| 21 February 2012
Linsanity has officially gone over the top, as Jeremy Lin was hastily added to the all star game, Nike prepares to release the Jeremy Lin shoe, David Letterman had a Jeremy Lin top 10 list, SNL had a Jeremy Lin sketch, Spike Lee exploded twitter with Lin-puns, the Knicks began printing 2012 NBA finals tickets, the NBA made some quick calls to the Hall of Fame to check if Lin’s space was ready and, most telling of all, ESPN officially replaced Tim Tebow with Jeremy Lin as the thing they can’t stop talking about, no matter how hard they try.
I don’t want to rain on everyone’s parade, but while Linsanity is running rampant in New York and everywhere else, am I the only one who’s noticed that Jeremy Lin has been a turnover machine?
Hit the title/read more to continue reading. . .
During the Knicks 7 game winning streak, he turned the ball over 8 times twice and 6 times thrice. And, aside from the Lakers, that’s against pretty poor competition. Things came to a head Friday night against New Orleans, when Lin committed 9 turnovers, 8 in the first half, en route to a Knicks loss.
I’m not bashing Jeremy Lin here, because he’s a talented player, and he’s definitely made the Knicks better, but he has to get control of the turnovers, and we have yet to see how the Knicks will function as a team, with Carmelo Anthony back in the lineup, and against top competition.
When all of that happens, maybe I’ll go Linsane too.
Other Stuff That Happened
Hoops
Forget any talk you’ve heard that the Los Angeles Lakers are “fine” and are just “laying in the weeds” for the playoffs. They’re officially desperate. How do I know? They worked out Gilbert Arenas last weekend. Gilbert Arenas is the answer to your problems when you’re the hopeless Washington Wizards, or when you’re an Orlando Magic team that brought in every “name” guy in a 1000 mile radius to pair up with Dwight Howard. If he’s the “answer” for the Lakers, then Los Angeles just officially became Clipper country.
There is no excuse ESPN can offer for having this on their home page. None.
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Football
Helping fill the gap of unretired former greats who nobody wants, Randy Moss has announced his unretirement and intention to play football in 2012. The 35 year old receiver joins Terrell Owens and Tiki Barber on the list of players that will get talked about more times than they touch a football in an NFL game in 2012.
OK, apparently some football fans are confused about what the franchise tag designation is all about. OK, not really. Football fans get it perfectly, but apparently professional sports analysts on ESPN have no clue.
That must be what led ESPN’s Howard Bryant to write “This isn’t Cuba” in reference to DeSean Jackson being FT’ed by the Eagles. As a result, Jackson will make roughly $10 million next season. The only drawback: he has to stay on the Eagles another year.
There are few things I wouldn’t do for $10 million, and spending a year in Philadelphia is definitely not one of them. In case everyone forgot, the franchise tag was a negotiated deal between the NFLPA and the League. It allowed teams to retain a player for one season, but required them to play that player as one of the top players at his position for that season. Jackson isn’t one of the top WRs in the NFL, but the Eagles aren’t ready to let him go just yet either.
They want another year. The FT gives them that (only one player per team per year can be designated). This is exactly what the franchise tag is for. And no, Howard, this ISN’T Cuba. No one in Cuba is going to make $10 million next year.
The good news is that Ron Jaworski will have an expanded analyst’s role on ESPN, joining Sunday Night NFL Countdown. The bad news is he’s leaving the booth for SNF, leaving us with only Jon Gruden to do color. Oh well, this is why there’s a “volume” button on my remote.
Hockey, eh?
Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings on setting the record for the longest home winning streak in NHL history. By beating Dallas 3-1 on Tuesday, the Wings ran their streak to 21 games, breaking the previous record jointly held by the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers and the 1929-1930 Boston Bruins. Detroit followed that up with wins over Nashville and San Jose, extending the still-running streak to 23 in a row.
National Pastime
If you’ve been tracking Cuban OF Yoenis Cespedes and his odyssey to the major leagues, I’ll bet you didn’t have him winding up in Oakland playing for the normally frugal A’s. But that is where he’ll be, thanks to a four year $36 million contract. The A’s are taking a gamble on the supposedly major league ready player because there’s been no opportunity to see him play against major league talent, other than in world competition.
But having gone five straight seasons without a winning record, and having made a number of salary-shedding rebuilding moves in the offseason, Oakland needed to give fans SOME reason to come to the ballpark in 2012. The mystery surrounding a player like Cespedes, especially if he gets off to a good start, might fit the bill.
Roy Halladay is officially the coolest human being on the planet.
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In an effort to avoid an injury like the one he suffered last year, the San Francisco Giants have ordered catcher Buster Posey not to block the plate on throws from the outfield. Surely they could come up with something a little less draconian - like working on his technique. If this is how the Giants choose to address this, then opponents should send runners home like crazy, knowing they’ll have a clear path.
Running Your Mouth
"We have this saying that you have a starring role on this team, no matter what that role is. I've been able to do that and give us a spark.” - Sixers G Lou Williams, who leads his team in scoring despite coming off the bench.
"Why win 1-0 when you can win a shootout?" - Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, who gave up the tying goal with two minutes left, forcing the game into OT and, eventually, a shootout.
“Chris Kaman was really huge tonight. His scoring, his rebounding, his leadership and talking in the huddles -- I've never seen him do that." - Hornets coach Monty Williams, channeling his inner used car salesman. The Hornets have been shopping Chris Kaman for a month and word is they are getting lowballed.
"Right now, coach is a stats guy. His background is video coordinator or whatever. So he's all stats. But Ron Artest is all feel." - Lakers F Metta World Peace, discussing a rift between himself and coach Mike Brown. I thought we weren’t supposed to call World Peace “Ron Artest” anymore. . .then again, I can think of something else we’d probably all like to call him.
"Its crazy! I'm watching Linsanity hoping every shot goes in. Hope I never grow up." Suns guard Steve Nash, via Twitter, discussing the Jeremy Lin phenomenon. This is why Steve Nash is possibly the coolest professional athlete ever. He has a real joy for the game, and he has proven over time that he is a genuinely good guy. Nash will probably never win a title, but those MVPs were well earned and he will be a credit to the HOF when he gets there.
“I wish management would come out and either trade him or not trade him.” - Lakers G Kobe Bryant, on the fate of teammate of Pau Gasol.
