Let’s hear it for the girls!!! The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team certainly has a flair for the dramatics and it was no different on Sunday afternoon. 12 years to the day they shocked the world when they beat China in front a huge crowd at the Rose bowl in 1999… they did it again! In what has been a tournament of ups and downs- their game against Brazil was definitely a high point for the ladies in red, white and blue… Down 2-1 in injury time, of stoppage time of over time- in the 122nd minute… it happened! The crowd, who had been won over by team USA, erupted when our golden girl and “beast in the air” Abby Wambach scored what may be- the biggest goal of her career. In a beautiful cross by Megan Rapinoe- Abby W. headed in a beautiful goal- USA 2 – Brazil 2- time for Penalty Kicks!! It was the last World Cup USA goaltender Hope Solo was benched for the game against Brazil so Brianna Scurry could start in goal, obviously unhappy about it, some select comments got her kicked off the team. In what I saw as redemption- Hope would go on to block one of the PK’s… All the USA needed was one more goal for the icing on the cake- Ali Krieger, calm as can be- nailed it and the rest is history!! Like I said, a flair for the dramatics! Post game interviews only showed that this group of 21 girls truly know what it means to work as 1. In never say die fashion, even when the odds and the clock, were against them- they did it. This time, silencing the doubters that they were “too young” or “Didn’t have enough experience to win” critics schmitics! You don’t have to be soccer fan, let alone a USWNT fan to appreciate what was done yesterday. Those girls made history, and they did it for our country.

I have been a fan ever since I was a kid who played soccer and ever since I watched the 1999 World Cup Victory with my Grandpa in Buffalo, NY on vacation- I was 13- and that is the last memory I have of him, he passed away that year in October. So that game, this team means more to me than anyone may ever know- they are a true sense of pride for this country and exactly what American’s need. I am not a bandwagon fan, bandwagons fans are actually a pet peeve of mine, but please- jump on this wagon because the only place to go from here- is up! Congrats to the 21 women who given this country something to cheer about, both at home and abroad- you are an inspiration to young and old, men and women- to follow your dreams. Pressure Makes Us and you make us, proud. Your story is still being written… let’s pray for a happy ending. Go Team USA!!

Honesty is the best policy.

My experience has shown that karma comes back to bite those who consistently go against the above statement.

Just sayin’.

Ya dig?

I’ve posted here about baseball before, but THIS is the big baseball weekend: my son and I have dubbed it both the Tribe Trip and Rivalry Weekend.

We’re not hitting the beach or heading to a family reunion like others this 4th of July weekend. Instead, we’re heading to Cincinnati on Sunday to see the Reds take on our beloved Cleveland Indians in the latest installement of the Battle of Ohio. Then we’re trekking to Cleveland Monday to see the Indians take on the much-hated New York Yankees.

My son has his own reasons for looking forward to the trip. Hopefully, to spend quality time with his dad. But more realistically, a two-day trip to see his three favorite teams play. Thankfully, the Indians are his #1 choice, with no small measure of influence from his parental unit.

I grew up rooting for the Big Red Machine, but also knew all the players by heart for the hapless 1970′s version of the Indians. That’s where my deep-seeded despisal of the Bronx Bombers began. The running joke was the Indians were the AAA farm club of the Yanks. You see, we traded all of our good prospects to NY where we watched them develop into superstars. It didn’t help that much ballyhooed Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was originally from Northeast Ohio.

When the Indians built a new ballpark in the mid-1990′s and stocked their team with talent, I took a keen interest in baseball again– a habit that has lasted ever since. Now I can share that in common with my son: he enjoys playing and watching baseball immensely. It will be a memorable Tribe Trip. Hopefully he’ll carry a lifetime of memories from it, much as I have.

I saw this link come down yesterday and was pretty happy to see it…

Twitter’s guide for journalists and newsrooms!!!!!

http://media.twitter.com/newsrooms/

Enjoy.

I was once told that a sign of an amazing friendship is when the friends don’t have to speak to each other and everything’s just fine.

That’s how it is with my bobblehead and I.

In fact, we never speak to each other. He stands guard over my TV. I pat him on the head once in awhile.

He’s a sports fan. I’m a sports fan. He digs attractive female bobbleheads. I dig attractive females.

He’s hooked on Twitter @HChenBobblehead. I’m hooked on Twitter too @ho_chen!!!

See? We share a lot in common!

We also have the exact same outfit!!!

Courtesy Andrew Weber Photography

Not gonna lie, I was cheering for the Bruins of Boston, USA over my home country and the Vancouver Canucks.

EVERY single friend I have finds this weird.

Here’s the deal. The Calgary Flames are my all-time favorite team. Calgary’s arch-enemy was Edmonton. It’s called the Battle of Alberta. Back in 1987-’88 and again in 1989-’90, the Oilers faced the Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Guess what? I rooted for the Bruins back then during a very influential time of my childhood. At that time, I collected the backs of hockey stickers to send in for souvenirs. The two free souvenirs I earned… I ordered FIRST a Boston Bruins puck, and THEN a Calgary Flames mini hockey stick.

Yup, I ordered that Bruins puck first. I don’t even have a Flames puck, but yet, I still have that Bruins puck on a shelf back home in Houston.

Ah yes, thinking back to those Bruins teams… the names Reggie Lemelin, Andy Moog, Ray Bourque, Glen Wesley, Ken Linesman, Bob Joyce, Craig Janney, Bob Sweeney, Don Sweeney quickly come to mind. Plenty of others too, but those are the immediate ones that hit me.

I soooooooooo wanted the Bruins to beat the Oilers teams back then.

Of course, those Oilers teams were among the best ever, even after Gretzky was traded in 1988. Grant Fuhr – the main man in goal in 1988, Bill Ranford – the main man in goal in 1990. All those amazing defensemen. Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Esa Tikannen, those teams were legendary. I hated them.

And they beat the Bruins in both Stanley Cup Finals.

So when this season happened, those memories were rekindled.

Go Bruins.

FYI I did root for the Canucks against the Rangers in 1994 because that Rangers team had a TON of Edmonton connections.

Everybody knows the Pendleton family has achieved amazing athletic success in the past decade. 3 different girls in the family have combined to win 7 of the past 8 state discus championships. The most recent one, Carly, won it on Friday.

http://www.foxtoledo.com/dpp/sports/high_school/wupw-Carly-the-3rd-Pendleton-to-win-state-06032011hc

Having such a successful family means that a guy like me gets to be around their entire family a LOT. Thank goodness they haven’t gotten sick of me yet!

So let me tell you – that family is AWESOME. And I’m talking on a personal level.

See, after Carly won her state title, she invited me to join the family for her graduation party. Over the years, I’ve especially gotten to know the father quite well. Mike has always been really engaging and easy to talk to. Love the guy.

So it was a pleasure and an honor to be invited to a family function. I absolutely HAD to go, especially since it was a day off for me.

I guess this is one of the perks of my job. I get to know a lot of different people from different walks of life. Shoot, I learned at that graduation party about how GPS systems have helped farming! (for those who don’t know, I’m totally a big-city boy)

So, um, yeah. It was extremely amazingly fun to get to know the Pendletons and different family members and hear old stories of Mike the way he was back in the day and how he met his equally awesome wife Laura. I heard very funny stories about the Pendleton girls and generally yucked it up like crazy.

It was awesome.

The Pendletons are awesome.

And that’s basically all I wanted to get across.

When I first heard that Jim Tressel had resigned from Ohio State, the only thing I could say that I was surprised about was that it came now.

I thought this would be something saved until after the season. I mean, give a year for Urban Meyer to rest up, don’t disturb this season too much, and eventually, the usual Tressel winning/money-making would make people forget about this offseason, right?

Apparently, I was wrong.

Here’s the thing though – I have a feeling that if more and more transgressions hadn’t been uncovered, my original theories might’ve stayed correct. Who knows? Maybe Tressel would’ve been kept. He won, made loads of money for the school, kept the boosters happy, and carried himself in a way that was impeccable.

As a reporter from outside of Columbus, my opportunities to interview Tressel naturally didn’t come as often as those within Columbus. But whenever I’d ask a question, I always remembered that Tressel answered me in a way that made me feel like I had been there just as much as the Columbus media. It had a profound effect on me, the way he treated people.

In the end, Tressel’s impeccable personality may have had a major hand in his downfall. The guy proved he was loyal to the end for his players, to the point where he protected them against the very institution that provided his paychecks.

Now, Buckeye nation awaits the fallout. First, from the NCAA Committee on Infractions, where they hope the school doesn’t suffer too much from the school’s inability to act swiftly to punish itself when the first revelations came out.

Second, there’s the whole recruiting thing. It was reported this past Sunday that there were no Buckeye commitments from early December to late April. Meanwhile, it’s easy to see that Brady Hoke is making some serious recruiting noise at Michigan.

To say the Buckeyes can get by strictly on tradition, in my mind, would be pretty naive. Yes, Ohio State is bigger than “the Vest” or “the Senator.” But any recruit wants to know what system they’ll be fitting in, which coaches they’ll be playing for. Luke Fickell maintains some continuity now, but will he be around after the year’s done? No matter how he does this year, it’s hard to believe Buckeye boosters (and they have plenty of clout) would prefer Fickell over names like Urban Meyer or Bo Pelini.

Imagine if you’re deciding whether to take a new job. If you knew the place was about to be sold, you might not fit into new ownership’s plans. That’s not a good situation to be in. Same with these players. They have a limited window to make the most of their college careers. Playing for different coaches in between is NOT the easiest way to go.

Plus, as a recruit, would you really want to go to a school that might have some form of postseason ban coming? Possible national TV limitations? Exposure is key in the world of branding. These recruits want to be branded for the NFL. Ohio State was a great brand to take to the NFL. Now, they’ll be relying on tradition like never before.

Local undecided recruits Chris Wormley (Whitmer DE) and Allen Gant (Southview DB) had both Ohio State and Michigan on their wish lists. Wormley grew up loving Michigan. Gant’s part of a Michigan legacy: his dad played FS for the Wolverines and he’s related to Charles Woodson. That said, Wormley has thus far seemingly placed the Bucks and Wolverines on relatively even terms. Gant has said to me that he’s been keeping an eye on the Ohio State situation.

There are undoubtedly other recruits on the Ohio State/Michigan radars who are doing the same.

Jim Tressel’s resignation is the biggest sports headline that dropped today, but that’s only one shoe. The other shoe will follow.

Just you wait.

So as I was surfing the net, checking up on my sports articles, I came across this via my Twitter feed…

http://www.channelapa.com/2011/05/asians-seek-surgery-to-look-western.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+channelapa+%28channelAPA.com+-+Broadcasting+Asian+America+%26+Asian+American+Entertainment%29

Basically, some Asians are going for the more Western look because they find that to be more appealing.

Sigh…

To say this disturbs me is an understatement. It’s not the fact that I’m Asian or that I’m proud of that fact. I consider everybody, regardless of race, to be beautiful in their own unique way.

I feel that those who strive to be more like another race show shame in their own. They’re basically saying that they feel like they are inferior.

Trying to look from another perspective, I guess you could say, “Well, whatever makes them happy,” right?

Sure thing, but it’s still disturbing to me. It screams low self-esteem. Just something about my personality – I’m disturbed when I’m around low self-esteem. Therefore, this is disturbing to me.

Be proud of who you are, people!!! The culture that makes you, that defines you… it gives you depth! Looks are only the mere exterior and represent the opposite of depth – people who judge solely based on looks are shallow!!!

In case you’re wondering, I will NOT be undergoing facial surgery to look more like another person. I am PROUD of the person that I have been shaped to be by my parents and I am PROUD of everything that makes me what I am.

In other words, to take after a participant on America’s Best Dance Crew…

I aM mE.

I haven’t golfed in eight years. I’ve driven a few golf balls here and there since then, but nothing consistently. I’ve played some miniature golf for charity every year I’ve been in Toledo (and I’m quite decent at it), but that doesn’t qualify me for the Inverness Club, home to this year’s U.S. Senior Open.

That’s right, the Ho Chen was up against one of the toughest golf courses in the state as his re-introduction back to playing some actual holes of golf in a best ball format.

I fully expected to do horribly.

So, without further adieu, here are my thoughts after going through a round of 18 at Inverness!!!

-I didn’t kill or hit anybody with a golf ball!!!
-I didn’t break any windows or dent any cars with any golf balls!!!
-I lost 3 balls on the front nine to water.
-I improved and only lost 2 balls on the back nine to water.
-I never had to shout “FORE!!!” (although “FOUR”-letter words starting with the same letter may or may not have been uttered a few times)
-I actually surprised myself with my driving ability, however inconsistent I might have been.
-That said, my aim is downright horrible on my drives and approaches, but I adjusted.
-My putting game’s not all that bad!!!! (miniature golf, represent!!!)
-Joe Rychnovsky has earned a new nickname based on his driving ability – he is HAMMERIN’ Joe Rychnovsky!!! The man has serious golf game!!!!!
-Thank you to Janet Rychnovsky with hooking me up with a set of clubs and for Joe for hooking me up with a pair of golf shoes! Also, thanks for the TREMENDOUS patience shown by Zack the Inverness caddie!!!

And finally, it was just a tremendous day at the golf course even with the weather conditions being rainy and cold ALL DAY. Someday, I can see myself taking a few lessons and getting into this!!!!