I hate Gao Lin. If you’ve ever read this blog before, it’s probably obvious to you. He’s from Zhengzhou, he played for Shanghai, and now he’s on Guangzhou, when it comes to my degrees of hatred, I don’t think you could create a more perfect grouping (unless he ends up on Tianjin). But most of all it’s because he’s a diving cheat.
That said, I have to give him kudos for his recent gesture, a nice thank you to the fans. Lines for Guangzhou season tickets were extra long this year and like a lot of season tickets around the country, required real-name registration using China’s National ID card or a passport. Gao used his idea and that of a friends to purchase two season tickets.
On Valentine’s Day (aww!), Gao started a promotion through his Sina weibo account asking for couples to send pictures of themselves wearing Evergrande gear. He would select the winner and give the pair the season tickets. Within only a couple hours, his account was flooded with over 500 pictures.
I can excuse my personal hatred of him for the day and give the guy kudos for the gesture, it’s only a small one, but it shows how players are attempting to personally connect with fans through the social media site. The winning picture shows a progression, from the guy’s original proposal at a Guangzhou match to them getting their marriage licenses (wearing Guangzhou tshirts). Congratulations to the winning couple and thanks for the sweet Valentine’s Day story*.
*I still hope Gao Lin breaks his leg before the start of the season.
by bcheng
We need a bigger stadium. Lots of people turned away after the 30,000 season ticket allocation sold out. It’s going to be mayhem (and expensive) trying to get big match tickets this year.
Tianhe’s 58,000 which is a decent size among CSL stadiums. I’m pretty sure there’s an 80,000 seat stadium in Guangzhou, wonder why they don’t consider moving there or if its like in Beijing having to do with expenses. I do think its good that they’re able to create a bit of demand and excitement, but it does suck for the fans.
In all honesty, the Olympic stadium (which has never held an Olympic event but did hold the Asian games) is in the middle of nowhere. OK, it’s serviced by a metro line but it’s not as convenient as Tianhe and, speaking from a selfish point of view, would be twice as far to get to.