Manny Ramirez left Taiwan last week, one week short of completing his initial three-month contract with the EDA Rhinos in the CPBL, ostensibly because he “wanted to spend more time with his family.” While quite possibly true, no one was buying that as the main reason: reports soon linked him to Japan – though nothing has so far materialized – and now his agent has says he’s keen to return to the big leagues i.e. MLB.
Continue reading The 6 stages of grief: Taiwanese people pen letter to Manny
This is exactly what the organizers would have wanted to avoid. Beckham’s first trip to China in March sparked the usual scenes of craziness seen whenever a global celebrity appears in Asia, but everything during Trip 1 seemed to go off without a hitch.
Trip 2 has seen significantly lower media interest so far, but a visit to Tongji University in Shanghai on Thursday saw seven people end up in hospital after students waiting for Beckham to appear broke through the door of the university gymnasium and rushed past a wall of security guards and police.
Continue reading Beckham visit causes stampede in Shanghai, 7 injured [UPDATED, NEW PHOTOS]
Diego Armando Maradona, the scourge of English soccer fans and the Italian taxman, has just achieved perhaps one of the greatest accomplishments of his storied career: winning a case in a Chinese court. Continue reading Maradona wins China court battle – but will he get paid?
A brief departure from China for this week’s Sports Talk column to discuss one of the best – and most unusual – sport stories of the year: the non-Fellowship of the Ring. It turns out this story made news at the time eight years ago, with media asking back then if it Putin had stolen it. Kraft stuck to the script, but, eight years later, is apparently fed up and wants the ring back. Putin has since insisted through a spokesman it had always been a gift. It’s hardly a case for the ICC, but it will be interesting to see if there are any further developments. Here’s the piece:
It’s been a good week for unexpected sports stories.
Check out Taiwan’s Next Media Animation’s take on the Washington Redskins name controversy in the video above. Normally NMA has a fairly amusing take on things, even on more serious matters, but this is pretty straight – and pretty damning on the franchise’s history.
Now that Sir David Beckham, the God of Branding, has officially hung up his boots, he can concentrate on the Big Problems, like world peace and buying MLS franchises. Becks returns to China next week for the second of three trips this year, as part of his ambassadorial contract with the Chinese Super League. If the first trip was all about the kids, then the second one is all about charity (but like these two, David doesn’t like to brag). Here are the details:
When I wrote this profile of Cheng-Tsung Pan earlier in the week, it wasn’t because I thought he would win the US Open – he’s a 21-year-old amateur golfer who’s a sophomore at the University of Washington, after all – but because he’s a great story: the caddie mother, the father who taught him golf from books, arriving in the US on his own without speaking a word of English, and now one of the best amateur golfers in the world.
Fearless prediction: he’s still not going to win the rain-delayed US Open, but it looks like he will make the cut by a mile. When bad light stopped play on Friday, he was halfway through his second round and standing at even par, 2-under for the day and one shot off the lead.
One. Shot. Off. The. Lead.
Continue reading Taiwan’s new star: Cheng-Tsung Pan [UPDATED]
Chinese swimmer Sun Yang has been a naughty boy: partying, missing training, and (gasp) even spending time with a girl. Sun wasn’t happy after being fined and went into a sulk, demanding a new coach. He need look no further than the world’s most famous swimmer, Michael Phelps, for a case study. Phelps, too, got tired of a life of training, let his hair down a little and then this happened:
Continue reading Sun may shine in Barcelona, but for how much longer?
Last November, when 14-year-old Chinese golfer Guan Tianlang won the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship to become the youngest player ever to qualify for the Masters, another young golfer missed out by the narrowest of margins. In second place, a single shot behind, was Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung, who fired a stunning 65 to close the tournament, six shots better than Guan’s final round.
Is this the funniest home run call ever, asks the prolific Manny Does Taiwan. You be the judge, but the line “This ball is long gone, just like the ex-girlfriend who will never return!” is a classic, even if it is clearly scripted.
Continue reading Funniest home run call ever? Yes
