Miracles do happen. They do, rarely in real life, but a little more often in sport. One such miracle has happened in the city of New York. Or should I say, to the city of New York. All of New York has been infected with "Linsanity".
One of the, if not THE most famous entertainment and sporting arenas in the world is MSG - Madison Square Gardens in the heart of Manhattan. The home of the New York Knicks - one of the most famous basketball teams in the world. Professional basketball - the NBA - is an extremely competitive sport in the US. It is filled with superstars - like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard who earn zillions every year and have supersize egos. Thousands and thousands aspire to join the NBA each year - barely 50 or 60 make it.
The New York Knicks are a famous but perennially disappointing team. They have achieved precious little in recent years. A year ago they paid huge sums of money to acquire two superstars - Amare Stoudamire and Carmelo Anthony. Nothing changed - they continued to perform poorly this year. Until a week ago, that is.
Both the superstars were unavailable and a few other players were injured too. The coach , out of desperation, turned to an unknown rookie, who wasn't even with the team, but just happened to be around. Enter Jeremy Lin, an American of Taiwanese origin. Nobody had even heard of him before.
All that changed in an instant. He simply took over the Knicks team as a playmaker and the team has won 5 games on the trot. Each game, Lin has scored 20+ points. Against Lakers and Kobe Bryant on Friday, Lin scorched the court with 38 points. Their two superstars are not playing, but the Knicks are winning. Sellout crowds are greeting them everywhere. They are chanting LIN LIN at deafening volumes. They had to print Lin T shirts literally overnight and you can't get them anywhere for they are all sold out. The media has gone completely ga ga. In seven days he's the hottest property in the NBA. Such things simply don't happen in real life and nobody can believe it.
Lin is a Harvard graduate no less. He's a clean god fearing humble fellow - no outrageous tattoos all over his body. He seems rooted to the ground and hasn't gone insane with the media circus. He's become an icon for Asian Americans. He credits the success to teammates and not to himself. Everybody in New York has gone completely crazy, bowled over by "Linsanity".
He may flare and soar even higher. He may burn out. Who cares. Jeremy Lin has already proved that miracles do happen.
PS - 2011 salaries
Amare Stoudamire - $ 18.2 million
Carmelo Anthony - $ 18.5 million
Jeremy Lin - $ 762,000 (signed one week ago)
