![]() But none had done it with Ichiro's flair or sunglasses. ![]() Nomo's martian windup and delivery proved so effective that he set Dodgers strikeout records, made the All-Stars and inspired Nomomania.īy 2001 when Ichiro Suzuki joined the Mariners, Asian imports taking Rookie of the Year honors had practically become a Major League tradition. It wasn't until Hideo Nomo joined the Dodgers in 1995 that an Asian athlete was able to inspire sustained frenzy in one of the big-three sports. But Chang's recent ignomious descent into tennis twilight raises the suspicion that he simply lacks the size and power to stay in the power game. The proof that Chang's nerves and speed were real came in the classic 5-set finals victory against Stefan Edberg. Cramping and down two sets to Ivan Lendl in the round of 16, the 17-year-old phenom dared to discombobulate the Ice Man with moonballs and an underhanded serve. Then came Michael Chang whose 1989 French Open championship has passed into tennis legend. Not exactly a marquee sport, but inspiring nevertheless in a time when Asian Americans hardly knew what to call themselves. He did it with 10-meter platform diving at the 1948 London games and again in 1952 at the Helsinki games. In the beginning there was Sammy Lee, the first Asian American to win Olympic gold. The lane is short and sparsely populated. To appreciate what Yao represents to Asian American men requires a quick trip down memory lane. For an Asian to get the top pick in a black-dominated sport was heresy. Asian athletes, on the other hand, have been painted as disciplined and skilled but lacking power and size, able to excel only in sports no one cares about. In the global sports scene blacks have come to represent all-around athletic prowess. ![]() Even Charles Barkley - Yao's basketball idol - sniped at Houston's choice and hinted at bad consequences. For the past quarter century black athletes had dominated pro basketball and they saw Yao as a subversive force, an alien threat. The largely black crowd of draft prospects and their contingents had reason to be displeased. The Houston Rockets had just spent their number one overall draft pick on 7-5 Chinese center Yao Ming over 6-2 Duke guard Jay Williams. He sweetest moment for Asian men in American sports came on Jat Madison Square Garden. Yao Ming: The Next Asian Superstar? | Asian American Issues | GoldSea
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