Mark Kreidler: An ocean away, an experience to savor

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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/11133390p-12049796c.html

Mark Kreidler: An ocean away, an experience to savor



By Mark Kreidler -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, October 18, 2004

BEIJING - The world probably gets smaller only a little bit at a time. When Peja Stojakovic watched Yao Ming moving gracefully through a sea of people here late Sunday afternoon, head pointed slightly toward the floor in his traditional display of humility, the Kings forward saw one such slightly perceptible movement. And that's really the story.



"When you look up, you want to look up to somebody in your country," said Stojakovic, native of Serbia, star in the Greek League before coming to America to play for the Kings in the NBA.



"It's much closer to reach that way, the dream," Stojakovic said. "When you're dreaming, it seems to me you think, 'OK, if my countryman made it, I can make it, too. He's like me.' That's a good thing."



It was a Yao thing, this trip. It was a trip that ultimately revolved completely around the one man, a young man, 24 years of age, who has galvanized the interest of a country one billion strong by his ability to play basketball.

And maybe it's a small thing. I mean, it's only sports. We're sitting in the seat of Communist power in the world, after all, in a China so vast and populous, it truly has the capacity to make an American feel giant and tiny in the same breath.

To walk into an afternoon promenade in downtown Beijing, towering above most of the crowd and yet completely engulfed by it, is to understand exactly how insignificant you are. You could be swallowed whole, and no one would notice in the slightest.

In other words, it's important to keep the perspective. There's an old saying: In China, when they call you one in a million, it means there are a thousand more just like you.

And so maybe it's unrealistic to expect something as inconsequential as basketball to make the world smaller. But that's how it felt here over the past week, a week of national celebration in China over the triumphant return of Yao.

His name was on every front page, his visage on every billboard, his jersey hanging up for sale in every upscale department store and cheap knockoff side market in Shanghai and Beijing. Stojakovic saw all of that and believed he might understand some of what it meant.

"Comparing this to my country, it can't be done," Stojakovic said. "China is too big for that. But it's amazing. He is their star, and he represents them in the best way possible.

"He's a great role model. And he's a great kid, too."

Peja Stojakovic, grizzled veteran. Age: 27.

The world probably only gets smaller a little bit at a time. When Kings guard Bobby Jackson considered everything, he decided he could get more bang for his buck by bringing the whole crew to China.

And that's exactly what he did. Jackson, who normally flies a group of high-achieving inner-city Minneapolis high schoolers to Sacramento twice during the season for Kings games, instead paid for seven of them - and three chaperones - to make the trek to Shanghai and Beijing.

"It's just so they could experience it, and take something from it, and have the privilege of seeing what I've seen," Jackson said. "It's been a great experience for them."

The program is called "Why Can't I Go?", a nonprofit organization run by a friend Jackson met years ago at the University of Minnesota. The criteria for selecting the underprivileged preps to participate, according to Jackson, are high academics, strong school attendance and "the best behavior."

And the goal is really this: Making things a little smaller in scope. Making things feel a little more possible, a little less remote. Jackson got it done for himself in his life; now, it's somebody's else's turn to change his fate.

The Kings had their moments in China. On an off-day after flying into Beijing in the middle of the night, many of them loaded up backpacks and headed for a tour of the Great Wall. The effect, coach Rick Adelman said, was stunning.

"You'll never see anything like it," Adelman said. "It's just so overwhelming. And looking at it, you've just got to wonder how many people died in order to build it."

This isn't the kind of country for forgetting where you are. As Yao on Sunday conducted the last of what seemed a billion news conferences during his visit, a quick glance out the glass doors and onto the street behind Capital Indoor Stadium revealed 12 green-uniformed military guards marching past, in lockstep.

It's China. It didn't change its politics overnight to accommodate this visit, or the world's opinion or the arrival of a basketball superstar such as Yao.

"It's a very interesting place," Kings center Brad Miller said, "and we had a great visit, and I'm glad I'm from the U.S." What's this, a basketball story all wrapped up in larger context? Trust me: It can't possibly last. The Kings play on Tuesday night in Fresno, America, and we'll be right back after this message of tolerance and understanding to our regularly scheduled programming, "Chris Webber, Team Builder or Undercover Anarchist?"
 
His opinion matters little.

It was a perfectly decent piece on the China "experience" for the Kings, only to be tainted by the last line.

I guess after he read his piece, he was bored with it, so he went for the easy dig for a crescendo.

Poison-esque.

Par for the course.
 
A great article. I love how he puts everything in perspective, especially with the last line. It makes me wonder if it's a shot at his colleague, Ailene Voisin. Well, here's hoping that this trip brought the team closer, and whatever beef existed was squashed-- however optimistic that may be.
 
1kingzfan said:
His opinion matters little.

It was a perfectly decent piece on the China "experience" for the Kings, only to be tainted by the last line.

I guess after he read his piece, he was bored with it, so he went for the easy dig for a crescendo.

Poison-esque.

Par for the course.
I didn't get the impression that he was digginig on CWebb, I thought he was digginng on those who DIG on CWebb, a la Voison. I was wondering what his opinion on the whole Webb-bashing thing is.
 
1kingzfan said:
His opinion matters little.

It was a perfectly decent piece on the China "experience" for the Kings, only to be tainted by the last line.

I guess after he read his piece, he was bored with it, so he went for the easy dig for a crescendo.

Poison-esque.

Par for the course.
Whoa. I think you're way off-base with that comment.

Kreidler was, IMHO, making a little joke. If anything, the only person I would think might take offense might actually be (as Geoff says above) Ailene Voisin.

For the record, Kreidler has been consistent in his comments about Webber. He hasn't always applauded him, but he has been pretty fair in his assessments.
 
You know the best part of the whole article IMHO?

The world probably only gets smaller a little bit at a time. When Kings guard Bobby Jackson considered everything, he decided he could get more bang for his buck by bringing the whole crew to China.

And that's exactly what he did. Jackson, who normally flies a group of high-achieving inner-city Minneapolis high schoolers to Sacramento twice during the season for Kings games, instead paid for seven of them - and three chaperones - to make the trek to Shanghai and Beijing.

"It's just so they could experience it, and take something from it, and have the privilege of seeing what I've seen," Jackson said. "It's been a great experience for them."

The program is called "Why Can't I Go?", a nonprofit organization run by a friend Jackson met years ago at the University of Minnesota. The criteria for selecting the underprivileged preps to participate, according to Jackson, are high academics, strong school attendance and "the best behavior."

And the goal is really this: Making things a little smaller in scope. Making things feel a little more possible, a little less remote. Jackson got it done for himself in his life; now, it's somebody's else's turn to change his fate.

What I like is that actions like that seem to be the rule, not the exception, with a number of the Kings players. Good to see them giving something back; helping someone else; making a difference.

Thanks, Bobby!!
 
VF21 said:
You know the best part of the whole article IMHO?



What I like is that actions like that seem to be the rule, not the exception, with a number of the Kings players. Good to see them giving something back; helping someone else; making a difference.

Thanks, Bobby!!
That is exactly what I took from it as well. The two guys who were quoted, Bobby Jackson and Predrag Stojakovic. Both of these guys whose hearts were questioned over the summer, puts great perspective in who they are. These are the same guys we have been rooting on for years. Nothing has changed. When you look at the pictures of C-Webb, he is doing nothing but smiling the whole time he was there. If anything has changed it is us as fans with our overbloated expectations. And the media who are looking for anything to sensationalize.

From 1,000,000 miles away, it seems like this trip was nothing but positive. The team looked great, they all seemed to enjoy themselves and i hope this will disspell the silliness that this team is blowing up at the core without Vlade Divac.
 
VF21 said:
Whoa. I think you're way off-base with that comment.

Kreidler was, IMHO, making a little joke. If anything, the only person I would think might take offense might actually be (as Geoff says above) Ailene Voisin.

For the record, Kreidler has been consistent in his comments about Webber. He hasn't always applauded him, but he has been pretty fair in his assessments.
Good to know I wasn't the only one who saw that. It was a nice hit on Ms Poisonous Pen and quite funny:p
 
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