Thursday, July 19, 2007

All players are greedy

If you thought the Asians athletes and their agents were a different brand than North Americans, think again. Backing up Yi Jianlian's agent, Chen Haitao, owner of the Guangdong Tigers -- Yi's former team -- said the 6-foot-11 power forward will "definitely not" sign with Milwaukee and could be headed back to the Chinese Basketball Association. Yi was the sixth player picked in the NBA draft and had his first meeting earlier this month with Bucks general manager Larry Harris and coach Larry Krystkowiak. His agent, Dan Fegan, has pushed for a trade and wants Yi in a city with a large Asian influence -- or at least a larger city. Although sticking with their modest culture, in a poll earlier this month by the Beijing-based China Daily newspaper, 68 percent of 9,000 respondents wanted Yi to join the Bucks.

In other news, Daisuke Matsuzaka's agent, Scott Boras was quoted in Sunday's Boston Globe saying he was concerned about his client's high pitch counts. Matsuzaka threw 110 pitches in Saturday's 9-4 win. It was the seventh time in his past eight starts he threw at least 110 pitches. "I'd rather see him throw closer to 100 pitches than 120 pitches," Boras said. Sox manager Terry Francona took the suggestion in stride. He made Boras his own tongue-in-cheek offer. "I've got a lot of respect for Scott, I really do," Francona said. "He can run the pitching when he lets me run the contracts, how's that? Is that a fair trade off?"

Other than passing off our vermin as a delicacy, I have no clue what is going on over there. Remember when these athletes were respectful and obedient towards their owners? This new Asian athlete is ironic considering their fall back profession would be sewing the swag for the teams they are dissing.

No comments: