Front page of the Sac Bee today:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/12785643p-13636529c.html
[font=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]A Monarch in waiting
A visiting star may put the capital - no matter how you say its name - on the map in China.
By Stephen Magagnini -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, April 25, 2005
When the slim young woman with curly brown ringlets and granny glasses landed in Sacramento a few weeks ago to try out with the Monarchs, few folks here knew who she was.
But 200 million basketball fans in the People's Republic of China went nuts when they heard Sui Fei Fei - known as the female Yao Ming - was on American soil.
"To bring Fei Fei here is a big historical thing for China," said her close friend and representative, Sharon Xiowen Qin. "They didn't think the (Chinese) government would allow her to play here. The whole country was excited - it was like a bomb."
While Sui, 26, competes for a $32,000-a-year rookie contract with the Monarchs - far less than she made in China - she'll potentially generate millions of dollars in publicity and new business for Sacramento.
"Hundreds of millions of people in China will be watching Fei Fei playing for the Monarchs in Sacramento," said Margaret Wong, a local entrepreneur with investments in China.
"Ten years ago, (some) people looked at us and said, 'We don't like to deal with the Chinese,' " she said. "But now, as more people become friends and understand each other better, it makes my job easier."
Wong has been talking up China to the Maloofs, owners of the Kings and Monarchs, for three years. She was one of several dozen Sacramento-area Chinese Americans who went to China last fall to see the Kings play the Houston Rockets and Yao Ming.
She conceded that connecting the teams to the city is still a work in progress for many Chinese.
"Everybody would say, 'You from Kings! You from Kings!' I'd say, 'Understand, I'm not from Kings. I'm from Sacramento.' There's no town called Kings or Monarchs."
Because many Chinese have trouble saying Sacramento, Wong pronounces it "Sangemanto," which means "three buns" in Mandarin. "They don't remember Sacramento, but they remember 'Sangemanto,' " Wong said.
Sui's marquee value is huge. In China, she's on par with Yao Ming, who came to America three years ago and is arguably the most popular player in both countries - this year, more fans voted for him for the NBA All-Star game than any player in history.
Sui, known for her sunny smile and humble disposition, is the official face of China Youth Daily, a national newspaper for which she writes a weekly column.
She recently wrote that coming to America is her dream come true, and said she'll handle the pressure the way she always has: with persistence and confidence.
It took two years to get her here, and it almost didn't happen because the first Chinese player to go to the NBA, Wang Zhi Zhi, refused to return to China to play on China's national team in international competition.
Sui has promised to return to play for China in September after the Monarchs' season is over.
Sui seems a perfect ambassador to the United States because she embodies the new China. She was born four years after the Cultural Revolution and doesn't think much about it. She speaks English pretty well, but doesn't know the word "Communist." She sings love songs, shops at Wal-Mart in Beijing, devours sports biographies and lives by the words Dumbledore spoke to Harry Potter: "People are successful not by their abilities, but by their choices."
The daughter of a basketball coach in the northern industrial city of Jinan, Sacramento's sister city, Sui didn't start playing basketball until she was 14.
By 1996, she'd made the Chinese national team. Her success has paralleled China's emergence as an economic powerhouse.
Sui remembers the days she had to play on crumbling outdoor courts. Now, her family lives an upper-middle-class lifestyle, and she's considering endorsement deals on both continents.
Sui's journey to Sacramento began in 2003 when Monarchs coach John Whisenant got a call from an old friend, Bruce O'Neill, who runs a basketball academy in Portland, Ore.
O'Neill had seen Sui and Miao Lijie, her sharpshooting teammate on the Chinese national team. "He said they were the two best women players in China," Whisenant said.
After numerous letters to Chinese officials, the Monarchs secured visas for the two players, who are among 20 trying out for 12 roster spots.
Sui and Miao are the first female Chinese ballplayers to come to America since Zheng Hai Xia played center for the Los Angeles Sparks in the late 1990s. Miao, who arrived last week, was unavailable for an interview, the Monarchs said.
The new president of the Chinese Basketball Association, Li Yuanwei, was instrumental in clearing the way for Sui and Miao, said Qin, Sui's representative.
After the Chinese women's team got clobbered in the 2004 Olympics, Li was eager to get his top players experience at the highest professional level - the WNBA - in preparation for the 2008 games.
That's why Sui's here: to become a better basketball player.
She also wants to explore the cultural differences between the United States and China. In Beijing, she played basketball almost exclusively.
In Sacramento, there's a lot more free time. She has hit the outlet malls in Vacaville, visited Chinese friends in San Francisco and cooked dumplings and peanut rice balls for her new American friends.
She's learning to drive American-style - she never had to drive anywhere, let alone parallel park, in China.
And she and Miao have been guests of honor at numerous dinners hosted by local Chinese Americans, who already have set up a Web site for their new heroes.
On May 6, the Monarchs, Sui and Miao will play the Chinese national team at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.
Whisenant joked that he might make a lot of enemies among Sacramento's more than 50,000 Chinese Americans if he cuts either Sui or Miao.
Wong thinks there's too much at stake for that to happen. "If you are able to recruit some players here, suddenly you put Sacramento on the whole China map."
Even if they pronounce it "Sangemanto." SUI'S MARQUEE VALUE
Sui Fei Fei poses outside a Sacramento restaurant Wednesday. Sacramento Bee/Bryan Patrick
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nice article.....the last time a major Asian player came to the Monarchs she was traded after a year and didn't really do too much: Mikiko Hagiwara from Japan. So I really do hope this young woman can do a little better.....
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/12785643p-13636529c.html
[font=verdana,geneva,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]A Monarch in waiting
A visiting star may put the capital - no matter how you say its name - on the map in China.
By Stephen Magagnini -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, April 25, 2005
When the slim young woman with curly brown ringlets and granny glasses landed in Sacramento a few weeks ago to try out with the Monarchs, few folks here knew who she was.
But 200 million basketball fans in the People's Republic of China went nuts when they heard Sui Fei Fei - known as the female Yao Ming - was on American soil.
"To bring Fei Fei here is a big historical thing for China," said her close friend and representative, Sharon Xiowen Qin. "They didn't think the (Chinese) government would allow her to play here. The whole country was excited - it was like a bomb."
While Sui, 26, competes for a $32,000-a-year rookie contract with the Monarchs - far less than she made in China - she'll potentially generate millions of dollars in publicity and new business for Sacramento.
"Hundreds of millions of people in China will be watching Fei Fei playing for the Monarchs in Sacramento," said Margaret Wong, a local entrepreneur with investments in China.
"Ten years ago, (some) people looked at us and said, 'We don't like to deal with the Chinese,' " she said. "But now, as more people become friends and understand each other better, it makes my job easier."
Wong has been talking up China to the Maloofs, owners of the Kings and Monarchs, for three years. She was one of several dozen Sacramento-area Chinese Americans who went to China last fall to see the Kings play the Houston Rockets and Yao Ming.
She conceded that connecting the teams to the city is still a work in progress for many Chinese.
"Everybody would say, 'You from Kings! You from Kings!' I'd say, 'Understand, I'm not from Kings. I'm from Sacramento.' There's no town called Kings or Monarchs."
Because many Chinese have trouble saying Sacramento, Wong pronounces it "Sangemanto," which means "three buns" in Mandarin. "They don't remember Sacramento, but they remember 'Sangemanto,' " Wong said.
Sui's marquee value is huge. In China, she's on par with Yao Ming, who came to America three years ago and is arguably the most popular player in both countries - this year, more fans voted for him for the NBA All-Star game than any player in history.
Sui, known for her sunny smile and humble disposition, is the official face of China Youth Daily, a national newspaper for which she writes a weekly column.
She recently wrote that coming to America is her dream come true, and said she'll handle the pressure the way she always has: with persistence and confidence.
It took two years to get her here, and it almost didn't happen because the first Chinese player to go to the NBA, Wang Zhi Zhi, refused to return to China to play on China's national team in international competition.
Sui has promised to return to play for China in September after the Monarchs' season is over.
Sui seems a perfect ambassador to the United States because she embodies the new China. She was born four years after the Cultural Revolution and doesn't think much about it. She speaks English pretty well, but doesn't know the word "Communist." She sings love songs, shops at Wal-Mart in Beijing, devours sports biographies and lives by the words Dumbledore spoke to Harry Potter: "People are successful not by their abilities, but by their choices."
The daughter of a basketball coach in the northern industrial city of Jinan, Sacramento's sister city, Sui didn't start playing basketball until she was 14.
By 1996, she'd made the Chinese national team. Her success has paralleled China's emergence as an economic powerhouse.
Sui remembers the days she had to play on crumbling outdoor courts. Now, her family lives an upper-middle-class lifestyle, and she's considering endorsement deals on both continents.
Sui's journey to Sacramento began in 2003 when Monarchs coach John Whisenant got a call from an old friend, Bruce O'Neill, who runs a basketball academy in Portland, Ore.
O'Neill had seen Sui and Miao Lijie, her sharpshooting teammate on the Chinese national team. "He said they were the two best women players in China," Whisenant said.
After numerous letters to Chinese officials, the Monarchs secured visas for the two players, who are among 20 trying out for 12 roster spots.
Sui and Miao are the first female Chinese ballplayers to come to America since Zheng Hai Xia played center for the Los Angeles Sparks in the late 1990s. Miao, who arrived last week, was unavailable for an interview, the Monarchs said.
The new president of the Chinese Basketball Association, Li Yuanwei, was instrumental in clearing the way for Sui and Miao, said Qin, Sui's representative.
After the Chinese women's team got clobbered in the 2004 Olympics, Li was eager to get his top players experience at the highest professional level - the WNBA - in preparation for the 2008 games.
That's why Sui's here: to become a better basketball player.
She also wants to explore the cultural differences between the United States and China. In Beijing, she played basketball almost exclusively.
In Sacramento, there's a lot more free time. She has hit the outlet malls in Vacaville, visited Chinese friends in San Francisco and cooked dumplings and peanut rice balls for her new American friends.
She's learning to drive American-style - she never had to drive anywhere, let alone parallel park, in China.
And she and Miao have been guests of honor at numerous dinners hosted by local Chinese Americans, who already have set up a Web site for their new heroes.
On May 6, the Monarchs, Sui and Miao will play the Chinese national team at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium.
Whisenant joked that he might make a lot of enemies among Sacramento's more than 50,000 Chinese Americans if he cuts either Sui or Miao.
Wong thinks there's too much at stake for that to happen. "If you are able to recruit some players here, suddenly you put Sacramento on the whole China map."
Even if they pronounce it "Sangemanto." SUI'S MARQUEE VALUE
- On par with Yao Ming in China.
- Official face of China Youth Daily, a national newspaper for which she is a columnist.
- Player for the People's Liberation Army women's team.
- A three-time Chinese Basketball Association MVP.
About the writer:
[/font]- The Bee's Stephen Magagnini can be reached at (916) 321-1072 or smagagnini@sacbee.com.
Sui Fei Fei poses outside a Sacramento restaurant Wednesday. Sacramento Bee/Bryan Patrick
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nice article.....the last time a major Asian player came to the Monarchs she was traded after a year and didn't really do too much: Mikiko Hagiwara from Japan. So I really do hope this young woman can do a little better.....
