Olympians can't get out of each others' pants

[Symmetry]

communist party handlers? how ignorant.

are you saying there is no such thing???

Are you trying to tell me that a star Chinese athlete could just say tomorrow... "no I don't want to participate in the Olympics... I would prefer to move to San Diego and get involved in American sports"... and that there would be no repercussions for this person or his/her family back home???

Yao Ming?

Yao Ming (born September 12, 1980) is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in).[1]
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Houston Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. He reached the NBA Playoffs four times, and the Rockets won a first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. However, Yao missed 250 regular-season games due to foot and ankle injuries in his final six seasons.[2]
He is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds.

Not the Olympics, sure, but the NBA. Did he suffer repercussions?

[jimboston]

communist party handlers? how ignorant.

are you saying there is no such thing???

Are you trying to tell me that a star Chinese athlete could just say tomorrow... "no I don't want to participate in the Olympics... I would prefer to move to San Diego and get involved in American sports"... and that there would be no repercussions for this person or his/her family back home???

Yao Ming?

Yao Ming (born September 12, 1980) is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in).[1]
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Houston Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. He reached the NBA Playoffs four times, and the Rockets won a first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. However, Yao missed 250 regular-season games due to foot and ankle injuries in his final six seasons.[2]
He is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds.

Not the Olympics, sure, but the NBA. Did he suffer repercussions?

Yao had approval from the Chinese gov't. and pre-negotiated what he would pay back to the gov't in "taxes".

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nba/stor ... ntract.htm
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/s ... l?page=all

There may be some debate over exactly what he has paid.... but he made some payments for sure. It's also likely the number has changed and been renegotiated since the original release.

Of course... he also had to pay US Income Tax.

The point is... he couldn't just walk away and sign up for the NBA Draft... it took multiple years and many lawyers.

[BigBallinStalin]

communist party handlers? how ignorant.

are you saying there is no such thing???

Are you trying to tell me that a star Chinese athlete could just say tomorrow... "no I don't want to participate in the Olympics... I would prefer to move to San Diego and get involved in American sports"... and that there would be no repercussions for this person or his/her family back home???

Yao Ming?

Yao Ming (born September 12, 1980) is a retired Chinese professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). At the time of his final season, he was the tallest active player in the NBA, at 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in).[1]
Yao, who was born in Shanghai, started playing for the Shanghai Sharks as a teenager, and played on their senior team for five years in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), winning a championship in his final year. After negotiating with the CBA and the Sharks to secure his release, Yao was selected by the Houston Rockets as the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Yao was selected to start for the Western Conference in the NBA All-Star Game eight times, and was named to the All-NBA Team five times. He reached the NBA Playoffs four times, and the Rockets won a first-round series in the 2009 postseason, their first playoff series victory since 1997. However, Yao missed 250 regular-season games due to foot and ankle injuries in his final six seasons.[2]
He is one of China's best-known athletes, with sponsorships with several major companies. His rookie year in the NBA was the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, and he co-wrote, along with NBA analyst Ric Bucher, an autobiography titled Yao: A Life in Two Worlds.

Not the Olympics, sure, but the NBA. Did he suffer repercussions?

Yao had approval from the Chinese gov't. and pre-negotiated what he would pay back to the gov't in "taxes".

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/nba/stor ... ntract.htm
http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/s ... l?page=all

There may be some debate over exactly what he has paid.... but he made some payments for sure. It's also likely the number has changed and been renegotiated since the original release.

Of course... he also had to pay US Income Tax.

The point is... he couldn't just walk away and sign up for the NBA Draft... it took multiple years and many lawyers.

Obviously, China is a freer society than the US!

[yang guize]

Are you trying to tell me that a star Chinese athlete could just say tomorrow... "no I don't want to participate in the Olympics... I would prefer to move to San Diego and get involved in American sports"... and that there would be no repercussions for this person or his/her family back home???

yes. perhaps you have seen a film where scary chinese government men send civilians to death camps, but that is not reality.

and LOL. i click your link. 2 or 3 million drug users? our country has 1 and a half BILLION. you are talking about maybe 0.1% of the country who ever takes drugs.
there are some places - cities, where there is a lot of drugs. wuhan has a problem. but it is contained.

[yang guize]

and i have never said 'all chinese'. why do you keep saying that i have? i said 'most'. these are the broader values of the country. and it is true that rural areas are more traditional and less prone to the excesses of the cities.
maybe you could visit some chinese villages and see what you are talking about.

[jimboston]

and LOL. i click your link. 2 or 3 million drug users? our country has 1 and a half BILLION. you are talking about maybe 0.1% of the country who ever takes drugs.
there are some places - cities, where there is a lot of drugs. wuhan has a problem. but it is contained.

but you said "no one"

so that means according to Chinese math...

2-3 million = 0

yes?

Or better... stop making stupid absolute statement.

[yang guize]

i said almost no one. LOL. when you people going to learn how to read every word?

[heavycola]

What would it be like if everyone on CC lived in the ConquerClub Village?

a lot of gay sex

Apparently Grindr - a dating app for gay men, where by 'dating' i mean ''shagging' - crashed when the athlete's village started filling up.

Did you SEE the swedish team in the opening ceremony? That was me in the athlete's village I'd be havin' my own lil' opening ceremony, if you knowwhadimean, huh? yeah? yeah!

[jimboston]

i said almost no one. LOL. when you people going to learn how to read every word?

So 2-3 million = Almost No One?

[yang guize]

as i said. 2 million is maybe 0.1% of the population. that is pretty insignificant.

[yang guize]

looking at it another way - 99.9% of the population do not use drugs.