This had me laughing, too. It's unclear whether this video will have any appeal to non-baseball fans out there -- perhaps let us know in the comments -- but if you know Manny, you'll appreciate this. Yahoo's Big League Stew blog would like to remind us, however: ...

Brittney Griner, who recently closed out one of the most dominant college careers in women's basketball history, is coming to China. NiuBBall reports: Apparently not satisfied enough with their previous 6’8 dunking female center, the Zhejiang Chouzhou Golden Bulls have taken things up a notch, signing not only the world’s greatest women’s dunker, but possibly its most dominant as well. ...

A bombshell in the CBA: Boss Wang Xingquan of the Shanxi Zhongyu Brave Dragons has sold his team to Beijing Enterprises Group Co. Ltd., for 1.2 billion 120 million yuan (US $194.5 $19.5 million), according to Sina via NiuBBall. The Beijing-based investment group will be moving the team up north, to the nation's capital, where Marcus Williams and Charles Gaines's crew will surely begin a cross-town rivalry w ...

I call it the Weibo Rule (though in my head, Kripke from The Big Bang Theory is the narrator, and it’s the “Weibo Wule”). Take any China number widely quoted in Western media and divide by 10. Forbes proved the rule recently, pushing the “Sina Weibo has more than 500 million users” line when, by Sina’s own admission, active users are under 50 million. Here’s Forbes again, this time on why 14-year-old Chines ...

Chris Tang caught our attention in February 2012, when it looked like he might be the best Chinese high school basketball player on the planet. He has the size (6-foot-3 last we checked, though he's likely still growing), the athletic ability, and the shooting touch. He's also enrolled at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, a veritable factory for basketball players at elite college programs across the country. ...

On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers’ torturous season suffered another calamity when star guard Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles tendon, ending one of his most impressive statistical seasons on a down note. Though the 34-year-old Bryant has his detractors, his work ethic and ability to battle through injuries are legendary, moving opposing fans and Lakers supporters alike to “#PrayForKobe” on Twitter. Similarly, ...

"Golfer from China." "Chinese golfer." "Asian." Hell, just stick with "14-year-old." "Chinaman"? "Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature," notes Timothy Burke of Deadspin, who pulled the above clip from a newscast in Lafayette, Louisiana. ...

Fernando Alonso of Spain steered his Ferrari to victory at Formula One's Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday at Shanghai International Circuit. F1 fans should know Mark Webber didn't do as well, as WorldCarFans.com reports. Alonso, sounding more bored than anything afterward, said: "The celebrations tonight will be nothing special as I have an early flight for Bahrain," where F1's next race will be held. The Guard ...

Guan Tianlang accomplished two historic firsts in the second round of the Masters yesterday. He made the cut, becoming the youngest player to do so in any major (he was, after all, the youngest player to ever participate in any major). And he was assessed a stroke-penalty for "slow play" on the 17th hole. "He became the first player, by all accounts, in the 77 times they've held this tournament, to be asses ...

Guan Tianlang is precocious. He is a star. We're not sure if he knows this and is simply playing the role of establishmentarian golf prodigy to a tee -- with understated self-assessments washed with humility, a genial confidence -- or is just being himself, but judging by his post-round quotes, he doesn't feel at all uncomfortable in the spotlight as the biggest story story in this year's biggest golf tourn ...

Any reference to Chinese golf sensation Guan Tianlang inevitably mentions his age, and rightly so: the kid is just 14 and, in 14 and a half hours (12:24 am local time), will become the youngest ever to play in the Masters by a full two years. But in a reworking of an old sports cliché, age is temporary, class is permanent. Guan Tianlang was born to play golf. He has already been in the sporting spotlight fo ...

Chinese golf prodigy Guan Tianlang, 14, is set to become the youngest player ever to play at the Masters -- he tees off on Thursday at 12:24 pm Georgia time. But the youngster has already been busy on the links at Augusta, it appears. Behold, his Twitter account, @Guan_Tianlang (we can safely call it "under the radar," with only 199 followers). His five tweets -- including his first on April 3 -- have been ...

Two-time Olympic gold-medalist Zou Shiming triumphed in his professional debut on Saturday, which you surely already know, if you follow Chinese news. He won a four-round unanimous decision against Mexico's Eleazar Valenzuela in Macau's Cotai Arena at the Venetian, the result alternately described as "dominating" and "a formality." Ring announcer Michael Buffer, before the bout even began, said 300 million ...

"There aren't many basketball stars who step off the bench and directly into the dictionary," begins 60 Minutes's Jeremy Lin story -- only slightly belated. The part that's probably most interesting is when Lin talks, frankly, about race and stereotyping. This from the show's transcript: ...

Manny Ramirez launched a beautiful 7th-inning home run yesterday while playing for the EDA Rhinos in Taiwan, a rocket to deadaway center. He now has 556 home runs in the big leagues -- 555 in the MLB, and one in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. Ramirez, 40, also happened to hit the 7,000th home run in CPBL history, according to Baseball America (citing Taiwanese media). ...

Order was restored to the Chinese Basketball Association last night as the Guangdong Southern Tigers, winners of the CBA finals in 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, and 2004, beat Liaoning on the road, 94-74, to complete a four-game sweep. By "order" we mean devastating lack of parity, the type that makes one wonder: is Guangdong actually any good, or is every other team really supremely that bad? ...

If you attempt to kick a ball while wearing loafers on perfectly trimmed grass, this is liable to happen -- even if you're the best 37-year-old free-kick-taker in the world. Look at that elderly Chinese man reaching out to help. Look at the dude with his foot on the ball, too cool for even bemusement. We hope the old white man in the suit whipped out his point-and-click in time. This was in Wuhan, Hubei pro ...

David Beckham, China's first ambassador for soccer, arrived in Beijing on Wednesday morning to a, well, David Beckham welcome. Fans waited for hours for him to arrive to Shijia Hutong Primary School, where he played soccer in dress shoes and a butoned up shirt. He also kicked the ball around at the FC Guo'an practice facility. The above video is him arriving at the scene. ...

The story of China's World Baseball Classic win against Brazil begins like any other: on a dirt field. "The field took just four months to build amid the high-rise apartment blocks on the outskirts of Changzhou," begins Justin Bergman's story in Time two years ago. This was Major League Baseball's second training school, seeking to find Chinese ambassadors for a sport banned during the Cultural Revolution. ...

Good news sports fans: some of the planet's top athletes are planning preseason tours to Beijing and Shanghai. Let's start with basketball, the most popular sport this country by some metrics*. For the first time ever, the Los Angeles Lakers are coming to China. They're slated to play the Golden State Warriors on October 15 at the MasterCard Center in Beijing, then October 18 at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in S ...