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Secretasianman

Sunday - 12/28/08

WEEKEND UPDATE

- Yao Ming scored 26 points to lead the Rockets over the Utah Jazz 120-115 in an exciting double overtime game on Saturday.

- Yi Jianlian's age is again being questioned this time by a Chinese version of Sports Illustrated  magazine doing their own investigation. While their at it, they might what to look into what happened to Yi's shooting touch too, cause it has been missing for several weeks now.

- Tiger Woods may lose his iron grip over the #1 ranking which he has held since June 2005. Sergio Garcia is in second place and could overtake Woods with a fast start in 2009. If so, Tiger could find some sympathy from friend Roger Federer who also lost his #1 ranking to a Spaniard in Rafael Nadal.

Friday - 12/26/08

Chien Ming Wang Signs New Deal with Yankees - Wang signed a one-year $5 million contract with the NY Yankees on Monday to avoid arbitration with the restricted free agent. He probably could have gotten more had he had a full season but he was happy with what amounts to a 1 million raise despite his short injury hampered season. Obviously the Yankees know his worth and sources in the organization believe that he can be every bit the ace that new additions C.C. Sabathia or A.J. Burnett will be for the team. Still his lack of strikeouts and quiet demeanor means that the fans and media will continue to overlook the incredible talents of Wang despite his success. At least true Yankees fans appreciate him as evidenced by the comments posted at Bleacherreport. Wang is expected to be fully healthy and ready to go come spring training.

C.C. Sabathia may get the #1 spot but Wang should be the #2 over Burnett.

An Unlikely Pacquiao Fan -  When Manny Pacquiao won his last fight he partied with Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics. Now he is getting praise from another unusual source, ex-presidential candidate John McCain. Apparently McCain is a big boxing fan and he really enjoyed the fight between De la Hoya and Pacquiao. While he felt bad watching Oscar take such a beating (like most people, myself included), he was elated for Manny. "But this Pacquiao is a phenomenon. He truly is," McCain said. "I would love to see him with Floyd Mayweather. That would be one of the great fights of the century."

You and every other boxing fan, Senator McCain. But luckily for John, he probably didn't know that Manny was more inspired by his opponent Presdiental-elect Barack Obama. Before the big fight, Pacquiao often quoted Obama's line "Yes we Can" to motivate himself for the fight. Of course McCain's catch phrase of "Country First" would also apply to Manny because of his great love for his people and his country, the Philippines. Pacquiao is such a great guy who wouldn't be his fan?

Monday - 12/22/08

Yao Still the King - Yao Ming showed everyone that he is still the most dominant Chinese player in the NBA and will be so for a long time. He scored a game high 24 points as the Rockets easily put away the Nets 114-91 in a game that was nationally televised in his native China.

Yi Jianlian struggled again scoring just 10 points on 4 of 13 shooting but tonight he was joined in the shooting funk by fellow Net's Vince Carter and Devin Harris who both scored only 10 points a piece. The normally dynamic duo were the highest scoring backcourt in the league going into this game but were a pathetic 7 of 24 shooting tonight. I hope Yi can bring up his game soon cause I don't know how much longer he will maintain his starting spot with the Nets.

The old lion is still the king, while the young cub goes through more growing pains.

Sunday - 12/21/08

Yao VS Yi Tomorrow Night! - Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian will be facing each other for the first time this season as the Houston Rockets visits the New Jersey Nets tomorrow night at the IZOD Center. The Rockets are going in with a 18-9 (.667) record and the Nets are 13-13 (.500) so clearly Yao and company have the edge. The Chinese fans won't care however as their two favorite sons meet for the first time this season and hopefully Yi will raise his level of play. Just to give you an idea of what I mean, Yao averaged 26 points in his last three games and Yi averaged only 8 points in his last three. He even had a game where he scored just 2 measly points!

Tomorrow night hopefully will be different because if playing against Yao Ming doesn't get his competitive juices flowing, nothing will.

No Chinese Connection here! - Yao and Yi won't share the ball after the tipoff.

Tuesday - 12/16/08

Pacquiao - How Great Art Thou? -  Fresh off his incredible victory over Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao is back in the Philippines soaking up the praise from around the world. Former opponent David Diaz comparing him to Muhammad Ali and online boxing commentators calling him the new Mike Tyson of our generation are just some of the adulation being showered on Pacquiao. Heavy praise indeed but incredibly it's deserving as the pound for pound Baddest Man on the Planet right now is definitely the Pacman. Even heavyweight contenders such as British boxer David Haye were impressed with the victory. In fact Haye is using Pacquiao's win as inspiration for his next match against WBC heavyweight Vitali Klitschko.

Now talks are coming from Floyd Mayweather Jr's camp that the pretty boy may be interested in coming out of retirement to meet Pacquiao. That would be just fine with Freddie Roach who believes that Manny would have the edge even over Mayweather because of the Filipino's incredible speed and punching power. “I know he's fast, also. But I think we go the upper hand on speed and I think we're a more powerful puncher,” said the celebrated boxing trainer. After this past fight, who can ever doubt Roach or Pacquiao again? I can't wait for them to make this thing happen and put an end to who is the real pound 4 pound king.

Roach thinks the Pacman can beat Pretty Boy Floyd and I'm starting to believe too.

OTHER NEWS

Yao Ming drops 32 points on Nuggets today. Rockets win easily 108-96. Tracy McGrady looked good with a triple-double.

Tiger Woods in damage control mode after statements from caddie Steve Williams. He basically said, "Phil Mickelson is a jerk and Tiger and I don't like him"

Liu Xiang's foot surgery from last week was successful and he is recuperating well. He was able to exercise his upper body just two days after the surgery.

Monday - 12/15/08

Yi Struggles, Foul Troubles and Shooting Woes - Yi Jianlian played only 15 minutes tonight as the Nets pulled of a 94-87 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Yi had only 3 points on 1-3 shooting and was in foul trouble early on and never made any impact on this game. This is the second straight stinker from him in a row, as he had only two points in his previous game shooting a miserable 1-of-8 from the field. Still Yi is third in votes for Eastern forwards trailing only LeBron James and Kevin Garnett because of his popularity with Chinese fans which has caught a lot of negative attention from American hoop fans. Regardless of how the voting goes, hopefully he will find his rhythm again in time to face Yao Ming and the Rockets on December 22nd which will be a big game for Asian hoop fans.  

Sunday - 12/7/08

Manny Pacquiao Cements his Pound for Pound Title! - Delivers the worst defeat of De La Hoya's legendary career. Congratulations Manny, I should have never doubted you.

Thursday - 12/4/08

Pacquiao the REAL Mexican Fan Favorite? - With the big fight just 2 days away, both the Oscar De la Hoya and Manny Pacquiao camps are still trying to claim the title of "Fan Favorite" with the Mexican fans. It appears that despite being Mexican-American, De La Hoya has never really endeared himself with Mexicans because of his fighting style which was considered too conservative and not as aggressive and gusty as other great Mexican fighters. The fact that the golden boy would rather dance his way around getting hit in his pretty face was evident in many of his fight including the one with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Manny Pacquiao on the other hand is a Filipino that has had great success against Mexican fighters. According to his coach Freddie Roach, Manny is loved by Mexican fight fans because of his guts and attacking never back down fighting style. The debate has even got his promoter Bob Arum making comparisons to the presidential race saying, “Oscar de la Hoya has been in the greatest of fights for many years, and he is just like John McCain. Pacquiao is a young man, with a charisma, just like Barack Obama.” 

While I don't know or care about who is more popular with the fans, I do care about the outcome of this fight and worry about Pacquiao giving up so much size to De la Hoya. If he can just last 12 rounds against the much bigger Oscar, I would be happy even if he lost on a decision.

De La Hoya will be the Pacman's biggest and toughest test to date.

Monday - 12/1/08

Rockets Sorely Miss McGrady - It was a tough Thanksgiving week for Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets. First, Yao had to get four stitches for a cut over his right eye in a game against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. Then the Rockets lost 104-94 on Sunday against the Denver Nuggets without Tracy McGrady who has been out three consecutive games with a sore left knee. Now it is reported that McGrady will miss another week. Add to the fact that Shane Battier and Brent Barry are touch and go and you have a Rockets team that is very vulnerable. The 18 points that Yao put up on Sunday on 5-of-12 shooting will not do it if they want to continue their winning ways. But with a 11-7 record, #1 ranking in the Southwest, and no long term injury concerns, there is still much for Houston to be grateful for.

Coming to America, To be Cut Open! - Houston surgeon Tom Clanton will have the honor and pressure to operate on some of the most important legs in the world. He will be the surgeon for Liu Xiang later this month when the Chinese hurdler goes for surgery on his ailing ankle which kept him from competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Clanton was Yao's doctor last year when Yao needed to correct a stress fracture on his left foot. The operation should happen in mid December in Houston and Liu will spend a several months there to recover. Will Liu Xiang ever be the same again after the surgery? Hard to say but the poor guy has no choice because retirement is definitely out of the question after the disappoint that was Beijing.   

Tiger Woods Dropped by Desperate GM - Tiger Woods is another Asian athlete that must know what Liu Xiang is going through because he too had surgery and has been out of commission for a long time. While there is little doubt that Woods should soon become the world's first billionaire athlete, the drive towards that distinction will not be promoted by General Motors. GM and Wood's nine year relationship ended last week and with the financial mess that they are in, GM simply couldn't afford to retain Tiger for their Buick brand anymore. No sweat off Tiger's back because he could probably find another sponsor easily, but it is a troubling sign of the times that the current crisis is far from over.

Tiger Woods and GM had a great ride while it lasted.

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