LOUISE LIU CAN barely contain her excitement. It's 7.30pm at the Toyota Centre, the home of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Houston Rockets, and the Power Dancers are warming up the crowd. Because it's a Tuesday night and the opposition are the Washington Wizards - an improving team, but short on star power - the cavernous arena is only half full.
That doesn't deter Liu. She's always there. And the object of her devotion is Yao Ming, the Rockets' giant Chinese centre. 'I'm what you'd call a crazy fan,' says Liu, an organiser for one of several Yao fan clubs in Houston. And few would disagree.
Liu, who was born in Beijing and emigrated to the US 13 years ago, may well be Yao's biggest fan in Houston - no small achievement in a city that's been captivated by the Chinese star.
Liu didn't even live in Houston when Yao arrived from Shanghai in 2002 in a blaze of publicity. She was in Indiana. 'When they signed Yao Ming I just knew I had to move here,' she says.
So Liu and her husband packed up their belongings and relocated. 'He was very supportive,' she says of her husband. 'He's a big Yao fan, too.'
Liu's enthusiasm for all things Yao has been a little too much for the Rockets at times. Despite having no media connections, Liu, a computer trainer, somehow managed to gain post-game access to the players' locker-room. After 18 months of this, the Rockets said enough was enough and banned her from the area. Undeterred, she did a deal with a Chinese media outlet and got around the ban.
If the unthinkable happens and Yao moves to another team, will she follow? 'Absolutely,' she says. 'We have a 4,000sqft house, but very little furniture - just in case we have to move.'
