Cup of Cha
This is China

You would think that Chinese fans may have been a bit testy after the US basketball team demolished Yao Ming’s squad by 31 points. However, the relationship between the Chinese and American basketball is not normal. The NBA is worshipped here, and players like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are gods. In other words, losing to basketball greats isn’t the worst thing in the world.

I had the same experience watching the 2002 World Cup in Chengdu. That was the first time China qualified, and their team, quite frankly, was terrible (Asia got an extra bid that year because the two hosts, Japan and Korea, got automatic bids). In one of the games China played Brazil, the heavy favorite that year. To my surprise, one of my most nationalistic friends insisted he was going to cheer for Brazil. (Why? Because China has a lot of front runners.)

Must like in last night’s game, China came out reasonably strong, but quickly began to fade. But let’s just say my friend was more than a little excited when a Chinese player hit the cross-bar on a shot. In the end Brazil won 4-0, and my friend was heartily cheering for China. But he also wasn’t disappointed when they lost.

In China, usually being the best is the only thing. Everything else means you are just another loser. But with soccer and basketball, sports in which the national teams have long lagged behind and the Chinese fans have long idolized the Americans and Brazilians, sometimes reaching the same stage as the world’s best is good enough. For now.

I would like to lodge a formal complaint against Paddy O’Shea’s, a local bar in Dongzhimen. It was absolutely pouring last night so I opted for the local option to watch the game. What I discovered was that on the first floor Man U and Irish football (yes, Irish football) took precedent over a game thay more than a billion people watched. They did have the USA-China game upstairs in a packed room. One English fan said something snide to someone at his table when he saw me irritatedly going upstairs. I believe it was, “No basketball here…hahahaha.” That’s when it occurred to me that there is a reason fights are frequent in bars. It also occurred to me that no one cares about Irish football.

I did not fight because I realized that the best way to get even with someone is to complain about them on a blog. Take that Paddy’s and random English dude (he may have been Irish, the place was loud. I will be cheering against both countries in the Olympics accordingly.)

Tags: basketball, irish football, yao ming
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