Linsane in the Membrane
Of all the words on tongue and pen, the saddest are, it might have been...
I know the world has been waiting with bated breath for me to weigh in on the phenomenon known as “Linsanity,” i.e., the emergence of one Jeremy Lin as an up-and-coming star for the NBA’s New York Knicks. This is a bit of a personal pain point because last year, in his rookie season, Lin played for My Golden State Warriors — though not much. As a third-string point guard he played only sporadic minutes, during which he looked fairly promising, though often confused by the fact that loud cheers went up every time he touched the ball.
During the offseason the Warriors waived Lin to clear cap space so they could make a fruitless run at several big-name free agents, and while I suffered a few moments of remorse over his departure, I can’t say that I expected what’s happened. Which is that, in the last few weeks, Lin has been putting up MVP numbers in New York while becoming not just the talk of the town, or the Association, but an honest-to-God worldwide celebrity. In the last couple weeks I’ve seen stories about him in normally sports-free zones like The Colbert Report and The Ed Show. Today I happened to be in Oakland Chinatown; the girls waiting in line behind me for banh mi were talking about Lin, and at the newsstand he was on the cover of every Chinese-language paper.
And so it goes for Warriors fans — players who wouldn’t, couldn’t, or didn’t play well for us go on to become stars elsewhere. You’d think we’d be used to it by now. I certainly don’t begrudge Lin his success — he seems like a very nice guy, though a little Jesus-y for my taste — but I just wish for once it would happen to us.
I know, keep dreaming….
