Guangdong’s Southern Tigers beat out Xinjiang’s Flying Tigers last Sunday in a best-of-seven basketball championship that ended in five games.  This battle of the tigers marks the 14th season for the CBA (China Basketball Association) and the 5th trophy to go to Guangdong.  I felt obligated to watch at least a portion of the game since my home province was being represented but I walked away sorely disappointed.  Not only did my team lose but I was surprised that a sport as popular as basketball here in China didn’t feel more, well…popular.

I also had a chance to watch an NBA playoff game last weekend, the Miami Heat vs the Atlanta Hawks.  The difference between the viewing experience of those two games was incredible. One felt like a playoff game, the other felt like a high school basketball match.  Here are just a few of the differences:

One Camera vs. 20 Cameras

I really don’t have a clue how many cameras are used to film a single CBA game, but it can’t be more than 3 or 4.  Watching the game on TV I felt like I had bought tickets to the nosebleed section and I needed binoculars.  Rarely was a close-up shot used and instant-replays were unheard of.

Commercials

I guess I don’t realize how much my sports experience relies on commercials, but it does.  Watching the Super Bowl here in China is absolutely boring without good commercials and the commercials that were shown during the CBA championship were laughable.

Post-Game Coverage

The post-game coverage for this recent game has been non-existent.  Take, for instance, the CBA’s own coverage on their website, which doesn’t even have a picture to go with the 5-paragraph article.  The picture I did find on one sports site here in China (see below) doesn’t even show the players faces.  It’s hard to find this acceptable after getting used to the ESPN coverage I had back at home.

Nobody Seems to Care

“Xinjiang is in the CBA Finals?” my friend asked me.  “Was” I said, “but they lost.”  Watching sports alone isn’t nearly as fun as watching it with friends, but when nobody else knows that your team is playing, who are you supposed to watch it with?

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I guess it will take time before watching sports in China becomes more fashionable, but until then it will take getting used to for any person coming over from the land of ESPN.  Just be glad that you were able to view the 2008 Olympics through the eyes of NBC instead of China’s CCTV-5.