Linsanity!

Husband, who knows my whole diversity fetish, keeps me informed on diversity in sports — there aren’t a ton of Asians, but when there are, he tells me. He is a Knicks fan, which as far as I can tell, judging from the vehement cursing and bowed head at the couch, is a long, lonely path to despair. But apparently the team has recently had a bright spot — Jeremy Lin, an Asian American Harvard grad who barely got off the bench recently got called in as point guard, and like led the Knicks to victory or at least won a bunch of points. (I’m in foreign territory right now, be patient.) Knicks fans are apparently so psyched for a hero that they now chant his name and they play “Jeremy” by Pearl Jam whenever he appears (which is song about someone who is, dunno, mildly learning disabled or abused or something? Kind of sad anthem, but I suppose, an anthem is an anthem.) What’s exciting about this guy, Husband says, is that there were such low expectations for this guy that it feels like he’s coming out of nowhere. Everybody loves the underdog story.

Anyway, there aren’t really any Ivy League grads in the Ivy League, and like only four Asians in the history of the NBA (sorry, if I”m making this up…). I remember reading the Knicks actually had a Japanese-American player in the 1940s who was actually interned during World War II, so maybe the Knicks are a bit more cutting edge than other teams? Dunno, but this is an unusual story…I’m going to go back to writing about entertainment trivia next. Writing about sports feels too unnatural.