Chinese Football

    Another mark, albeit modest, of the continuing transformation of Chinese-ness in the face of globalization: Chinese football players.  No, not international football (soccer) but American football:

The Chinese athletes Gao Wei, Ding Long and Shen Yalei are being Americanized. For the past five weeks they have lived here in western Oregon. They have combed the malls, learned to love diner food, studied English and adopted the Westernized names William, Rambo and Sean — all in an effort to become the first Chinese to play in the United States’ most popular sports league, the N.F.L.

The plan was devised by the N.F.L. to penetrate China, that fertile untapped market, by giving Chinese sports fans someone in a helmet and shoulder pads they can readily connect with. Gao, Ding and Shen knew next to nothing about football when they were selected by the N.F.L. at a tryout last summer in China. Now they are immersed in the experiment, a crash course on the craft of kicking footballs that may culminate in August with one or two them taking the field in the N.F.L.’s first exhibition game in China.

     OK, they're only trying to be kickers.  And it's only for one real game, maybe.  So, we can't make too much out of it.  But it is another new extension of Chinese experience.  The article says they are being Americanized, yet that is only half of the story.  US football is also globalizing, and it will likely become more global as young men from various places around the world are drawn into the game when they come and attend college in the US.  The  NFL will not look like the NBA or NHL any time soon, but the door is open and globalizing effects will follow.

      And what does it mean for Chinese-ness when these young men come and have this experience and, in all likelihood, stay in China after their one game sensation?  It is another small reminder that Chinese can do whatever the world has to offer and still be Chinese.  They may absorb some American ideas and practices but that will not make them less Chinese.  It will be a part of the much larger process that has always occurred: the ebb and flow of a multitude of cultural practices through the place we call "China," drowning out some traditions while bringing forth new expressions and understandings of "Chinese culture."  Buddhism came and was absorbed and transformed China; Communism came and did the same; capitalism has finally come and is having its effects.  Why not a little football?

      It is hard to see what a Confucian view of American football might be.  Gentlemen, after all, are not supposed to contend.  But a Taoist aspect of football is already at hand: how many times have we heard a player talk about being "in the zone," moving through space-time in precise and controlled manner but not even thinking about it?  And, of course, Sun Tzu is very useful on a football field - if only I could make him work for my betting pool....

Comments

[China Law Blog]

Eastern Europe is even bigger (both in terms of the number and the size of the prospects) for the NFL. They are bringing in weighlifters and wrestlers and turning them into linemen.

[mondo]

The plan was devised by the N.F.L. to penetrate China, that fertile untapped market

That phrase reeked of something awful, perhaps head cheese, or opium.