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It’s a game that every person who works in business will have to play in some form or another, but it’s a game that is especially popular to play here in China.  It’s impossible to avoid for any person who steps foot here and trust me, I’ve tried.  It’s the game of politics, and to my utter disappointment I have now discovered that the rules to this game also apply to the basketball court.

The tournament for which I have been preparing for the last week has finally begun and it has definitely been a wild ride.  With 4 games and no losses on our record you’d think that it would be easy to be happy with where we’re at but I find myself fighting with this political system that I shouldn’t have been surprised to find even on China’s basketball court.  Before you can truly appreciate my situation let me give you a little background:

1)  I have very little free time.  Most foreigners who teach in China work an average of 10-12 hours a week but my wife and I each sweat through 28 hours of teaching in a 5-day work week.  We get to school every day at 10am (when schools start here in Xinjiang) and leave around 7pm (when school ends).  I say this not to arouse any sort of sympathy, only to point out that spending an hour and a half every evening playing basketball is a sacrifice, especially as a married man.  Add to this the three hour dinner banquet afterward and you’re talking about close to 5 hours every night that all these players are spending with this tournament.  I’m tired!

2)  I don’t drink baijiu 白酒 (pronounced “bye joe”).  Those who live here in China should understand the implications of this.  Baijiu, a very strong and horrible tasting alcoholic drink, has become somewhat of a “rite-of-passage” for Chinese men.  I can’t think of a western equivalent, but if everybody is toasting the leader at a banquet with baijiu and you’re holding a cup of tea, you look like a lesser man.  If you were a Chinese man they would force you to drink it but as a foreigner I can get away with this “rudeness”.

3)  I hate politics.  I work hard and avoid the politics as much as I can.

Ok, now on with the story.  Because China doesn’t seem to have any organized city league to join all teams and competitions I’ve seen are sponsored.  Although unknown to me when I signed up for this tournament, our team is sponsored by our coach, who is also a player and a man who has made his fortune in some local business.  He bought our jerseys, he paid our team’s entrance fee into the tournament and he pays for each night’s large banquet.

Now when I say “every night”, I mean EVERY NIGHT.  The whole team along with the coach’s business buddies all gather at a restaurant to eat and drink until well past midnight.  Most of the players are single so it doesn’t matter much, but even the married men are going out every night without their wives, an event that is far too common here in China.

Like I said, I’m busy and tired during the week with my work load, plus I want to spend at least a little time with my wonderful wife, so I’ve declined dinner a couple times this week.  I’m the only one who has done so.  To top it off, when I do go for dinner, I don’t toast the leader with baijiu – I use the cursed tea.

My playtime has plummeted to no time.  I’m now a bench warmer.

I can’t say for certain if these events are all connected but there does seem to be a trend.  In case you’re beginning to wonder if this is just a whiny white boy who’s sad he didn’t get any play time, hear me out.  Tonight all my coach’s business colleagues were watching the game.  The final quarter went down to the wire until it ended in a tie meaning that we had an over time quarter in which to finish.  A few whispers later and magically all of the other team’s best player were no longer on the court for the final few minutes, resulting in a victory for our team.  Coincidence?  Not quite.

There are many more examples of politics in basketball, one of which I have already addressed on this blog,  but we won’t go into more detail now.  Like I said, I despise the politics game, probably to my detriment.  Tonight was a big night for my sponsor who had all his business buddies and his team for a dinner that I refused to attend in silent protest.  I have a sneaky feeling that my China basketball career is over before it had a chance to start.

You know it’s Xinjiang when the signs are in Chinese AND Arabic script.