The Golden Age of Basketball

Chapter 56 July

"Forrest Gump:
Hello, it's been a while since I last wrote to you, about two weeks?
I've been busy studying for the final exams this semester, so I didn't reply to your letter in time.

Time flies so fast. This is the sixth letter I've written to you. It's been more than three months since we first met.

In the Falkland Islands of the Atlantic Ocean, the war between Britain and Argentina has ended.

Everyone says war is cruel. If all wars in the world were replaced by sports competitions, there would be winners and losers, but no bloodshed.

However, I don't know anything about war; I've only heard about it from people at school, and it seems that boys are more interested in these things.

The World Cup in Spain has already begun. If England and Argentina could compete in football, how wonderful it would be if we didn't have to go to war.

I listened to the Michael Jackson album "Off the Wall" that you sent me, and I listened to every single song carefully.

You know, my family owns an audio-visual store. My dad often plays punk and rock songs, but I think it's too noisy and a bit outdated.

Nowadays, students in schools prefer to listen to upbeat and lively pop music, and stores are selling fewer new punk and rock albums.

My favorite part of "Off the Wall" is "Don't stop til you get enough." The intro is amazing, and his falsetto is just perfect.

The lyrics in this album are a bit inappropriate for children.

I wonder how your life and studies have been lately? Are you still training every day? Do you find it boring?

I really admire you. It's true that to play basketball well, you need a strong will, and I'm just lacking in that.

How are your college applications going? You tried out for UCLA in Los Angeles last time, have they told you the results?

I look forward to your letter or message, and I also look forward to seeing you again.

Your friend, Fosse-Wong, June 15, 1982.

Gan Guoyang received this letter from Wang Fuxi before he left for Los Angeles.

After winning the championship and returning to San Francisco, Gan Guoyang received many letters, which he, as always, tossed aside and never opened.

But one letter's mailing address caught his attention: the middle school where they had warmed up for the game that day, the place where he had met the girl.

Gan Guoyang opened the letter, and sure enough, it was written by that girl. Her name was Wang Fuxi—a strange name.

Since he felt obligated to reply to someone's letter after opening it, otherwise he would feel guilty, Gan Guoyang wrote back, and the two began corresponding with each other.

It was already June 20th. Gan Guoyang had received a call from the UCLA basketball department the day before. He had passed the April tryouts, but he needed to come to the school basketball team for an interview.

If he passes the interview, he will be accepted into the UCLA basketball team and will be eligible to apply for a basketball scholarship.

Gan Guoyang was somewhat annoyed by UCLA's procrastination, but he could understand it.

It's not because UCLA is a big name that's bullying others, but because they encountered the same trouble as the University of San Francisco this year.

The controversy surrounding the University of San Francisco has spread to schools throughout California, and in a series of follow-up investigations, UCLA, the nation's top basketball school, has also been implicated.

The NCAA's disciplinary committee conducted a series of investigations into UCLA and found that they had violated regulations by providing players with loans for personal consumption and giving gifts to players' families.

UCLA paid a heavy price for this; the Golden Bears, who finished second in the Pac-10 regular season, were disqualified from the 1982 NCAA National Championship.

A season's worth of effort has gone to waste, and a group of excellent senior players will be graduating. Logically, UCLA should be more proactive in recruiting new players to prepare for the next season.

However, due to warnings and penalties from the committee, the school has had to be more cautious and strict with its finances, and they are now even finding it difficult to reimburse players for their round-trip travel expenses.

On the 20th, Gan Guoyang had no choice but to drive to Los Angeles himself. He had to travel 376 miles and drive for more than 5 hours to reach his destination.

However, this is quite common in the United States. As the overall champion of the CIF California region, the China Endeavour Foundation presented Gan Guoyang with a blue Ford Capri.

After taking the SAT in May, Gan Guoyang spent a few weeks learning to drive and getting his driver's license before daring to drive on the road.

It is indeed very inconvenient not to have a car in the United States, and the oil prices that soared during the oil crisis had gradually stabilized and were trending downward by 1982.

For Gan Guoyang, who received a substantial bonus, driving is a convenient and inexpensive mode of transportation.

To look out for each other on the road, Gan Guoyang gave Gan Guohui, who was on vacation, a ride, and the two set off south towards Los Angeles.

Gan Guohui looked much fatter than when he competed in Los Angeles three months ago. Everyone except Gan Guoyang breathed a sigh of relief after he won the championship.

They became heroes in San Francisco and among the Chinese community. On March 2nd, the day they returned to San Francisco, hundreds of people came to the airport to welcome them, creating a spectacular scene.

That night, Chinatown was packed with people. The celebrations lasted from the afternoon until late at night. Too many fireworks caused three buildings to burn down, and 27 people were injured in a stampede during the event. Fortunately, no one died.

Franklin, another member of the Waterbell team who had the opportunity to play in college, increased his profile through this CIF trip and attracted the attention of some schools.

If he plays basketball well next year and doesn't mess around, he has a chance to get a basketball scholarship and go to a good university.

Chen Xing and Gan Guohui have no hope of playing basketball in college; they are preparing for their college applications next year.

Chen Xing aspires to work in the computer industry, while Gan Guohui feels that as long as he can go to school, he is satisfied and plans to inherit the Gan Family Restaurant in the future.

Xu Xun, who is in the same year as Gan Guoyang, has been admitted to a community college in Auckland. He will play for the community college basketball team and then study food and beverage management.

His path was also to inherit his family's Korean restaurant, but he simply couldn't let go of basketball.

Other players who don't have much basketball talent have all gone their own way.

But for everyone, this spring of 1982 is one they will remember for a lifetime.

The photo of the Beiqiao Water Clock team did not appear in any issue of Sports Illustrated magazine in March 1982.

Because the covers for the first two issues were already finalized on March 1st, and the covers for the subsequent issues were to be given to the NCAA, they chose to give the covers to Ewing, Sam Perkins, and James Worthy.

Sports Illustrated doesn't want basketball to dominate its monthly cover; they also need to cater to the tastes of other sports fans.

This was undoubtedly a major mistake in Sports Illustrated's cover selection; they missed out on both Gan Guoyang and Michael Jordan.

Both of them delayed their first appearance in Sports Illustrated.

Of course, this is not a loss for the Water Bell team and Gan Guoyang. Their group photo is permanently preserved in the archives of Beiqiao Middle School and in the CIF Hall of Fame.

The two set off in the morning, had lunch and refueled in Panoch-Zhunkshin along the way, took a short break, and continued south, arriving in Los Angeles at 2 p.m.

They exited the highway at Sunset Boulevard and parked at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Bellagio Road. Gan Guoyang said someone would be waiting for them there.

Gan Guohui looked around and asked, "Who is it? Who would be waiting for us here? What kind of car do they drive? What do they look like? What's their phone number?"

Gan Guoyang said, "They didn't say anything, they just said that as soon as that person appears, we will immediately know it is him."

"Huh? This person has writing on their face? Who's so unreliable, just like that... Holy crap, is it that person?"

Gan Guohui suddenly saw an extremely tall guy walking towards him not far away, looking like Bigfoot. He was wearing a UCLA tracksuit.

Needless to say, it has to be him.

(End of this chapter)