Three weeks ago if I asked the average sports fan who Jeremy Lin was they would have probably come up with something along the lines of a figure skater, or golfer. But now it seems like we can’t escape the Lin-words: Linsane, Linderella, Lincredible, so on and so forth.
To me personally, I don’t buy it yet. But thats not to say I don’t like the kid, I mean he is playing extremely well right now and that I do like. What I do not like is the way that people must try and force an image or nickname on someone the second they smell the slightest hint of success. People are already throwing names around trying to compare Lin to the likes of Payton Manning, Steve Nash, Sidney Crosby, and yes, even the great Magic Johnson.
I really hate the comparisons. Why not just let the kid be Jeramy Lin? Is that so bad. I mean I would like to see a bit more consistency in his play before we start dubbing him Mr. Lincredible or something stupid like that. I did not get all this hype that was coming with this kid (even after he scorched my Lakers for 38) until after I realized that people weren’t cheering for Lin exactly, they were cheering for BASKETBALL.
The story behind Lin started with high school and led through college where he first made IT happen. Then being bounced around from team to team and even being dropped to the D-League has only added to the struggling first steps before he made IT happened again. And after watching Lin play my Lakers I can see that he has the potential to make IT happen for years to come, and by IT I mean, making basketball fun.
Jeremy Lin brought life to a dead season. Everyone seems to be waiting for either the trade deadline to see what happens to their teams, or for the playoffs to start. The lock out resulted in a rushed start to a season and many out of shape players (not mentioning any players names but one of them rhymes with SHMIRK SHMUSHMINKSKI). It seems like most teams are struggling to find an identity while those who have one are simply rotating players to get rest for the playoffs.
The excitement of Lin couldn’t have happened at a better time and to a better team. The Knicks, on paper, looked as if they could be a contender for a ring this year. But for them to have been playing as poorly as they have, no one could have seen. In my mind Lin should be know as the “The Defibrillator” because he shocked life back into New York City and the basketball world.
Lets face it, basketball is better when the Knicks are relevant. To have such a huge market in NYC and go through season after season of crappy teams bums me out. I like it when Kobe has something to play for in New York other then simply playing in MSG. There are still a lot of questions with Lin, like how long can this last? How will Melo and he play together? And will he get a decent contract soon? With all of that aside, wether you believe in the hype or not, you can’t deny that this kid is a breath of fresh air.
Design Notes: We have been struggling to find a design that we could do with the Mars Blackmon character, but nothing has seemed to fit. Until now…
