They Call Us Bruce 233: They Call Us Asians in Baseball

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.

What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

In this episode, we welcome Kim Cooper and Scott Okamoto, co-hosts of the podcast Asians in Baseball, just in time for spring training. They discuss the current renaissance of Asian and Asian American players in Major League Baseball; becoming a baseball fan in this extraordinary moment; Shohei Otani's ass; the Lenn Sakata Fan Club; and the unifying love of Kim Ha-Seong. Also: The Good, The Bad, and The WTF of Asians in baseball.

This Spring, Baseball Returns to Manzanar

The Manzanar Baseball Project will stage two games at the Manzanar National Historic Site.

Here's an incredible project that could use your eyes and dollars -- a unique community event that combines sports, history, memory and social justice. This spring, The Manzanar Baseball Project will stage two baseball games on a newly restored field at the Manzanar National Historic Site in the Mojave Desert.

Manzanar was the first of ten detention camps where Americans of Japanese ancestry were unjustly imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. Overall, it was the largest mass incarceration in American history with 120,000 people being imprisoned between 1942 and 1945.

For many incarcerated Japanese Americans during this time, resilience meant creating a sense of "home" in any way possible, including playing sports. And in the 1940s, baseball was the most popular sport in the country -- including and especially in the camps, where dozens of leagues were formed with hundreds of players.

They Call Us Bruce 195: They Call Us Shib Sibs

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

In this episode, we welcome the awesome sibling duo Alex and Maia Shibutani, two-time Olympic medalist ice dancers and authors of the children's picture book Amazing: Asian American and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All. They discuss their unique journey growing up as brother/sister teammates on the ice, their evolution as role models and community advocates, and The Good, The Bad, and The WTF of working with your sibling.

They Call Us Bruce 182: They Call Us The Black Widow

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. (Almost) each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

In this episode, we welcome champion pool player Jeanette Lee, subject of the ESPN documentary 30 For 30: Jeanette Lee VS., and director Ursula Liang. They discuss the career and legacy of the "Black Widow" in professional billiards and beyond, overcoming pain and pressure from all sides when life knocks you down, and approaching the pool table with confidence, swagger, and your whole, authentic, black-clad self.

New Documentary Revisits the Legend of Linsanity

'38 at the Garden' premieres October 11 on HBO.



I'll always remember the night Jeremy Lin dropped a stunning 38 points on the Lakers at Madison Square Garden. A new documentary short, 38 at the Garden, chronicles the extraordinary ascendance of your favorite Asian American point guard during his landmark 2012 season with the New York Knicks -- the period that affectionately became known as "Linsanity." You know the story. But I'll never get tired of it.

A decade later, Lin's stature as a groundbreaking, cultural icon stands in stark relief to the recent hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. 38 at the Garden recognizes a pivotal moment in time for Lin and celebrates a phenomenon that was bigger than basketball for the world. The film features a candid, new interview with Lin, as well as journalists Lisa Ling and Pablo Torre, comedians Ronny Chieng, Hasan Minhaj and Jenny Yang, and Knicks teammates Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert.

Here's the trailer:

How, in 2021, do people not know that "chink" is a slur?

Devin Funches apologizes for saying "chinky."



Over the weekend during a press conference, Green Bay Packers receiver Devin Funchess used the word "chinky" to describe the smiling eyes of reporters. He clearly wasn't directing the slur at anyone; he wasn't even referring to any actual Asian person. It was, on the surface, a word uttered out of ignorance.

More here: Green Bay Packers WR Devin Funches apologizes for anti-Asian remark

But this incident, and the similarly casually racist Juventus slant-eye photo debacle, point to a bigger issue, as sports commentator Pablo Torre points out in this excerpt from the ESPN Daily podcast.

Sunisa Lee Helps U.S. Women Gymnastics Team Win Silver

She received 15.4 -- the highest score on the uneven bars so far at the Tokyo Olympics.



With Russia's women"s gymnastics team leading by more than a point and Simone Biles abruptly out of the competition in Tuesday's team final, it fell to Sunisa Lee, anchoring the United States on the uneven bars, to keep the Americans' gold medal hopes alive. It was, Lee said afterward, "the most pressure I’ve ever felt in my life." It didn’t show. Lee received a score of 15.4 on the uneven bars, the highest mark anyone has received on bars at the Olympics so far.

More here: Sunisa Lee Stepped Up When Simone Biles Stepped Back

Suni Lee Earns a Spot at the Tokyo Olympics

18-year-old gymnast will be the first Hmong American athlete to compete at the Olympics.



On Sunday, 18-year-old gymnast Suni Lee placed second at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials, automatically earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team and qualifying for the Tokyo games. Lee, the three-time 2019 World Championships medalist who finished second to Simone Biles, is believed to be the first Hmong American athlete to complete at the Olympics.

Some Saturday Night Linsanity, G-League Style

In his third game for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Jeremy Lin went off.



Watch Jeremy Lin score 29, hit 7 threes for Santa Cruz in G-League win
If he keeps playing like this, Jeremy Lin could find his way back to the NBA sooner than later. On Saturday, in just his third G League game, Jeremy Lin finished with 29 points, nine assists, and 7-of-9 shooting from three in a 124-116 win for the Santa Cruz Warriors against the Westchester Knicks.

Wat Misaka, first nonwhite player in the NBA, dies at 95

Japanese American point guard debuted with the New York Knicks in 1947.



Wat Misaka, the pioneering Japanese American athlete who became the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball, died Wednesday in Salt Lake City. He was 95.

Wat Misaka, First Nonwhite in Modern Pro Basketball, Dies at 95

Misaka, the son of Japanese immigrants, starred for the University of Utah on teams that won two national tournament championships. In 1947, he made professional debut with the New York Knicks -- then part of the Basketball Association of America, a forerunner of the National Basketball.

Wat Misaka Throwback Jersey honors a basketball pioneer

Custom throwback jersey created by G Yamazawa.



Contrary to popular belief, Jeremy Lin was not the first player of Asian descent in the NBA. In 1947, Wat Misaka, a 5-foot-7 Japanese American point guard from Utah, suited up and played three games with the New York Knicks to become the first nonwhite player in professional basketball.

Now you know. Now check out this incredibly cool Wat Misaka Throwback replica jersey, created by acclaimed poet/emcee G Yamazawa, paying tribute to the pioneering sports figure.

Produced with the blessing of Misaka's family, this handmade, custom cut and sew throwback jersey comes in black and white inspired by Misaka's championship run at Weber College, as well as a fire red Japanese colorway. Each purchase includes a retro basketball card (including randomly inserted autograph editions) designed by Gabe Gets. 20% of profits will be donated to the Special Olympics.

Get it here.

Here are some more images:

Security guards still don't believe Jeremy Lin is in the NBA

Jeremy Lin was recently stopped from boarding the player bus in Milwaukee.



The Good News: Jeremy Lin and the Toronto Raptors are headed to the NBA Championship Finals for the first time. The Bad News: Jeremy Lin still gets stopped by security personnel who don't recognize him as a player.

Lin has been candid about this. It happens to him fairly regularly. The latest incident occurred earlier this month in Milwaukee after Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. A security guard stopped Jeremy from boarding the Raptors' team bus at Fiserv Forum, demanding to see his credentials.

"After game two in Milwaukee, I was trying to get to the team bus and one of the dudes in the Milwaukee Arena just screams at me," Lin recently shared on the Bill Michaels Sports Talk Network. "He's like, 'Where do you think you’re going?!' And I'm like, 'Uh, I’m trying to get to the team bus.' He’s like, 'What? Where's your pass?'"

"'I don't know what you’re taking about,'" Lin recalls saying. "'I don't have a pass.'"

He talks about it at around the 10:20 mark:

Nathan Chen wins World Figure Skating Championships

19-year-old skater defends title with flawless free skate.



Nathan Chen does it again. On Saturday, the 19-year-old skater performed a flawless free skate to successfully defend his title and win the gold medal at the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan.

Chen, who was first after the short program, made no mistakes and landed four quadruple jumps to set a record score in the free skate with 216.02 points, finishing with a total of 323.42.

Chen, the U.S. national champion, opened his program with a quad Lutz and followed with a quad flip. He then added two quad toe loops, one in combination, to solidify his lead.

"I'm proud of myself for being able to put out two good programs, the short and the long," Chen told AP. "Ultimately, I'm just happy with how this event went and I hope to have more experiences like this."

More here: Chen defends title in men's free skate at worlds

Ali Wong's tribute to gymnast Katelyn Ohashi is a perfect 10

'Baby Cobra' comedian's living room floor routine is significantly less gravity-defying.



You may have seen the video of UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi's spectacular floor routine, which basically broke the internet. The gravity-defying performance earned her a perfect 10 and a legion of new fans.

Among Katelyn's new supporters: Ali Wong. The Baby Cobra comedian (and fellow UCLA Bruin) posted a video of herself performing a "tribute" to Ohashi's routine in what looks like her own living room, complete with a bored-looking spouse on the couch and baby gates in the background.

Let's just say that Ali's routine is significantly less gravity-defying.

This gymnast's floor routine just kicked the internet's ass

Indeed, sometimes a "10" isn't enough.



Over the weekend, UCLA gymnast Katelyn Ohashi basically broke the internet with her spectacular, joyous gravity-defying floor routine at the Collegiate Challenge, where she helped her squad win first place.

"A 10 isn't enough for this floor routine by @katelyn_ohashi," the UCLA Gymnastics Twitter account tweeted on Sunday, sharing the video, which has been viewed over 22 million times and counting.

No female snowboarder has nailed this trick. Until Chloe Kim.

"You'll definitely see it in competition next season."



She may have won an Olympic gold medal at the PyeongChang Winter Games, but it's pretty clear that Chloe Kim was just getting started. Last week, the teen snowboarding champ landed a frontside 1260 in practice -- a move no female pro has ever landed in competition. But, from the looks of it, not for long.

Kim shared a video of her landing the 1260 on Instagram:

Chloe Kim is getting her own Barbie doll

Barbie's new "Shero" line celebrates modern-day role models from around the world.



Olympic snowboarding gold medalist Chloe Kim, still radiating awesomeness from her dominating, inspirational halfpipe win at the PyeongChang Winter Games, is being honored with a Barbie doll in her likeness.

The doll is part of Barbie's "Shero" program, unveiled ahead of International Women's Day on March 8 and honoring modern-day role models from around the world.

The Chloe Kim doll bears a striking resemblance to the teen snowboarder, right down to the shade of her signature blond locks. She comes equipped with, of course, a snowboard and looks appropriately outfitted for a championship halfpipe run... but does she come with a gold medal too?

Watch Chloe Kim photobomb unsuspecting tourists

Also: The snowboarding champ finds out she's on a box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. (It's adorable.)



Chloe Kim is everywhere. Even on your cereal box. Fresh off her gold medal win at the PyeongChang winter games, the 17-year-old Olympic halfpipe snowboarder stopped by Wednesday night's episode of The Tonight Show Fallon Five, the five-minute Olympics broadcast version of Jimmy Fallon's late night talk show.

Now that she's America's snowboard sweetheart, Chloe took the opportunity to have some fun with her newfound fame. She and Fallon went down to NBC Studios to photobomb unsuspecting fans who were taking photos at 30 Rockefeller Center. While tourists posed on an Olympic-style mock medal podium, Kim and Fallon snuck up behind them to crash their pics with goofy poses. Surprise!

They Call Us Bruce - Episode 35: They Call Us PyeongChang

Jeff Yang and Phil Yu present an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America.



What's up, podcast listeners? We've got another episode of our podcast They Call Us Bruce. Each week, my good friend, writer/columnist Jeff Yang and I host an unfiltered conversation about what's happening in Asian America, with a strong focus on media, entertainment and popular culture.

On this very special Olympics episode, we welcome Hannah -- Phil's sister - fresh off the plane from South Korea, where she attended the Winter Games in PyeongChang. From triple axels to twizzles to mctwists, we discuss the Olympic triumphs and trials of Team Asian America.

Another Parade: The Olympics and LGBTQ Asians and Pacific Islanders

Guest Post by Glenn D. Magpantay, Executive Director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance



Sports was never my thing. In high school gym class, I would always be the last person to be picked for a team. No one wanted me. I was too fat. Too slow. And I was uncomfortable in my body. The jocks called me queer for being effeminate.

But, today, I’m captivated by the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang. They show us how we can be all of who we are—that we can live our lives authentically and achieve our fullest potential in whatever we do. They also remind me that the world is still a dangerous place to be LGBTQ.