Stereotyping
Asian Americans are known for being good in Math and Science, but not in sports.
The students of Monta Vista are changing this stereotyping of Asian Americans.
Click on the Comments to read the article about "The changing face of basketball."
Labels: Asian, basketball, sport
posted by Hann @ 9:26 PM
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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
The changing face of basketball
MONTA VISTA IS A RARITY IN BOYS BASKETBALL -- A TEAM THAT STARTS FIVE ASIAN-AMERICANS
By David Kiefer
Mercury News
Shortly before tip-off, a referee turned to the Monta Vista basketball team, nodded toward one end of the gym and said, ``They've got to change that.''
On the wall above the main entrance is a mural, maybe 25 years old judging from the short shorts, of a long-haired blond boy competing in uniforms of various Matadors sports teams.
But the Monta Vista team that took the floor looked nothing like the caricature on the wall. In fact, Monta Vista is a rarity in boys high school basketball, a team with an all-Asian-American starting lineup.
It's not exactly Texas Western, the first college team to win a national title with five black starters, but it is significant in reflecting the changing demographics of the Santa Clara Valley.
The team has evolved from nearly all white to 69 percent Asian-American in the years since the mural was painted, yet basketball is just as important to the Matadors today as it was when long-haired blond athletes were the prototype.
In those days, the school developed a strong basketball tradition, winning Central Coast Section titles in 1977 and 1987 behind players such as Haakon ``The Hawk'' Austefjord, an import who would go on to play for the Norwegian national team, and Ron Reis, the hulking 7-footer who would become a professional wrestler under the handle ``Big Ron Stud.''
Today, the faces of Matadors basketball belong to Kevin Lang, Eric Lee, Luke Liu, Jon Ou, Marcus Woo and Sean Brar, the six players who have seen time as starters.
Significant? Ground-breaking? To some degree, it is.
``There are obstacles,'' said Luke Lang, Kevin's father and a past president of the Silicon Valley Basketball Club. ``Let's face it. This is a big man's sport, and the fact that there is an Asian starting lineup is encouraging to Asian youth. This tells them that if they work hard, they can compete. But to be fair, this might not happen if the school was only 10 percent Asian.''
All the starters are of Chinese heritage except for Brar, who is an Indo-American. Ou and Liu are first-generation Americans from Taiwan, and nearly all are products of the South Bay's flourishing Asian youth basketball clubs, some with strong traditions. Lee's San Jose Zebras date to 1930 and have been defined by the likes of coaching legend Dan Fukushima and Rex Walters, a Japanese-American who played seven seasons in the NBA.
By the time players arrive at Monta Vista, they are often well-schooled in basketball.
``To compensate for lack of height, we try to emphasize learning the game,'' Luke Lang said. ``We need to play the game smarter.''
First-year coach Matt Tait, 28, has the Matadors playing an up-tempo style that can take advantage of their quickness and abundance of guards. Liu, at 6-foot-2, starts at center in the Matadors' small-ball style, but Tait can bring in 6-10 Ben Hodges off the bench.
Going into Tuesday's play, Monta Vista was 9-9 overall but tied for first (2-1) in what is expected to be a wide-open race in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's El Camino Division.
``I think we have a shot to win it,'' Tait said.
In recent years, the program has struggled -- no playoff appearances in the past three seasons, and only one postseason victory since 1995. Coaches have come and gone, and interest in the program has waned.
Meanwhile, the school has earned all-time high test scores.
The enduring question at Monta Vista is whether basketball and academics can mix. Tait found that they can, with some room for compromise. Some players, like Ou, skip basketball during their junior years to concentrate on academics.
``The junior academic year was too important,'' Ou said.
For others, such as Liu, who carries a weighted 4.0 grade-point average, basketball can be taken away if there is a slip in grades.
``Every job has upsides and downsides,'' Tait said. ``If you go to a school where academics isn't an issue, that can be a downside. But no matter where you are, you're going to have issues.''
But Tait is convinced basketball can remain a vital part of Monta Vista High. The trick? Just ignore the mural.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/16477493.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
When the housing bubble bursts, we'll all pay
Not to gloat, but "I told you so" - about two years ago, if I remember correctly. Today, nearly one in four mortgages (23.8 percent) in the Vallejo-Fairfield area are expected to be in foreclosure. That's a 405 percent increase since the 1998-2001 rates of 4.7 percent and the highest in the nation. Ain't it great to be Numero Uno?
Remember the slides from the presentation I gave back in 2005 regarding foreclosures in the last six months of 2004? I only wish that I could predict the outcome of horse races and stocks as well as this. Unfortunately, horses and stocks are pretty much based on chance, not stupidity, which makes it much easier to detect and predict the outcome.
My biggest concern is how much will the bailout of the stupidity and greed in the lending industry cost us taxpayers for the rest of our lives - and our descendants' lives? There are billions of dollars in bad paper floating around out there that will eventually end up in some sewer farm to be paid off by us. We are still paying off the bailout of the Lincoln Savings & Loan collapse, which was totally caused by fraud on the CEO's part.
And, by the way, Allen "Everything is Wonderful" Greenspan was a Lincoln financial consultant
who pronounced its financial status as excellent just months before the scandal broke. His next job, of course, was chairman of the Fed, probably based on his excellent resume.
Thank you, Mr. Greenspan, for rescuing us from the "Internet bubble" by creating a "housing bubble" that we will pay off for generations - unless China forgives our debt in return for ownership of the United States. Better have our children practice their Chinese.
Last year I relocated to Moab, Utah, and when I returned to Vacaville for the holidays, I noticed, but was not surprised by, the city's new "strip mall," that was supposed to be the resurrection of the Nut Tree, with a conference center, hotel, etc.
Funny how predictable these things are. Project promises and deliveries are rarely even identifiable as coming from the same developers and politicians who originally proposed and approved them. They are just quietly swept under the rug in City Hall, where they are trampled in the endless quest for more, bigger, better, until there is no more and my hometown is just another asphalt wasteland.
Thanks for letting me vent. Unfortunately, this tragic comedy is only just beginning. No one knows what Acts II and III will bring.
Bud F. Turner, Moab, Utah
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