When most athletes finish high school or college, it’s the end of the line for their sporting careers. Only a small percentage of the most gifted ones go on to become professionals in their field, while the others tend to take great pleasure in reminiscing about how good their glory days used to be. Sean Cheng (鄭鑫), co-founder and commissioner of the Glory Days Basketball (GDB) league, came up with the idea for a basketball league late one night two years ago.
“In my dream, I was David Stern of a league that was just like the NBA — but for the average Joe who still loves to play and play hard,” Cheng said.
“All athletes want to perform at the highest level and show the entire world that they can do it, or still do it. GDB is a place where people can relive that dream every weekend and share this experience with all of their friends and family.”
Photo courtesy of Glory Days Basketball
Cheng woke up and told his wife and co-founder, Jess Cheng, his idea, and they were off to the races.
“Our first game had two teams, two refs, two scorekeepers, one videographer, and one photographer in the upper gym of the Taipei American School,” Jess Cheng said.
“Today we have over 35 teams, over 20 staff members with games located in three different top-notch gyms in Taipei City.”
Photo courtesy of Glory Days Basketball
GDB’s rapid growth can be attributed to their weekly Facebook postings of pictures and highlight videos, their new non-profit status, working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and of course, Jeremy Lin (林書豪).
“Linsanity introduced an entirely new fan base to the game of basketball, young and old,” Jess Cheng said.
“Our players still play just as hard, but I think their love for basketball is appreciated by the general public 100-fold. This means that a lot more friends and family members show support, whether in person or on Facebook.”
This Sunday, GDB will be partnering with Nike to run a three-on-three tournament at the Ximending movie park basketball courts, and then have a two-game exhibition with the top four teams in the league. This means that two years of hard work is finally paying off for the Chengs.
“GDB is more than just a full time job for us now. It’s a part of who we are,” Jess Cheng said.
Sean Cheng added, “I think there’s a lot of people, not just in Taiwan, that want their glory days back and that’s why we are where we are today.”
That US assistance was a model for Taiwan’s spectacular development success was early recognized by policymakers and analysts. In a report to the US Congress for the fiscal year 1962, former President John F. Kennedy noted Taiwan’s “rapid economic growth,” was “producing a substantial net gain in living.” Kennedy had a stake in Taiwan’s achievements and the US’ official development assistance (ODA) in general: In September 1961, his entreaty to make the 1960s a “decade of development,” and an accompanying proposal for dedicated legislation to this end, had been formalized by congressional passage of the Foreign Assistance Act. Two
President William Lai’s (賴清德) March 13 national security speech marked a turning point. He signaled that the government was finally getting serious about a whole-of-society approach to defending the nation. The presidential office summarized his speech succinctly: “President Lai introduced 17 major strategies to respond to five major national security and united front threats Taiwan now faces: China’s threat to national sovereignty, its threats from infiltration and espionage activities targeting Taiwan’s military, its threats aimed at obscuring the national identity of the people of Taiwan, its threats from united front infiltration into Taiwanese society through cross-strait exchanges, and its threats from
Despite the intense sunshine, we were hardly breaking a sweat as we cruised along the flat, dedicated bike lane, well protected from the heat by a canopy of trees. The electric assist on the bikes likely made a difference, too. Far removed from the bustle and noise of the Taichung traffic, we admired the serene rural scenery, making our way over rivers, alongside rice paddies and through pear orchards. Our route for the day covered two bike paths that connect in Fengyuan District (豐原) and are best done together. The Hou-Feng Bike Path (后豐鐵馬道) runs southward from Houli District (后里) while the
March 31 to April 6 On May 13, 1950, National Taiwan University Hospital otolaryngologist Su You-peng (蘇友鵬) was summoned to the director’s office. He thought someone had complained about him practicing the violin at night, but when he entered the room, he knew something was terribly wrong. He saw several burly men who appeared to be government secret agents, and three other resident doctors: internist Hsu Chiang (許強), dermatologist Hu Pao-chen (胡寶珍) and ophthalmologist Hu Hsin-lin (胡鑫麟). They were handcuffed, herded onto two jeeps and taken to the Secrecy Bureau (保密局) for questioning. Su was still in his doctor’s robes at
RSS