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Here are two videos from Sunday night’s Yao Ming Foundation Charity Gala. Enjoy!
Here’s a video of Yao preparing Peking Duck with chef Ming Tsai.
I was really impressed with the program that was printed for the Yao Ming Foundation Charity Gala held Sunday night in Houston. It was better than some programs I’ve seen for college and basketball National Championship games. Here are 12 pages from the program:
At last night’s Charity Gala that Yao’s Foundation threw in Houston, I met Yahoo! Sports’ Marc Spears, who covers the NBA. Marc told me he’d be writing a story on Yao after being able to talk to him last night before the Gala. Here’s the story.
I got back a little while ago from the Yao Ming Foundation Charity Gala at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. I didn’t know what to expect, but I have to say I was pretty impressed. Of course, Yao Ming and his wife Ye Li attended, which was good to see since she is about 5 months pregnant, and glowing.
There was a good turnout among Yao’s teammates, like Shane Battier, Chase Budinger, Jared Jeffries, Jermaine Taylor, Hilton Armstrong, and David Armstrong. It must be tough for them to put on a happy face after losing four games in a row, so you have to give them credit for coming out to support Yao.
Former Rocket Dikembe Mutombo, former Rockets GM Carroll Dawson, Rockets CEO Tad Brown, and owner Leslie Alexander also attended. Team Yao members Bill Duffy, John Huizinga, and Bill Sanders also flew in for the event.
I liked how it was a fairly intimate setting, capped at about 300 attendees. As a result, it wasn’t uncomfortably crowded — you could move around without bumping into people. That’s a nice touch for the attendees who paid $500 per ticket. And because of it, It was relatively easy for people to get their picture taken with Yao and other Rocket players.
Lots of Chinese media also attended, so I know there are going to be tons of photos posted online from them. I took my own photos, too, which are posted here in the forum along with some details from Raymond, as well as photos from Chinese news agencies.
Because it’s so late, I’ll be posting in the next day or two more details and video I recorded at the Gala, so stay tuned.
I really liked the translation that Raymond did of an interview that Titan Sports conducted with Yao this week. Here’s a breakdown of the translation:
* Life for Yao Ming these days is pretty slow-paced. He is very even-tempered and patient. He used to talk about his life as a quick-tempered young rebel in the past, but with this injury and this past year, he has changed and now leads a very slow-paced and cautious life.
* Since returning from China from his Chinese New Year holiday, he changed his rehab schedule. He used to workout 5 days a week, then rest on Saturday and Sunday. But he thought that would be bad for controlling his diet since resting two consecutive days at home gave him too much temptation to o eat, so he has changed his rest days to Thursday and Sunday.
* Since his return from China, Yao has successfully reduced his weight 10 pounds. His target for the next couple of months is to lose some 30 to 40 some pounds, which will reduce pressure on his restructured foot.
* People ask him whether he is worried and is anxious (to return to play). He replies, “What is the use of worrying? I just have to focus on my rehab.”
* Just imagine how difficult the past 9 months had been for Big Yao. As an athlete, he was not able to run. He had to spend most of his time in bed for the initial 2 months. He had to rely on his crutches to walk for 4-5 months. He had changed multiple pairs of those protective boots. It wasn’t until his return from China at the end of February that the doctors allowed him to take off his protective boot.
* To step up his diet and lose weight, he had changed to drinking Pu Er tea ?? instead of Green Tea.
* In those days that he was allowed to get rid of his crutches, he always joked about himself: “It’s funny for a guy like me at my age to have to start learning how to walk.” In another two months, he will have to learn how to run. It is both funny and ridiculous, just like a 30-year-old man learning how to use chopsticks.
* But that is the kind of life Yao Ming has to face these days. He can only jog in the swimming pool and on the treadmill, or ride a bike, but he has yet to experience the thrill and speed of running. Running remains a luxury to him at the moment.
* Reporters kept asking Big Yao whether he was depressed/frustrated seeing his teammates play. He replied, “I’ve already adapted to the present pace and style of my daily life. There is nothing to be depressed or anxious about. At least according to the doctors, I’m on schedule with my rehabilitation. They told me I can start to jog/run in May, then I will start to jog and run in May. There is nothing to be depressed or anxious about. If by May, the results for my jogging and running turn out unsatisfactory, maybe then it is the time to talk about whether I’m depressed/frustrated or not. As of this moment, everything is on schedule with my rehabilitation. I’m fine with it.”
* So Yao Ming continues with his life. For most of the home games, he went to cheer and support his team mates at Toyota Center. The playoffs in the CBA have started. He has to wake up early in order to watch his Shanghai MAXXIS Sharks play (from TV or his computer).
* By 8am every morning, he will go to the Memorial Hermann Hospital for the doctors/therapists to inspect and work on his foot. By 9 am, he will then proceed to Toyota Center for his strenuous rehabilitation training regimen. Normally he calls the day off by noon.
* Yao will then spend his afternoon at home with his cup of Pu Er, accompanying his expecting wife. He can’t start running until May.
Last Friday, Yao took some time off from his rehab and visited the SEARCH Homeless Shelter in Houston. He helped some of the volunteers fill toiletry bags for the homeless, visited with some of the homeless, and signed autographs.
2010 NBAE (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)
Click here for more photos from Yao’s visit to the shelter.
Then on Saturday, he went to Toyota Center and was joined on the bench with a bevy of injured Rockets, including Shane Battier, David Anderson, Jared Jeffries, and Kevin Martin. Depressing as the Rockets lost their fourth in a row, this time against the Lakers.
Click here for more photos of Yao at the game.
This article appeared in the NYT on Saturday. It’s a complimentary piece about the Rockets and Yao, and a good recap of what the Rockets have done this year in anticipation of Yao’s return (if you haven’t been tracking the team closely this season).
Here are some of the quotes I liked:
No lottery-bound team is poised for a more rapid turnaround, however. It all depends on the health of Yao’s left foot. Yao, the 7-foot-6 center, had surgery last July and is expected back next season. He will rejoin a lineup that has grown deeper and more mature in his absence.
[Daryl Morey] “The reality is, you need a guy like Yao Ming to win the title. We don’t have another way to acquire a guy as good as him. It makes sense no matter what the situation is for us to bet on that.”
Yao posted this on his Facebook page today:
I am looking forward to my charity gala this Sunday in Houston. I am inviting my teammates. Putting the gala in the Houston Museum in an interesting idea. Hopefully our guests will have an unforgettable night there. There will be an auction. It’s not just me signing jerseys. We’ll have auctions of other players in other sports.
For the past couple of years our people have been working so hard to helping those kids who lost their school during the earthquake, but also here during Hurricane Ike. We’re try to rebuild those schools in China and in Houston. We were pretty successful last year but we still need to add more equipment.
Here’s a link to Yao’s Foundation page promoting the event. I understand tickets are still available.
Yao attended the Rockets-Boston game at Toyota Center. Unfortunately, the Rockets didn’t prevail in the game, but Aaron Brooks had an impressive high-five with Yao before the game started.
Click here for more photos from the game.
On Tuesday, Yao attended a carnival at Toyota Center the Rockets held to thank season ticket holders. Yao posed for photographs with some of the fans, like these…
Click here for more photos from the carnival.
A day or two before the carnival, Yao opened up his home privately to promote his upcoming charity gala on March 28th in Houston. Here is a write-up of the event from CultureMap.com
Yes, but the press was not allowed and no photos were taken. So we can’t tell you if the door frames of Houston Rocket Yao Ming’s home are exceptionally high or the furnishings are super-sized. Those who were invited in were leaders of the Asian community, business execs and members of the Yao Ming Foundation Gala host committee.
While Ming spoke about his foundation’s work aiding earthquake victims in China, the point of the gathering was to stir interest in the March 28 gala at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Chinese dancers will perform. Emmy award-winning chef Ming Tsai will present a food demonstration and singer Michael Cavanaugh, the Billy Joel sound-alike, will perform. Expect a tantalizing dinner courtesy of Yao Restaurant and Bar.
Tickets start at $500 with limited availability at this lowest price.
On Saturday, Yao attended the Rockets’ game against the New Jersey Nets.
Before the game, he met with the Houston chapter of the Yao Ming Fan Club along with personnel from the Chinese Consulate of Houston.
Click here for more photos of Yao’s visit with his Fan Club members and of Yao at the game.
The Rockets won the game thanks to an epic night from Luis Scola, who scored a career high 44 points and later wrote the following on his Sohu.com blog referencing a conversation he had with Yao.
Yao, Catch Me if U Can
What a night. It’s one of the nights that everything I tried worked. I have never had a 44-point night before. Once 40 points in Spain. I’m happy. But we also win, which is more important. We got 2 wins in a row now. That’s what we have to focus. I am happy with the ways our team are performing. I’m optimistic about next games to come.
A couple of days ago, when I got 20-20, I remembered a conversation between Yao and me. A year ago, I got 18 rebounds, he came to me and said,’hi, I do have 20-20, you don’t.” I told him,’ that’s not the only thing that you have and I don’t.’ But now I have a 20-20. So he had it and I got it too. Now I’ve just known that he just have 41 points as the career high. hey, Now I have something he has to face. When I see him, I’m gonna tell him.
Talk to you soon, my friends in China.
Last Wednesday, Yao took a trip to watch the Rockets’ D-League team — the Rio Grande Valley Vipers — in Hidalgo, Texas. He was accompanied by Rockets’ CEO Tad Brown, who announced the Rockets would play a preseason game against the Orlando Magic on October 5th. The Rockets also announced they would hold their training camp in the area.
Yao also answered questions from the local media and talked about the recovery of his foot:
“So far, so good. It’s been boring not playing basketball all year. Sometimes, your heart is a little anxious when you see your team playing on TV or sitting with them on the bench.”
To see more photos of Yao in Hildago, click here. For more information about the visit as covered by the local media, click here. Below is a video of the press conference: