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[PastorOfMuppets]

Lin's popularity does have a great deal to do with the fact that he's Asian-American not just Asian.

Asians in America have no media exposure unless it's

- A hot Asian girl (dating a white guy 95% of the time of course)
- Comic relief, usually an insult caricature - think Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles or Ken Jeong's character from the Hangover
- Bruce Lee
- John Cho - who's basically Hollywood's goto guy for "Asians who speak English" roles.

Westernized Asian - men in particular, have very little in the way of positive role models in the media. He's literally the only thing young westernized Asian men have to look up to, unless you count Bruce Lee who's been dead for almost 40 years.

 

[numble]

I like how some people are trying to argue against the fact that amongst all the big team sports, basketball by far has the highest % of egotistical douchebags. When a great player (not saying lin is one of them) is humble, it does stand out. See: Dirk, Duncan, Rose, Nash.

No point is listing top players that are humble in the NFL, MLB, and NHL since it's the norm.

Nash and his humble groupies.

 

[Branduil]

I like how some people are trying to argue against the fact that amongst all the big team sports, basketball by far has the highest % of egotistical douchebags. When a great player (not saying lin is one of them) is humble, it does stand out. See: Dirk, Duncan, Rose, Nash.

No point is listing top players that are humble in the NFL, MLB, and NHL since it's the norm.

All those humble baseball players who roided their brains out and lied in front of congress about it.

 

[yogloo]

I think you can put players of any color in his position and the story would still be catching on. It's quite an inspiring story. Undrafted, about to be cut, coming out of the bench as the last option and turned out to be the savior?

 

[xbhaskarx]

Barack Obama got so much hype just because he's black, but George Washington was the first President over 200 years ago and there have been over 40 others since. And unlike with Lin who is surrounded by barely-literate NBA players, it's not really a big deal to have a President who went to Harvard...

 

[Branduil]

I think you can put players of any color in his position and the story would still be catching on. It's quite an inspiring story. Undrafted, about to be cut, coming out of the bench as the last option and turned out to be the savior?

It would be a much smaller story if he was in Milwaukee or something. It's a big deal because he's a Knicks' player who doesn't actually suck.

 

[onipex]

Barack Obama got so much hype just because he's black, but George Washington was the first President over 200 years ago and there have been over 40 others since. And unlike with Lin who is surrounded by barely-literate NBA players, it's not really a big deal to have a President who went to Harvard...

And both play basketball.

edit: I see Obama inviting Lin to the WH for a game.

 

[PG2G]

I don't think half of the new Jeremy Lin fans on my Facebook would even have hears the story if he wasn't Asian. People need to stop trying to find excuses to cheer for the dude, its all right to cheer for someone because they look like you. I cheese for black quarterbacks and headcoaches all the time with no shame, lol

 

[legend166]

To be fair, it's basically true. When someone who does not fit the typical mold of an athlete within a given sport, they tend to get more attention than they would have if they were not the case. For example, Peyton Hillis, a successful white running back, was on the cover of Madden despite having a relatively average year compared to other running backs in the league.

There's certainly other factors at play, such as the fact that he was undrafted, went to Harvard and is playing legitimately good basketball atm, but it'd be disingenuous to suggest that he'd be as popular a player so few games into his career if he were simply another young black athlete in the NBA.

Wasn't the Peyton Hillis thing basically an internet troll since the cover was voted on by the 'fans'?

 

[apana]

I don't understand these reactions. Shouldn't this be a happy moment for everyone that he is an Asian American who is doing well in basketball, breaking stereotypes and all that? It's not to the detriment of black people if he is getting attention for being an Asian American basketball player, just like if a black person was doing well in a white dominated sport he would be getting a lot of attention.

 

[Amagon]

Lin's popularity does have a great deal to do with the fact that he's Asian-American not just Asian.

Asians in America have no media exposure unless it's

- A hot Asian girl (dating a white guy 95% of the time of course)
- Comic relief, usually an insult caricature - think Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles or Ken Jeong's character from the Hangover
- Bruce Lee
- John Cho - who's basically Hollywood's goto guy for "Asians who speak English" roles.

Westernized Asian - men in particular, have very little in the way of positive role models in the media. He's literally the only thing young westernized Asian men have to look up to, unless you count Bruce Lee who's been dead for almost 40 years.

There is always Sung Kang (Han from Fast & Furious) who is headlining a movie with Stallone, Bullet to the Head, that is coming out in April. I'd always like this dude so I hope he becomes more mainstream cause he is a really good actor regardless of race imho.

 

[Smokey]

because he's a decent asian player.
if he was black, he'd have a tattoo on his arm by now and throwing gang signs after every win.

looooool

 

[Angelus Errare]

Lin's popularity does have a great deal to do with the fact that he's Asian-American not just Asian.

Asians in America have no media exposure unless it's

- A hot Asian girl (dating a white guy 95% of the time of course)
- Comic relief, usually an insult caricature - think Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles or Ken Jeong's character from the Hangover
- Bruce Lee
- John Cho - who's basically Hollywood's goto guy for "Asians who speak English" roles.

Westernized Asian - men in particular, have very little in the way of positive role models in the media. He's literally the only thing young westernized Asian men have to look up to, unless you count Bruce Lee who's been dead for almost 40 years.

John Cho sent me messages on Twitter.

That is all.

 

[Rentahamster]

Mayweather mad that Asian is popular:

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/daily-take/201202/floyd-mayweather-plays-race-card-jeremy-lin



Oh Mayweather!

Reminds me of Limbaugh's comments regarding McNabb.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Reminds me of Limbaugh's comments regarding McNabb.

No that was racist.

 

[Rentahamster]

No that was racist.

Aren't they both basically saying that the person in question is getting extra media exposure because those persons are of an ethnicity that is uncommon to see in that particular sport/position?

 

[Zoe]

There is always Sung Kang (Han from Fast & Furious) who is headlining a movie with Stallone, Bullet to the Head, that is coming out in April. I'd always like this dude so I hope he becomes more mainstream cause he is a really good actor regardless of race imho.

He and John Cho are getting too old. There aren't any 20-somethings hitting it big :\

 

[Puddles]

Aren't they both basically saying that the person in question is getting extra media exposure because those persons are of an ethnicity that is uncommon to see in that particular sport/position?

Yes, but Limbaugh was a white dude talking about a black dude. So that makes it racist.

 

[Loofy]

I have a theory on ethnics making it big in hollywood.

First you need comedians. Standup comedians. Comedians have the amazing ability to make the audience relate to their race. Watch chris rock and youre black for an hour, watch george lopez youre mexican for a time, watch dane cook and you'll understand douchbag culture.
Once you got popular comedians the sitcoms and movies come right after.

Unfortunately asians are screwed in this regard. After all this time THIS all we've got.

 

[entremet]

Even Floyd Mayweather is salty about Lin. I'm loving this lol.

Floyd Mayweather is not going all Lin.

The outspoken boxer who once told rival Manny Pacquiao, a Filipino, to "make some sushi rolls and cook some rice" has retained the title of heavyweight champion of insensitivity by claiming New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin is getting national attention for his race rather than his game.

"Jeremy Lin is a good player," Mayweather tweeted Monday, "but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise."

Black players outscore Kobe Bryant every night? Black players who went undrafted rack up at least 20 points and seven assists in each of their first four career starts? Black players go from D-League DNPs to leading the Knicks to five straight wins?

Yes, Lin being Asian is a big part of the story. He's the first American-born player of Taiwanese or Chinese descent to play in the NBA. That's different, and therefore newsworthy. There would probably also be a lot of hype if, say, a black golfer came out of Stanford and started winning golf majors. Or if, just hypothetically, two black sisters from Compton dominated the world of tennis.

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/daily-take/201202/floyd-mayweather-plays-race-card-jeremy-lin

 

[Emwitus]

Barack Obama got so much hype just because he's black, but George Washington was the first President over 200 years ago and there have been over 40 others since. And unlike with Lin who is surrounded by barely-literate NBA players, it's not really a big deal to have a President who went to Harvard...

Barely literate nba players? Seriously.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Even Floyd Mayweather is salty about Lin. I'm loving this lol.

lol

Barely literate nba players? Seriously.

Yeah, there are a ton of smart people in the NBA. Kobe is fluent in 3 languages. Of course, if he was smart, he would have had a good prenuptial agreement.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Even Floyd Mayweather is salty about Lin. I'm loving this lol.



http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/daily-take/201202/floyd-mayweather-plays-race-card-jeremy-lin

It's pretty embarrassing how some members of the black sporting community think that it's okay to throw out racist jokes and hyperbole, just because we've been there. No, it wasn't funny when Limbaugh said it about McNabb, no it wasn't funny when Don Imus called the Rutgers Women bball team "nappy headed hoes", no your "shwimp fwied wice" joke isn't funny now either. Stop it. You are not Chris Rock, you are not Dave Chapelle, you are not George Carlin, people don't want to hear your politically incorrect frothing that passes for humor.

 

[lupinko]

lol



Yeah, there are a ton of smart people in the NBA. Kobe is fluent in 3 languages. Of course, if he was smart, he would have had a good prenuptial agreement.

Booksmarts != Streetsmarts (in this case Commonsense)

 

[Baby Milo]

It's pretty embarrassing how some members of the black sporting community think that it's okay to throw out racist jokes and hyperbole, just because we've been there. No, it wasn't funny when Limbaugh said it about McNabb, no it wasn't funny when Don Imus called the Rutgers Women bball team "nappy headed hoes", no your "shwimp fwied wice" joke isn't funny now either. Stop it. You are not Chris Rock, you are not Dave Chapelle, you are not George Carlin, people don't want to hear your politically incorrect frothing that passes for humor.

how is saying he is getting hype because he is asian racist?

 

[soundahfekz]

Barack Obama got so much hype just because he's black, but George Washington was the first President over 200 years ago and there have been over 40 others since. And unlike with Lin who is surrounded by barely-literate NBA players, it's not really a big deal to have a President who went to Harvard...

Yep, I'm outta here

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

No that was racist.

both were

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

I'd say the percentage split on the Lin Hype comes from:

50% - Because he's Asian
25% - Because he was at the end of the Bench, almost cut, to playing historically amazing
25% - Because he plays for New York

This is pretty much it, except I wouldn't call it historically amazing. It was a 4 game stretch, and then a bad game against Rubio.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

how is saying he is getting hype because he is asian racist?

It's just as stupid as the comments made about Larry Bird being "just another guy" if he were black. No he's not, he's one of the top 10 players of all time, that's why everyone was on his nuts.

Lin's scoring has been literally historic for a guy just put into the starting lineup. His PER right now is 25.8, which is 4th in the entire league, ahead of the likes of Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, and Derrick Rose. There aren't tons of "black players doing what he does every night" at the PG position except for Chris Paul (the most sought after FA of the past year who was the focus of two highly controversial trades), Rose, the reigning MVP, and Russell Westbrook, who just got an $80 million extension.

Will he come crashing down to earth? Maybe. Has he gotten a lot of press for being Asian and from Harvard? Definitely. But to try and downplay his game for the past week is just ignorant from a basketball standpoint. You don't fluke your way to 38 points in this league.

 

[clav]

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/408215/february-13-2012/linsanity

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

Because Asians have gotten NBA rings before?

Yes.

 

[Zoe]

Yes.

I think it's pretty obvious what "Asian" means in this context.

 

[~Devil Trigger~]

This is pretty much it, except I wouldn't call it historically amazing. It was a 4 game stretch, and then a bad game against Rubio.

20 points 8 assists =/= bad game.

in fact calling that a bad game, brings home the point on how great he was playing compare to that.

Rubio had 12points n 8 assist btw

 

[neutralgamer02]

I'd say the percentage split on the Lin Hype comes from:

50% - Because he's Asian
25% - Because he was at the end of the Bench, almost cut, to playing historically amazing
25% - Because he plays for New York

I agree with this, but would change the percentages.

30% - b/c he is Asian
40% - He plays in NY
30% - playing good.

1. He wouldn't be a story if he wasn't playing good.

2. Playing in NY is huge for this guy. If he were playing in Houston, nobody would care. That NY media market is hyping he up.

3. The last part, he is Asian. Those that say part of his hype isn't from the fact that he is Asian aren't watching the games or reading the stories. You now see new Asian fans at NY games supporting the guy. You hear stories of bandwagon Asian fans jumping on board even though they have never watched a basketball game before. They wouldn't be here if he was another race.

20 points 8 assists =/= bad game.

in fact calling that a bad game, brings home the point on how great he was playing compare to that.

Rubio had 12points n 8 assist btw

It was a bad game. He was 1/12 in the second half. He had a high turnover to assist ratio. Also, he is a different point guard compared to Rubio. Rubio doesn't need to take shots. Lin does because there aren't that many scorers on NY right now. Things will change when Carmelo and Stoudemire come back of course and that is when his shots will go down, so he will need to keep his turnovers low and play more like a point guard.

 

[Red Blaster]

20 points 8 assists =/= bad game.

in fact calling that a bad game, brings home the point on how great he was playing compare to that.

Rubio had 12points n 8 assist btw

20 points on 24 shots and 8 assists on 6 turnovers is terrible

 

[teruterubozu]

20 points on 24 shots and 8 assists on 6 turnovers is terrible

He was tired. Can't blame the dude after the whirlwind week of his life. Interested how he bounces back tonight against Toronto after the 2-day break.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

I think it's pretty obvious what "Asian" means in this context.

Not really, it was not obvious. Asians are not only from the far east.

 

[Dragon]

To be fair, it's basically true. When someone who does not fit the typical mold of an athlete within a given sport, they tend to get more attention than they would have if they were not the case. For example, Peyton Hillis, a successful white running back, was on the cover of Madden despite having a relatively average year compared to other running backs in the league.

Dude finished sixth in yards from scrimmage that year, he wasn't relatively average compared to other running backs at all. I know you love to play the race card and there is certainly a time and a place to do it, but Hillis isn't one of them.

 

[YoungHav]

Floyd would rather make Asian jokes and beat up women than fight Manny, what a coward.

 

[DY_nasty]

Dude finished sixth in yards from scrimmage that year, he wasn't relatively average compared to other running backs at all. I know you love to play the race card and there is certainly a time and a place to do it, but Hillis isn't one of them.

Hillis wasn't even a top 5 RB come the fuck on... Almost all of his marketability came from being a white running back on a perennially shitty team.

 

[Sanjuro]

I'm surprised that dipshit Isiah hasn't said anything yet.

 

[DY_nasty]

I'm surprised that dipshit Isiah hasn't said anything yet.

Isiah was right all along you dummy

 

[Puddles]

Not really, it was not obvious. Asians are not only from the far east.

Semantics.

The Middle East might be technically on the Asian continent, but that's not what anyone means.

 

[Dragon]

Hillis wasn't even a top 5 RB come the fuck on... Almost all of his marketability came from being a white running back on a perennially shitty team.

You know what? You're right. When Michael Vick was on the cover he wasn't a top 5 QB either. All his marketability came from being a black quarterback on a perennially shitty team.

 

[Sanjuro]

Isiah was right all along you dummy

That if Larry Bird was black he would just be another player?

 

[CoffeeJanitor]

20 points 8 assists =/= bad game.

in fact calling that a bad game, brings home the point on how great he was playing compare to that.

Rubio had 12points n 8 assist btw

Let's just say he didn't have a good game.

He was 8 for 24 with 6 TO's and a complete non-factor in the second half. Rubio's impact often doesn't show up on the boxscore. He played lockdown D, taking away Lin's passing lanes and blocking and stealing from him a few times. Lin did most of his damage in the first half vs Ridnour.

I'm sure he'll be a good player I just think people are freaking out too much about a good 4 game stretch. Rubio was his first real test on defense and he was outplayed by him, so I just think people should cool down.

 

[DY_nasty]

You know what? You're right. When Michael Vick was on the cover he wasn't a top 5 QB either. All his marketability came from being a black quarterback on a perennially shitty team.

Vick, arguably the most amazing athlete at the QB position ever and definitely one of the most exciting players of the generation across all sports. A human highlight reel.

vs

Peyton Hillis - a short, white, better Brandon Jacobs.

 

[jordan0386]

Let's just say he didn't have a good game.

He was 8 for 24 with 6 TO's and a complete non-factor in the second half. Rubio's impact often doesn't show up on the boxscore. He played lockdown D, taking away Lin's passing lanes and blocking and stealing from him a few times. Lin did most of his damage in the first half vs Ridnour.

I'm sure he'll be a good player I just think people are freaking out too much about a good 4 game stretch. Rubio was his first real test on defense and he was outplayed by him, so I just think people should cool down.

They played the previous friday night though. Back to backs are hard.

Minny also played the night before, and blew their lead versus NYK.

Its more than just not passing the test of being guarded by Rubio.

 

[neutralgamer02]

Vick, arguably the most amazing athlete at the QB position ever and definitely one of the most exciting players of the generation across all sports. A human highlight reel.

vs

Peyton Hillis - a short, white, better Brandon Jacobs.

Exactly. Vick use to have a different style from the normal quarterbacks in the 2000s. It was fun to watch and he even went to the playoffs. That is enough to standout.

Hillis wouldn't be the face of anything if he wasn't white. Sorry.

J. Lin doesn't standout because he is Asian. He would probably still be popular if he was white or black. He just wouldn't be as popular as he is now because Asians wouldn't jump on the bandwagon.

 

[Dragon]

Vick, arguably the most amazing athlete at the QB position ever and definitely one of the most exciting players of the generation across all sports. A human highlight reel.

vs

Peyton Hillis - a short, white, better Brandon Jacobs.

Michael Vick sucked in 2003/2004. You can't have it both ways. If you're going to bash Hillis for being 'average' then you can't jump on the athlete argument. Vick sucked as a QB in Atlanta.

If you're talking about sales sure but you were talking about stats so phooey on you.

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