeople need the Middle Kingdom more than the Middle Kingdom needs them.
Super cool. Hell, with shouju and Naismith and the missionaries, it's a wonder why basketball ever became American. Make you respect a guy like Yao all the more - considering he plays under the kind of pressure that but a handful of players have ever known. An excellent morning read - the perfect verse to the chorus of my coffee.
That was a great read. The Chinese socialist sports machinefascinating.
It was worth gthe read just to picture Stern sitting out in the lobby, listening to bad Chinese musaz and drumming his fingers for four hours. Ha!
nice read
frazer, you monkey! Complaining about editing and whatnot on the FPPs and look at your comment; two typos in one sentence. gthe? musaz? You crazy mofo! ;-p (sorry for the OT, but I've got to get my jab into one of our few sports biz pros ...)
Inside comments don't count! I don't have the time to come up with these witty, pithy comments AND edit them!
