It all started with a phone call from mom, her friend, the freelancer for Sohu, asked me if I wanted to cover the Lakers game on Tuesday and to perhaps interview Sun Yue, the first ever Chinese guard to (yet to) play in the NBA.

I told her friend, Sun Yue is on the inactive list, most teams don't bring their inactive players with them, so he probably will not be there.  Her friend said, well if that's case, you get to watch the game from anywhere you wish, as a member of the media.  Of course I agreed to do that, it's Kobe and the Lakers!  I was asked to bring a friend as a photographer, I wanted to bring the professional photographer Hery, but he was unreachable.  So I called up Derrick and he said yes.

So a few minutes before we leave for the venue, I googled Sun Yue once again in Google news, and the latest was "Sun Yue injures foot in practice, will not make the trip to Indiana".  I was thinking, "Oh, great, a night off!"

We went in the media/employee entrance, got our press badges, now we are officially reporters from USA Sino News of Houston.  As soon as we gotten into the media room, the journalists in there are eating the delicious food provided for the members of media.  There was Henry Wilford and Kip Lewis, two sports anchors from two rival local stations, eating at same table and cracking jokes.  Derrick made an interesting remark about Henry, "He's got soul...."

We rushed out of the tunnel just in time for the starting line-up introductions.  It was unbelievable, we just walked out there and no one stopped us.  Instead, the security guys greeted us with smiles, that sure is a change.  Kobe and others were just literally a few feet away from us, and it felt unreal.  Then I saw my boss, Scott Jones of ChaCha, sitting courtside with his wife.  In the same row, on the other end of the court was Stephen Hilbert, the infamous ex-chief of Conseco whose $20 million confiscated mansion sits across from Scott's compound. 

I wasn't used to the priviledges yet and Derrick had failed to find his photographer's spot, so we decided to head back to the media room and look for the seating chart.  According to the map, our seats are located in the main concourse, with no section number provided.  So we went to the concourse, and none of the Fieldhouse staff knew where to point us!  One person pointed us to where he thinks the media members sit, and a few moments later we find ourselves right behind the Voice of the Pacers Mark Boyle and the legendary Slick Leonard!  Again, no one bothered to ask us a question, I could have tapped on Mark's shoulder and no one would have done anything.  Then we went all over the concourse and said hello to our friend T, who was envious of our privilege.  When it was almost half time, we decided to head back downstairs, and Derrick went to catch some close-up shots of the Lakers returning to the locker room.  I watched the Lakers walk back one by one, in front of me, Kobe, Pau, Lamar, Farmar, Fisher, Vlade, Vujacic,......Mbenga, Sun Yue, Brian Shaw.  Wait a minute? Sun Yue? Yep, the 6'9'' Chinaman is indeed in the building!  Holy crap, I gotta get to work! 

I rushed back to the media room, and started typing an article in Chinese.  Quickly, I thought of a few questions to ask Sun Yue and searched for some other information to prepare for my interview.  Across the room, there was the famous Bob Kravitz, the only sports columnist for the Indianapolis Star and the co-host for the popular radio show "Kravitz and Eddie".  Back in July, I called in his show and talked about the Olympics.  Then we exchanged a few emails while he went to China to cover the Olympics.  We haven't spoken since and this is the first time I've ever seen him in person.

Kravitz started to walk back to the court, I called out: "Hey, Bob!".  He looked at me, puzzled at first, then before I had to introduce myself, he saw my name tag.  "Hey!" He immediately reached out his hand and arm and gave me a hug.  He thanked me for providing all of the info about China and Beijing, and we talked briefly about what he had done there.  He asked, "you must be here for Sun Yue, right?"  "Yes, I'm here to cover the little story while you guys get the big ones." I replied.  He then went on and said the people of Star were puzzling about the pronunciation of my name, and he was the one who corrected them. (even though he mispronounced it too).

Second half started, we actually have work to do now.  Derrick went under the basket to snap some what turned out to be great photos.  I decided to take my chances and walked onto the floor and proceeded towards the other end.  I stopped by Scott, who was surprised to see me.  We didn't talk long because I wasn't going to stay in the 2 feet space between the sideline and his seat while TJ Ford zooms past me.  I could feel the vibration from the players moving, and could hear Kobe yelling "cutter, cutter".  Hmm, someday I'll make that my permanent seat.  If you somehow tape the game, you can see me on the sidelines at the start of the second half.

I finally found my media seat and added a few more details to my article.  Justin texted me and asked "Is Derrick at the game with you?"  and he said he sees Derrick on TV everytime the Lakers get the ball.  I looked downcourt and sure enough, the photo man is still there diligently working among the TV crew under the Lakers basket. 

4th quarter, I moved back to the media room, made my final preparation and walked over to the tunnel to catch the end of the game.  Bob Kravitz had already gone back to the media room, but when the Pacers started cutting into the lead, he rushed back out, "Gotta go to work again!" 

The Pacers ended up winning the game on a last second tip-in that stayed on the rim forever before dropping in.  The crowd went crazy, the Conseco staff went crazy, and once again, members of the Lakers, lead by Kobe, walked past me in disgust.  I could hear the fans yelling "14-2! That's right, get the (expletive) back to LA!"  Geez, Hoosier Hospitality, people! 

The locker room was closed for ten minutes then Phil Jackson came out and answered a few questions.  When the locker room was finally opened, the first image that I saw after walking in was the naked behind of Vladimir Radmanovic.  And he was casually talking to Andrew Bynum standing next to him.  That was a scene that I'd like to forget.  Then out of no where, Jordan Farmar came and reached towards my notes, thinking they were boxscores.  "Hey man, are these the latest stats?" I looked at him and said no.  He was clearly shorter than me.  Then I thought, "why is he so excited for?  His whole team is bummed out and he's out here asking for his stats?"  Then Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton came out.  Finally, Sun Yue walked out.  I asked him for an interview and he graciously accepted my request.  I haven't had to look up to a man that tall since Yao.  He was very articulate and answered very swiftly.  The interview went smoothly (contents see below) and Derrick and I went back to the media room and finished and submitted my article within 15 minutes. 

Upon leaving, I parted with Bob Kravitz, who was still diligently working on his column, next to the beat writer Mike Wells and I told myself, "it won't be this easy when Yao comes next month."

--------------------------------

Here is the translation of my article:  Original can be seen here http://snipr.com/72e99
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exclusive Interview with Sun Yue: Not worried about going to the D-League, Congrats Kobe on achieving his record

Sohu.com Sports Indianapolis: On a cold and chilly night where the air temperature dropped below zero celsius, the atmosphere inside of the Conseco Fieldhouse could not be warmer.

Regardless of a subpar record for the Indiana Pacers, the local fans are rallied together and once again supporting this team, now filled with plentiful of new faces.

After injuring himself yesterday, Sun Yue, who wouldn't have played anyway had he been healthy, is sporting a light gray suit, quietly sits on the end of the Lakers bench.

Throughout the game, Sun Yue can be seen cheering on for his teammate, high-fiving them when timeouts are called.  When Kobe had scored his 22,000th point in his career tonight, Sun, along with his teammates, cheerfully congratulated their superstar teammate.

With the Lakers pulling away even with Kobe sitting on the bench, it looked like another opponent had bowed down to the mighty powerhouse.  But the resilient hometown Pacers refused to give up, cutting the lead basket by basket, and finally pulled off the shocking upset when power forward Troy Murphy tipped in a miss by Marquis Daniels at the buzzer.  The ball bounced a few times on the rim, and finally dropped in amidst the exuberant celebration of the crowd.

This was only the second loss in the season, as well as the first ever road loss, for the defending Western conference champions.  After the game, Sun Yue graciously accepted my request for a brief interview.

XC: Sun Yue, it is now two months into your inaugural NBA season, though you haven't played a single minute, what have you learned the most from practicing and bonding with your teammates?

Sun: In the NBA, especially in a powerful team such as the Lakers, of course one is going to benefit from it.  I've received a lot of help from my teammates and the coaching staff, by practicing and watching my teammates play, I feel like that I have improved my skills by a lot.

XC: The media outlets here are all agreeing to the consensus that you will be sent down to the D-League, how do you feel about that?

Sun: Well, there is nothing I can do about this rumor.  It's not something that I could control, the only thing I could do is to practice hard, improve my skills, and not to worry about the things that are outside of my control.

XC: How severe is your injury?  We've heard different reports on the degree of severity.
Sun: I honestly do not think it was that bad of an injury.  But the team physicians and the trainers are taking good care of it and are very cautious about it.  I believe I will be fine in a few days.

XC: Today, you have witnessed Kobe making another career record.  What are your thoughts?
Sun: Of course I congratulate him on this achievement, but I'm not really surprised or anything, because he is a great player.

XC: Lastly, I just to let you know, the Asian-Americans here, including me, have watched your performance in the Olympics and we expect great things from you.   We also understand that your NBA journey is much difficult compared to those of Yao and Yi.  Therefore, we wish you the best, and we hope for your success.

Sun:  Thank you, I will try my best.





 

Remember that AT&T commercial that you see playing on TV during the Olympics?  It is about a huge Michael Phelps fan who missed out a Phelps autograph event just down the street from her from bad signals.

Well, as I mentioned here a year and half ago, I was in a similar situation.  My phone was on vibrate and I was taking an afternoon nap in another room.  My mom had called me about five times.  I woke up two hours later and listened the message and really woke up.  My mom had said that her co-worker, a freelance journalist for Sohu.com, is going to interview Michael Phelps and wanted to see if I was available to conduct the interview.  Since I didn't answer my phone, my mom and co-worker went to interview Phelps and their article is posted on the official Olympics website.

Here is the picture that they have taken:



2007 was a bad year for me and celebrities.  A few months earlier, I had missed out on playing basketball against Jamie Foxx because I didn't feel like playing basketball on that day.  If you know me, when was the last time I had told you that I didn't feel like playing basketball?  The chances of me saying that is smaller than winning the Hoosier Lottery. 

Well, for consolation, two years earlier in 2005, Phelps was competing at IUPUI.  The basketball gym is across from the natatorium, and the locker room is downstairs.  I was in a rush so I sprinted down the basement hallway and as I turned the corner, I almost bumped into Phelps.  I quickly apologized, and he said "No problem".  And I didn't realize that was him until a few moments later.