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Asians in Sports

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Don Kirkman

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Jan 14, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/14/96
to
wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong) wrote:

>I've compiled a list which is pretty much just what I know about
>asians in sports.
>
>Baseball
>LA Dodgers have Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo so I guess
>they're pretty much the best in terms of baseball. I don't know
>another major league team which scouts in Asia for potential
>ball players.
>Baseball had another Japanese pitcher way back before so
>I guess they were the first to have an asian in pro sports.

Murakami, San Francisco Giants, about 1960s. No longer remember his
first name. I think there have been several Nisei in professional
baseball, also, but I don't have names.
>
>Hockey

[snip]

>Basketball
>I don't know any asian NBA players.
>
>Football
>Only one I know is offensive lineman Eugene Chung who used to
>be on New England but is somewhere else now.
>
Wally Yonamine, old San Francisco 49ers--not sure of the era

>Tennis
>Michael Chang. Patricia Hy-Boulais. Glenn Michibata. Nuff said.
>
>Skating
>Well, I guess the line between "pro" and "amateur" figure skating
>is blurred now so I'll go with what I know: Michelle Kwan and Kristi
>Yamaguchi. Does Midori Ito still compete?
>
>Golf
>Isao Aoki is good. There are a lot of Japanese golfers out there
>but I'm not too into golf so I don't know their names.

Several young Asian Americans just about ready to move into pro golf
from college; have read the names but don't have them at my fingertips.
>
>Indycar
>I know there's an asian driver. I just know there is. I just can't
>remember his name.
>
Olympics

Broad Jump? Decathlon? T C Wong of Taipei, if I remember accurately.
Maybe 30 years or so ago.
Dr. Sammy Lee, diving and now training/coaching

Horse Racing

Cary Nakatani around Los Angeles area.

---
Don Kirkman
"I know of no rights of race superior to the rights of man"
Frederick Douglass

Masahiro Kono

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Jan 14, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/14/96
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le...@infinity.c2.org (Dan Bunge Sucks) writes:

>Steven Wong (wo...@interlog.com) scribbled:
>: Baseball had another Japanese pitcher way back before so


>: I guess they were the first to have an asian in pro sports.

>There have been and are others.

>: Tennis


>: Michael Chang. Patricia Hy-Boulais. Glenn Michibata. Nuff said.

>Dammit. I know a ton about all sports, including tennis, but the name of
>Japan's best female player who is (or is generally) in the top 10 in the
>world escapes me. But, yah, add her to the list. And, there are a bunch
>of others in womens tennis from Japan and Korea who aren't quite as good
>as that japanese woman.

Kimiko Date, Naoko Sawamatsu? Also, in men's tennis about a decade
or so ago was Vijay Armitraj (sp?).

-masahiro kono (masa...@tgevax.life.uiuc.edu)

Steven Wong

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Jan 14, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/14/96
to
Hello all. I'm sure this topic has been covered before but I'd
like to rehash it if possible.

Well, what does everyone think of the situation in sports in
reference with asian-americans (or any asians for that matter)?
I, like most people I know, enjoy watching sports and playing
them. I am somewhat disturbed that not many asians are in
professional sports.

When I see an asian in sports, he/she pretty much becomes
one of my favourites, because, well... there are so few of them.
I like to watch asians in sports. It pretty much smashes the
stereotype that we're only nerds.

For those aspiring athletes out there, what's it like being an
asian athlete? Do you get a lot of flak for your ethnicity? For
those who just like sports, what are your feelings? Do you think
there aren't enough asians in sports?

I've compiled a list which is pretty much just what I know about
asians in sports.

Baseball
LA Dodgers have Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo so I guess
they're pretty much the best in terms of baseball. I don't know
another major league team which scouts in Asia for potential
ball players.

Baseball had another Japanese pitcher way back before so
I guess they were the first to have an asian in pro sports.

Hockey
Jim Paek is somewhere I'm sure. He played for Pittsburgh when
they won the first Stanley Cup and I think he was in Ottawa after
that. Pittsburgh also has a guy named Richard Park, but I don't
know what ethnicity he is.
Other old asian players include Peter Ing (I think he's one-quarter
Chinese) and Darren Pang (I'm not sure about ethnicity here but
I remember hearing something about it when I was young)

Basketball
I don't know any asian NBA players.

Football
Only one I know is offensive lineman Eugene Chung who used to
be on New England but is somewhere else now.

Tennis


Michael Chang. Patricia Hy-Boulais. Glenn Michibata. Nuff said.

Skating


Well, I guess the line between "pro" and "amateur" figure skating
is blurred now so I'll go with what I know: Michelle Kwan and Kristi
Yamaguchi. Does Midori Ito still compete?

Golf
Isao Aoki is good. There are a lot of Japanese golfers out there
but I'm not too into golf so I don't know their names.

Indycar


I know there's an asian driver. I just know there is. I just can't
remember his name.

I know there are a lot of really good asian athletes out there in the
Olympics but that only gets coverage every four years so I'm not
including it here. Chinese divers and middle-distance runners,
Japanese ski jumpers and bobsledders, etc., etc.

Thanks for tolerating this post.

Wongs.

--

"You're dogmeat, pal!"
- Bill Paxton's character in the movie Aliens.

Steven Wong
wo...@interlog.com


Mark H. Fujimoto

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Jan 15, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/15/96
to
In article <30f98d15...@nnrp.crl.com>,
Don Kirkman <do...@a.crl.com> wrote:
>wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong) wrote:
>>asians in sports.

>first name. I think there have been several Nisei in professional
>baseball, also, but I don't have names.

Len Sakata, Atlee Hammaker...

>>Football
>>Only one I know is offensive lineman Eugene Chung who used to
>>be on New England but is somewhere else now.

>Wally Yonamine, old San Francisco 49ers--not sure of the era

Do Happa's count? Then you can add Johnnie Morton (formerly of
USC, I don't recall who he plays for in the NFL. Detroit?)
Professional bowlers Chris Warren and Adam Apo are Asian-Am.
Warren is half Japanese; Apo is from Hawaii, so he might have a
number of Asian bloodlines in him.


Steve Wei

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Jan 15, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/15/96
to
In article <4da7js$6...@steel.interlog.com>, wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong)
says:

>
>Basketball
>I don't know any asian NBA players.

there's that 7'2" (or something) chinese dude from the clippers... he played
for utah or something in college.

>Football
>Only one I know is offensive lineman Eugene Chung who used to
>be on New England but is somewhere else now.

there's tons of samoans in pro football...

>Tennis
>Michael Chang. Patricia Hy-Boulais. Glenn Michibata. Nuff said.
>
>Skating
>Well, I guess the line between "pro" and "amateur" figure skating
>is blurred now so I'll go with what I know: Michelle Kwan and Kristi
>Yamaguchi. Does Midori Ito still compete?

she's not asian american, but yes... there was also those people from the
eighties... can't remember their names...

>Golf
>Isao Aoki is good. There are a lot of Japanese golfers out there
>but I'm not too into golf so I don't know their names.

tiger woods is 3/4 asian... probably the next jack nickalaus...

>Indycar
>I know there's an asian driver. I just know there is. I just can't
>remember his name.

there's lots of japanese nationals that race for japanese companies.

>Wongs.

peace.
Steve Wei

mountain brothers homepage:
http://www.netaxs.com/~ezekiel/sounds.html

Sam inSkokie

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Jan 15, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/15/96
to
In <30f98d15...@nnrp.crl.com> do...@a.crl.com (Don Kirkman)
writes:
>
>wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong) wrote:
>
>>I've compiled a list which is pretty much just what I know about
>>asians in sports.
>>
>>Baseball
>>LA Dodgers have Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo so I guess
>>they're pretty much the best in terms of baseball. I don't know
>>another major league team which scouts in Asia for potential
>>ball players.
>>Baseball had another Japanese pitcher way back before so
>>I guess they were the first to have an asian in pro sports.
>
>Murakami, San Francisco Giants, about 1960s. No longer remember his
>first name. I think there have been several Nisei in professional
>baseball, also, but I don't have names.
>>

Asian Americans in pro baseball? I don't know if there are any now
but there were 2 when I was growing up. There's Mike Lum who played
centerfield for 12 seasons for the Atlanta Braves before finishing his
careeer with the Chicago Cubs in the lates '70s. And Len Sakata who
played shortstop for the the Baltimore Orioles for a few seasons in the
late '70s.

Dan Bunge Sucks

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Jan 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/16/96
to
Don Kirkman (do...@a.crl.com) scribbled:
: wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong) wrote:
: >Golf

: >Isao Aoki is good. There are a lot of Japanese golfers out there
: >but I'm not too into golf so I don't know their names.
: Several young Asian Americans just about ready to move into pro golf

: from college; have read the names but don't have them at my fingertips.

I forgot to add in my previous post the name Ted Oh. He is a year
younger than Tiger Woods (that would make Ted 18 and turning 19 this
year) and won all the titles that Tiger won as a junior. He already
played in the U.S. Open when Tiger did, too. Like Tiger, Ted is from
southern California.

: Horse Racing


: Cary Nakatani around Los Angeles area.

It's Corey.

Richard Lee
--
"I am stupid." --gonZorrhea (aka Juan McKnight), June 1995

Dan Bunge Sucks

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Jan 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/16/96
to
Sam inSkokie (sam...@ix.netcom.com) scribbled
: In <30f98d15...@nnrp.crl.com> do...@a.crl.com (Don Kirkman)
: >wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong) wrote:
: >>Baseball

: >>LA Dodgers have Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo so I guess
: >>they're pretty much the best in terms of baseball. I don't know
: >Murakami, San Francisco Giants, about 1960s. No longer remember his

: >first name. I think there have been several Nisei in professional
: >baseball, also, but I don't have names.
: Asian Americans in pro baseball? I don't know if there are any now
: but there were 2 when I was growing up. There's Mike Lum who played
: centerfield for 12 seasons for the Atlanta Braves before finishing his
: careeer with the Chicago Cubs in the lates '70s. And Len Sakata who
: played shortstop for the the Baltimore Orioles for a few seasons in the
: late '70s.

Oh, heh. I can't believe I forgot them, esp. Lenn Sakata. He is now a
coach in baseball (the Yankees or Orioles I forget). I remember him
especially because he was around as late as 1987 because I remember
scouring along with a friend the entire Topps baseball card set to find any
asians beside Atlee hammaker, and we came up with Lenn Sakata, who was
still playing.

Dan Bunge Sucks

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Jan 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/16/96
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Steven Wong (wo...@interlog.com) scribbled:

: Baseball
: LA Dodgers have Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo so I guess
: they're pretty much the best in terms of baseball. I don't know
: another major league team which scouts in Asia for potential

: ball players.
: Baseball had another Japanese pitcher way back before so
: I guess they were the first to have an asian in pro sports.

There have been and are others.

Makato Suzuki is a 20 year old (soon to be 21) pitcher in the Mariners
organization with a mid-90mph fastball. Atlee Hammaker (Japanese
American) pitched for a bunch of major league teams in the 80s and once
led the National League in ERA. A trivia question about him is that he
pitched against Orel Hershiser when Hershiser pitched 10 scoreless
innings to break Drysdale's consecutive shutout inning streak. If
hammaker hadn't shut out the Dodgers for his 9 innings, Hershiser (who
gave up an earned run in the 1st inning of the 1st game the following
year) wouldn't have had the chance to break the record and would be a
co-holder of the record, not the sole holder. Oh, yah, "El Sid," Sid
Fernandez, is Hawaiian, too, and part Filipino.

: Hockey


: Jim Paek is somewhere I'm sure. He played for Pittsburgh when
: they won the first Stanley Cup and I think he was in Ottawa after
: that. Pittsburgh also has a guy named Richard Park, but I don't
: know what ethnicity he is.

Come on. Park? He's Korean and I remember he was drafted in the second
round (he was rated as high as the 16th overall pick before his high
school senior year) out of southern California, the highest pick ever to
come out of that area. He is from Peninsula High School where Palos
Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates, and someplace else send their kids.

: Other old asian players include Peter Ing (I think he's one-quarter


: Chinese) and Darren Pang (I'm not sure about ethnicity here but
: I remember hearing something about it when I was young)

What about Stan Mikita, one of the greatest ever defensemen the NHL has
ever seen? If any of you saw "Wayne's World" you will notice that Ed
O'Neill's (Al Bundy) diner is named after Mikita since Mike Myers
("Wayne") is Canadian and a big hockey fan. Mikita regularly plays in
the old-timers games during the All-Star break. And, I am surprised you
didn't mention Paul Kariya the half-Japanese Canadian who was the Mighty
Ducks first pick ever and who now starts at Center for them, scoring a
lot of goals and getting a lot of assists and fan votes for the All-Star
game.

: Basketball


: I don't know any asian NBA players.

Well, Chinese national team member and 7+ footer Ma Jian just finished out
his career at the university of Utah last year. And, Rex Walters,
ex-Kansas star and current NBA benchwarmer, is part Japanese.

: Football


: Only one I know is offensive lineman Eugene Chung who used to
: be on New England but is somewhere else now.

Ever heard of John Lee, the Korean ex-UCLA All-American kicker, who played
for the then St. Louis Cardinals? He sucked and was released pretty fast,
though. And, Johnnie Morton, starting wide receiver for the Detroit
Lions and former USC All-American, is half-Japanese (so is his brother,
who plays for Dartmouth, and his other brother, who is a big-name recruit
right now...or last year...in Torrance in Orange County). And, if we are
counting Pacific Islanders, there are a whole slew of them in the NFL and
who played in the NFL. Dan Saleamua, Mosei Tatupu, Vai Sikahema, Junior
Seau, etc. And, just to talk about college football for a bit, Mike
Nguyen was a high school all-american wide receiver from Oregon who went
on to start for UCLA, though he didn't become a star cuz UCLA had J.J.
Stokes and Kevin Jordan hogging the ball. There's a couple Asians on the
Cal football team, but I think they suck cuz they don't play, but then,
the whole team sucks in general.

: Tennis


: Michael Chang. Patricia Hy-Boulais. Glenn Michibata. Nuff said.

Dammit. I know a ton about all sports, including tennis, but the name of

Japan's best female player who is (or is generally) in the top 10 in the
world escapes me. But, yah, add her to the list. And, there are a bunch
of others in womens tennis from Japan and Korea who aren't quite as good
as that japanese woman.

: Skating


: Well, I guess the line between "pro" and "amateur" figure skating
: is blurred now so I'll go with what I know: Michelle Kwan and Kristi
: Yamaguchi. Does Midori Ito still compete?

Add: Natasha Kuchiki (half-Japanese who competed in the 92 winter
olympics in her early teens in the pairs competition), Chen Lu (94
women's olympic bronze medalist from China and who, I think, shoulda won
the silver but the judges gave it to that graceless, buck-toothed,
speech-lesson-needing whiner, Nancy Kerrigan), Yuka Sato, and this
one Korean female (dammit, I forgot her name too) who competed for Korea
(even though she is an American) in the 94 Olympics. I remember her
because she was the first to skate in the women's long program, and for
that reason, ABC (or NBC whatever) showed her for about 10 seconds.

: Golf
: Isao Aoki is good. There are a lot of Japanese golfers out there
: but I'm not too into golf so I don't know their names.

Jumbo Ozaki has been around a long time. So has Tommy Nakajima. And,
the best of all the Asian golfers is Vijay Singhe, an ethnic Indian from
the Fiji Islands, who has come close in several majors to winning one of
the Big 4.

Of course, the guy in golf getting the most press is Tiger Woods.
Everyone thinks, and you probably do, too, that he is black, but he
identifies himself as Asian because he is half-Thai (his mom is Thai).
His dad is black with some white in him, so actually, Tiger, who is now
at Stanford and who comes from Anaheim Hills in southern California, is
more Thai than anything else.

: I know there are a lot of really good asian athletes out there in the


: Olympics but that only gets coverage every four years so I'm not
: including it here. Chinese divers and middle-distance runners,
: Japanese ski jumpers and bobsledders, etc., etc.

You know, the above are your fav sports, obviously, but you forgot
several others.

HORSE RACING
There is this jockey Nakatani who has been one of the hottest around
recently who rides at Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia. He lives in
Arcadia and was recently involved in a controversy when he whipped his
horse, who then plopped over and died, after the finish line. He and his
many siblings are said to be kinda hot-tempered, but that's just what my
barber, who bowls with Corey Nakatani's dad, says.

BOXING
Probably the most famous Asian boxer is Duk Koo Kim, who had the
misfortune of dying in the ring when Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini hit him in a
middleweight title fight. But, there have been MANY Asian boxing
champions past and present. They are generally in the bantamweight,
flyweight, lightweight, and welterweight divisions, and most are Korean,
with some Japanese, too. In fact, Ring Magazine, in its usual poll of
all-time greats, usually lists several Koreans and a few japanese in each
top 10 list in these divisions.

SOCCER
The world's favorite sport has the J-League in Japan which is one of the
biggest ones going because of the money in salaries being doled out
there. China is going to (or has?) start up the Marlboro League
(sponsored by the lung cancer-causing company to addict 1.2 billion
people on their cigarettes) soon. And, korea has had its league for the
longest time. Korea surprised Germany in the recent World Cup, and I
still dunno who the hell is gonna host the 2002 World Cup, Korea or Japan
(they are the two finalists). Most American reporters give the edge to
japan, but then, most Americans tend to give too much credit to Japan in
comparison to the other Asian countries. More reliable sources had it
that Korea had the edge, as a member of the selection committe or
steering committee is from korea and since Korea participated in the 94
World Cup whereas Japan failed to qualify. Of course, this is what I
knew 6 months ago, and since the SF Chronicle is one of America's worst
newspapers and doesn't say jack about soccer, the selction probably
already has been made.

Egan Lo

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Jan 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/16/96
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Moving is alway
s such as hassle no matter where you are.

So come on...let's make some people nervous.

Mark Yasuda

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Jan 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/16/96
to
In article <4da7js$6...@steel.interlog.com>,
Steven Wong <wo...@interlog.com> wrote:
>
<..Stuff deleted..>

>
>Baseball had another Japanese pitcher way back before so
>I guess they were the first to have an asian in pro sports.
>

Nope! -- there was an Asian-American who played in the NBA back in the
1940's.

>
>
>Basketball
>I don't know any asian NBA players.
>

I mentioned this once before in this newsgroup, but it's probably worth
reposting.
I used to be somewhat of an NBA stat junkie back in the late 70's and early
80's, and I read a lot of books on the NBA's early history. It wasn't until
last year, however, that I stumbled across a rather interesting piece of
trivia. I had just bought the "Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia" for
myself, and was paging through its complete player register (all players
who had played in the NBA or its immediate progenitors -- the BAA and NBL --
current through the 1993-94 season). Well, at one point in the register
I paused at an interesting, Japanese sounding name. The name was Wataru
Misaka.
Wataru Misaka played for the New York Knicks in the 1947-48 season.
He only played in 7 games, and only scored 10 points that year. In
doing so, however, he became an Asian American pioneer in professional
sports. It's unfortunate that I have never seen his name mentioned in
any "comprehensive" history books of the NBA. All good books on professional
basketball history mention the blacks who pioneered the league in the early
50's, but they have completely neglected the Asian American man who
preceded them. It leads to an intersting trivia question which would stump
virtually any basketball savant: Name the only season when Asian Americans
outnumbered African Americans in the NBA.
Misaka's stat line is given, along with every other NBA player in official
NBA guides. I also have an old Knick press-guide that I used to double check
my "discovery." It was several months later that I also found out that
Wataru Misaka was a key member of the University of Utah's NCAA championship
team in 1944. I suspect that Misaka was interned during WWII in the Utah
area, though I have not verified this as of yet. Somewhat curiously, Ma
Jian, who was given a tryout with the LA Clippers this season before being
cut, attended the same school (Utah) as Misaka.
Thanks to a certain amount of networking in the Japanese American community,
I was able to obtain Wataru Misaka's mailing address not long ago. I sent
him a short letter, with a number of questions which I hoped he would answer.
He responded with a short note a few weeks ago, acknowledging receipt and
stating that he'd write a more substantial response sometime this month
(January, 1996) . . . if there's enough interest, I might post some of his
comments and responses in this newsgroup.

- Mark


Gloria M. Wong

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Jan 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/16/96
to
Steve Wei (SCW...@psuvm.psu.edu) wrote:
: In article <4da7js$6...@steel.interlog.com>, wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong)
: says:
: >
How about baseball? *hint* He's japanese. what was his name? :)
Do we have asian in any of these sports???
Hockey
Nascar Racing


: >Basketball


: >I don't know any asian NBA players.

: there's that 7'2" (or something) chinese dude from the clippers... he played


: for utah or something in college.

I thought he was more like 6'5"? Anyone know for sure?
Does he even play of is he a bench-warmer?

: >Football
: >Only one I know is offensive lineman Eugene Chung who used to
: >be on New England but is somewhere else now.

: there's tons of samoans in pro football...

: >Tennis
: >Michael Chang. Patricia Hy-Boulais. Glenn Michibata. Nuff said.

: >


: >Skating
: >Well, I guess the line between "pro" and "amateur" figure skating
: >is blurred now so I'll go with what I know: Michelle Kwan and Kristi
: >Yamaguchi. Does Midori Ito still compete?

: she's not asian american, but yes... there was also those people from the


: eighties... can't remember their names...

: >Golf


: >Isao Aoki is good. There are a lot of Japanese golfers out there
: >but I'm not too into golf so I don't know their names.

: tiger woods is 3/4 asian... probably the next jack nickalaus...

Gloria M. Wong

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Jan 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/16/96
to
Cool. Think anyone can compile all the info and make a masterlist
of all "famous" asian-americans in sports?
llcc


Steve Wei (SCW...@psuvm.psu.edu) wrote:
: In article <4da7js$6...@steel.interlog.com>, wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong)
: says:
: >

: >Basketball
: >I don't know any asian NBA players.

: there's that 7'2" (or something) chinese dude from the clippers... he played
: for utah or something in college.

: >Football

He's a Mimbo

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Jan 16, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/16/96
to
>>>>> "Steven" == Steven Wong <wo...@interlog.com> writes:
In article <4da7js$6...@steel.interlog.com> wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong) writes:

[lots of interesting stuff cut, save an e-tree]

Steven> I know there are a lot of really good asian athletes out there in the
Steven> Olympics but that only gets coverage every four years so I'm not
Steven> including it here. Chinese divers and middle-distance runners,
Steven> Japanese ski jumpers and bobsledders, etc., etc.

don't forget there are alot in Volleyball too, pro-4's has Allan Allan (HI),
Mike Lambert (hapa, HI) is on the National team, Debbie Green won a medal,
Kevin Wong (UCLA) was a national champ, and there's another guy playing for
Stanford.

Oh and I saw a JA starting for the Oregon womens Bball team, on tv no less she
more than held her own.

maybe we just need to breed more atheletes? =)

steve.

--
Steven D. Yee == s...@zso.dec.com | Why? IS the answer.
Storage Management Software |
DECwest | What if...? is the SOLUTION.

Steven Wong

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Jan 17, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/17/96
to
Hello. I'm really quite pleased with the responses my post
has garnered. Someone asked for a "master list" of Asians
in sports so I've made one, according to all the follow-up
posts you've made. It's current info as of Jan. 17, 1996 at
6 pm.

Baseball - Chan Ho Park, Hideo Nomo, Makato Suzuki,
Ron Darling, Len Sakata, Mike Lum, Atlee
Hammaker and Mr. Murakami.

Hockey - Jim Paek, Richard Park, Peter Ing, Darren Pang,
Paul Kariya and Stan Mikita

Football - Eugene Chung, Dan Saleamua, Junior Seau,
Wally Yonamine, Johnnie Morton, John Lee,
Mosei Tatapu, Vai Sikahema and other
Pacific Islanders who have not been named.

Basketball - Ma Jian, Rex Walters and Wataru Misaka.

Tennis - Michael Chang, Kimiko Date, Naoko Sawamatsu,
Patricia Hy-Boulais, Glenn Michibata, Vijay
Armitraj plus other Japanese players who
have not been named (including the guy who
made it to the semifinals for Wimbledon. I can't
believe I forgot his name)

Golf - Jumbo Ozaki, Isao Aoki, Tiger Woods, Ted Oh, Tommy
Nakajima and Vijay Singhe plus others.

Figure Skating - Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Midori
Ito, Chen Lu, Natasha Kuchiki and Yuka Sato.

Volleyball - Allan Allan, Mike Lambert, Debbie Green,
Kevin Wong, this guy on Stanford (I think his
name is Stewart Chong) plus others.

Horse Racing - Corey Nakatani

Boxing - Duk Koo Kim

If anyone has anything else to add, just follow-up to this
post. Anyone at all know the Asian Indycar driver's name?
It's driving me nuts.

Thanks.

--
"Do not speak to a fool, for he will
scorn the wisdom of your words."
- Proverbs 23:9

Steven Wong
wo...@interlog.com


Derek Lin

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Jan 17, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/17/96
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Back in 1984 I had the priviledge of working for the Olympic
Organizing Committee. I became a host at the UCLA "Olympic Village,"
where I got to know the athletes from mainland China. Excitement was in
the air because it was Communist China's first delegation to the
Olympics in decades.

In addition to the usual ping-pong table achievements, I learned that
the Chinese excelled in many sports not normally covered by American
media. The two that come to mind immediately are diving and gymnastics.
The Chinese platform and board divers dominated the world, and if it
weren't for Louganis, would have blown away all competitors. It was
amazing to watch them perform.

I became friends with Li Ning, the man that the mainlanders call the
"Prince of Gymnastics" for his incredible abilities as well as his
natural good looks. Some (whites) in the gymnastic world call him the
Greatest Athlete Ever, because of his athleticism and sportsmanship. I
also got to know Lou Yun, the world's foremost vaultist, with moves
that no one had yet been able to duplicate.

Speaking with these athletes and watching them perform did wonderful
things to my inner conception of Asian prowess.

David Pan

unread,
Jan 17, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/17/96
to
Baseball pitcher Ron Darling (of the '86 Mets championship team)
is half-Chinese.

Yuan-Kwan Chan

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Jan 17, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/17/96
to
: When I see an asian in sports, he/she pretty much becomes

: one of my favourites, because, well... there are so few of them.
: I like to watch asians in sports. It pretty much smashes the
: stereotype that we're only nerds.

Right on, bro.

: Baseball
: LA Dodgers have Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo so I guess
: they're pretty much the best in terms of baseball. I don't know
: another major league team which scouts in Asia for potential
: ball players.

The 1-2 Blue punch!! There was also a young guy, 18 or 19, by the name
of Suzuki who came to the US at about the same time Park did.

: Baseball had

another Japanese pitcher way back
before so : I guess they were the first to have an asian in pro sports.

He was the first-ever Japanese player: Masanori Murakami, who played for
the SF Giants for one year in the 60's.

: Basketball
: I don't know any asian NBA players.

There was a guy who got cut on the very last day of the draft from Utah!
Some guy named Ma Ji (?) who's Chinese and 6'7"!!

: Football
: Only one I know is offensive lineman Eugene Chung who used to
: be on New England but is somewhere else now.

There used to be a kicker out of UCLA named John Lee. He was great in
college, but faltered in the pros (the Raiders?).

: Tennis
: Michael Chang. Patricia Hy-Boulais. Glenn Michibata. Nuff said.

Michibata retired. There's also Tommy Ho, Kimiko Date, Shuzo Matsuoka,
Albert Chang, Yone Kamio, Mana Endo...

: Skating
: Well, I guess the line between "pro" and "amateur" figure skating
: is blurred now so I'll go with what I know: Michelle Kwan and Kristi
: Yamaguchi. Does Midori Ito still compete?

Midori went back to amateur status--she recently won the Japanese
nationals and is a huge favorite at this year's worlds. There's also
Yuka Sato and Chen Lu. Tiffany Chin was national champion in '85.

--
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
y u a n - k w a n c h a n bv...@freenet.toronto.on.ca
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
nEwYoRkCiTyUrBaNpOlLuTiOnMiChAeLcHaNgChInAtOwNpIaNoChRiStIaNiTySwAtChEs.

Steven Wong

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Jan 18, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/18/96
to
Re-updating the list. here goes (Jan. 18, 1996 2:40pm):

>Baseball - Chan Ho Park, Hideo Nomo, Makato Suzuki,
> Ron Darling, Len Sakata, Mike Lum, Atlee
> Hammaker and Mr. Murakami.

That's Masonari Murakami.


>
>Hockey - Jim Paek, Richard Park, Peter Ing, Darren Pang,
> Paul Kariya and Stan Mikita
>
>Football - Eugene Chung, Dan Saleamua, Junior Seau,
> Wally Yonamine, Johnnie Morton, John Lee,
> Mosei Tatapu, Vai Sikahema and other
> Pacific Islanders who have not been named.

Jesse Sapolu, Alfred Pupunu, Manu Tuiasosopo


>Basketball - Ma Jian, Rex Walters and Wataru Misaka.
>
>Tennis - Michael Chang, Kimiko Date, Naoko Sawamatsu,
> Patricia Hy-Boulais, Glenn Michibata, Vijay
> Armitraj plus other Japanese players who
> have not been named (including the guy who
> made it to the semifinals for Wimbledon. I can't
> believe I forgot his name)

Tommy Ho, Shuzo Matsuoka (I think he's the guy), Albert


Chang, Yone Kamio, Mana Endo.
>

>Golf - Jumbo Ozaki, Isao Aoki, Tiger Woods, Ted Oh, Tommy
> Nakajima and Vijay Singhe plus others.
>
>Figure Skating - Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Midori
> Ito, Chen Lu, Natasha Kuchiki and Yuka Sato.
>
>Volleyball - Allan Allan, Mike Lambert, Debbie Green,
> Kevin Wong, this guy on Stanford (I think his
> name is Stewart Chong) plus others.
>
>Horse Racing - Corey Nakatani
>
>Boxing - Duk Koo Kim
>
>If anyone has anything else to add, just follow-up to this
>post. Anyone at all know the Asian Indycar driver's name?
>It's driving me nuts.

Steve Wei

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Jan 18, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/18/96
to
In article <4djvgt$g...@steel.interlog.com>, wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong)
says:
>

>Figure Skating - Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Midori
> Ito, Chen Lu, Natasha Kuchiki and Yuka Sato.

tiffany chin... remember her?

>Volleyball - Allan Allan, Mike Lambert, Debbie Green,
> Kevin Wong, this guy on Stanford (I think his
> name is Stewart Chong) plus others.

how could you forget eric sato!

>Steven Wong

TchdnJesus

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Jan 18, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/18/96
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le...@infinity.c2.org (Dan Bunge Sucks) writes:
>: Football
>: Only one I know is offensive lineman Eugene Chung who used to
>: be on New England but is somewhere else now.

Jacksonville, i think.

>Ever heard of John Lee, the Korean ex-UCLA All-American kicker, who
played
>for the then St. Louis Cardinals? He sucked and was released pretty
fast,
>though.

drafted in the first round. may have psyched him out, since the only other
kicker or punter ever drafted in the first round was Ray Guy (i think).
odd that he never got another shot considering most teams go through
kickers like GatorAde, unless he went to the CFL. maybe he should have
changed his last name to Zendejas (or just tacked it on the end). sets
tons of NCAA records at UCLA if my memory serves me well.

> And, Johnnie Morton, starting wide receiver for the Detroit
>Lions and former USC All-American, is half-Japanese (so is his brother,
>who plays for Dartmouth, and his other brother, who is a big-name recruit

>right now...or last year...in Torrance in Orange County). And, if we are

>counting Pacific Islanders, there are a whole slew of them in the NFL and

>who played in the NFL. Dan Saleamua, Mosei Tatupu, Vai Sikahema, Junior
>Seau, etc.

and, of course, Thetonganalfred Pupunu (at least, whenever i've seen
charger games, that's how they always refer to him), Jesse Sapolu, the
throwin' Samoan Jack Thompson, and the owner of the most aesthetically
pleasing name in the history of the NFL, Manu Tuiasosopo, to name but a
few more.

>: Tennis
>: Michael Chang. Patricia Hy-Boulais. Glenn Michibata. Nuff said.
>
>Dammit. I know a ton about all sports, including tennis, but the name of

>Japan's best female player who is (or is generally) in the top 10 in the
>world escapes me. But, yah, add her to the list. And, there are a bunch

>of others in womens tennis from Japan and Korea who aren't quite as good
>as that japanese woman.

Mikito Date. first name wrong though. i remember in the 80's hearing about
a Peanut Louie and Hu Na as well. Na i think defected from the PRC, making
her a bit of a deal. incidentally, is it just me, or do other people just
want to smack michael chang silly when he goes on about how god meant for
him to win x tournament, etc? like god's going determine who wins a
fuckin' tennis tournament, but not strike rush limbaugh dead or end famine
or something meaty like that.

>BOXING
>Probably the most famous Asian boxer is Duk Koo Kim, who had the
>misfortune of dying in the ring when Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini hit him in a

>middleweight title fight.

actually, they were lightweights or featherweights. it certainly wasn't
middleweight since marvelous marvin hagler had that belt tattooed to his
waist at that time.

Steven Wong

unread,
Jan 20, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/20/96
to
Reupdating the list again. Only changes are in figure skating
and volleyball.
As of Jan. 19, 1996 7:30pm:

>>Baseball - Chan Ho Park, Hideo Nomo, Makato Suzuki,
>> Ron Darling, Len Sakata, Mike Lum, Atlee
>> Hammaker and Masonari Murakami.

>>
>>Hockey - Jim Paek, Richard Park, Peter Ing, Darren Pang,
>> Paul Kariya and Stan Mikita
>>
>>Football - Eugene Chung, Dan Saleamua, Junior Seau,
>> Wally Yonamine, Johnnie Morton, John Lee,
>> Mosei Tatapu, Vai Sikahema, Jesse Sapolu,

Alfred Pupunu, Manu Tuiasosopo
>>
>>Basketball - Ma Jian, Rex Walters and Wataru Misaka.
>>
>>Tennis - Michael Chang, Kimiko Date, Naoko Sawamatsu,
>> Patricia Hy-Boulais, Glenn Michibata, Vijay
>> Armitraj, Tommy Ho, Shuzo Matsuoka (I think he's

the guy), Albert Chang, Yone Kamio, Mana Endo.
>>
>>Golf - Jumbo Ozaki, Isao Aoki, Tiger Woods, Ted Oh, Tommy
>> Nakajima and Vijay Singhe plus others.
>>
>>Figure Skating - Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Midori
>> Ito, Chen Lu, Natasha Kuchiki and Yuka Sato.
Tiffany Chin

>>
>>Volleyball - Allan Allan, Mike Lambert, Debbie Green,
>> Kevin Wong, this guy on Stanford (I think his
>> name is Stewart Chong) plus others.
Eric Sato

Chung Hong

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Jan 20, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/20/96
to
What about Egan Inouye, from Hawaii. He was a professional raquetball champion
and he's now into ninjitsu competition and a top contender. Talk about
excelling in 2 very different sports! He's also gorgeous and is sought
after for modeling jobs.

Chung Hong

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Jan 20, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/20/96
to
What about surfing?
Great surfers like Michael Ho, Derek Ho, Mark Foo, etc, from Hawaii.

Don Kirkman

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Jan 21, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/21/96
to
wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong) wrote:

>Reupdating the list again. Only changes are in figure skating . . .

>>>Figure Skating - Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Midori
>>> Ito, Chen Lu, Natasha Kuchiki and Yuka Sato.
>Tiffany Chin

Elizabeth Punsalan

[rest snipped]

Sugar

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Jan 22, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/22/96
to

On 15 Jan 1996, Sam inSkokie wrote:

> writes:
> >
> >wo...@interlog.com (Steven Wong) wrote:
> >
> >>I've compiled a list which is pretty much just what I know about
> >>asians in sports.
> >>

> >>Baseball
> >>LA Dodgers have Chan Ho Park and Hideo Nomo so I guess
> >>they're pretty much the best in terms of baseball. I don't know
> >>another major league team which scouts in Asia for potential
> >>ball players.

> >>Baseball had another Japanese pitcher way back before so
> >>I guess they were the first to have an asian in pro sports.
> >

> >Murakami, San Francisco Giants, about 1960s. No longer remember his
> >first name. I think there have been several Nisei in professional
> >baseball, also, but I don't have names.
> >>
>
> Asian Americans in pro baseball? I don't know if there are any now
> but there were 2 when I was growing up. There's Mike Lum who played
> centerfield for 12 seasons for the Atlanta Braves before finishing his
> careeer with the Chicago Cubs in the lates '70s. And Len Sakata who
> played shortstop for the the Baltimore Orioles for a few seasons in the
> late '70s.
>
>
>
>

Hey, don't gorget, there was recently a Asian-American who had played
offensive line for the New England Patriots. I think that he had played
with on of the new expansion teams. Not sure which one, but from what I
hear, he was a bust. So, does this mean, that Asian/Asian-Americans
should stick to baseball? Hey, how about basketball?


Patrick Ng

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Jan 23, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/23/96
to wo...@interlog.com
What about the huge number of Asians involved in the world of
martial arts, serious MA, not the Holywood type?

Patrick Ng

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Jan 23, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/23/96
to wo...@interlog.com

TchdnJesus

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Jan 25, 1996, 3:00:00 AM1/25/96
to
In article <4djvgt$g...@steel.interlog.com>, wo...@interlog.com (Steven
Wong) writes:

>Football - Eugene Chung, Dan Saleamua, Junior Seau,
> Wally Yonamine, Johnnie Morton, John Lee,

> Mosei Tatapu, Vai Sikahema and other
> Pacific Islanders who have not been named.
>
>

Mosi Tatupu, not Mosei Tatapu......


"There are two types of people in the world; those who believe there are
two types of people in the world, and those who don't."

--i don't remember

TchdnJesus

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Feb 7, 1996, 3:00:00 AM2/7/96
to
dead topic, but i thought of one other, if someone was keeping a running
talley. i can't remember his name for sure, but wasn't there a champion
surfer who died around a year ago off half moon bay? Mark Foo, or
something to that effect?


"I walked with a zombie, I walked with a zombie, I walked with a zombie
last night."
---R. Erickson

Sir Richard Lee

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Feb 12, 1996, 3:00:00 AM2/12/96
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TchdnJesus (tchdn...@aol.com) scribbled:
: dead topic, but i thought of one other, if someone was keeping a running

: talley. i can't remember his name for sure, but wasn't there a champion
: surfer who died around a year ago off half moon bay? Mark Foo, or
: something to that effect?

Speaking of Asians surfing, this isn't the guy you are asking about, but
Derek Ho of Hawaii was/is one of the world's best surfers, and only Tom
Curren was better when Derek was at his peak.

Richard Lee
--
"I am stupid." -- The Stupidest Organism in the Galaxy, June 1995

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