Asian Americans are going bonkers over Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Japanese baseball superstar and now Dodgers ace who gives them pride over representation at the highest level in a field relatively few of them tread.
The most exciting sports moment of 2023 has to be the final out at the World Baseball Classic when Shohei Ohtani struck out his Los Angeles Angels teammate and one of the best hitters in baseball, Mike Trout, to propel Japan as the world champions of baseball. It was one of those moments that only sports can produce, an impossible twist of fate that brought the two teammates together to face each other for the honor and glory of their respective nations as the eyes of the world bore into their every single frown, grimace, and, finally, transcendent joy.
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Kumail Nanjiani turned heads in late 2019 after revealing his muscular physique in preparation for his role as Kingo in Marvel s Eternals. About a year later, another picture of Nanjiani, the Pakistani-American star of Silicon Valley and The Big Sick, showed him celebrating 2021 in a tight, long-sleeved shirt that showed off his bulging biceps. It spurred quick backlash, with Twitter trolls accusing the star of taking steroids or having plastic surgery.
Nanjiani has not addressed the negative replies and did not respond to USA TODAY s request for comment.
But experts say the outcry over the actor s chiseled physique is a result of systemic racism and a misguided standard of masculinity.