A gust of cold wind blew, and Lin Shuyuan quickly tightened his coat, but the biting cold wind still got into his collar. He shuddered involuntarily, and muttered a curse word. Then he opened his mouth, and the cold wind rushed out. When I went in, I suddenly sneezed and felt bad all over.
Sure enough, he knew that this business trip would be a chore! Otherwise, how could it be his turn as a rookie who had just joined "World Journal" less than six months ago?
Indianapolis, NFL rookie training camp, football...these keywords do not sound very attractive. Although football is the largest sport in the United States, its overseas commercial promotion lags far behind basketball and football. The audience is really limited, let alone in China. Even in San Francisco's Chinese community, football fans are rare.
This time, a Chinese rookie appeared in the rookie training camp. After the news came out, I heard that it was really lively in Los Angeles for a while, but it was completely ignored in San Francisco.
As the Chinese newspaper with the highest sales volume and the largest scale in the San Francisco area, World Journal naturally received the news immediately, but they did not have much interest and only made official routine reports. As for the rookie training camp, they have no intention of following up on the report. Firstly, no one is paying attention, and secondly, the rookie is probably not selected. Not only World Journal, but also their two biggest local competitors, Qiao Bao and Sing Tao Daily, have no intention of following the report.
However, in recent times, "World Journal" has lacked material. Even the news of a new barber shop opening in Chinatown has appeared on the page, and the quality of news has declined sharply. So, the editor decided to immediately follow up on the news about this Chinese-American rookie, and then he, the unlucky guy, appeared in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis should be one of the most boring cities in the United States. If it weren't for this news, he probably would never visit this city in his life.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Shuyuan cheered up. Since he was already here, let's finish this report seriously. In any case, this is also his first official special report as a reporter. If he performs well, , maybe you can gain more opportunities in the future, and maybe you will have the opportunity to jump to big newspapers like the "San Francisco Chronicle" and "Los Angeles Times"...
A rookie walked over. He was wearing the jersey officially issued by the rookie training camp. He had dark blue sweat-absorbent short-sleeves and a pattern printed on his chest. The upper part was a number, "16", and the lower part was two English abbreviations. , "WR".
Lin Shuyuan knew nothing about rugby. For this rookie training camp, he crammed in a lot of rugby knowledge. He knew that "WR" meant wide receiver, so he immediately walked up to him and said, "Morning Okay, let me ask you, there is a Chinese rookie in this year’s rookie training camp, what do you think about this?”
"No opinion." The rookie looked confused, as if he didn't understand the meaning of the question, and shrugged, "In the final analysis, this is a stage to show yourself, and after all, you have to rely on your strength to speak. So, each of us You need to do your best and hope to perform well.”
Seeing that this rookie was about to leave, Lin Shuyuan didn't know how to conduct the interview. In desperation, he directly asked, "So, do you think he can be selected? I mean, this Chinese rookie."
"Obviously, the decision-making power is not mine. If I can predict, I am more concerned about which round I will be selected." The rookie said with a smile, without stopping any more, bypassed Lin Shuyuan and headed towards the hotel. The bus at the door passed by - this is the official transportation that will go directly to Lucas Oil Stadium.
Lin Shuyuan was stunned for a moment, unable to keep up with his footsteps and stayed in place. Immediately, he also realized that his question just now was a bit silly, but before he could further clarify his thoughts, he saw two middle-aged men in suits and ties walking towards him. They both had staff ID cards, corresponding to Lin Shuyuan. The media interview pass looks like a team manager or administrator.
Lin Shuyuan immediately stepped forward, "Excuse me, there is a Chinese rookie in this year's rookie training camp. Do you have any special thoughts?"
"Who?" The middle-aged man on the left looked confused. Just a rhetorical question made Lin Shuyuan choke. Fortunately, the man on the right came to the rescue, "from UCLA, a Chinese-American rookie." The first man suddenly understood. , then shook his head, "No, I'm not interested." After saying that, the two people took steps again and walked towards the parking lot on the other side.
In just one round, before even a confrontation, Lin Shuyuan was completely defeated. He didn't even have time to use the reporter's magical power of dog-skin plaster, and was instantly killed.
I originally thought that a Chinese rookie appeared in a rugby rookie training camp where Asian players had never been involved. No matter what, it was a gimmick and worthy of heated discussion; but apparently, it backfired and people didn't care at all.
Thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem strange. On the one hand, not only rugby, but also all major sports, such as football, basketball, and volleyball, China's performance is unsatisfactory. The women's volleyball team is the last fig leaf, and people's expectations are naturally not high; on the other hand, rugby in China The market has not yet opened up, and there is no commercial value at all. He is just a Chinese rookie participating in the training camp, and there is no sense of attention or hype. This is not Yao/Ming landing in the NBA.
Lin Shuyuan became less and less interested, feeling that he might return empty-handed from this business trip. However, work is work. When a group of people appeared in front of him again, Lin Shuyuan cheered up and took the initiative to greet them.
"I think this could be a big draft year."
"Yes, I agree! Especially the quarterback, there are really many good prospects this year."
"That's not necessarily true. This year's defensive team has a large number of high-profile potential new stars. I think the defensive players may perform even better this year."
"Other positions are also good. I saw a few wide receivers and tight ends. They are all of good quality."
"Yes, there are also running backs. In this year's training camp, the number of running backs is the largest."
“I haven’t seen this kind of draft year for a long, long time!”
A large group of scouts, including Adam Klein and Blake Simmons, left the hotel in a bustling manner, chatting and laughing, and prepared to go to the training camp venue. For them, the next period of time is after the hard work throughout the past season. Finally the moment of acceptance came.
Adam was walking on the front right side, and then he saw a reporter with an Asian face rushing over. His footsteps stopped quickly. The reporter asked loudly, "Excuse me, in this year's rookie training camp, who appeared in the training camp?" What do you think of a Chinese-American rookie?"
"Are you talking about the Chinese quarterback?" Compared to others, the scouts have a much deeper understanding of the players. There are a total of 332 rookies in this year's training camp. They can clearly understand the players. He can remember every player's name, position and basic information, and he can pick them up easily when mentioning any person.
Lin Shuyuan suddenly became happy and nodded repeatedly, "Yes, that's him!"
"It's already difficult enough for Chinese-American players, but this year is also a big year for quarterbacks, so it's probably going to be tough."
"There is too little information about the Chinese player, and it has no reference value at all. I don't know how he performed in this training camp. I had a face-to-face meeting with him yesterday. He is tall enough, but he is too thin and has low muscle content. Not enough, I feel that explosiveness, balance, observation, muscle strength, etc. are not enough."
"Asian players are still too poor in terms of physical fitness. I am still not optimistic that there will be Asian players in the NFL this year."
…
There was chatter, and information was already pouring in without Lin Shuyuan asking a question, but obviously, these were not good news. Even though Lin Shuyuan had been mentally prepared for a long time, it was a hard fact that there was still no Asian player in the rugby field so far; but hearing it with his own ears at this moment, Lin Shuyuan still felt a little depressed.
"Didn't you watch the video? His judgment and shots on the court are worthy of recognition." Black couldn't hold back and spoke out in defense. To this day, his performance in the last two minutes of the Rose Bowl still impresses him.
Black looked back at his colleagues and said loudly, "Every year, quarterbacks are the most sought-after. To be precise, we should say which team does not lack quarterbacks, not which team We need a quarterback. Peyton Manning is injured this year, and now the Colts are in trouble. Maybe they have to choose a quarterback too, and things are uncertain."
"Blake, you're not so naive, are you? It was just a flash of inspiration. To be honest, there are more than ten or twenty players who burst out like this every year, and then all of them disappear." The rebuttal voice came one after another, There was a rush of chatter, followed by others echoing, "Yes, his physical fitness is really bad. No team will be willing to take risks, let alone the first six rounds, even if they select him in the seventh round, It's too risky for me. The numbers don't lie, and the scouting reports don't lie."
"That's not necessarily true." It was Adam who spoke this time. As a veteran among the scouts, his words were quite weighty, and everyone looked over.
"Adam, what do you think?" someone asked.
Adam shrugged, "I don't have any objections. I just think that the data cannot be accurate, otherwise, the current elite quarterbacks will not be those four."
After finishing speaking, Adam didn't say anything more, bypassed the reporters, and walked forward; other scouts also chirped their opinions, started a heated discussion, and followed one after another. , in a blink of an eye, Lin Shuyuan was left standing alone, messy in the wind:
What did that sentence mean just now? Why can't he understand?
