2011 Aug 26 Talking Balls: China Says No To Kobe, China Says Yes To Students & Beer Is Good For You
The NBA lockout has been of extreme interest to CBA fans as it means that the Chinese league may see an influx of stars. Shanxi Fenjiu announced that they had a deal in place with Kobe Bryant, which caused yet more frenzy and speculation. That has been put to an end now as the CBA has taken the very sensible decision that players cannot have an opt-out clause to return to the NBA, and that only free agents who are willing to commit to at least a year will be eligible to sign on. The bad news? No Kobe. The good news? Yes to Tracy McGrady, Mike Bibby, Tyson Chandler and 121 other players. The CBA might resemble NBA Jam a little more next year.
You will all well know that Georgetown and Bayi Rockets had a bit of "handbags" in their recent game. Coverage has been all over the Internet – due in part to the scrap coinciding with VP Joe Biden's visit to Beijing – but nothing has captured it quite like this video from Sportsgrid. Props to China Sports Today for highlighting the clip.
Jose Camacho has only been China coach for a number of days and already he's a success. China have jumped four places in the FIFA rankings to joint 69th with Guinea. Credit should really go to the players and former coach Gao.
China won the Universiade in Shenzhen by topping the medal table. The Universiade won by apparently trouncing the TV viewing figures of the NBA in China. There's been no explanation of what the statement actually means but if taken on face value that's good going for some enthusiastic students, many of whom will now fade into obscurity and middle management.
If you're planning to run the Beijing Marathon next month, you will be pleased to hear that beer will aid your recovery. The proof is in this New York Times article. The bad news is that it's only non-alcoholic beer that's said to be good for you. Tsingtao might be close enough.
Inter Milan launched their new kit while they were in Beijing earlier this month. Why they'd choose the backdrop of a Beijing sky to sell merchandise is anyone's guess. AC Milan have not quite left yet – the club have an AC Milan Park at Gongti North Gate. Apparently, it's RMB 80 to get in and experience such authentic Italian football experiences as diving training, attacking the opposition's assistant coach and watching paint dry as you hold on to a 1-0. It should be pointed out that these attractions are not on the official list.
Li Na has been drawn against the Romanian, Simon Halep, in the first round of the upcoming US Open. Exciting stuff.
A massive yo ho ho to the Beijing Sailing Centre team that won the flagship Beneteau First 40 class 2011 Lushang Cup at the Qingdao International Sailing Regatta. We didn't understand a word of that but we do understand that the bottles of rum will be at Kokomo on sunday at 9pm. Head over there – they promise that no one will have to walk the plank.
You might also be interested in :
Talking Balls: Live Basketball, More Live Basketball, Coach Camacho & Swamp Soccer Video
Lin Dan won his fourth badminton world title on Sunday. He beat the world number-one, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, at Wembley. Despite a clean sweep at the World Championships some of the Chinese players were quoted as saying that Wembley was dirty and "like a warehouse." This came hot on the heels of some Chinese newspaper editorials last week that were gloating in fact that the London riots were the biggest event marking the one year countdown to the next Olympics. We'll see who's laughing next summer.*
Jose Antonio Camacho - once of Real Madrid and Spain - is now Team China's new football coach. This marks a dramatic improvement in the experience of those who've been in charge of the Chinese game. Camacho spoke of his excitement about the opportunity to improve the game's fortunes, the potential of such a large populace and the small number of players in China. He then offered his take on China:
Talking Balls: Li Na Tidbits, Football Shorts & Will The NBA Take Over China?
First off, for those who missed the Harlem Globetrotters in Sanlitun’s Union Bar & Grille on Monday – we’ve a video below for you. The video was shot by 1F’s Jack Zhou.
Talking Balls: Scandals, Spaniards, Schoolkids and Swamp Soccer
AC Milan beat their city rivals Inter 2-1 to win the Supercoppa Italiana at the Bird's Nest. Second-half goals from Zlatan and Kevin Prince Boateng sealed a comeback from Wesley Sneijder's first-half free kick. The rossoneri were deserved winners but the game may ultimately be overshadowed by the actions of Alexandre Pato. The Brazilian's gesture (shown above) was beamed live on CCTV. The Internet has already started calling for his blood. Whether it's racist or not, it is another addition to a long list of foreign sportsmen behaving inappropriately in China.
Talking Balls: Li Na Loses, Fights at the Football & Olympic Scandal
China's best tennis player ever, Li Na, crashed out of Wimbledon at just the second round. The number three seed lost to Germany's Sabine Lisnicki - whose victory marked a remarkable comeback from a career-threatening ankle injury - after winning the first set and being 5-3 up in the third set.
That was not all that Li lost at the All England Club. She also managed to misplace her husband who stormed out of Centre Court during the middle of the second set. Li, as always, reacted to the inevitable questions in the post-match press conference with the quotes we have come to expect:
Journalist: "Have you found your husband yet?"
Li Na: "I don't know where he was going, so when I find him I will tell you"Talking Balls: Tiger's Coming, Ronaldo's Not plus Some Rackets and Some Raquets
Tiger Woods is reported to be coming to Beijing on April 13. The golfer's Japan "Make It Matter" tour was cancelled and sponsors Nike thought that golf in China could use a boost (or that there was another burgeoning market to exploit) and rescheduled the trip to include Beijing and Shenzhen. Lock up your lapdancers.
NiuBBall has made its predictions for the CBA playoffs. Beijing scraped through in eighth spot and were given the tricky tie of top seed Xinjiang. Hopeless is the only word for the Ducks' chances against a team with one loss in the regular season.
