Chinese basketball fans are elated over the China men’s team 59-55 victory over Germany. Looks like the triple play of Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian, and Sun Yue are keeping China in the running for a basketball medal. Meanwhile, off the courts Chinese are getting a kick out of the Google logo that gets into the Olympic spirit of things by depicting a dragon dunking on a mouse.
While we realize the mouse could just be a nod to the current Year of the Rat, some Chinese are gloating a bit by drawing comparisons between the “very cute” rodent and the German team, while another cheekily asks if there isn’t actually more of a likeness to Spaniards.
But before anyone goes up in arms against Google’s artistic team, it should be noted that the logo has changed almost daily since the games started, and this particular one was up well before the China victory. And a quick glance below at some of the previous logos will show you that they are, in fact, rotating through each of the Chinese zodiac animals, and not taking stabs at anyone in particular. Maybe this will help those over at Toytown trying to guess what will be the next logo — parrots, raccoons, and kangaroos, while amusing, don’t exactly play a big role in Chinese astrology. Has anyone seen a rooster, snake, or rabbit yet?
UPDATE: Here comes the rabbit, only the rooster left
UPDATE (8.22.08): Another tiger makes an appearance, no love for the rooster?
UPDATE (8.23.08): The twelve animal zodiac is finally complete.
UPDATE (8.25.08): In honor of the Olympics coming to a close, here are the opening and closing logos. Congratulations to all the athletes who participated in the Beijing 2008 Summer Games!
