Watching the NBA finals–and the commericals–in China

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The desultory NBA finals just wrapped up, and alas, the series was so bad that it was more fun to watch the commercials here than it was the games. (CCTV 5 showed all the games live in the mornings and then replayed them each evening.) Pro sports leagues and the television networks in the US get a fair amount of grief for having beer companies as one of their major sponsors. How do you square the healthy, fit lifestyle that sports presumably stands for with the guzzling of brewskis? Or so say our national nannies.
But the US looks positively ascetic compared to China. At virtually every commercial break during the series, Ballantine, Johnnie Walker Black and Martell’s XO were among the advertisers. Drink up folks, but don’t try to guard Lebron James afterward!