Playing With Fire

I keep on waking up every morning, wondering if I will ever wake up from Jeremy Lin’s dream. Seriously, I somehow got stuck in his dream and now I am living it out with him, the two of us taking this magic carpet ride together, right? I can’t explain it. I feel like Jeremy Lin is living his Billy Murray like Ground Hog day, which leaves me to be Chris Elliot- the cameraman that watches the star each and everyday, only there is nothing tragic with Lin’s days. Each day is better than the one before it, and that one is better than the one before, and that one is trumped by the next one he has. All of which is causing me to have a Lindifference.

Yeah, I can play the cunning linguist game, too. I can find words with the prefix “in”, and subtly place an “L” in front of it, like- Lindeed, Lintersting, Lin N’ Out, Linstogram, and the Linternet. That was just so fun and clever and as long as the ride keeps going, we can continue this fun little game.  So count me Lin! It just doesn’t stop. And it needs to.

Linsanity doesn’t need to be stopped, I enjoy the story, the kid is going bonkers, and he is deserving of it, but the media needs to bottle it up a little bit. These journalists, producers, and heads of the networks I presume went to college, probably in journalism, or media, or something entertainment related, which baffles me that they never learned that the key to a good story, like a magic trick, is to keep the audience wanting more. Lin is dong his part with his game, but the media is failing with its coverage. 

Lin has created must see TV, which right there is enough. The network has its Bronco chase, live and blazing a trail across America, and all the media needs to do is point the camera and shoot. Lin will do the rest for as long as he can do it. But in our 24/7 news coverage, where every detail is never minute enough, where reporters need something to debate, and air time needs to be filled, why not take the story of the moment and keep playing it over and over and over again. That should sufficiently kill the magic and create nausea for all of us fans of sports. You did it with Tim Tebow, so why not do it to Jeremy Lin and over cover, over analyze, and slowly turn all of us against him, to the point that we hope he fails just so we have something different to talk about.

The media has taken Kid Icarus, strapped him to a catapult and launched him towards the sun, whether or not Lin can truly fly is inconsequential at this moment because his meteoric rise is all that needs to be captured. But what if he can’t sustain this level? What if all of this coverage sets him up to fail? Is the media going to be there when (if) he falls back down to earth, a distinct possibility, to catch him and coddle him? No, they will let the wolves of Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith tear away at the remaining bits that Lin has left on his body and then move on to a new story.

Lin and us the viewers are at the mercy of the heads of networks that, either, believe to know what we want or do not care what we want. You know what we want? Do you really want to know because I'll give you a heads up. We want Mad Men, The Walking Dead, The Daily Show, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, we want something original. (I know I left shows out, but you know what is good. Leave it at that) We don’t want someone taking the easiest story and pushing it in our face for 24 straight hours and thinking that is good programming. There is a reason those shows get ratings and win awards, because they are fun, they are fresh, and they are creative. You are taking a fascinating, polarizing story and turning it from must see to the something on par with the Kardashians. Those shows don’t  use the same formula, no, they created their own unique formula to make something worthwhile and meaningful that resonates with the viewers. Jeremy Lin resonates with the viewers right now because he is one of us. He is the underdog. But if you continually cast him out to the public like its a reality show, it will only be a matter of time before his underdog status becomes a contrived media ploy. I see the head over at ESPN, looking like Robby Hart from the Wedding Singer after someone asked him to do something different, make an incredulous and solemn look before extolling “Well, I have a network…SO YOU WILL WATCH WHATEVER I PUT ON!!!!

Or better yet, the heads of the networks or chief editors are treating their coverage like this is their own Gauntanamo Bay and they are Jack Nicholson defying anyone who questions their authority; with which the people should respond- I Don’t want you on that wall. I don’t need you on that wall, ok. - I don’t need a code red shoved down my throat with the Jeremy Lin story.  You want to kill the magic and kill the kid in the process with your over coverage, then get a reporter like Pedro Gomez to cover him outside of his apartment to let us know what his morning dump looks like. Might as well shit all over the whole story, right. I feel like ESPN has gone more TMZ over the years than a credible sports news telecast; same goes for the papers and websites that treat stories more like gossip column fodder than they do sports. I enjoy athlete stories like Max McGee playing drunk or hung over during the Super Bowl… Years after the fact. Can you imagine the coverage of such a story now if Victor Cruz or Eli Manning had done that? We would never hear the end of it.

That is why the smartest NBA player is Kevin Durant. Why? Have you really heard a peep from him at all lately? Nope. You hear about Derrick Rose’s back, Dwight Howard’s possible trade, DWilliams possible future, the Boston Big Three, Ricky Rubio’s potential, Blake Griffin’s latest dunk, LeBron referring to himself in the third person, Kobe’s will to win and, of course, Linsanity. Isn’t it better for an athlete to just fly under that radar, quietly winning and allowing everyone else to have the spotlight? No pressure, no hassle, no backlash, just go out there handle business and go home. That is why Durant will always be a fan favorite- Humble, unassuming, and a great player. He is the real NBA Superman.

I like the Jeremy Lin story. It is a great story of perseverance and guts paying off. This is the Kurt Warner story 2.0. However, the story needs to take a step back, and look at this like a Lin pick and roll. You have to read the defense coming off the pick and make the correct decision on what to do, because the wrong decision will lead to a turnover or a missed opportunity. Right now the media has read the defense wrong and is missing a great opportunity.  All you have to do is point the camera and shoot; that is all. For all the heart warming, feel good story sentiment that this story has brought, the media has turned it into a three ring circus of over analyzing, over coverage, and dizzying hype, of their newest cash cow, which has taken Linsanity and is creating Lindifference.