YaoMingMania.com

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About YaoMingMania.com

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I have received a ton of email asking, "Who are you?" or "Who are you guys?" To start, YaoMingMania.com is a one-man operation. I started the site a few days after the Rockets won the right to draft Yao #1 in the NBA draft in late May 2002. What were the reasons? Well, I am… a life-long Rockets fanatic a Web junkie who loves working and surfing on the Internet an Asian-American who wants to see Yao do well I am not affiliated with the Rockets nor the NBA; however, I wouldn't mind establishing a dialogue with them since I know it could make YaoMingMania.com even better. No matter what happens, though, I plan to maintain my objectivity and call things as I see them. Obviously, I like to celebrate Yao's successes when he does well. What Rockets fan wouldn't? However, I also will point out those deficiencies where I believe Yao and the Rockets need to show improvement. Moreover, when I started the site, I believed writers and broadcasters needed to be held accountable when they were negligently wrong. Surprisingly, there were many misguided, outspoken and outright rude opinions expressed in the media during the first few weeks of Yao's NBA career. We don't know if these opinions were based on stereotypes or by an unwillingness to study Yao's history or what well-informed basketball experts were saying about him. Yao took the "high road" and did not fight back, but I believed there needed to be someone on the Internet that could defend not only him but the misconception that Asian basketball players don't have what it takes to succeed in the NBA. Needless to say, Yao has proven these skeptics wrong. The time commitment So you may be asking, "How much time does it take to work on YaoMingMania.com?" The answer? A tremendous amount of time. When the Rockets play, it takes 7-8 hours to watch the game, take notes, watch it again on videotape, write the analysis, proofread it, make the shot chart, put everything into Web format, make it look decent, post photos (if they are available), and the list goes on. That's why some of you won't see content for each game posting on the site sometimes until very late in the evening. The total amount of time it takes per week is easily over 30 hours. And because it takes much longer to do all of this work (more than I thought it would be when I first started), I don't have much time for anything else with my free time. But that's okay. With the tremendous positive feedback I have received, I CAN'T stop now! There might be occasional games where I will not be able to provide a "Detailed Yao Analysis" or shot chart because of travel or other work commitments, but my goal is to cover 90% of the games in full detail. How you can help People from all over the world visit the site on a daily basis, and their encouragement and positive reinforcement has been inspiring. In addition, the number of people who visit YaoMingMania.com has exceeded my wildest expectations. As a result, though, my expenses associated with running the site (like web hosting, etc.) have skyrocketed. So like many webmasters do, I am accepting donations to help keep the site going as a free, ad banner-less destination. If you like YaoMingMania.com and are motivated to help me out, I only ask that you contribute whatever you can to keep this site going. Listed below are various methods to donate to the site. The great thing is that since I am a one-man operation, there are very few overhead expenses. There are no fancy offices, web designers or consultants to pay. For the most part, it's just my computer and me. Future plans You may see on the site some links or references to people who donate their services every so often, but it will only be because they are doing things I can't do. For example, the small ad banners you see at the bottom of some of the pages are provided by a company that offers Web site traffic statistics. However, if I collect enough donations, I'll get rid of those banners and pay the market price for those services. I'll also try to implement other cool features, like multimedia (a bandwidth hog) if I can get permission from the NBA to show videos. I've also been offered help in re-designing the Web site or developing the content on a game-by-game basis. Although I appreciate the help, my main concern right now is the financial aspect of running the site. At some point in the future I can see collaborating with volunteers on updating the site, but that kind of effort has various time management challenges as well. In closing, I must point out that I'll frequently use the word "we" in my analysis. Although I'm doing all of the work myself, my spouse has provided a substantial amount of moral support, especially during those late evening (and early morning) sessions when I'm working diligently. Without her support of this very time-consuming passion of mine, YaoMingMania.com would not be possible. So I'm compelled to continue using the word "we" when referencing the site because she has been so cool about it. Thanks again for all your support. Ciao…or rather "cYAO," John john@YaoMingMania.com

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Donating to the site

There are three ways you can make a contribution to YaoMingMania.com:

Method	Details
Check, cash or money order	Please make your donation to "YMM" and send to: YMM P.O. Box 542184 Houston, TX 77254-2184
Amazon	Using this method is fairly convenient, especially if you have ordered something from Amazon before. Note: Both Amazon and PayPal deduct a fee from what the site would ultimately receive, but you would not be charged anything extra from what you donate. After clicking on the button to the left, you will be asked to login if you already have an Amazon account. You will then be asked to choose the credit card you have on file with Amazon from which to disburse the funds, or add another credit card to your profile. If you haven't created an Amazon account, it's pretty easy to register. You just enter an email address and set up a password. Then you'll input your credit card information and billing address information, and within a few moments you'll be able to make your donation. Other web sites that use this method of collecting donations can be found here.
Paypal Click button below to...	Just click on the button to the left and follow the instructions. I believe PayPal has made it easier to donate money compared to last year. If for some reason you find the process cumbersome, let me know (john@YaoMingMania.com) and I will provide more instructional text. FYI: Another web site using the PayPal method of collecting donations can be found here.