This whole Jeremy "Linsanity" Lin thing is out of control, and the NBA is far better for it, a one-off feel-good, out-of-the-box, unexpected story that transcends the game itself.
If Lin had arisen from nowhere in, say, Sacramento, Salt Lake City or right down the street here in Phoenix, it (he) surely wouldn't have become the worldwide phenomenon that wearing a New York Knicks jersey affords.
The 6-3 guard from the Palo Alto area obviously is the real deal, and we wish the Suns were playing the Knicks at home during this strike-abbreviated (66 regular-season games) season.
But they're not, so we won't get to see the dude play in person this season.
But here's the point of this post:
Back in March 2010, a friend of ours who works at Harvard (okay, he thinks we are funny, just as we think our Jack Russell Terrier is funny) sent us the following E-mail:
"We've got this scrawny guy who plays for us named Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American kid who is truly exceptional and seems like a great person. He's kind of like your guy out there, Steve Nash, except he'll probably never be that good--but who is?
"I know you like the underdogs, and Jeremy fits into that category. He didn't get any Division I scholarship offers that I know of, though he grew up in the shadow of Stanford, and he's smart. Our team may be Ivy League, but we're pretty good and well-coached. He kicked ass at UCONN--put up 30 on the road!
"I'm telling you. I don't know if he's ever going to get the chance to play in the NBA, but if he does, watch out! Maybe you guys out in Phoenix can use him."
Yeah, we sure could.
