Posted on 10 March 2010
Could Pacquiao have a career in politics?
By Greg Beacham
The Associated Press
Manny Pacquiao (Photo by Bret Newton )
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The frantic ferocity of Manny Pacquiao’s training camps at the stuffy Wild Card Gym clearly indicate that he feels every fight could be his last.
This time around, Pacquiao knows he really might be done with boxing.
Pacquiao is training in Hollywood for his March 13 fight against Joshua Clottey while simultaneously running for a congressional seat in his native Philippines. It’s the latest move in his exhaustive quest to apparently become all things to all people in a homeland that has embraced him as a boxing champion, a commercial pitchman, a movie star, a singer, and its most famous person. Read the full story
By Staff
Northwest Asian Weekly
Finalists in Kin’s Farm Market and Cobs Bread’s World Class Nutrition Contest with Bill McNulty, Alice Wong, Queenie Chu, Kin Hun Leung, Alexa Loo, and Kin Wah Leung. The Kins are presenting Loo a check for $20,000. (Photo provided by kinsfarmmarket.com)
Alexa Loo dreamed big. An accountant by day, she never lost sight of her Olympic dreams. At age 37, she is older than most athletes at the Olympic Winter Games. She has a degree in commerce from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Read the full story
By David Crary
The Associated Press
Shaun White
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — For Shaun White, Kim Yu-na, and a few other household names, spectacular triumphs at the Vancouver Games will enhance an already immense earning power. For lesser-known Winter Olympians, cashing in is not so easy.
Sports agents following the games say commercial opportunities for the athletes are more varied and potentially more lucrative than ever, but those who miss out on medals or toil in relatively obscure sports still face an uphill climb.
“The big ones have it made. It’s the small athletes who get hurt,” said Evan Morgenstein, an agent who has represented gymnast Nastia Liukin, swimmer Dara Torres, and other Olympians. Read the full story
Apolo Anton Ohno reacts after winning the bronze medal for the men's 1000m short track skating competition at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics on Saturday, Feb. 20. (Photo by Ivan Sekretarev/AP)
By Beth Harris
The Associated Press
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Apolo Anton Ohno made history the hard way, overcoming a rare mistake that dropped him to last place before rallying to earn his record seventh Olympic medal. Read the full story
Apolo Anton Ohno won his sixth Olympic medal, breaking a record set by Bonnie Blair. Can he get another in 2010? (Photo provided by www.apoloantonohno.com)
By Paul Newberry
The Associated Press
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Boxed out by the South Koreans, with all hope of a medal appearing lost, Apolo Anton Ohno could only count on the freakishness of short track to pull it out.
When two skaters ahead of him went sliding into the padding, Ohno stuck his skate across the line and Olympic medal No. 6 was his.
The American pulled out a silver in the 1,500-meter final when two South Koreans took each other out on the final turn, allowing Ohno to tie Bonnie Blair for most medals won by a U.S. Winter Olympian. Read the full story
From left, top to bottom: J.R. Celski, Simon Cho, Julie Chu, Amanda Evora, Mirai Nagasu, Apolo Ohno, Graham Watanabe, and Caroline Zhang
By Tiffany Ran
Northwest Asian Weekly
The 2010 Winter Olympics are hitting close to home, what with them being just over the border in Vancouver, British Columbia. But their location is not the only thing close to home. Hometown short track skaters Apolo Ohno and J.R. Celski are also making a splash in the games. Read the full story
Americans are past the days of Lipinski and Kwan and no longer dominate the sport of ice skating. Flatt and Nagasu hope to change this in 2010.
Mirai Nagasu performs during the exhibition gala at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Spokane, Sunday, Jan. 24. (Photo by Elaine Thompson/AP)
By Nancy Armour
The Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — With her Olympic dreams being over, Sasha Cohen stuck around to watch Mirai Nagasu and Rachael Flatt.
“They’re great,” Cohen said. “They’re cute. They’re excited.”
Flatt and Nagasu earned trips to the Olympics with their 1–2 finish at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on the night of Jan. 23.
“I’m just excited about all the free stuff we’re going to get,” the delightfully filterless Nagasu said. “I hope a medal will come, too.”
Despite all the wailing about the sad state of the U.S. women these last few years, don’t count them out. Flatt entered Kim Yu-na and Mao Asada territory with her final score of 200.11 points, and the high school senior is one of the few people who’s beaten Kim in the last two years.
Nagasu has that beautiful performance style that made skaters millionaires in the sport’s heyday, and she backs it up with the tough tricks. Read the full story
By Jason Cruz
Northwest Asian Weekly
This was a year of optimism for Seattle sports. Don Wakamatsu led the Mariners to a winning record after the team lost 101 games the year before. Ichiro Suzuki continued his tremendous play, earning a ninth straight gold glove for his performance in left field. The University of Washington football team won five games under first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian after the team went winless in the previous year. The University of Washington men’s basketball team won the Pac-10 Championship, and the Seattle University men’s team moved up to Division I. In its inaugural season, the Sounders FC reached the Major League Soccer playoffs. Read the full story
By Tim Dahlberg
The Associated Press
Boxer Manny Pacquiao (left) poses with his opponent, Miguel Cotto. Filipino Pacquiao won his fight against Cotto on Nov. 14.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Manny Pacquiao had a hat perched jauntily on his head, a bandage wrapped neatly around his right ear. His real work done for the night, he was heading down the Las Vegas Strip to sing a few songs with his band.
Everyone was invited, but there was a catch.
“Of course, you have to buy tickets for the concert,” Pacquiao said.
Not a problem. Anyone who watched Pacquiao cement his place in boxing lore on Nov. 14 by giving Miguel Cotto a terrible beating would have gladly paid a few more dollars to see him in action again, even if it was with a microphone in his hands.
Across town, his opponent was at the hospital, getting some tests to make sure Pacquiao’s fists didn’t cause any permanent damage. Cotto wasn’t taking any chances, and all it took was one look at his bloody and misshapen face to know it was a wise decision. Read the full story
Hideki Matsui is a professional baseball player from Japan. He currently plays for the New York Yankees. (Photo by Keith Allison)
By Jim Armstrong
The Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) — Japan nearly came to a standstill as millions watched Hideki Matsui, the man they know as Godzilla, ead the Yankees to the World Series title.
Matsui became the first Japanese-born player to win the World Series MVP trophy with a record-tying six RBIs to lead the Yankees over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3 last Wednesday, Nov. 4.
Matsui homered, doubled, and singled in Game 6, highlighting a series in which he hit .615 with three home runs and eight RBIs.
Japanese workers crammed into downtown electronics stores to watch the final few innings on big screen TVs. The game ended just before 2 p.m. local time on Thursday, giving workers an excuse to take an extended lunch break.
“All the news recently has been about Ichiro Suzuki,” said office worker Hiroyuki Takeuchi, who took the morning off to watch the game. “But Matsui’s presence is huge. He overcame injuries and came through with the performance of a lifetime. As a Japanese, I’m very proud today.” Read the full story
Korean American wins WEC Title
Ben Henderson defeats Shane Roller in a WEC fight on April 5.(Photo by Josh Hedges/WEC Productions, LLC)
By Jason Cruz
Northwest Asian Weekly
“Decatur Gator, baby!” shouted Ben Henderson into the phone during a recent interview before his championship fight. Henderson’s message is a familiar chant from his Federal Way alma mater. A former Decatur High School wrestling standout, Korean American Henderson won the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) interim lightweight title on Oct. 10 in San Antonio, Texas. WEC is owned by the Ultimate Fight Championship (UFC). With only three years of experience in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), the 25-year-old is heading to the top.
Born in Colorado Springs, Colo., Henderson’s family moved to Tacoma when he was in the first grade. At Decatur High School, he was a standout wrestler. Henderson’s abilities earned him a scholarship at The Dana College outside of Omaha, Neb. After graduating, Henderson served as a volunteer coach for his school while applying to become a police officer. Read the full story
