A recent title card at UFC 139 showed UFC fighter Cung Le with the Communist Vietnamese Flag, even though Cung Le was born in South Vietnam three days before the fall of Saigon and represents San Jose, California. Either someone working for the UFC made a huge error or he really is currently a Vietnamese national. Which would be a huge surprise to many of his Vietnamese-Americans fans who understand what he’s representing by wearing the three stripes flag of South Vietnam on the shorts sold on his website.

This wouldn’t be the first time the UFC has been questioned in terms of marketing a fighter’s heritage and ethnic background. Critics have said the UFC wrongfully played on the former Heavyweight champion’s Cain Velasquez Nationalistic pride. Even Cain said that at first he was surprised at the promo of his fight between Brock Lesnar, but eventually responded that to him it makes sense.

However, would using the current flag of Vietnam make sense to Cung Le and his fans? I dispute that Cung Le is an American (USA) by Nationality but also represents his heritage/ethnic background. It’s no different than how Mark Munoz represents his Filipino heritage and the same way Cain represents his Mexican heritage.

As much as I would like to blame someone from the UFC for the error, ironically even his UFC.com fighter profile does support the fact that he is not a Vietnamese National. He is quoted as describing himself as being the only American Wushu King athlete to have three World medals and his bio includes both competing and coaching for Team USA.

It might not take a 1 Hour special like Lebron James, but after raising mainstream attention through his play at the NBA Las Vegas summer league, Jeremy Lin finally has his chance to play for an NBA team, as he is on the verge of signing with the Golden State Warriors. Being from Palo Alto, Jeremy now can live his dream of playing for his favorite team, the Warriors, who play their home games at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA.

Both the Dallas Mavericks and the current reigning NBA Champions L.A. Lakers were reported to have been in contract discussions with Jeremy, but ultimately Jeremy may have signed not only for the chance to play in front of his family and friends but also the best contract offer that any other team was willing to give him. Apparently, Jeremy’s contract offer is a partially guaranteed two-year deal, with the 2nd year being a team option. Basically this means is if the Warriors choose to cut/waive Jeremy during his first season or even as soon as during training camp, Jeremy Lin will still earn some of that money that is guaranteed to him.

Another interesting twist in Jeremy’s future with the NBA is a fan who e-mailed Joe Lacob, the new owner of the Warriors, who apparently requested that he sign Jeremy Lin. The Warriors had also sent their recent backup PG, CJ Watson, in a trade to the Chicago Bulls. However Jeremy Lin’s signing doesn’t also come without questions, with some wondering if this was all a PR stunt.

Even though I mentioned in the past that I would have liked to see Jeremy sign with the Lakers due to their winning history and current roster, I can understand why Jeremy chose to sign with the Warriors. Based on the the Warriors” most recent NBA seasons and their current roster, I can’t say that Jeremy is going to get experience on a title contending team that will go deep into playing in the NBA playoffs. However, the chance to earn more playing time, play in their up-tempo offense and develop his game could be Jeremy’s best opportunity as an undrafted rookie.

The irony behind all of is this is that the Warriors once again take something from the Dallas Mavericks, who have had their fair share of history between current Warriors coach, Don Nelson, and owner of the Mavs, Mark Cuban. In 2007, the Warriors became a part of  NBA history by becoming the first 8th seeded team to knock out a #1 seeded team,  Mavs,  in a 7 game series.

After being overlooked by not receiving any scholarship offers from a Division 1 school, and then going undrafted, but now about to get his chance to play in the NBA to showcase his skills with the best in the world, I guess the only thing left to say is, CONGRATULATIONS JEREMY LIN!

Update from Editors: It’s official! Jeremy Lin is now a Golden State Warrior. Congratulations, again!

I decided to watch the 2010 NBA Draft this year hoping to see Jeremy Lin getting drafted, especially by the L.A. Lakers. When the #43 and #58 had passed and Lin’s name wasn’t announced, I still had hope because I knew Lin still could still play in the NBA Las Vegas Summer League (and he got invited to play for the Mavs).

After game 1, Jeremy Lin finished his first game with 12 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block shot. I thought Jeremy had a good game and showed what I expected, which was fearlessly attacking the basket when he had the chance and trying to find the open teammate. He’s quicker than most people expect and plays aggressive defense.  I do think he needs to show that he has a consistent jumpshot, but that can always be developed and improved upon. Jeremy’s performance even got some recognition on ESPN.

Game 2 for Jeremy wasn’t as impressive, mainly because he didn’t receive as many minutes since the Mavs were playing their main guards. However, Jeremy got some nice comments from Hall-of-Fame NBA player Kevin McHale and current NBA TV analyst.

Some things I heard him say while watching Jeremy’s games were:

I like his defense, pretty good awareness, does a lot of good things.

Scrappy kid, Lin goes after it. I’ll tell you what, I do like that kid.

It’s really my first time seeing him. He’s really a guy that plays hard and got a nice feel for the game.

Jeremy Lin also isn’t the only player of Asian descent on a NBA Summer League roster. Sun Yue, former Laker and current member of the Chinese national team, was able to gain permission this year to leave training from Team China to play on the Washington Wizards, which also features #1 pick John Wall. The Mavs and Wizards are scheduled to play against each other on Thursday, July 15th at 8pm, and the game can be seen online for free!

Speaking of the Wizards, Yi Jianlian, the 2nd Chinese player currently in the NBA, was traded to the Washington Wizards, making it his 3rd team since being in the NBA. Yi also gets the chance to play alongside the #1 pick and another experienced head coach, Flip Saunders.

Though some people have mentioned that Jeremy Lin could be the first Asian-American to play in the NBA, technically, he would not be the first. That historical fact would go to Wataru (Wat) Misaka, and there were also multiracial NBA players like Rex Walters (who is half Japanese) and Raymond Townsend (who is half Filipino). For more video interviews with Lin, check out his Summer League diary.

The six member crew of Can Nguyen (19), Lawrence “Law” Devera (21), Andrew “Chad” Mayate (20), Justin “Jet Li” Valles (20), Charles Nguyen (20), and Matt “Dumbo” Nguyen (20) were matched up against the remaining Canadian dance crew, BluePrint, which also featured a very talented Thien-Linh “TL” Truong. They become the second crew whose members are all at least of Asian descent, with Quest Crew being the first. I had originally blogged about them when they had first appeared performing to Taylor Swift, and was interested to see if their style of popping, choreography, and robotics would be able to win it all.

JC Chasez was the toughest judge on Poreotix as he described their moves as being “Tik Tik Tik” and that he couldn’t watch them do isolations as an entire performance. Poreotix eventually won him over after their Disco challenge. Their Last Chance performance had them dancing a video game beat and calling it “Tetreotix.”

Poreotix is also known to bring their humor into their style; when Randy Jackson came to declare them as champions, he said, “Poreotix, you dominated the competition this year with your crazy robotic style and your brilliant sense of humor. You guys are funny dudes.” Jet Li mentioned, “There’s been a lot of controversy about us being too funny and not serious enough. Well, I disagree. Expressing yourself honestly with your craft while being creative are factors that make us who we are.”

Their appearance on the show have not gone without criticism of their humor from viewers, however; I guess we can just call them the Peter Chaos and Ken Jeongs of dance crews.

America’s Best Dance Crew is back and this season — just like every other season — practically every crew has an Asian member and the all-Asian crew. The all-Asian crew this season is Poreotix (aka Poreotics); these guys got the name from popping, choreography and robotics.  Can Nguyen, and his other Vietnamese crew members Dumbo and Charles are from Orange County, known for having one of the biggest Vietnamese population in the United States. Making news in the dance scene at competitions such as Hip Hop International, their first performance on the show got very positive comments from the judges, especially from Lil Mama. She said that their performance was the best of the night, and also took into account their elements of theater and lyrical. WOW! I didn’t expect that from Lil Mama. Overall, I enjoyed their performance and was entertained by the fact that they would dance to a song by Taylor Swift and even throw in the Kanye West’s VMA comments. They seem to really enjoy what they do and try to put on a good show with their various forms of comedy as well.

Their appearance on ABDC didn’t go without some questions about their humor, however: before their performance, Can Nguyen (incorrectly labeled as Lawrence Devera in the video) responded to a question about why they wear sunglasses. He responds in a Vietnamese accent saying,”because we da Asian … we have da small eyes … and we like robot.” I’ve seen previous performances where he uses the Vietnamese accent for comedy purposes, so I expected this, but questions of his humor being degrading or enforcing stereotypes have been discussed on other blogs. I personally don’t think he meant any harm and was just trying to get a laugh, even a stupid one if he had to. Can Nguyen, and his other Vietnamese crew members Dumbo and Matt are from Orange County, known for having one of the biggest Vietnamese population in the United States.

I’m anxious to see what Poreotix can bring further in ABDC. Many past winners in ABDC has some breakdancers or crew members who show great athleticism with their tricks; it will be interesting if Poreotix can use their style and win it all.

It’s my favorite time of the year again; basketball season! Unfortunately for Yao Ming fans, Yao may be out the entire season due to having surgery on his broken left foot. However, besides watching the L.A. Lakers defend their title as the NBA champions, I’ll also be closely watching the progress of  the New Jersey Nets – Yi Jianlian. Inevitably compared to Yao Ming, he’s been listed as the third ranked celebrity on Forbes Lists  of celebrities in China. One major problem – He’s a totally different player than Yao. He’s a much more athletic player than Yao and scores in a variety of ways (including dunks), while playing as a PF. However, for the past two seasons in the NBA, Yi has  seemed to be limited to mostly a jump shooter while also struggling to play in the post.

Also news controversies with Yi seems to be keep growing, which include questions over his age, finishing third amongst Eastern Conference forwards in All-Star Votes, and the possibility of Yi having to miss the start of his third NBA season to compete in China’s National games.  Apparently Chinese officials went as far as pleading to the NBA’s commissioner, David Stern, for the Nets to honor a contract stipulation (from the rookie contract he signed with the Bucks) that would have released Yi Jianlian to go back and play in China. Yi had already competed this past summer for China at the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship, where China placed second.  Fortunately for Yi, he will be staying to play in the NBA and he seems to have made improvements during the off-season. In his last three pre-season games, Yi’s averaging 17.0 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting .475, twice posting 20-10 double-doubles and not attempting a three. His last pre-season game with the Nets, he ended with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and that was without the Net’s star player – Devin Harris, who definitely has  noticed.

Some additional analysis on other Asian and Asian American basketball players, after the jump.

Hamed Haddadi, who helped lead his Iran team win in the 2009 FIBA Asia Championship over China, will be entering his second season with the Memphis Grizzlies. He apparently had demanded a trade, as he sees  himself as a star and deserves more playing time.

Sun Yue, who was one of the lucky players to gain a championship by just being on the Lakers roster, was invited to training camp by the New York Knicks but eventually was waived.

As for college players, Jeremy Lin of Harvard will be entering his final season. He was recently listed as one of ESPN’s Most Versatile Players. Another player making news this off-season was Berkeley’s Zhaoxu “Max” Zhang. Max, who only played 15 games his Freshman season with Berkeley, was having strong performances at the World University Games  this past summer averaging 18ppg, 17.3 rbg, and 5.6 bpg.  But keep an eye out for other players looking for more playing time including Maryland’s Jin-Soo Choi (formerly Jin-Soo Kim, who at one point last season was declared academically ineligible but later reinstated) and 5’8 UCLA walk-on Spencer Soo. He may not be gaining any play time, but he can certainly dunk.

I may have been disappointed after watching Kimbo Slice fight on The Ultimate Fighter, but I didn’t have to wait long to watch another fight — this news segment on a fight between an Asian and Black woman on a MUNI bus in San Francisco. [EDITORS NOTE: This is a censored version of the YouTube fight -- the original version is here.]

Apparently, the Chinese lady tells people on the bus that all she wanted to do was sit down, but the other lady refuses to move her bag from the other seat and does not let the Chinese lady sit down. (Ironically, the first thing I thought of was Rosa Parks.) An argument breaks out, with the Black woman woman throwing the first punch and the Asian woman retaliating — unleashing fists pounding on the head and drop kicks! All this over a seat? I’ve had to use public transportation on a everyday basis before, and I can understand that it can be uncomfortable sitting next to strangers, but if I ever felt like I didn’t want to have to sit next to anyone, I would of have simply stood up and gave my seat away.

I don’t know what’s worse –the fight or other people actually not reporting the fight. It had to take another Asian lady to break up the two women, while another man yells to the Chinese lady in the fight, “BEAT HER! BEAT HER!” According to the news and other people who have commented about this video, there’s already been numerous fights on the bus including fights that involved the bus drivers; even the man who uploaded the video mentions that he was previously attacked on the bus as well.

For those who just want to laugh at all this, there’s been several video responses by Youtubers that you can check out:  Chonny portraying the Chinese lady and responding to the fight, Peter Chao warning people not to mess with old Chinese ladies, Yahsoldier1′s video explaining how people of color use slang, and AdrienChen625′s response featuring “hitmanbreakeroftheye” singing to BOOM BOOM POW.  

Mike Shinoda is widely known through his work with the band Linkin Park, although I’m more of a fan of his hip-hop/rap project Fort Minor and his album, The Rising Tied.

He also has a degree in illustration, and is a graduate from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. This past Sunday August 30th, Joz and I had the honor to go see Mike Shinoda at the Japanese American National Museum in LA’s Little Tokyo, where he presented artwork from his previous show Glorious Excess (Born) in 2008. (His other art exhibit, Diamond, Spades, Hearts and Clubs, was presented at Gallery 1988.)

I was totally hyped and anxious — not only go to see Mike Shinoda, but to also see what was in store regarding his art. The day started off with a JANM Members Only event — a conversation between him and Roger Gastman of Swindle Magazine. During this event, Mike touched on various topics from his influences and background in art to the character and story of Glorious Excess (Born and Dies). After his discussion, Mike took questions from the audience, where he gave some really personal and in-depth answers; he mentioned how people labeling his music drives him crazy — like “rock/rap,” which was funny because I later mentioned to him that was the type of music I liked.

After Mike took questions from the audience, we got to see a short video segment that is being played at the JANM exhibit (part of that segment is also in the video above). Then Mike took pictures, autographed catalogs and other items for those in attendance, while being extremely cool the whole time! On top of that, Mike graciously walked us through the entire exhibit at JANM and further discussed certain topics in regards to his art. One particular subject that he brought up was the idea of a sellout; he defined a sellout as being someone who loses their creative integrity, which correlates with the character in Glorious Excess. Overall, for me this was a once in a lifetime experience and this is something I will remember and share for the rest of my life. I thought Mike’s art exhibit was very interesting and I understood a lot more after reading more about it in his catalog. As for Mike Shinoda the person, I thought he was very cool and down-to-earth, as well as being very humble and considerate.

Glorious Excess (Dies) exhibits until October 4th, 2009. You should check it out if you can. For more information and background, see JANM.org and MikeShinoda.com. Many thanks to Koji at JANM.