Athlete of the Week

Shawn Cheng, PC '02 Ninja rear guard Hometown: Yuanlin, Taiwan Height: 5'6" Favorite sports moment: "Hmm... I'd have to say it's Super Bowl XXV, with four seconds left, and Scott Norwood—no, wait, actually it's when Bo Jackson suffered his career-ending hip injury." Favorite CD: "Jock Jams, Volume Two—it's a more eclectic mix."

The slight, affable rear guard has been with the ninjas for the past two years, but it was only recently that his talents became an integral part of their success. Until recently, Cheng's responsibilities mainly consisted of guarding his teammates as they went in for the kill. He had never slain an adversary until last weekend, in a vital battle against Dartmouth on Sat., Mar. 25. "Cheng is like Muhammad Ali fighting George Foreman," coach Yugiri Tayama, DIV '76, said. "He's spent the past two years wearing down his opponents. No one expected a scratch from a skinny, friendly kid like him. It would be like if your newborn puppy suddenly ripped out your sister's guts, deep-fried them, and used them as a frisbee."

That is exactly what Cheng did to Dartmouth. After lingering in treetops for six hours, teammate Alex Ransom, CC '03, was spotted by Dartmouth's Eric Potter '00. Potter began climbing a vast elm, but Ransom jumped and pulled Potter to the ground. After an elaborate sword show, Ransom was nicked on the elbow and began to lose blood rapidly. Cheng surprised the gloating Potter from behind, ripping out his heart and funneling his type-O blood into Ransom's arm to save his life. After Ransom had regained consciousness, he joined Cheng in a victory prance around Potter's corpse. Meanwhile, the entire Dartmouth team had spotted the slaying, gone into shock, and conceded the tournament victory to the Bulldogs. Yale owed the victory entirely to Cheng's wild display of rage, and Ransom owed the Taiwanese Tornado (as his teammates call him) his life.

Cheng's training as a ninja began early in his childhood. But while spending the majority of his youth in Taiwan, Cheng was fascinated by another sport. "I really wanted to play Little League!" Cheng said. "But everyone was so much bigger than me." His baseball dreams struck out when he was inspired by another part of American culture—the WWF. With "Macho Man" Randy Savage as his hero, Cheng came to America, but not before picking up the rudiments of ninja-fighting from his grandparents. When he discovered in New York that wrestling was staged, he was heartbroken. "From then on, I wanted to be a ninja, and I was definitely willing to give 110 percent," Cheng said.

Despite his fierce dedication and wild success, Cheng is the embodiment of fine sportsmanship, and, according to his teammates, shockingly modest and friendly. "He's friendly and sweet, in a wussy kind of way," teammate Julian Eleven, TC '01, said. "But that's what makes him an effective ninja."

Photo by Julia Tiernan.

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