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:
"Bicycles. I expected to see a lot and I have seen very few. I have seen a lot of cars. China is a big country and it is advancing at incredible speed. You see it in everything, the buildings, in shops and in how people dress. They are a world power for a reason."
The NBA player speculation continues. The latest news is that Kobe has been offered over USD1.5 million per month to play here should there be no NBA next season. However, the CBA are likely to pass a rule that will prevent players having an NBA opt-out clause in their contracts. Kobe loves him some Chinese money, but is that enough to write off a whole NBA season? Strong rumours persist that Tony Parker has been in advanced talks.
A more wholesome type of basketballer is coming to Beijing this month. The Georgetown Hoyas have touched down in the city and will play at the MasterCard Arena on August 17 (vs. Shanxi Brave Dragons) and August 18 (vs. Bayi Rockets). If you can read Chinese then you can also win tickets on the US Embassy's Sina Weibo account.
That visit is quickly followed by the Duke Blue Devils who play the China Olympic Team at the MasterCard Arena on August 22. If you want tickets for that you get a discount here.
Then after that there's the Chinese Intercontinental Club Championship from August 24-28 also at the MasterCard. Champions from Korea, China, Australia and Germany will take on a USA team that includes Paul Pierce, Tyson Chandler and Michael Beasley and the hosts, Beijing.
There's one more basketball exhibition coming up, but it's neither proper hoops or at a certain credit card coliseum - it's streetball and it's at Century Hall at Renmin University. Tickets are available here to see Dennis "Spyda" Chism, Pat "Da Rock" Robinson, Taurian "720" Fontennette, and Terry "T-Dubb" Cournyea, Earv "I'll Be Right Back" Opong, John "Helicopter" Humphrey, Aaron "AO" Owens and James "Big Swoal" Rhodes in the Voit Shemgod S.K.Y. Streetball All-star game on August 27.
Surprise, surprise - Team China currently tops the Universiade medal table. The real surprise is that their men's football team is in surprisingly good shape, recently beating Colombia 3-0. To see who's winning what in Shenzhen click here.
After much online chatter surrounding the Wang Meng suspension, the speed skating team's coach has been transferred from her position.
If you want to play dodgeball or bowling (and make new friends etc.) then get yourself over to Mashup to sign up. Ladies, you can get some Ladies Only snowboard action with Mellowparks.cn at the Nike 6.0 park in Qiaobo Snow & Ice World this Saturday. Men can go to watch. It starts at 1.30pm. Next month will see the first Beijing 6-a-side Charity Shield on the 24th of the month. The tournament is open to companies and will benefit Wuxun Education Foundation. They are looking for teams, so head here to find out more. Budding footballers might want to keep an eye out for the September issue of the Beijinger too - just saying.
Finally, Swamp Soccer China concludes on August 20th. You may be interested to know that the Mud Flingers (who may also be known as the Mud Slingers) have been trending on Chinese social media. The summary of which is that netizens are asking what the devil those foreigners are doing. Here are some photos from QQ and below is a video from CRI. The team won their second game 5-1 to secure a semi-final berth, to be played this Friday.
*It will be China as they win all of the medals. Again.
Photo: China Daily
