Chapter 255: The Visit To UCLA
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was tough to be on a plane for a dozen hours, not to mention when it was the economy class.
The torture, apart from the roar of aircraft engines and the discomfort of high pressure, was boredom and tediousness.
This was the first time for Dai Li to go abroad, and he was full of anticipation when the plane took off. However, he felt anxious and fretful after several hours. The plane was flying above the clouds and the scenery outside the window remained unchanged. It was quite refreshing at the first sight, but it was boring after a long time. The little television in front of him played these old movies again and again, and even worse, Dai Li had seen all those movies before. The shaking due to airstream from time to time made him nervous each time it happened.
Finally, the plane arrived safely in Los Angeles, and a car took them to the hotel, where almost everyone laid down to have a rest. A dozen hours of journey and the jetlag could easily cause mental fatigue, and thus everyone felt exhausted.
After a day's rest, their visiting began formally. The first stop was the famous American university—UCLA, or the University of California, Los Angeles.
As one of the top universities in the United States, UCLA attracted many tourists and scholars every day, and such visiting delegations were common for UCLA.
At UCLA, student volunteers served as the guides, and they introduced the campus to visitors. And lots of places on the campus were open to the public where they could visit freely, such as the library as long as there was no noise. The hard-working students basically paid no attention to the visitors.
"Oh, American universities are so unique. There are small stalls where it seems that university associations are attracting new members!" said Guangming Song, the head coach of the weightlifting team. He wanted to join them and headed over.
Zhongyi Xu warned, "Song, don't go over there. Don't you see the protests? You want to join them?"
"Protest? I've never experienced one." Song said with a smile.
Zhongyi Xu smiled again and said, "Look there, the boxes are prepared for raising money. If you go there, you have to donate money."
On hearing donating money, Song put his hands in the pocket and returned to the team immediately and mumbled, "Americans earn much more than I do, so do not expect me to donate money to them."
Laughing and joking all the way, they looked at everything with curiosity like Granny Liu in the Grand View Garden. However, nobody laughed several hours later.
Everyone realized the huge gap between American training and the training in China.
They said, "The training intensity they have is so high! Their training in college is even more intense than that of our provincial team. I can't imagine the intensity of their professional training centers."
"You are right. Their training is very professional. I spent some time at our provincial School of Physical Education, and compared with UCLA, our training is so easy."
"Please note that UCLA is a comprehensive university rather than a professional sports university. They have no major in sports. It is surprising that a university without a sports major can offer such high-intensity training."
Zhongyi Xu, grim-faced, is a great coach who has cultivated a world record holder. He has been to many countries, including America and Australia. Ha has brought back some foreign training experiences, but now when they are in UCLA, Xu still perceived the huge gap between UCLA and Chinese universities.
"Li, you have been in Tsing Hua University. How is the training in UCLA compared with the training in Tsing Hua University?" Zhongyi Xu asked.
"Both Tsing Hua University and UCLA are top universities in the world, and neither has established a major in sports. But to be honest, UCLA is better than Tsing Hua University in terms of sports training," Dai Li replied with some helplessness.
"Just as I expected." Zhongyi Xu was not surprised by the answer.
"In my view, this is a kind of cultural difference, I mean the difference in sports." Dai Li paused, and then went on. "The Americans love sports more than the Chinese. In terms of university admission, they focus not only on the candidates' scores, but also their hobbies and interests, including their talents in sports. In the admission process of those American elite colleges, excellent sports students are more popular than those with excellent grades, and they get more attention."
Zhongyi Xu replied, "You got a point. The sports atmosphere in American universities is much better than ours."
"Actually, the sports atmosphere in Chinese universities is not so bad, but our students pay more attention to words rather than actions." Dai Li smiled and continued, "When I was in college, I used to talk about the tactics of NBA teams and their characteristics with my roommates, but we seldom put these tactics into practice. I guess that a lot of basketball fans in China are like this. When it comes to theories about basketball, they have a lot to say, but when required to put these into practice, they are all disabled. They are all talkers but not doers."
"Talkers but not doers?" Zhongyi Xu smiled and said, "You are right, in terms of sports, the Chinese, unlike the American, pay more attention to theories rather than realistic actions. In the United States, there are many vacant lands for sports. They have basketball courts in the community, and the schools are also open to the public. But in China, it is difficult for us to find a playground, and the basketball courts of school are not available to the public even during the holidays."
"All the vacant lands in China are used to build houses, so there is no room for sports courts!" Di Li said, while looking up to the front. "The basketball stadium of UCLA is not far away from here. The basketball level of UCLA teams ranks top in NCAA. They have won the championship of NCAA ten times. Many NBA basketball players come from UCLA basketball teams, and I've always wanted to go to see their basketball teams."
"Please wait for a moment. Coach Alford will be here soon," said the guide.
"Alford is one of the top basketball coaches in The United States. It is said that NBA teams pay high salaries to hire him to train their players."
"The best achievement of Alford's was to win the second place of NCAA, but his team entered the top 16 many times."
The group was talking to each other in low voices. Then, a white-haired, tall man came from the distance accompanied by a middle-aged black woman.
"Here comes Coach Alford," the guide pointed to the man.
"It seems that his height is more than 1.90 meters, and he may have been a basketball player himself when he was young," said Guangming Song.
At that point, however, Coach Alford seemed to be trying to get rid of the black woman.
"Coach Alford, please give my son a chance. Allen is really talented!" The black woman followed Alford and implored him.
"Mrs. Hampton, I know Allen Hampton is a very talented basketball player. His great performance in high school has proven that. The data of his performance averaging at 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists has made him qualified for the NBA." Coach Alford paused and then added, "but you should know that your son is a time bomb! He has criminal records, and he is currently struggling in a lawsuit, right? UCLA will never admit a time bomb! Therefore, I suggest you go to other universities."