Basketball brawl mars China-U.S. goodwill game

Basketball brawl mars China-U.S. goodwill game

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/08/19/china.basketball.fight/index.html

Beijing (CNN) -- A goodwill basketball game between a university team from the United States and a local Chinese team in Beijing turned into an ugly brawl Thursday, leaving sports diplomacy with a black-eye.

With the score tied at 64-all and about 10 minutes left of the exhibition game between the Georgetown Hoyas men's team and the Bayi Rockets, several players exchanged blows on court, triggering a bench-clearing melee.

As match organizers struggled to regain order on the court the match was abandoned early, prompting irate Chinese spectators to hurl plastic bottles onto the court as the visitors headed for the locker room.

The American college team is on a 10-day trip to China intended to promote goodwill through sports.

The tour also coincides with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's official visit to China -- Biden had even watched the Hoyas in action against another Chinese team a day earlier.

Surprisingly, few mainstream Chinese media picked up on the fracas. The Yangzi Evening News reported that it was "very physical from the beginning" and the situation deteriorated. "All substitute players from both teams got involved after the brawl broke out," it added.

An amateur video posted on video-sharing website YouTube showed one Chinese player pushing a U.S. player to the ground before punching him repeatedly.

YouTube clip shows on-court fracas

The Bayi Rockets are an army team which plays in the China Basketball Association, the local professional league. Most of their players serve in the People's Liberation Army.

CNN could not reach the Bayi Rockets for comment.

However Georgetown head coach John Thompson III said in a statement: "Tonight, two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams. We sincerely regret that this situation occurred."

According to an unnamed U.S. source, four Bayi Rockets players visited the Georgetown team in their hotel in Beijing Friday morning and "have worked things out." No reporters were present at the meeting.

The brawl drew comments on Chinese social media, with links to video posted on Chinese websites. However, some of the video postings were deleted without explanation.

Many comments criticized players from the Bayi Rockets. "(The players') Basketball skills are not very hot but their temper is hot", said @alesfu on Tencent Weibo, China's second largest social media service. @Chinanoe wrote, "Most of sports men have muscular limbs with simple mind."

For decades, Chinese sport promoted the slogan "friendship first, competition second." But in recent years, however, competition for prizes, honor and fame has sometimes trumped sportsmanship.

In October last year, an exhibition match between the Chinese and Brazilian national basketball teams ended in a mass fistfight. The next day, the Chinese national federation apologized to Brazil.

China's head coach, Bob Donewald -- an American -- along with three players and three match officials, were suspended for a few games by the Federation of International Basketball Association (FIBA).

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• game
• combat sports
• brawl
• extreme
• martial arts
• China
• america
• US
• USA
• PRC
• BASKETBALL
• Beijing

[SneakerNet27]

CHINESE IS A COUNTRY FULL OF BIASES..

[Showoffnoob]

@megaoceanpark all i heard from u at the start was america can't fight for shit u ain't resloving the bloody problem ur making it worse u moron

[megaoceanpark]

@Showoffnoob lol its about time someone stood up to America and free the world from its oppression n bullying! It ain't China with military bases around the world. It ain't China in Iraq n afghan n bombing Libya. And what I said is true about America. They send their new immigrants to war in exchange 4 quick progressing of a green card!

Can you handle the truth? I can tell you more!

[Showoffnoob]

@megaoceanpark really u had to make a stupid comment to start an arguement are u that bored u stupid 6 yr old get screwed

[djescolesco]

us would whoop china's ass in a fist fight bet

[ChainDesk4]

you see them, Chinese guys who try to gang up on this other guy who grabs the basketball and try to run with it in 21 to 23 then another of his team mate comes over like lightning and just steam rolls this china guy. i love how the china cop is just walking around looking at the audience spectators the whole time. instead of helping break up the fight. lol

[BBQHotPocket]

Take it easy guys, I play basketball in north america and I see fights all the time. It was a tied game 64:64 when they started the brawl so it might have gotten too competitive. I doubt the players wanted to play each other in the first place considering their differences, it was meant to be a stupid political show with an ideal which obviously none of the players agreed upon. And a fight is a mutual thing, both parties are responsible.

[nickboomer94]

Chinese people love violent my friends,also the Chinese audients,they throw many bottle of water to American team. What kind of behaviour is this???

FUCKING CHINESE

[patricklaw8]

雖然不太認同武力,但又要考慮一點,中國:美國(China:U­.S) 既犯規次數(time of foul)=11:28

[chy07252001]

賽後中國應出動新下水的航空母艦與美國雷根號對打!