ParAdIsELanD ︵︵や

Michael Phelps, the hero of mine, left a heart print inside me deeply. His name came to me when I was only 15 years old, and that’s the exact year when he turned to be the pro athlete in this field.

Actually  I once was the big fan of Lan Thorpe, the talented Australian swimmer. However, depressed by the retirement of Thorpe, I began to follow the unprecedented performance Phelps had put on. Though he didn’t break America’s former famous swimmer Spitz’s record, he attained the 6 gold medals in the single Games with the age of only 19. It was really something for me to surprise, to admire and to revere.

 Although Phelps had already rocked the swimming world again and again, he didn’t quite do well in the 2007 World championships. And people began to suspect the extent Phelps could reach, and predicted that maybe his prodigy has been burnout. Phelps denied this burnout theory, and I am strongly standing by his side. He’s only 23 years old, and he still has a long way to go, compared to the veteran Mark Spitz, who made his 7 gold in Olympics when he was 36 years old. Phelps is full of hopes, and there is still tons of fascinations waiting for us to witness. It’s totally okay that sometimes someone is not fine. What people should do is to give them more trust, love as well as support. I know Phelps is clear about what the Beijing Olympics can bring him. He will and is sure to accomplish his dream this August, breaking the record Spitz had once made.

 Phelps, just ignore the eyes sight of people, ignore the word of people. Be yourself, and gear yourself up right now. No matter what is going to be in the future, you will always be the champion on my behalf, I promise. And I am here, longing to see you this summer, in Beijing! 

Please click the article Phelps’ rut: World’s greatest swimmer tries to get back on course in my blogroll.

I have to acknowledge that this article is quite juicy, telling me that there is a so called switch “button” existing in these athletes brain, which splits the person into two totally different types of people. It really relieves the wonderings lingering along my head a long time ago. Because I always view that football is such a violent sport, it’s hard for me to imagine the life story of these players outside the field. Are they intending to be a mild person, or how can they cool down themselves after this fierce “warfare”? 

The answer is quite simple. The athletes can lead the normal life like our ordinary people, throughout the week except that every Saturday night. Just like Guard Chris Snee said in the article: “You go through the week mild-mannered, and then comes Saturday night, when you have the team meeting and watch the tape. You start to get fired up.” The players have got to turn on their switches, they’ve got to be tough, they’ve got to be muscular, they’ve got to be nasty. As Guard Rich Seubert mentioned, “You can’t go out there being a nice guy. The whole game is dirty — it’s a dirty business. And once the game is over, you’re a different person. You take that shower. You go home, see your kids, your wife.” 

Admittedly, I was more surprised to find out the players have to turn on and off that switches several times during the competitions. That’s the typical way the players go through under the pressure during the game. It made me link this to our school life. We are not really obsessed with the whole day study, are we? We tend to enjoy the life outside school, hanging out with our friends, going to the park, or even just sleeping in the bed. However, the fact is that we have to make such endeavor to let us have the opportunity to enrich our life in the future. Since the competition is so bloody and fierce outside, we can’t keep our pace slowly to fall behind others. Otherwise, we will be a loser in the society. Maybe, at that time, what wait for us is the miserable life and then we even don’t have a chance to regret. 

Then, why don’t we do right now? Turn on the engine stuck in our head and go through the obstacles lying before us! 

See the article Two Personalities: One for Game Day, One for Every Other Day in the blog roll.

Although the news is mainly concerned about the market value of Yao, I am really glad to know that his surgery went smoothly that he probably can join the Games in his homeland.

But, on the flip side, too, I was a little bit disappointed that Yao was considered merchandise rather than athlete. The reality is that it’s the same with all famous athletes. People sometimes are more concerned about athletes’ private life rather than his professional aspect. That’s the reason why the sponsors of Yao don’t felt depressed when Yao got injured, because they know that even the wedding ceremony of Yao can attract millions of eyes.

Confusion again was wired with my heart. I always ask myself what the famous athlete’s main responsibility. Should they fulfill the wish of the fans to share with their private life, or should they just focus on their professional sport, and sharpen their skill. It’s really a complicated question to answer. What I contend is that the problem is not with the athlete himself but with the people around him, the fans, the media, the company and even the coach. Because everyone just wants something from the athlete due to the fame he owns. However, it’s impossible for athletes to make everyone satisfy with the things he does.

So what we should really figure out is how to find a balance point between the profession career and social or commercial activities of the athletes. Sometimes we can’t expect too much from the athletes nor expect nothing from him. If we really want the hero of us can be on the pedal forever, we should leave more space to let he develop and don’t push him so hard any more.

Please click the link of Injury doesn’t diminish Yao Ming’s ability to sell products in the Blog roll.

Within the lines between the passage, my memory was brought back to the time when I first visited Macau. At that time, it was my threshold experience about greyhound racing. Actually, we bet on the dog then, but it came out nothing at all. What impression of greyhound racing, however, left me is that it indeed gains popularity among people, ranging from old to young, from men to women, from lower class to middle class.

The author predicts that greyhound racing with humble origin gradually ascends towards the upper level of the class. The author points out that its popularity came along with the gambling, and he also mentions that its ticket, unlike football’s, can still be affordable by ordinary people.

From my own point of view, I contend that if the backgrounds of the sports fans are various, it is always, more or less, related to the gambling. Maybe gambling is a common phenomenon in Macau, since it is the dominant industry of Macau. While we can see from the article that the story is also true in the worldwide. The source I can dig out is that maybe gambling can lift up people’s excitement, when obtain the extra fortune. Thus the number of audience in the gambling game is remarkably increasing.

While on the other hand, we know that some sports, like football, conversely enlarge the gap between the classes. What’s the future of greyhound racing? Just think about horse-racing, maybe one the greyhound can share the same audience with horse-racing although from different family.

Just let us wait and see.

click the article scarcely a cloth cap in sight in the blogroll.

Coincidently we studied baseball lesson this week in Vera’s class, learning that baseball served not only a sport in the States, but also part of its culture. In the article, the author seemed to feel a little bit pity that the Japanese national sport was given a way to America’s taste. And the author also pointed out that baseball, as the domestic sport of the U.S., has gained the popularity worldwide.

Discussion is roused among public once again that why American sport business can run more successful than other countries’? Yes, I’d like to call it business, because whenever comes to games, it’s all about fat salaries, ticket sales, broadcast rights, merchandise, sponsorship as well as internet distribution. Although the fans of America often complain that their “heroes” are too greedy to earn such a large amount of money, another true story is that the way of American sports business running allures the talented athletes outside the U.S., which in some way contributes to the development of America’s sport indeed.

I always hold the standpoint that sports, especially the league sports games, should be run as an enterprise career. People may argue with me that this will ruin the pure spirit and the fun nature of sports. However, I conceive that business and the spirit of sport are totally two distinctive things. Athletes, also called players, just like most of us, are normal people. They want to lead a better life. Since they have the gifts for doing well in the sport’s field, they choose sport as their career to support their lives. They regard sports not only as their hobby, but also as their professions. While we, ordinary persons, only consider sport an entertainment, therefore we often take for granted that athletes shouldn’t play sport just for money. While, in fact, what was in our mind is totally based on unfair foundation.

Additionally, we have to admit that sport is unique. It can bear down the culture barriers, players with different skins, different languages, and different ages can form a team, enjoying the fun sports bring them. More importantly, with the endeavor they make, they can achieve the accomplishment together. That’s the magic charisma sports own and that’s the reason why so many people are festinated with it.

All in all, sports, like the baseball of the U.S., in the form of business indeed advance the level of sport itself, as well as fill the gap between cultures of mutual countries.

see the article Baseball in Japan-the old ball game in the blogroll.

It’s another sad story about sport. When Christ Benoit played in the ring, aiming at feeding his family, he never thought that his brain would be damaged and his son and wife would be killed by himself one day. Though the neurosurgeons refused to examine any role the brain damage played in Benoit’s final violent act, we can sure about this guy was short of mental health.

It was said the brain damage was caused by the repeated concussions in the ring. Besides, Benoit was in use of anabolic steroids. Again the disputation was arisen among the sports injury and drug abuse. In the past, what we often concerned was about the athlete, him or herself, while we dismissed the tragedy the person could bring his family. The story posted in New York Times is just one of them. Since it reported that the degenerative condition was also found in the four former NFL players, the doubt can be cast in the future.

I feel safe to say that adequate protection for the athletes must be executed, whether during the competition or not. Some people may against my view point out that the essence of the game will be lost with the addition of so many protections. But the fact is that the fun we gain from the games is based on the athletes’ pain. The happiness of our life should not outweigh others’. Thus we should advocate that more attention should be paid to the athletes’ well being.No matter what kind of sport it is, I always insist that sport is a way for us to relax, to enjoy, to share, but not to ruin ourselves. See the article

Benoit Had Brain Damage in the blogroll

Everyone has a place to go and stay. If one day your eyes are covered by darkness, your legs are taken away by God, or you can only use your heart to listen, what will you do? After reading the article about these disabled hunters, I am moved by their persistent spirit of leading a meaningful life.

Some people think it is boring to go hunting outside and what these disabled hunters do is meaningless. However, you never know the real feeling unless you experience it somehow. People need to gain their self-esteem by proving that they can do something successfully. For these disabled people, hunting is their blood and can give them the pleasure that we can’t imagine. The difficulty of hunting procedure is beyond what we think. So when we watch these people hunting outside, we should revere them instead of raising our curiosity.

We, as a normal person, should take a page from these disabled hunters. We have got all that the great have had: two arms, two legs, two hands, two eyes, and a brain to use. With this equipment, what you should do is to start your life right now and say “yes, I can”. Otherwise, it will too late if it’s the last day of the world. 

Click the link “for disabled hunters, sports goes on” in the blogroll

Winter in this year is extraordinarily cold throughout China. Thus people especially girls find more excuses to stay at home despite fat is being accumulated around their waists. In the past, I often said I would suffer headache if I did exercise outside in winter and exercise did no good to losing weight, since I wouldn’t sweat profusely in the low temperature. However, after reading the article, all excuses I can find faded away.

It is said that more injuries occurred in the heat rather than in the cold. It turns out that even though some diseases do happen during the winter exercise, it’s not the fault of the coldness. And people often complain that exercising in winter can’t work in the way they have expected. But the truth uncovered by the article is that people overdress during the exercise, which is one mistake in winter exercise.

So what other reasons that can hold you from going outside? Can’t figure out? OK, just admit it! We are people, and we are lazy. Someone once said, “People sometimes need to walk themselves, like we always walk a dog.” We, like the animal, just need someone to push us to move. We need some kind of incentive to stimulate our passion! Otherwise, we just like to curl up in the house, eat the snacks and attach to the TV or the computer. So, come on! Just move!

But easier said than done. So maybe next time, when someone invites us to do exercise outside, we just tell him or her that we are doing exercise right now, massaging our belly, without any excuses!  

Please click the article Too Cold to Exercise? Try Another Excuse in the blogroll

How do you feel when you see two meaty guys pushing and crushing each other? Some people may feel exhilarating while watching it, but I am not one of them. Indeed, I can’t figure out why this kind of violent games, such as wrestling, boxing and sanda can be defined as sport. I know people call them combative sport. But still I don’t approve that people show their strengths and power, putting their lives on risk, though it is said the sport is equipped with enough protections.

According to the article, the Sumo athlete was killed by his coach during the training, because the punishment was so sever. How can we avoid this kind of scandal happening again? It’s hard to answer this question. Because on one hand, this way of training is considered sacred traditions of Sumo; on the other hand, the athletes have no choice due to the financial problems. They have to train in this way in order to realize their value.

Is it miserable? Do they really enjoy this game? Is it the only choice for their career? Do they ever think the life after their retirement? I don’t mean to look down upon the occupation as an athlete. I just think that life is the most cherishable thing to one man. It can not be returned when it ends. The man died is only 17 years old. He may have deserved better life if he didn’t enter the world of Sumo. I don’t know whether it’s his own choice to be an athlete of Sumo. Though life is one way trip, we have different ways to go when standing at the crossroad. Sometime we make the right one, sometimes the wrong one. But whatever happens we are still the captain of our own ships whether we realize it or not.

Thus, if it’s the man’s own choice leading him to death, I will respect his decision. But what we can learn from the story is that we should treasure the time now to steer our own ships well. Whatever direction we choose, we should go through the obstacles standing in our way!

Please click the link Heavy hitters — Scandal rocks the national sport in the blogroll

One day, I logined MSN and saw a friend of mine who lived in the U.S. now was on line. It was 3:00 am in America then. I asked why he stayed up so late, since he was supposed to have classes next morning. He said he was going to freak out, because the New York Giants squashed the New England Patriots’ run at history to become the second team that makes perfection season. I don’t know how to comfort him, since it’s hard for me to imagine the feeling of these sports fans. After I read some articles, I understand them to some degree. But I believe that though New England missed the best chance to write into the history, they still have millions of opportunity to compose the chapters of tomorrows.

Competition is made up of wins and losses. One team wins, and another loses. Thus it’s normal for one team to fail. However, miracle sometimes happens, like the 1972 Miami Dolphins remain the only team to go undefeated from the start of the season through the Super Bowl. To make this legend needs not only good luck, but also persistence. Maybe this time New England lacked of some good luck, but they still can persist in chasing their dream.

William Shakespeare once said, “Do not, for one repulse, give up the purpose that you resolved to effect.” If New England has the resolution to make perfect season in the Super Bowl, they will stand up again and forget the past. Because time waits for no men, and time heals all wounds. There is always a point of time for people to grow up and fight for their future again. Although it may take decades or even more time for New England to make the legend again, they still can make it one day followed by many successors.

Success covers a multitude of blunders. People can not change the history, but we can learn from the failures in the past. It’s time for New England Patriots to restart for their next perfection now. Don’t lose heart, because there is always another day!

See the article No Perfection for New England Patriots in the blog roll