We Are NOT Koreans

The 27th R.William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament 2005 (7/23~7/31)

Results of 'Chinese Taipei' so far:
23 July - TPE 73:61 JPN
24 July - USA 95:74 TPE
25 July - TPE 111:70 IND
26 July - AUS 82:95 TPE
27 July - TPE 68:66 RUS

Well, it's not a big deal. William Jones Cup is just a basketball tournament held by Taiwan every summer. We invite some basketball teams from other countries, but not national teams, to compete with our 'national team', Chinese Taipei. Why not other countries' national team? Because we will lose it, and people will start to blame our team. So most teams are from colleges or their basketball leagues. However, sometimes if those foreign teams perform bad, people will complain the games are not competitive. So, it's a dilemma how to chose the teams, and how to satisify the audience.

I've been watching basketball since I was 12. There was time that basketball players in Taiwan couldn't find a stage, since people wouldn't buy tickets to watch a game anymore. The close of our professional league many years ago was the begining of the dark time. Many players gave up their basketball career in order to earn more money. (It was a heartbreak for me as my favorite player, and probably the best player ever in Taiwan, decided to go into politics)

One or two years ago, some young players showed up and started to attract basketball fans again. They bring fans back to the court, though most of them are young girls. (To be honest, sometimes I doubt if they really understand basketball.) A whole new league bagan last year, SBL 04/05, let me feel that the fever of basketball in Taiwan was back! And there came a big revolution in Chinese Taipei team that young players replaced old and experienced ones. Well, I was one of most people against this policy. But after one or two years, I think they are much more matured now.

'Chinese Taipei' did well in Jones Cup so far. They lost a game to USA, and today we just beat RUS. Well, I got something to say about this game. It's not about the players or coach who all performed well. It's about the referee. Their whistles were too advantageous to 'Chinese Taipei'!! That's not what pepole want to see. We are not Koreans! We don't buy referees like them in World Cup 2002! Why the referee today made us like koreans? I was really angry about this! I'm happy with the victory, but I'm not proud of that. All players are working really hard out there, and I believe they want to be proud and gain rival's respect no matter win or lose the game. It's a shame what the referee did today!