ROOTING FOR ASIAN VS. U.S. TEAMS
(Updated to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

In contests between athletes from Asia and U.S. athletes, for whom do you root most often?
U.S. Athletes | 26%
Athletes from Asia | 48%
The underdog | 14%
Varies with event and nationality | 12%

What factor is most important in your desire to root for athletes from Asia?
Racial identification | 42%
Nationalistic Feelings | 7%
Scarcity of visible Asian figures in the U.S. | 51%
"Frankly, I think most Americans were glad that a white girl won it as I saw the special attention NBC gave Sarah Hughes."

Makes a WASP trio. I think the other two WASPS, Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamhill were really very happy that a fellow WASP female won. Back in 1988, Peggy Fleming had a clear bias towards Katrina Witt and against African American Debbie Thomas. Debbie fell twice in the final, but was first before it. Had Peggy Fleming been the judge, Debbie Thomas would not have even won the bronze medal. Surya Bonali did not have any chance four years later. She too was black.
"If Michelle had won it, they wouldn't care less. Just another Asian who was supposed to excel right?"

No. They would not have been too happy.

Asian American Male    Wednesday, February 27, 2002 at 06:55:07 (PST)
In the Pac 10 tournament, watch out for Lindsey Yamasaki of Stanford on saturday. She was key to Stanford going undefeated during the Pac 10 Season. She had 33 points against UCLA on sunday. I think that Asian girls are beginning to challenge white girls in high school sports...but it would be very difficult to challenge African Americans
Asian American Male    Wednesday, February 27, 2002 at 06:50:14 (PST)
"Hey TSJ, Btw, have u ever noticed that Alisa Camplin, the Gold medalist of the women's freestyle skiing event looks a bit like the supermodel Niki Taylor?"

Dude, you are so right about that. She is almost a carbon copy. I'm happy for Niki though, since she has just about completely recovered from her injuries.

Yeah, the Winter sports girls do tend to be shorter. I guess it's hard to maneuver on the ice when you are too tall. Shoot, even look at NHL players. They are usually shorter than NFL or NBA players.

5'2" sounds perfect for me.

"Yeah u'r right, Nina Li doesn't look very Chinese. I hear many women from the Northeast region of China are supposedly beautiful and stunning, and that's where Nina is from."

Do you think she'd be interested in obtaining a green card? Hmm... =)
TSJ Eric@KristinKreuk.net    Wednesday, February 27, 2002 at 00:01:25 (PST)
Comparing Michelle Kwan and Kristi Yamaguchi, I think Michele is more down to earth and close to her chinese roots than Kristi to her Japanese roots. Somehow, Japanese, especially japanese american, are never very connected to their roots. It's almost like they hate themselves.

Maybe it's just me, but Kristi never seems to be proud of who she is. At least Michelle wears a typical gold chinese necklace and she wears it very proudly. She introduces her family and her dad to people everywhere she goes.

Kristi looked so pathetic when Todd Eldridge felt and got low scores at the olympic. I can't believe Kristi cried for him. I mean, c'mon, the guy is a below average skater who never won any major competition. He falls nine out of ten times doing the toe-lutz thing. If you're going to cry, cry for Michelle, but please not for a below average guy like Todd.
junkie    Tuesday, February 26, 2002 at 22:53:43 (PST)
TSJ,

Sasha Cohen & Julie Chu? Hottest Olympic girls? You're so funny dude!

Sasha has nothing on Michelle or even Sarah for that matter. At least Michelle was elegant and beautiful, and Sarah was sweet and cute. Sasha has no tits and her face is so round and flat as if it had been smashed into the ice. Not to mention that she looks like something that begins with a B.

If you think Julie Chu is hot, then I think you should come up with a list of the hottest Olympic guys. Can a female hockey player (especially an American one) really be considered hot?

As for Alisa Camplin, she's probably the most overrated. Her face is so wide at the bottom, it looks like a pear. And she's third after Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera for most annoying way of talking.

Now here are some replacements for Sasha and Julie...

Michelle Kwan
Shae-Lynn Bourne (Canada ice dance)
Jamie Sale (Canada pairs)
Doriane Vidal (France snowboard halfpipe)
Beckie Scott (Canada cross country)
Ren    Tuesday, February 26, 2002 at 18:30:08 (PST)
AC Dropout said:

"Because I do not know Michelle Kwan nor her reasoning behind dating a white hockey player, so I will not go labelling her a sell out. But I do take offense that it becomes the AM responsibility that Michelle choice of suitors was not within the AM population. From your tone you make it sound as if the entire AM population in LA are nerdy, bad dressing, chincky little people speaking stilted English complaining that the road sign aren't in Chinese. Anyway who else do you think Michelle sees on the ice rink at 5 am in the morning."

The fact Michelle Kwan is with a white guy is not a concern for the Asian American community. But almost all famous Asian American females (atheltes, actress, politicians) are with white guys, then this is an concern for Asian American community. The imbalance of interracial dating is so prevalent, I do not need to repeat it here. Michielle Kwan with a white boyfriend is just a reflection of the interracial situation. True, Michelle only meets ice hockey players and ice skater 5am in the ice rink. But, as far as I could seem, even for an average AF, she gets hit on by non asian guys more than AMs. Most AMs (on average) are not aggressive in asking a girl out. Do you agree? I don't think the interraicial dating imbalance is caused by the media, I think it is mostly AMs not being aggressive enough.
AA    Tuesday, February 26, 2002 at 17:13:26 (PST)
TSJ:

You are way off the mark regarding Michelle Kwan. You have absolutely no clue about figure skating and Kwan's status within it. She is regarded as one of the best, 6 U.S titles and 4 world titles. That is not the record of a "choke" artist. BTW, she did not "choke" back in Nagano. She skated clean but apparently the judges didn't think it was good enough.

Please be more informed before making ignorant comments about someone who has worked hard and make it to the top of her sport. One bad night does not make her less of an athlete. And to add to your stupid "kristi is better" comment. Please check the facts. Kristi won her gold WITH A FALL. Yes, that's right. Kristi fell on her ass yet still won the gold. So your comparison between Kristi and Michelle doesn't hold any water.

You have a real nasty attitude. Get an adjustment.

Set the record straight    Tuesday, February 26, 2002 at 17:12:39 (PST)
TSJ, Yeah, what's wrong with Michelle Kwan?

1) She acted out in arrogance, thinking she would win the Gold by DEFAULT!

2) Fired her coach Frank, probably a big big mistake because he probably could've have made her a Silver Medalist again.

3) What's up with her dad constantly by her side? Do we need to see more of the Asian mommy's boy, sugardaddy's girl stereotypes? Are we dependent of our parents in every freaking situation!

People were saying that Sasha was acting co##ky cuz she slammed into Michelle during one of the practice sessions. I don't blame her for doing so!

Hmm..Nina vs Alisa? It's a choice between a young chic and a mature one! Haha..Take ur pic..Btw, Alisa Camplin has credentials beside being a fantastic freestylist skiier. She has a IT degree and is an Account Manager.
ah doi    Tuesday, February 26, 2002 at 16:47:41 (PST)
I think the race of the boyfriend will always always ALWAYS matter when it comes to high profile Asian women simply because almost no high profile Asian women date within thier race. The interracial choice has gone from being the exception to being the standard and that is quite frankly a little disturbing, mildly insulting and racially a unique behavior associated to Asian women alone.
Tag    Tuesday, February 26, 2002 at 12:48:52 (PST)

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