This simultaneously funny and outrageous. Please do see the video 
YouTube - China Vs Brazil brawl (fight) FULL altercation here 10/12/2010
Tough Talk After China Basketball Brawl
The brawl that broke out Tuesday between the Chinese men’s national basketball team and Brazil’s team in the central Chinese city of Xuchang has been met mostly with condemnation, with such values as sportsmanship and hospitality dominating the conversation. But amid the disdain for the violence, a few unapologetic voices are pointing to the unwritten rules of the sport.
The Chinese Basketball Association apologized Wednesday for the bench-clearing fight, which followed tempers flaring over rough play and disputed foul calls. Both teams cleared the court, and the game was called off when members of the Chinese team attacked the Brazilians on their way back to the locker room. The Brazil team refused to return to the court or to play in Wednesday’s game, the fourth scheduled match in the, er, friendly series. When both teams flew back to Beijing on Wednesday, AP reported, at least one Chinese player wore a neck brace.
The CBA said Wednesday it would put on hold the team’s preparations for the Asian Games, scheduled for November in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, to give the players time to “deeply reflect.” The association also said the entire team would be forced to attend classes on sportsmanship, and certain players would be punished for the actions during the fight.
Amid all the blame-throwing, though, an editorial in China’s Economic Observer asks: Why do we have to say sorry?
Citing the Chinese team’s reputation for fighting in recent years, the newspaper notes a speech by the team’s previous head coach, Jonas Kazlauskas, following an infamous clash with Puerto Rico in 2005: “In his speech, Kazlauskas told the team that if a fight breaks out and the Chinese appear to lose, other international teams will believe that the Chinese basketball team is weak and will use foul play as a tool in future matches.”
The paper adds: “The fact that so many players took part, when seen from another angle, indicates that the team is united and courageous.”
While international and professional sports associations may frown on such rationalization, the independent newspaper isn’t alone in its tough-guy playground mentality. Comments across the Chinese Internet suggest that shaking hands and making nice isn’t as easy as it seems—nor, necessarily, is it called for.
“The court is like a battlefield,” wrote one reader at the popular Netease portal. “Your brother-in-arms is wounded for no reason, gets rocked, you can’t let that stand. It’s a matter of principle.”
The latest basketball fight also seemed to touch an historical nerve: Some Chinese take pride in their players dispelling—with kicks and punches—the aged stereotype of China as the so-called sick man of Asia. According to this view, the men’s basketball team, tired of being pushed around, is fighting back against the bullies of the world.
“Watching this video gets my blood boiling,” one poster at the Mop.com bulletin board wrote. “Makes me wish I could have rushed in there with my own fists and legs. Of course, if it had been Japan, that would have been better.”
“If the Eight-Nation Alliance Army came here, you’d welcome them wouldn’t you?” wrote another at Netease—referring to an alliance of foreign armies that marched on Beijing in 1900 to quell the Boxer Uprising—in response to a post criticizing the team for being uncivilized.
It remains unclear what historical animosity exists between China and Brazil or Puerto Rico that would explain such a violent display of force, but then, that’s probably not the point.
—Miguel Gonzalez Jr.
***
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/10/14/tough-talk-after-china-basketball-brawl/
YouTube - China Vs Brazil brawl (fight) FULL altercation here 10/12/2010
Tough Talk After China Basketball Brawl
The brawl that broke out Tuesday between the Chinese men’s national basketball team and Brazil’s team in the central Chinese city of Xuchang has been met mostly with condemnation, with such values as sportsmanship and hospitality dominating the conversation. But amid the disdain for the violence, a few unapologetic voices are pointing to the unwritten rules of the sport.
The Chinese Basketball Association apologized Wednesday for the bench-clearing fight, which followed tempers flaring over rough play and disputed foul calls. Both teams cleared the court, and the game was called off when members of the Chinese team attacked the Brazilians on their way back to the locker room. The Brazil team refused to return to the court or to play in Wednesday’s game, the fourth scheduled match in the, er, friendly series. When both teams flew back to Beijing on Wednesday, AP reported, at least one Chinese player wore a neck brace.
The CBA said Wednesday it would put on hold the team’s preparations for the Asian Games, scheduled for November in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, to give the players time to “deeply reflect.” The association also said the entire team would be forced to attend classes on sportsmanship, and certain players would be punished for the actions during the fight.
Amid all the blame-throwing, though, an editorial in China’s Economic Observer asks: Why do we have to say sorry?
Citing the Chinese team’s reputation for fighting in recent years, the newspaper notes a speech by the team’s previous head coach, Jonas Kazlauskas, following an infamous clash with Puerto Rico in 2005: “In his speech, Kazlauskas told the team that if a fight breaks out and the Chinese appear to lose, other international teams will believe that the Chinese basketball team is weak and will use foul play as a tool in future matches.”
The paper adds: “The fact that so many players took part, when seen from another angle, indicates that the team is united and courageous.”
While international and professional sports associations may frown on such rationalization, the independent newspaper isn’t alone in its tough-guy playground mentality. Comments across the Chinese Internet suggest that shaking hands and making nice isn’t as easy as it seems—nor, necessarily, is it called for.
“The court is like a battlefield,” wrote one reader at the popular Netease portal. “Your brother-in-arms is wounded for no reason, gets rocked, you can’t let that stand. It’s a matter of principle.”
The latest basketball fight also seemed to touch an historical nerve: Some Chinese take pride in their players dispelling—with kicks and punches—the aged stereotype of China as the so-called sick man of Asia. According to this view, the men’s basketball team, tired of being pushed around, is fighting back against the bullies of the world.
“Watching this video gets my blood boiling,” one poster at the Mop.com bulletin board wrote. “Makes me wish I could have rushed in there with my own fists and legs. Of course, if it had been Japan, that would have been better.”
“If the Eight-Nation Alliance Army came here, you’d welcome them wouldn’t you?” wrote another at Netease—referring to an alliance of foreign armies that marched on Beijing in 1900 to quell the Boxer Uprising—in response to a post criticizing the team for being uncivilized.
It remains unclear what historical animosity exists between China and Brazil or Puerto Rico that would explain such a violent display of force, but then, that’s probably not the point.
—Miguel Gonzalez Jr.
***
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/10/14/tough-talk-after-china-basketball-brawl/
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