February 20, 2012--Church & Sport
I'm OK with Lin-mania. Or Linsanity.
As a long-suffering New York Knicks fan I'am happy to have Jeremy Lin on my team playing point guard. He and the Knicks are on quite a run. Even if it and he flame out in a week or two (that's what always-pessimistic, true Knicks fans expect) while it lasts, I'm enjoying the giddy ride even though a lot of the conversation is about how much money he and especially the Knicks will make as a result of his explosion on the scene.
How could I not be OK with the Knicks signing him to a contract which means he will earn about $800,000 this year and can therefore rent a place of his own and no longer need to camp out on the Lower Eastside on his brother's sofa.
I'm also OK that Nike is signing him to a multi-million dollar sneaker deal and that it is estimated that he'll pull in about $20 million this year in endorsements no matter how the rest of the basketball season goes. After all this is America where Taylor Swift makes $45 million a year and hedge fund guys can net billions annually and pay almost no taxes. And since we live in a globalized economy, with China's GDP soaring, it's no surprise that a Chinese-American is a hot commodity. (Forget for the moment that he is of Taiwanese, not mainland Chinese descent.)
But when I checked with Stubhub to see what tickets might be available for Thursday's Miami Heat-New York Knicks game, to spend at least $250 each seemed more than a little high.
"Hey, it's only basketball," I said. "I can understand paying that much and more for the upcoming Madonna concert at Yankee Stadium. If the price of tickets seems steep, we can take her advice: she announced that since she's 'worth it' anyone who wants to attend should 'start saving their pennies.'"
"For $250 I'd rather go the the Knicks game," Rona said. "Actually, for $250 dollars I'd rather watch it on TV. Or the Republican debate, which will likely be more entertaining."
But, again, I understand. The Lin phenomenon is a legitimate mania. A microeconomic bubble. The value of Madison Square Garden stock is soaring and the Knicks are making a fortune selling #17 Lin shirts. But, who knows, by Thursday we may be obsessing about something else. For example, Whitney Houston's toxicology report.
Then I read about Lin's rookie trading card. For the uninitiated these are produced by bubble gum and other manufacturers and are highly coveted by sports memorabilia collectors, especially if the player represented on the card goes on to have a hall-of-fame career. So a Magic Johnson rookie card can go for $350 and a Michael Jordan for $650. This too I can sort of understand. They had long and distinguished careers.
But, as I read, the rookie card for Jeremy Lin, which sold last week for $1,000 (which itself is crazy), the very same card is currently listed on eBay and the opening bid was $12,000!
Michael Jordon $650? Jeremy Lin, who up to now has played in just 10 Knicks games, $12,000 and bidding?
While attempting to get comfortable with this--all right, forget comfortable--while attempting to understand this, I read something else about Lin that may help explain some of the craziness--his evangelical Christianity.
In an interview in 2010, when talking about why he plays basketball, Lin struggled with a contradiction. He questioned: "I wanted to do well for myself and my team. How can I possibly give that up and play selflessly for God? . . . I'm not working hard and practicing day in and day out so that I can please other people. My audience is God. . . . The right way to play is not for others and not for myself, but for God."
It doesn't get much better than being able to root for an exciting Chinese guy who's also a Christian. This also helps explain Tim Tebow's popularity. He's far from hall-of-fame material but there is another mania surrounding him, sparked in large part by all the praying he does on the sidelines while the game is still in progress. The pose he gets into--sort of a kneeling in a Rodin Thinker-style genuflect--is called "Tebowing" and young people all over America are imitating it.
I prefer Xs and Os on the football field and smart passing by point guards such as Lin on the hardwood.
While the country has been participating in a dizzying political debate about the separation of church and state some attention should be paid to separating church and sport.
Note--Then, again, I watched the Knicks play the Warriors Sunday afternoon and Lin looks like the real deal. So who cares if he's doing it for God.
As a long-suffering New York Knicks fan I'am happy to have Jeremy Lin on my team playing point guard. He and the Knicks are on quite a run. Even if it and he flame out in a week or two (that's what always-pessimistic, true Knicks fans expect) while it lasts, I'm enjoying the giddy ride even though a lot of the conversation is about how much money he and especially the Knicks will make as a result of his explosion on the scene.
How could I not be OK with the Knicks signing him to a contract which means he will earn about $800,000 this year and can therefore rent a place of his own and no longer need to camp out on the Lower Eastside on his brother's sofa.
I'm also OK that Nike is signing him to a multi-million dollar sneaker deal and that it is estimated that he'll pull in about $20 million this year in endorsements no matter how the rest of the basketball season goes. After all this is America where Taylor Swift makes $45 million a year and hedge fund guys can net billions annually and pay almost no taxes. And since we live in a globalized economy, with China's GDP soaring, it's no surprise that a Chinese-American is a hot commodity. (Forget for the moment that he is of Taiwanese, not mainland Chinese descent.)
But when I checked with Stubhub to see what tickets might be available for Thursday's Miami Heat-New York Knicks game, to spend at least $250 each seemed more than a little high.
"Hey, it's only basketball," I said. "I can understand paying that much and more for the upcoming Madonna concert at Yankee Stadium. If the price of tickets seems steep, we can take her advice: she announced that since she's 'worth it' anyone who wants to attend should 'start saving their pennies.'"
"For $250 I'd rather go the the Knicks game," Rona said. "Actually, for $250 dollars I'd rather watch it on TV. Or the Republican debate, which will likely be more entertaining."
But, again, I understand. The Lin phenomenon is a legitimate mania. A microeconomic bubble. The value of Madison Square Garden stock is soaring and the Knicks are making a fortune selling #17 Lin shirts. But, who knows, by Thursday we may be obsessing about something else. For example, Whitney Houston's toxicology report.
Then I read about Lin's rookie trading card. For the uninitiated these are produced by bubble gum and other manufacturers and are highly coveted by sports memorabilia collectors, especially if the player represented on the card goes on to have a hall-of-fame career. So a Magic Johnson rookie card can go for $350 and a Michael Jordan for $650. This too I can sort of understand. They had long and distinguished careers.
But, as I read, the rookie card for Jeremy Lin, which sold last week for $1,000 (which itself is crazy), the very same card is currently listed on eBay and the opening bid was $12,000!
Michael Jordon $650? Jeremy Lin, who up to now has played in just 10 Knicks games, $12,000 and bidding?
While attempting to get comfortable with this--all right, forget comfortable--while attempting to understand this, I read something else about Lin that may help explain some of the craziness--his evangelical Christianity.
In an interview in 2010, when talking about why he plays basketball, Lin struggled with a contradiction. He questioned: "I wanted to do well for myself and my team. How can I possibly give that up and play selflessly for God? . . . I'm not working hard and practicing day in and day out so that I can please other people. My audience is God. . . . The right way to play is not for others and not for myself, but for God."
It doesn't get much better than being able to root for an exciting Chinese guy who's also a Christian. This also helps explain Tim Tebow's popularity. He's far from hall-of-fame material but there is another mania surrounding him, sparked in large part by all the praying he does on the sidelines while the game is still in progress. The pose he gets into--sort of a kneeling in a Rodin Thinker-style genuflect--is called "Tebowing" and young people all over America are imitating it.
I prefer Xs and Os on the football field and smart passing by point guards such as Lin on the hardwood.
While the country has been participating in a dizzying political debate about the separation of church and state some attention should be paid to separating church and sport.
Note--Then, again, I watched the Knicks play the Warriors Sunday afternoon and Lin looks like the real deal. So who cares if he's doing it for God.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
4:49 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home