Asians in American Sports | Asian American Poll

ASIANS IN AMERICAN SPORTS
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:24:50 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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You are right, simpleton abound. However, i do think the wealth of a nation does determine its athletic performance to some extent.

Most poor countries perform poorly because they just do not have the financial means and ability to have their athletes compete at world competitions. Hence, they keep most of their best athletes at home.India and China are two largest populations in the world and there ought to be lots of potential sportsmen from these two gigantic countries, but yet, they don't perform as well as richer Western countries because they are too poor to be well represented in world events.

Even if there were some athletes from poorer countries who performed magnificently, these athletes usually reside in richer countries where better training facilities and other necessities they do not find in their home countries are available.Like several Ethiopian runners who train outside of Ethiopia.

Moreover, people from poor countries don't really think much abt sports as they have too many important things in life to worry abt like food, finding a job,raising their families with their limited income,etc.If Australia was a poor country with a low income per capita like Vietnam or Angola, I don't think its people would be winning medals and widely recognized today.

Looking at the medal tally of the olympics and other world events, rich countries always dominate.You keep seeing countries like US, Germany, France & Italy ahead of the medal chase while to see poor countries like Zambia or Malawi or Bangladesh winning even a single medal is almost non-existent and a real rarity.Yea,people might think westerners are always "better athletes" compared to non-europeans, but how come some european states like Macedonia, Albania, Georgia or Armenia are not as good as Britain or Germany, their richer counterparts? Coz they are poor, sports isn't a priority in their country.

I agree that there is no simple formula to determine if a country performs well or sucks at sports.But, everytime you watch sports coverage on tv or read the sports column in the papers, the same thing happens again and again.It is obvious that most of the time,as predicted, richer countries would win the competition while poor countries always end up as losers.
Poor Mouse Saturday, September 14, 2002 at 20:23:50 (PDT) [210.187.156.241]

To: What is Corea?
"It is really said IF you are proud of Jim Pak for playing in the NHL, he didn't do much really. I never expected Pak to be the best on the team since there were so many good players, but I at least expected him to play with the skills of an average defenseman, and Pak obviously did not have that since he only played a handful of games."

*Why shouldn't I be proud of Jim Pak? He was good enough to make it to the NHL, accomplishment in itself. Obviously the Penguins thought he was good enough to play for them. Last time I checked I didn't see your name etched on the Stanley Cup like his. Aren't you proud of Yao and Wang in the NBA? They're both scrubs and hasn't impressed me yet but I don't take that from what they have accomplished. For a Chinese with NO representation in the NHL, you sure talk alot of nonesense.*

What good is sports being funded by the government if there are very few training facilities?

*What?? You make nooo sense. What do you think being "funded" means?

And I cheer for China and Chinese athletes because I am Chinese, you expect me to cheer for Korea or Japan because China's a communist country?

* Root for Taiwan* Chinese Americans are always whining when mainstream America sterotypes them as Pro communists China, now I see your true colors.
P.S. I can tell from your posts you don't know too much about sports yet you post too many bs.
Counter Puncher Saturday, September 14, 2002 at 19:05:45 (PDT) [64.12.96.12]

I think Michael is the real Asian athlete, because although he had disadvantage in size and height, he made it up with speed and determination
P Chen peterium@yahoo.com Saturday, September 14, 2002 at 11:13:37 (PDT) [24.69.255.204]

Dat Nguyen is out for 6-8 weeks, but there is a good note. He got his first sack in his NFL career. Also, 6-8 weeks is half the season, he still has the second half to play.
B. Lee Saturday, September 14, 2002 at 07:27:44 (PDT) [207.172.11.148]

I don't see Japanese people bragging about Irabu signing such a huge contract then showing that he's not really worth it, because the Japanese know that it is not something to brag about.

>Japan may not have collected as many medals as Korea or China in the Olympics, BUT japanese athletes took part in a wide variety of sports internationally than the koreans and still they never hear them thump their chests and claim that japan is the greatest. Japan has some of the best swimmers (male and female) in asia,i've heard of japanese triathletes in "Ironman" contests, their rugby team is even more experienced than korea's, they are good at judo,they have the Fastest Man in Asia (track athletics), they have good baseball players, they have a great soccer team, Japan has several world class female marathon runners. My point is: they are good at many other sports compared to other east asian countries,but they don't brag here in this forum as much as the koreans.I guess humitility is one of the most important virtue of sportsmanship.
Coco Friday, September 13, 2002 at 20:59:19 (PDT) [210.187.156.188]

Come on guys, let's all get along! It doesn't matter if you're Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese or any other Asian nationality. The fact remains, we are totally underrepresented in mainstream media and it's great to see some Asian athletes compete in professional sports. Besides, we are from the Mongoloid race so what's the point of boasting and degrading each other?!?! In the end, it comes down to the have's and have not's so we need to support each other at every socioeconomic level. Over and out.
Minority American Friday, September 13, 2002 at 16:14:48 (PDT) [159.119.102.70]

I can't believe this argument of who dominates Asia is still going on.
Does any nation in Asia wins all of the medals in every single sports category? The answer is NO! Unless someone can prove that their country wins all the sports in Asia, yall have no right to argue who's the dominant force in Asia.
Confucius' mother Friday, September 13, 2002 at 15:03:40 (PDT) [141.151.12.183]

What?!?!,

I agree with some of your points, but what exactly does the GDP of a nation have to do with athletic performance? There may be a loose correlation, but the wealth of a nation is not directly proportional to its olympic achievements.
Even if a nation is relatively poor, its government usually pools together its meager financial resources to creat the best atheletes possibe with training equipment and proper sports nutrition. The USSR had done that for decades against Americawith success, and so had Cuba (baseball), and Italy (soccer) (which was not wealthy until the late 1970s -- in fact it was very poor in the 1950s). Therefore, because of the extra attention paid to sports by the governments of poor nations (mainly to 'save face'), your argument that China excels DESPITE its relative poverty is weak.

If your hypothesis were correct, one could postulate that Angola or Egypt could come in first in every sport because they are one of the poorest nations in the world. Rubbish. I'm not taking the opposing view that only the wealthiest nations win all the Golds (look at Japan), but one must see that there is no 'formula' for predicting the number of medals a nation will win in the olympics. It's more complicated that you think.
Simpletons abound... Friday, September 13, 2002 at 07:18:50 (PDT) [128.253.186.46]

LAKA
There is no use trying to convice the delusional Chinese on here. Remember they are the same ones that claimed Chinese basketball is world power for weeks. Got blown out. And we all know what happened in the World Cup, just more embarrassment. At least make it competitive.
Now these delusional guys are using another excuse, income, like this has anything to do with China's sports program. Everyone knows China's sports are funded by the government so what does the Chinese athletes have to worry about? Only possible thing would be not gettign caught by the IOC for steroid use. This argument is irrelevant!

To: What?
You have the nerve to talk about Corean baseball??? When the Chinese has virtually no representation. You need to go back and read the article LAKA posted. There are many Corean players already in the Majors or in the minors. Drop that opium pipe before you post your nonesense next time. Since you're a baseball fan, tell me. How is the batting title determined in the MLB to crown the best hitter?
Is it by total hits OR by AVERAGE PER AT BAT???? Is Pete Rose the greatest hitter of all time since he has the most career hits or is it Ted Williams/Ty Cobb with the higher career average??
Also, Chinese Americans outnumber Corean Americans by far in the US and they STILL haven't produce a Chinese American football player in the NFL.
Case closed. You guys can come up with all the excuses you want but you can't change the facts.`
Counter puncher Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 18:16:30 (PDT) [152.163.188.38]

Counter Puncher,let me make it clear to you, I never heard of Koreans in terms of international compitition in baseball, you can't say I'm wrong because that was a personal comment. Why should I resort to little leagues for? I know China isn't good at baseball, never said they were, I'm not bragging about Taiwan being good in little league, I don't really care about them. My point is I heard of Taiwan in international compitition and not Korea. Damn, other than the Olympics, I don't know of any other international baseball compitition.
I'm not here to say Chinese are the best in this sport or that sport, I'm just here to say Koreans aren't the best in sports like all the Koreans that are here claims.

It is really said IF you are proud of Jim Pak for playing in the NHL, he didn't do much really. I don't see Japanese people bragging about Irabu signing such a huge contract then showing that he's not really worth it, because the Japanese know that it is not something to brag about. I never expected Pak to be the best on the team since there were so many good players, but I at least expected him to play with the skills of an average defenseman, and Pak obviously did not have that since he only played a handful of games.

What good is sports being funded by the government if there are very few training facilities?

And I cheer for China and Chinese athletes because I am Chinese, you expect me to cheer for Korea or Japan because China's a communist country?
What is Corea? Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 15:54:24 (PDT) [134.117.82.55]

boxing editor,

This subject has been covered thoroughly already. Scroll back a number of pages. Convincing evidence has already been provided on Korean boxers being the best in Asia. (Please note my comments and supporting info relates to boxing). My tagname is c-web on all of them.

ps. The case has been closed on this issue unless you're that filipino guy again just trying to be a smart ass.
c-web Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 10:03:08 (PDT) [63.206.24.50]

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