By Chewy Baumel ’13, Sports Editor

It was another depressing night for Knicks fans as the team was outplayed, out-hustled and, perhaps most importantly, outscored by a lowly New Jersey Nets team on February 4th. The Knicks were reeling having lost 11 of their last 13 game. New York fans, like always, were ready to throw in the towel and call it quits.

But a small, 6’3” Asian American, came off the end of the bench that night and transcended the basketball world forever. Jeremy Lin, a 23-years-old Asian American and graduate of Harvard, came onto the court and led the struggling basketball team to a fantastic and thrilling come-from-behind victory. You probably all know the rest of the story from here. But Lin, now starting point guard, has re-energized the team and fan base.  Hence, Lin-sanity was born.

Lin has become a global icon and inspiration for many people. Often, the media has chosen to paint him as the other underdog story of the year, Tim Tebow; both are strong believers in their faith. Still, this should not be the central focus of conversation.

Jeremy Lin was living on his brother’s couch in a small apartment near NYU.  Having already been cut from two NBA teams (Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets, respectively), he had no job security whatsoever. He had not moved into his own apartment because he did not have a guaranteed contract with the Knicks, and wondered if he would be cut from the Knicks, too.

But that all changed one night in February. Lin rose to the occasion and stole the hearts of all fans, bystanders, and even his teammates. Lin was an undrafted free agent and basically earned a chance to play by trying out for teams in the summer league. Whereas other men might have given up in the face of such terrible odds, Lin continued to believe in himself. In short, he never gave up.

The world has witnessed other underdog stories; Lin’s story is not so unusual. Or is it? Why has the world fallen for Jeremy Lin? What about him makes him different than former underdogs?

First, Jeremy Lin was the ideal person – a graduate of Harvard who was able to take his athletic talents to the next level, which is very rare. It’s  unusual that we see an Ivy League student-athlete compete on the Major League level in any sport, let alone a Harvard alum. Lin’s ability to both obtain a full four-year education and play at the professional level has its rarity in basketball–the Knicks starting lineup has three players that did not even graduate college. Ironically, the other player in the lineup that graduated college, Landry Fields, attended Stanford. The world loves a feel good story about a student-athlete being able to succeed in both academia and athletics.

Second, Lin is the first-ever Asian American to play in the NBA. Lin, a tri-lingual speaker of English, Taiwanese, and Chinese, has overcome the racial stereotypes that surround basketball and those who are deemed capable of competing at the professional level.  A league dominated by big, strong, athletic players whose bodies, generally speaking,  boast a tattoo (or two or three), Lin brings a different background to the game.

It is also important to acknowledge that this is all happening in the big, media-centred city of New York, in the most famous arena in the world, Madison Square Garden. Lin has captured the attention from all media outlets and can no longer walk down the street without being recognized as he had just a few short weeks ago. By playing in New York, Lin has had his every move  critiqued and recorded. He has played the media by the book, and is always deflecting questions about himself to somehow complement his team as a whole. The media loves to trap celebrities into saying the wrong thing. But Lin has continued to outmaneuver and withstand the pressure with seeming ease.

At Newark Academy, we consider ourselves to be an academic institution. But with the model of Jeremy Lin attending Harvard and following his basketball dream, he has proven that both academics and sports can coexist. Often students at NA do not acknowledge the accomplishments of our student-athletes and their abilities to move on to the next level (Maya Hayes-Penn State, and many more) while maintaining a level of academic respectability. Hopefully, with global recognition of Lin (appearing on SI’s cover two weeks in a row), we can all step back and realize that success in both areas is possible.

Lin has proven that through hard work even the unthinkable is possible. Even if Lin is unable to keep up his level of play and turns out to be a flash in the pan, he will always be remembered for his ability to handle the pressure and overcome the odds. His name has become a trademark and people are finding numerous ways to incorporate it. I think the one that best suits Jeremy Lin is the one that reflects what he has done and will most likely continue to do: “To LINfinity, and Beyond!”