Linball

This thread is reminding me of THIS thread ... For you Big Pern.

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/78451/

 

He's been washed up for at least five years.

 

Not sure how the Ben Wallace comparison got started, but that's a completely different situation. Wallace had been in the League for six years gradually getting a bit better each year before he finally reached all star level. He didn't explode onto the scene out of nowhere like this.

This Lin phenomenon is more analogous to baseball examples like Mark Fydrich in 76 and Fernandomania in 81. I can't really think of any other NBA examples quite like it. The Simmons piece today brought up the case of Billy Ray Bates in 80, but I can't say I recall that being a national story at all at the time.

 

The Wallace comparison is absurd...

There are so many great angles to the Lin story. He played Division I, but Ivy League schools don't offer athletic scholarships. He wasn't drafted. He's been cut twice, playing in the D-League and then exploding all over the NBA on the league's biggest stage.

It's a tremendous story.

 

Just another example of America building people up as fast as possible then trying to tear them down just as quickly. Its a great story, Asian or otherwise. Enjoy while it lasts.

 

I think it got started in this thread because someone was quite impressed by a column that made the comparison.

 

Jersey Lin wore in his first game just sold for $40,000.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JEREMY-LIN-Game-Worn-Uniform-Jersey-FIRST-EVER-NYK-Game-Shorts-Pants-/280826860848?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item416295d530

 

Did Ben Wallace buy it?

 

No but Big Ben can line up to buy a pair of Nike's exclusive new Lin basketball shoe...

http://counterkicks.com/2012/02/14/nike-takes-linsanity-to-the-next-level-with-jeremy-lins-first-player-exclusive-shoe/

 

If the Knicks ever move to Secaucus, does he go by the name Jersey Lin?

 

Haha ... the difference, though, as others have noted, is that it happens regularly in baseball, but rarely in the NBA. Almost every September there's some guy who no one has ever heard of who has a hot streak. I said the same thing about Shane Spencer that I said about Daniel Nava.

From the three games I've seen of Lin, I believe he's the real deal. That said, even if he is just a meteor streaking across the sky before quickly flaming out, it's still such an unusual story, he'll be remembered much longer than Nava.

Besides, I fucking hate the Red Sox.

 

I actually had to Google Nava's name because I already forgot about him. And I'm a Red Sox fan.