Look at how sexy I am
Seattle’s only true superstar pro athlete is Ichiro of the Seattle Mariners. This guy, who’s Japanese, is a remarkable, ultra-gifted, baseball player and quite possibly one of the best players in the major league now. He’s the best Asian baseball player/athlete ever and he’s probably the most recognized person in all of Asian sports other than William Hung.
Having said that, here’s my problem with Ichiro – the guy is really boring…outside of baseball. On the field, he’s like a baseball machine with an amazing arm, speed, and sick hitting skills. But off the field, the guy is as boring as CSpan. Why does this bother me so much?
Here’s a rare opportunity for an Asian figure like him to be in the spolight, in the media, and up the Asian male image in the media – basically make the Asian man look good. He’s a good looking guy and if he just did more, said more, and partied more, he’d be like a rock star in the U.S. He takes like a zen-approach to baseball, almost spiritual yet cerebral, and he appears to care about nothing except baseball. He’s boring! He doesn’t do shit outside of baseball. He doesn’t do endorsements, does not go to Hollywood parties, does not attend ESPY Awards, does not party with other stars and celebrities, and basically carries a very intense private life. I’m not talking about his activities in Japan or even Asia, but I’m talking about in the U.S. where there are millions of ignorant white people who think we all look and act like Long Duck Dong. The point is, Ichiro makes the Asian man look good. Or could. But it’s having the reverse effect. Ichiro makes us look boring, straight and narrow, shy, quiet, reserved, passive, and serious. Asian guys can’t party like rock stars, we can’t date supermodels, and we don’t just let loose and have fun. He doesn’t do Nike commercials and rarely does magazine photo shoots. He just plays ball. He needs to sell out just a little bit to gain media exposure. I mean, I can respect his decisions to focus purely on baseball and nothing else but at least learn some English! He is the only well known Asian male figure in pop culture who can represent all the positives rather than all those negative Asian stereotypes. White people in rural towns in Kansas can see him and think, “Wow, Asian guys can be talented, good looking, and cool rather than be short, nerdy, and asexual.” If I was him, I’d be dating Megan Fox, partying in Vegas with rockstars, and breaking hitting records in the majors.
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I would totally like to see that he’s a pimp, but then again, I kind of like that he keeps to himself. That’s why he is considered cool, you know? Like, when I heard Christiano Ronaldo, arguably the best soccer star right now, was hanging out with Paris Hilton, I thought it was lame. It brought him down in my mind. I like the fact that Ichiro is too cool to be doing that shit, you know? Having said that, it would be cool if some other AA guys did that sort of stuff, just to break the mold.
I disagree. pro athletes have a flashy lifestyle – they drive expensive italian cars, date supermodels, go to award shows, party like rockstars, and basically do what every normal man dreams of doing. they get treated like royalty and everyone wants to love them. Ichiro is boring. all he does is play baseball. i know he’s married. but he doesn’t do commercials, never out in public, and is a recluse. he can’t speak english so he doesn’t do interviews. he isolates himself from his team, is great player but not a team leader. individually, he’s awesome. but as a team leader, he can’t lead a team. he makes asian men look boring too, reinforcing the stereotype that AA are straight, square, always serious, and bland. i’m not saying ichiro should go out and get drunk and get arrested. i’m saying i wish he was more out in the open/public, smiling more, joking around more, be more approachable. but no, he’s all about baseball and that’s it. and that’s fine too if he wasn’t asian and i wasn’t asian.
On ronaldo: he is the best player on earth, he’s good looking, making shit load of $, and he’s 24. of course he wants to party and have fun. but the main thing, he backs up his trashing talking, brashness, and arrogance on the field. he makes soccer look good and soccer players too. he’s got flash, cockiness, and lifestyle that women love. he’s just cool. and i thought it was fine he was partying it up in L.A. w/Paris. european footballers are like Gods and they party like rock stars. that’s nothing wrong with that. any normal man in his shoes would do the same. at least you don’t have ronaldo getting arrested for multiple DUI’s, rape, or doing drugs like some american athletes. no, what ronaldo is doing is some baller shit and i think it’s cool. people love this kind of stuff and eat it up.
He reached 200 hits for the season last night. He’s had 9 seasons of 200 hits. The whole Texas rangers franchise has had only 6 during that time. That’s how badass he is. Probably if he were to be hanging out with Megan Fox, he wouldn’t be able to maintain such focus. That’s probably why he keeps to himself. Best baseball player in the league IMO. Consistent in offense and defense, great arm, and he is a fast base runner.
again, i wasn’t saying he wasn’t a good player. he’s obviously the best right now. and wasn’t really serious in saying he should party. just saying if he did more interviews, out and about more in public, did commercials, etc…he’d be more “popular” and well known and approachable. but in reality, he’s extremely quiet, boring, and almost robot-like. he just plays ball. there are many awesome players in sports who do what ichiro has done/does and more. so he can do these things and not sacrific his performance on the field. reason why he should do these things is because he’s in a rare position to do so.
This is true and I agree with the post of this article. As an AA male I need someone to look up to kind of like a role model. We Asian don’t have that many Asian males if any in the media who is good looking, charming and/or athletic so when we do have some that fits this bill I kind of expect them to fulfill their duty not for themselves but for the Asian of the world who has been looked down upon and criticized. We are not all William Hung Okay lol stupid ignorant media who wants the world to see us Asian as.
I’m not saying that Ichiro or any AA male who resemble him should go out an act like a stupid retarded frat boy and rape every girl they see, nooooo. That would just be wrong. I’m saying they should be more out and about in the media so people can see the true beauty of Asian people.
Good looking Asian people:
Takeshi Kaneshiro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsjWX9JT2Xg&feature=PlayList&p=A7FEC1BE42512B17&index=1
Daniel Henney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ8DPeOvNYQ&feature=PlayList&p=A7FEC1BE42512B17&index=6
Dennis Joseph Oh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGQOm-Fe-Xo&feature=PlayList&p=A7FEC1BE42512B17&index=8
Russell Wong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m3jD2qhSjo&feature=PlayList&p=A7FEC1BE42512B17&index=21
Among others just to name a few and I almost forgot, myself included lol. I look like a younger version of Russell Wong, seriously.
Version_Best, if you really look like Russell Wong, then you need to go out and do overtime for those of us who look like William Hung!
Version_Best,
I totally agree! And good examples of Asian studs. I also like Ken Watanabe.
This is exactly what I’m saying. When you have cool good looking charismatic Asian studs in the limelight more, more people in America and everywhere else can see him and think, “wow, AA men are/can be attractive, sexy, and hot!” AA women have this already somewhat in American pop culture – everyone thinks AA women are hot. But we AA men have a ways to go in mainstream pop culture…and Ichiro is a great example. because he is not bad looking guy and he’s a baseball superstar. Only problem is that he’s acting or is the exact stereotype of AA men – quiet, shy, passive, elusive, and kind of a boring/bland image/persona.
BTW: I look like the older version of William Hung. you konw i’m sexy.
To Reflective SAM and contro,
I’m trying my best (no pun intended) to be more out there but it’s really hard at the moment as I am currently a college student and my studies is pretty much getting in the way and ruining everything. This is my last year and I should be done so after that I should be more out there.
I’m also representing us AA men to let the world know that we can date outside our race too and it’s not just the AA women who does it.
Also, to contro. William Hung is sexy LOL.
You should write him a letter maybe he’ll change. Beside, who is going to cover an Asian athelete and feature him on the local entertainment news.
gosh, why does he have to change the american stereotype of the asian male? he’s japanese (not american), he’s an individual who knows what he likes. i think he’s doing enough. he’s showing that asians can beat the white guys at their sport. leave it to someone else to break other stereotypes.