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By Thalia Kwok
CCTV suddenly discontinued broadcasting NBA games in the midst of semi-finals on May 24th and has yet to provide an explanation. Chinese NBA fans are in an uproar over missing the Western Finals. Speculation is starting to circulate through the local BBS that the ban may be political.
Last May*, Ira Newble of the Cleveland Cavaliers (now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers) released a letter signed by most of his teammates criticizing China's role in Darfur. As a major importer of oil from Sudan, China has been frequently accused of funding the Sudanese government and thus fueling the armed conflict in the Darfur region. Newble and his agent, Steve Kauffman, plan to seek out as many NBA players as possible and the players unions of the NFL and Major League Baseball to join the cause.
Chinese netizens suspect this to be another instance of politics getting muddled with sports. One avid local fan complains, "[Newble]'s actions are not going to hurt the Chinese government, but instead is hurting the millions of NBA fans in China."
Looks like Chinese sports fans are going to have to turn to alternate means for their NBA fix as finals approach.
Photo by Vedia
*NOTE: This entry was edited on May 28th 2008. Thanks to T for catching that.
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Ira Newble of the Cleveland Cavaliers (meaning Ira Newble of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he WAS on the Cavs when he sent the letter around)
It is good to know that some pro athletes in the US have a working moral compass.
It is good to learn that the CCTV and all the provincial sports stations have decided to stop airing NBA programmes. It is high time to hurt the Americans where hurts the most, i.e., their pockets.
The mussle men should spend time protesting the conduct of the US and its cohorts in Irqq, where millions of people have died as a direct consequence of US invasion on the feeble pretence of finding no-existent weapons of mass destruction. Does the US have the right to bomb and invade a country even if that country is in possession of the said weapons? The US has in stock all the possible weapons that one can image, does it mean the the US should be bombed and even nuked by a country that's more powerful than the US?
Thousands of people are dying in Iraq and other US occupied/involved regions. The US is the biggest threat to world peace and security. The people of the US should stand out and speak out against the atrocity and muderous act that have been the hallmark of the US foreign policy for years.
Most Amercians are ignorant twats and have an IQ of pigs. This is well reflected in the fact that Bushit was the elected leader of a nation of jokes and idiots. How many stupid Americans know that the US is, by far, the BIGGEST consumer of African oil and other commodities? I say American the Barbarians, mind your own bloody business and watch your own kinky behaviour before poking ur nose in others' matters.
I'm just really pissed of at that Yao Ming for trying to tell me not to eat shark fin soup. The nerve! If I wanna eat the last goddam shark on the planet, it is my right as a proud citizen of the PRC.
Um, that's "off," not "of." I got a little carried away in my fit of righteous indignation and hit "Post" in haste. It's how we pig twats roll!
Most Amercians are ignorant twats and have an IQ of pigs.
Here we go again. (sigh)
Aw, c'mon, skyline5k. He does say most Americans....
Anyway, I'm off to poke my kinky pig nose into some others' matters... maybe do some raping and pillaging... shoot a few hoops... bird-dog some xiaojies... you know, have a nice, average imperialist running pig-twat day...
damn it feels good to be a gangsta!
Oh, another thing... it's a real pity we won't get to watch that Bucks-Rockets Western Conference Final. Though I guess it doesn't matter, because whichever team advances, they will certainly beat whichever Eastern Conference team advances, given their lack of Chinese talent.
By the way, T, your post to Free Darko is very cool. I'd put a link here, but the Powers that Be(ijing) are blocking access to blogspot. Mostly because of Ira Newble's blog, I think.
WatchBagDVD - I didn't realize there was people who read both Shanghaiist and FreeDarko.
Xianye - just because they stopped broadcasting, didn't mean they stopped paying, so your little rant about "hurting the American pocketbook" is the stuff of "ignorant twats"
Anyways, you might be right. This will hit the pocketbooks of such Americans as Manu Ginobili, Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, Dirk Nowitzki, Zydrunus Ilgauskas, Adreins Biedrens, Luis Scola, Tony Parker, Ronny Turiaf, Sasha Vucicic and Sam Cassell (he's an alien!)
I came across the link to the FreeDarko piece on TrueHoop over at ESPN. I usually just keep up with games at work via ESPN Gamecast.
The NBA got its broadcast rights money before CCTV was allowed to bring in cameras and commentators, and I doubt that any loss of sales of official NBA gear in China is going to hurt the NBA much, considering that much of the gear that Chinese fans buy is bootlegged.
And if China decided not to renew its broadcast license next season, so what? The NBA transmits to over 100 countries, China is just one of them. Just another country...with lots of bad behavior and pollution...just another country that the world did well without for 200 years.
And how about China's sponsoring of the Burma thug junta or the NK torture chamber?
Xianye
Actually, some of the NBA players do protest the war in Iraq. Most notably Steve Nash at the time of his MVP award. Nash is Canadian, but I think you'll find the range of opinions within the NBA as diverse as anywhere with ...well ... that kind of diversity.
Also, the fate of Pat Tilman, former NFL footbal player, led to a lot of debate and activism on both sides of the coin. He volunteered to the armed forces on patriotic grounds ..and then started to question the war machine when he was posted in Afghanistan - just when he was starting to use his celebrity status to tell people some hom truths about the 'war on terror' he was suddenly killed in a 'friendly fire' incident.
For some great articles and analysis on politics and sports, google 'Edge of Sports' by Dave Zirin.
I don't follow NBA much, so i'm intrigued by that picture being put next to the article. What's the story there? Reminds me of Semi-Pro, where they start beating up the opposing team in the break, when the tv cameras are turned of! :)
Basketball and politics don't mix....now hockey, that's another matter.
Whoever said NBA already collected the money doesn't know what they are talking about. If that is the case, then what is the fuss all about? CCTV is a monopoly. It can secure the best payment terms possible when it comes to broadcast rights into China. Those who can't stand the reruns can watch the other government-owned TV channels. Nanheyang, your argument about the NBA sounds like coming from those annoying school children who said (after losing a schoolyard fight): "You gave me a bloody nose but now you can't see my good looking face! So what if I can't play with you and your friends, I still have hundreds of my friends." At any rate, stop carrying Kipling's "White Man's Burden" (especially if you are not white) and just take care of the problems in your own backyard, whereever that may be.
free darko was a god send (even though he doesn't exist in this country) for the month or so that they unblocked blogspot. It went away, now its back again.
And yeah annyoing chick xianye (I'm guessing you are a chick since you didn't mention free throw percentage or drop steps), I know its already been said, but CCTV has already bought the rights to all of the NBA playoffs, so even if they don't air them they aren't really hurting America financially. Good try though.