Public area vs. Private plot

When I decide to study abroad, US is my only choice. Many friends gave me many suggestions, depended on their experiences, books, even imaginations. One of these suggestions impressed me very much: American do not like modesty, especially eyeless modesty. But, we, Chinese people, like it. What ever others commend us for, we always say: Nali, nali. If I translate Nali into English directly, it will be very funny but not suitable, because NALI in English means WHERE. It seems we cannot find anything worthy to pride. If Chengpeng Li lives in US, he will adapt to the new environment easily. He claims he is the best soccer journalist, in China, at least one of the best three soccer journalists.

From his words, I know Chengpeng Li is very humorous, and cynical. Cynicism is the common feature in his news stories and the articles in his blog. They have the same style, but they have different contents. From Soccer, readers find his words all about Chinese football. In Beijing Olympic games, China won 51 Gold Medal, the best achievement of all time. Even in their motherland, Chinese men’s football team did not win any match. Football has not been a taboo topic in China, but it is not relaxed. The tone of Chengpeng Li’s news stories is not serious. I have to say I like it. Chinese football is peerless in producing topics, because many events and rumours about this area emerge constantly. It is not interesting, but not a bad thing for soccer journalists. If I have no chance to read his blog, I will regard Chengpeng Li as Soccer Madman. Li is a senior soccer journalist, who is familiar with almost every detail of Chinese football, including what the favorite Online Game of the Chairman of the Chinese Football Association is.

Chengpeng Li is not a Soccer Madman, because I read his blog. Maybe I should describe him as octopus, because he talks about many aspects as a octopus with many tentacles. Of course, his news stories are different from his blog. There must be many reasons. First of all, he works in Soccer, a professional soccer medium in China. His articles about Huanan Tiger, malemine-contaminated milk, or earthquake, are not suitable in Soccer. Secondly, writing news stories undertakes more responsibilities than writing blog in China. Chinese media are described as propaganda position, which is a strange thing to the West people. The word is not created by alien, I promise. People cannot express any emotion without confine, and it is not wisdom to argue against the current system. But, in many situations, the source of many problems is current system, so the news stories must be written with careful consideration. What about the blog? Sometimes, I think it is the bloger’s private plot. People can plant anything depended on their interests. Compared with other media, Internet is much more free. Many people subscribe Chengpeng Li’s blog, because he can express many ideas that others want to say but cannot to say or they do not know how to say. From Chengpeng Li’s blog, people can find many comments on many aspects of China society, even a love story-his novel.

Freedom is invaluable, so I like Chengpeng Li’s blog. People always applaud that he is the bravest soccer commentator in China, even before he opens his blog. Because blog is his private plot, Chengpeng Li plants different kinds of plants as many as he can. His blog is much more informative than his news stories, but all of them are interesting. In Soccer, Chengpeng Li is a soccer journalist, who loves this sport deeply. He is totally different from the journalists who play the roles as propagandists of current system. He seemed as Soccer Madman, but he has a calm position, in fact. He undertakes his responsibilities to help the development of football in China. In his kingdom-the blog, he is a Superman in the World of News, careless the regualtions. Although all of his words are cynical, in the world of Chinese football with huge pressure, he cannot be at ease.

When I want to be relaxed, I read Chengpeng Li’s blog. It is an important entertainment for me. When I read some news reports in newspaper, I do not pay attention to those events. But, when I read Chengpeng Li’s blog, I recognize those events are meaningful even significant.

It is not easy to offer a clue about Chinese football for Chengpeng Li, because he is such a professional soccer commentator. But it does not mean I have no chance to do so. First of all, I will not offer any news about Chinese professional football players, because I do not think I can acquire newer and more interesting news than Chengpeng Li, a senior soccer journalist. His articles have great impact in Chinese football fans. If the name of my business emerges in his articles, the effect will not be inferior to some kind of advertisements. Chengpeng Li, who is bound up in public activities, concerns the earthquake in Wenchuan, China. I think some news according public interest, especially the disadvantaged groups’, will attract his attention.

It is possible to structure a pitch for Chengpeng Li’s article in Soccer. For example, Adidas decides to build some football schools for adolescent in 10 medium-sized cities, and invite famous coaches for them for free. In China, football schools close costantly, so many children cannot acquire the chance to learn how to be a professional football player. Some talented children cannot go to football school, because of the expensive tuition and fee. Chinese men’s football team is one of the worst teams of the world. One of the essential reason of this problem is the terrible player training. Any behavior, intends to help the player training, is good news for Chengpeng Li.

Dear Big-Eye Brother*:
Do you think Ronaldo, Totti or Vieira will come to China together to attend Chinese Super League, and they will be paid not more than 5 million dollors annual? I am not crazy. I know they won’t. Adidas decides help China to create Chinese football super stars using 5 million dollors annual. We need your suggestions about this plan. Could you come to our news conference next Friday?
I will send you the details tomorrow. If you have any question, please call me-720 899 3020.
Cheers,
Jie Liu
*Fans always call Chengpeng Li as Big-Eye Brother, because of his attractive eyes.

Because Chengpeng Li always puts his news stories of Soccer in his blog, so it seems not necessary to structure a pitch for his blog. And in my opinion, because Chengpeng Li’s blog always involves big social events, it seems impossible to plant a commercial flower in his private plot.

Fun and Snarl

Chengpeng Li, who came from Xinjiang, a remote place to me, is ranted in TOP 10 Chinese sports commentators. It is very pity; I have never been Xinjiang until now. But, I know Xinjiang a wonderful province in China, in which many minorities’ people live together. Chengpeng Li was born in the mixed culture atmosphere.

When I read his articles in his blog, I have to choose a private place. Do not misunderstand me or his blog! I do not mean there is something eccentric in his blog, which I cannot read in public. His articles are wisdom, facetious, and unexpected. When I read them, I cannot keep calm. Sometimes, I laugh loudly; sometimes, I get into consider; sometimes, I feel very sad. I have to say, I love his words.

Chengpeng Li must have two hobbies: reading books and watching movies. Of course, he loves sports, almost every sport, but it is his job or duty. Reading books and watching movies benefit people a lot. Those enjoyments are different from watch sport matches, because they are not unexpected, and most of them are not fact. Chengpeng Li combines the stories and plots from works of art with the sport matches. Sometimes, the readers may feel confused, because at the beginning of his articles, he writes some stories seem not correlative. It is very interesting, isn’t it? Chengpeng Li uses these stories artfully to support his ideas. When I have read the article, I found I fell into his trap, which was excavated by Mr. Li 3 or 4 minutes before.

Movies represent the dreams of us; books record the thinking of us; sports embody the nature of us. We cannot live without them. China has a long history, which is full of legends and allegories. Chengpeng Li always changes some elements of these stories, which make his articles alive but difficult to be understood by someone who do not familiar with these stories. Those typical scenes in movies always promote the plots to develop, but Chengpeng Li likes to put them at the end of his articles. Maybe he wants to give us a space to think.

Fun and snarl are two main forms in Chengpeng Li’s articles. Chenpeng Li was born in 1968, but he is still a furious youth (they are called Fenqing in China), who cannot tolerate unfair and abnormal things. Chengpeng Li is so lucky that he is a soccer commentator primarily. Soccer, which is always called as football in China, is a special thing in the big country. Soccer presents the biggest conundrum for the Chinese sports machine — the country has the money, the population and the fan base to put together a world-class team, yet has not succeeded. China has had a weird year, 2008, with a freak snowstorm, the Tibetan riots and an earthquake, but the performance of our soccer team shows that some things never change.

The men's national and Olympic teams are the objects of scorn, shame and much hand-wringing. Chengpeng Li has many topics and reasons to write articles about football, which makes him angry and desperate. “We play soccer like the Brazilians play Ping-Pong,” Weifeng Li, 30, the new team captain, said with a deflated voice afterward. Many Chinese would say that is an insult to Brazilian table tennis players. Facing this situation, Chengpeng Li seemed heavy. “It’s so beyond an embarrassment that it almost seems like a comedy,” Chengpeng Li as a popular soccer columnist, said in an interview before a football match. “We’ve cried our tears dry, and now it’s time for us to enjoy the big show, because you never know how our team is going to lose this time.”

As an emotional man, he can write every detail about Chinese soccer. Chinese soccer fans undertake so much pressure that they need outlets, which commentators like Chengpeng Li can give them. Chengpeng Li does not use some discourteous words to describe the situation, and his words are not over-emotional, without any restriction. What is the biggest sadness? Face one’s true love, but cannot rescue him or her out of the wood. I do not know who can rescue Chinese soccer, so does Chengpeng Li. What could he do? He chose the same way as Woody Allen: make people laugh. Laugh embodies backbone, which supports the Chinese soccer fans to accept the fact.

I can find all of his articles in football from his blog, that is really good news to me. What seems better is the articles in his blog are not limited in football even sports. Many social events inspire Chenpeng Li to write articles, from the melamine-contaminated milk, the earthquake in Wenchuan, to TV soap. Sometimes, I wonder why he, a 40-year-old man, is sensitive like this. Besides his comments, I find a novel in his blog-You Are My Enemy, which is a love story, full of romantic and warm memories. Love, the most significant topic of literature forever, occupies a important position in Chengpeng Li’s heart.

The World Cup is coming again, so Chinese male soccer team will participate again. Chengpeng Li will be much busier. Will he feel happy? The answer must hide in his blog.