Fight!...For Your Right!...To Play Sports in China?

So can I just tell you that I have really lucked out on the list of text books I have to buy and read this semester?  I have!

My Intro to PR class used to have a text book, but as soon as the price of the text book hit $125, the professor decided not to use it anymore.  SCORE!  Notes, lectures, and topical current event assignments are a great way to replace the text book.

One of the current events that we had to relate to public relations was that of the brawl between the Georgetown men's basketball team, and a professional Chinese basketball team.  In case you didn't hear about it, here is the gist of what happened...

A brawl broke out in the fourth quarter of the highly physical contest.  The fight was triggered when a Chinese player fouled a Georgetown player and the officials did not call the foul.  Georgetown, by the way, had been called for over 20 fouls at this point in the game.  The Chinese team had been called for somewhere around 10 fouls.  The Georgetown player, in a moment of frustration, shoved the Chinese player.  The Chinese player then retaliated by throwing kicks and punches which caused both team’s benches to clear and then chaos ensued.  At one point a Chinese player was seen in the video sitting on top of a Georgetown player and unleashing right handed jabs to his face.  Another Chinese player, channeling his inner Bobby Knight, was seen throwing a chair into the back of another Georgetown player.  When some order was restored, Georgetown's team exited the court while spectators threw litter at them.  Video and reports of the fight made their way onto the World Wide Web.  Check out the video below.  

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk9dNsfDhYs

This incident could be considered an international PR nightmare.  Originally meant to be a good will game between two countries trying to maintain good relations, it turned into an international relations headache for some of the active public involved.  China, in an attempt to avoid embarrassment from the incident, blocked any video of the event from being seen in their country.  That's pretty much their MO on matters like this.  "NOTHING TO SEE HERE!  PLEASE MOVE ALONG!" That's another subject I will leave for the political blogs.

Have a nice three day weekend.

Cheers!