Live-Blog Of Tonight’s Shanxi-Beijing Game 5

Shanxi vs. Beijing Game 5
Some tickets for tonight’s deciding fifth game between Shanxi and Beijing are going for more than 10,000 yuan, according to CCTV’s courtside reporter. Security is at maximum. Don’t even think about taking in lighters, bottles or any miscellany that can be thrown (paraphrasing Stephon Marbury: Beijing is not Shanxi). Join us for our live-blog of the... Read more »

Every Anelka Touch In His Chinese Super League Debut (And Every Goal From The ‘National Derby’)

Every Anelka Touch In His Chinese Super League Debut
The most expensive player in Chinese soccer history made his belated Super League debut yesterday in Beijing after sitting out last week's CSL opener with a knee injury. About 51,000 people packed Workers Stadium to see it. Even without Anelka, the 33-year-old striker nicknamed "Le Sulk" during his time at Arsenal, the game probably would have drawn massive interest, considering it was the National Derby, played between hated rivals Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Shenhua, and it was Beijing's home opener. But Anelka's presence, at the very least, piqued the attention of international media.

Anelka And Shanghai Shenhua FC Are In Beijing Tonight, And This Is Why You Should Root Against Them

Anelka and wife
So... the French. Their language sounds like a bit of old pudding being forced through a keyhole. Their attitude and manners are somewhere between a toaster and mildly mentally-deficient groundhog. And their only useful purpose, as far as I can see, is keeping the Germans away from the Spaniards, who seem really quite nice. The French are rubbish.

‘You Just Made A French Concession!’ And Other Heckles For Anelka At Tonight’s Beijing Guoan Home Opener

Charles Platiau / Reuters
Before you go racing to Workers Stadium though, you should know Anelka — the former Chelsea and French national team star — may not play tonight due to injury (game-time decision). Also, you may not want to chant “French Concession,” considering the last guy who used that phrase publicly got fined 47,500 yuan. And really,... Read more »

This Could Be The Dirtiest Soccer Foul Of The Year, And It Happened In A U12 Game In Hong Kong

Brutal
Via BadCanto, i.e. Dictionary of Politically Incorrect Hong Kong Chinese; Youku video for those in China after the jump The team in white is Kitchee, and they’re good. They beat the team in purple, ESF, 16-0 earlier in the year, according to the Youtube video above. But apparently ESF lied about the score, saying they... Read more »

Tonight’s Basketball Game In Beijing Has Been Postponed ‘In Order To Ensure League Safety’

Shanxi fan Cao Mou
Via NetEase Jon Pastuszek of the excellent NiuBball was, I’m sure, waiting as anxiously as I for tonight’s fifth and final game between Shanxi and Beijing. Unfortunately, we’ll all have to wait a little longer. Per Pastuszek’s translation of an official CBA release: In order to ensure league safety, Game 5 of the 2011-2012 CBA semi-finals between Beijing... Read more »

A Short Video In Which Marbury Refers To Shanxi Fans In Classic Understatement

A Short Video In Which Marbury Refers To Shanxi Fans In Classic Understatement featured image
The above is taken from a BTV preview of tomorrow's deciding Game 5 in Beijing. Sunday's incident in Shanxi is only alluded to because everyone is already pretending it wasn't a big deal. Asked about what Beijing's fans will be like, Stephon Marbury proceeds to bumble through 12 seconds of an answer before finally giving in to the temptation to diss Shanxi's fans, albeit gently. One sort of wishes he would've just come out and said they were pieces of shit, because they sure seemed like it.

Marbury Says Fan Who Accused Him Of Punching, Kicking Him Has ‘Wild Imagination’

Marbury Says Fan Who Accused Him Of Punching, Kicking Him Has ‘Wild Imagination’
At the 53-second mark in the above video, the Shanxi fan who accuses Stephon Marbury of punching him in the head and then kicking him after Sunday night's game tells the journalist: Because there were too many (Shanxi) fans, too crowded, when Marbury came out, the fans were careless so they squeezed around him. He (Marbury) had a water bottle in his hand and hit me square in the head, knocked me to the ground and kicked me in the face.