Linsanity. Lincredible. Lin Your Face.
The puns could go on all day.
And they have.
Norm Crosby could only wish to create so many new words.
Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks is so hot right now, David Letterman even did a list of the Top 10 Linsane Puns:
10. LIN-termittent Windshield Wiper
9. Law and Order: Criminal LIN-tent
8. Ange-LIN-a JOL-emy
7. LIN-ternational House of LIN-cakes
6. Newt LIN-grich
5. LIN-terest-bearing LIN-vestment Grade Financial LIN-strument
4. Does this look LIN-fected to you?
3. JERE-meat Sauce with LIN-guine
2. KNI-xual LIN-tercourse
1. You gotta be LIN it to LIN it
Dave is not the only one doing it either.
The crowd at Madison Square Garden these days looks more like a wrestling event than a basketball game.
But it was only a matter a time before somebody would make a wrong turn.
And in this case, the guilty party is the self-proclaimed worldwide leader in sports.
ESPN.
For the last few weeks, ESPN has treated Jeremy Lin like Michael Jordan.
Their coverage has been all Lin, all the time.
Pretty amazing treatment for a guy who has started seven games.
Seven AMAZING games, true.
But seven games nonetheless.
ESPN has been doing everything they can to cash in on this Linderella story.
Tickers and graphics and highlights and interviews.
Features, reporters and breakdowns.
Oh my.
But after Friday’s game, they pushed it over the line.
Or is it over the Lin.
CHINK IN THE ARMOR
That was the headline on espn.com Friday after the Knicks lost their first game with Lin as their starting point guard.
As you might imagine, those four words got the four-letter network in hot water.
Actually it was just one of those words which got them in trouble.
And to their credit, espn.com removed the headline at 3:05am.
35 minutes after it was first posted.
The mega-network apologized for their Linsensitive mistake shortly thereafter.
But to make it worse, a tape also surfaced from an ESPNews segment on Wednesday.
In that segment, anchor Max Bretos used the same “Chink in the Armor” cliche to try and make a point.
Oh he made a point alright.
Now I don’t know Max Bretos, but it was very clear from watching the eight-second gaffe that Bretos was 100% guilty.
Guilty of making a stupid mistake.
And nothing more.
But in this age of political correctness, the last thing you can do is use the word CHINK in a story about someone of Chinese descent.
And God forbid you make fun of Jeremy Lin, the hottest sports story this side of Tim Tebow.
For the first time, maybe ever, the story of Jeremy Lin is a story that a billion Chinese people really do care about.
Which is nearly a billion more than would’ve noticed had Lin been doing this for the New Orleans Hornets.
Or Milwaukee Bucks.
Or if he was still with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA Development League.
Where he was playing a month and change ago.
It’s amazing what the bright lights of New York City can do for your career.
It was just two weeks ago that this baby was born.
Entering the Knicks game on February 4, Lin had played a grand total of 55 NBA minutes in 23 NBA games this year.
And in those 23 games, he scored 32 points.
That’s 32 total points.
You don’t need a degree from the Ivy League to figure out that that’s less than a basket per game.
But Lin has one of those.
A degree from the Ivy League.
In fact, he only went there because nobody else wanted him.
Well nobody else wanted him on the basketball court.
During the recruiting process, it was Lin doing the recruiting.
He sent a resume and DVD of his high school basketball highlights to a bunch of schools.
All the Ivy League Schools.
Cal Berkeley, Stanford and UCLA.
This is no dummy.
But even with the grades, on and off the court, nobody bit.
And when no one else came calling, he settled for Harvard.
It must be nice, settling for Harvard.
But while he was there, he didn’t settle for anything.
In fact, he became a giant fish in that ivy pond.
Becoming the first player in Ivy League history to have 1450+ points, 450+ rebounds, 400+ assists and 200+ steals in a career.
Ok, we are talking Ivy League basketball.
But still.
Still with those numbers, the guy who didn’t get any scholarship offers.
Also didn’t get drafted by any NBA teams.
Not one.
But bouncing back from rejection is Lin’s middle name.
Actually Shu-How is his middle name.
His parents came to the U.S. from Taiwan in the 70s.
They eventually settled in California, where Lin was born in 1988.
According to Wikipedia, Lin is the first American player in NBA history to be of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.
And hence we reach the center of this story.
This is not a basketball story.
This is not a story about free throws or assists.
This is a story about life.
A story about perseverance.
And determination.
And desire.
And basketball.
This is a story about a man who is opening a door that has never been opened before.
Yao Ming, Shmao Ming.
As great as Yao was, and he was great, there is not one kid in this world who can relate to the 7-foot-4 star.
Jeremy Lin on the other hand.
That’s a different story.
We are all capable of not getting scholarships.
And we are all capable of not getting drafted.
And we are all capable of dreaming.
Of course, there’s no telling when this dream will end.
Or if it will end.
But for now, all we can do is just watch.
And enjoy.
And if you don’t believe.
Maybe you are just Lin Denial.
