Sports
AT THE BUZZER Jeremy Lin is whatever the current slang for “really quite good” is. He’s been dropping bombs in the NBA at the New York Knickerbockers. He’s gone from “guy who was cut by the Rockets and then sent to the D-league” to “the new Yao Ming” in under a month. In fact, he’s better than Yao as he’s already been to university. Harvard, no less. In other hoop news, the NBA revealed that they drew 96 million viewers during their debut Chinese New Year Celebration. And consider how that was before Jeremy Lin got everyone’s knickerbockers in a twist. Both Mashup and Pyro Pizza are hosting beer pong tournaments in March. For those who doubt whether beer pong is a sport, it is. Just. Beijing Cricket Club star t their season this month. The highlight will be June’s Beijing International Cricket Sixes. The Beijing Guardians have started training for the Beijing-Shanghai Bowl, which takes place in May. Mashup are intermittently playing pickup football before they start their flag football season on April 13. To find out more, see Mashupasia.com.
linsomnia? jeremy lin looks tired of all these puns on his name
Talking Balls Jonathan White Can’t See The Signs
photo: nBA china
G
et yourself some passport photos and a pen. March is the month of signing-up for sports. The international women of Beijing Ladies Golfers have their season opening luncheon on March 8 (which, fittingly enough, is also International Women’s Day). The less gender-specific Beijing Golfers get the march on them by starting their season on March 3 with their annual Polar Classic. If golfers are outside, then you know it’s warmer weather – there is a reason that they call them fairways. Everyone’s getting in on the act, including us. We’re putting a team in the ClubFootball Spring League and we need you to play for us. There’ll be news of how to sign up for Beijing’s newest five-a-side team on TheBeijinger.com. For fans of the 11-a-side game, the International
Friendship Football Club’s season has also resumed. According to the always reliable Wikipedia, other football codes exist. This is certainly true in Beijing. The Beijing Bombers reprise their Aussie rules training while Beijing GAA do the same for Gaelic football. They’re both readying themselves for their all-action compromise rules showdown on April 14. Hockey may not be any kind of football at all, but you’ll be willing to forgive that when the payoff for Beijing Hockey Club’s sessions is a trip to next month’s Hong Kong Sixes. If you got involved in Heyrunning last month, you must be almost ready for the 10km cross-country slog of Harrowthon 2012. The event is in aid of Fengtai Orphanage so there’s good reason to sign up. The better news is that they are willing to take runners right until the race
starts at 10am on Sunday, March 18. This means you can leave the decision until you’re still drunk from the night before. The night before is, of course, St. Patrick’s Day. The saint himself was sporty enough to have St. Patrick’s Athletic named after him, and his day is marked by two local rivals going head-to-head. The Beijing Devils and the Beijing Aardvarks reignite their rivalry by both having their registration nights for the new season on March 17. The Devils are at The Den and the Aardvarks can be found yards away in Danger Doyle’s. Both are promising you a season of rugby, related antics and a very boozy sign-up night. It’ll be a foolish man who braves the no man’s land of Gung Ho! that evening. Hopefully no one gets a wrist injury from all this signing up.
Hopefully the second-seed Beijing Ducks will still be going strong in the CBA Playoffs. The playoffs began on February 22. If the first round needs all five games, then they’ll play on March 2 in Beijing. Football comes home to Gongti as both the Chinese Super League and AFC Champions’ League kick off. The continental competition’s group stage lasts into May, so there’s a month or two to enjoy Asia’s showpiece tournament. The provisional schedule suggested home games against Shanghai Shenhua (Mar 16) and Tianjin Teda (Mar 30), but that has since vanished from the Internet. March’s Sports on TV (Beijing time) Mar 7-8 & 14-15 UEFA Champions’ League Round of 16 Mar 9 & 16 Europa League Round of 16 Mar 18 F1 Australian Grand Prix Mar 25 F1 Malaysian Grand Prix Mar 28 & 29 UEFA Champions’ League quarterfinals Mar 30 Europa League quarter-finals Every weekend RBS Six Nations Rugby
March 2012
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