As if enough hasn’t already been written about Jeremy Lin…
In these modern times, it’s far too easy for sports fans to become cynical. Our sports figures are no longer mythical heroes, but men with flaws which we never fail to point out. Allen Iverson owes hundreds of thousands for jewelry and Tom Brady wears UGG Boots and this makes them more human, more easily criticized, and less easily idolized. It takes something extremely rare to snap us out of this, to remind us why we love these games in the first place and for almost every NBA fan, serious or casual, right now, that something is Jeremy Lin.
Tonight was my first chance to watch Lin since the 2009 Summer League as I’m sure it was for most League Pass deprived fans. I watched the game with seven friends and we all entered the game with a certain amount of skepticism wondering if these last three games were merely a fluke or a sign of things to come. Even if it were a sign of things to come, how long could he keep this up? Isn’t it unrealistic to expect him to average 25 and 8 for any period of time? He started out strong and one of my friends jokingly noted that he was on pace for almost points. It was true, but none of us actually expected him to do it, but he proved us wrong. Apparently defying and surpassing expectations is something he’s pretty good at. As the game went on and the points and assists accumulated, he took a crucial charge, and it became apparent that he was singlehandedly carrying the Knicks to victory, we quit trying to apply any sort of critical eye to the game and lost our collective minds shrieking and giggling and cheering every time Lin even touched the ball and cursory glances at Twitter throughout the game assured us we were not alone.
I honestly feel disoriented right now. As the flurry of text messages arrived from friends expressing the incredulousness that I felt, I continually realized that there was simply no way to articulate the feelings that I had. Everything I saw simply defied any sort of rational explanation. Players aren’t supposed to be disregarded by two teams and then play like this seemingly out of nowhere. Honestly, anyone playing as well as Lin did tonight would be noteworthy. But when you consider all the various factors going into this, that he was undrafted, the first Chinese-American to ever play in the NBA, that he is playing in the league’s biggest market, and that he is righting the ship of the most disappointing team in the league thus far, you quickly realize that we are watching something unprecedented unfold right before our eyes. If realizing that doesn’t make you happy to be a sports fan and excited to see the Knicks play again,you honestly probably aren’t one.
I know that in the past week, basically everything there is to be said about Joe Paterno and his legacy has already been said, but I wrote this little editorial for my school paper and figured I might as well post it here as well. Enjoy.
When most public figures die at the age Paterno did, their legacies are already well established. Their obituaries are already written and the only thing that needs to be added is the date and cause of death. The same could have been said about Paterno until a few months ago when Jerry Sandusy, an assistant coach under Paterno for three decades, was indicted and arrested for forty two counts of child molestation over a fifteen year period. According to a grand jury investigation, Paterno was alerted to an alleged case of sexual assault by Sandusky in 2002 and reported it to his immediate superior and other university officials, but never the police. These revelations, of Paterno fulfilling a legal, but not a moral responsibility, led to Paterno’s dismissal as Penn State’s football coach on November 9 after 46 seasons leading the Nittany Lions.
In the aftermath of this scandal, we are still struggling to make sense of all that has happened in recent months and how it fits into the preconceived model of Paterno that had already been established for decades. He was seen as a shining light of academic and athletic integrity, the last remnant of more noble days as the sport became more commercialized and more compromises were made for the sake of winning. With these recent revelations, the idea of Joe Paterno died before the man himself did.
In hindsight, it was a legacy that no man should have been expected to sustain, but amazingly, for over four decades he did. In 1986, Sports Illustrated named him their Sportsman of the Year and a glowing article written about him calls him “a beacon of integrity” and lists several other achievements, which make him sound more mythical than human. Even the author seems amazed that a man who balances both academic and athletic success, and whose team personifies those same virtues, could exist in the era of Barry Switzer’s and Jimmy Johnson’s successful yet brash Oklahoma and Miami teams.
In 1980, a cover story from Sports Illustrated on Paterno after a mediocre season led with him saying, “there’s a lot of people who think I’m a phony and now they think they have the proof.” In 1980, he was speaking of his skills as a football coach, but now, 32 years later, the words are even more applicable, but instead in regards to his integrity as a human being.
Now the man is gone, but Penn State is left with a statue erected to represent victory and integrity that now can also be seen to represent moral compromise. Meanwhile, everyone who ever cared about the man is left struggling to figure out what to think about him.
What can we make of his legacy now in light of all that has happened and been revealed? Do we continue to lionize him or should his legacy be entirely demythologized?
What needs to be realized is that Paterno was neither a hero nor a villain, but a flawed human as opposed to the mythical hero he was portrayed as for the final three decades of his life. It would certainly be a mistake to assume that an amendment to the end of his already written obituary is all that is needed just as it would be a mistake to act as if every positive thing he did for Penn State University and college sports has suddenly ceased to exist.
We simply need to embrace nuance and realize that condemning his actions in regards to the Sandusky scandal and praising his coaching skills and promotion of academic integrity are not mutually exclusive actions.
waxandmilk:
oakleyandallen:
Hoop Magazine. Woody & Earl. Holy Grail.
That spread needs to be a poster!
I want a copy of this so badly.
