04/23/24
February 16, 2012
SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
I would totally watch the Peyton Manning show where he did comic riffs on the games of the week. Get him a backing band and he could be the David Letterman of the NFL Network.
posted by kokaku at 09:57 AM on February 16, 2012
Terrific piece on the difference between white basketball and black basketball by Tom Scocca.
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:51 AM on February 16, 2012
Put Peyton on Celebrity Apprentice with a continuous tape loop of the "God damn it, Donald" clip running in the background.
posted by beaverboard at 10:53 AM on February 16, 2012
Also, our friend Mark Cuban saves St. Patrick's Day.
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:54 AM on February 16, 2012
Sorry, I started this conversation, then my computer and i had some "Irreparable philosophical differences ".
I will set the Lin hitting the wall over/under at about 18 more games. In most seasons, the schedule is more spread out. I think this run of games and practice will wear him out.
......and this story is only a story because he is Asian. He has the chance to pull a totally different demographic of fans into liking Pro basketball. Given, an underdog is an underdog, but the NBA is always trying to market and expand their product.
posted by Debo270 at 12:34 PM on February 16, 2012
How is Lin doing it? The one thing I would like to see is some accounting for the weakness of the competition in the last 7 games. It will be interesting to see how things go now that the Knicks' schedule gets tougher. Of course, they also get Carmelo back, so it may even out.
posted by yerfatma at 01:08 PM on February 16, 2012
Can we please get off the "this story is only happening because Lin is Asian" kick? That's utter bullshit. Lin scored more points in his first 5 games than any other player since the merger in 76. More than Shaq, Kobe, or LeBron. This happened after he got cut by 3 other teams. The Knicks are on a seven game winning streak with him playing, mostly without Melo and Stoudemire.
This is just a great sports story and the fact that he's Asian is part of the story but it's not driving the story.
posted by insomnyuk at 01:41 PM on February 16, 2012
rcade: Peyton has had 3 neck fusions, which typically includes installing metal plates in the neck with screws. According to a doctor friend of mine (who deals with work related neck injuries) if you have a neck fusion they order you to avoid stress or contact to the neck, including lifting heavy weights. I don't understand how Peyton's doctors could have cleared him. It seems to me that any big hit will put his health in serious jeopardy.
posted by insomnyuk at 01:43 PM on February 16, 2012
......and this story is only a story because he is Asian
Get off of it already.
If another rookie who wasn't getting any substantial pt stepped in when a team's 2 "franchise" players were out and led the team not only out of mediocrity but on an extended winning streak you can bet it would be opening line news on every sportscast - regardless if the player was black, white, yellow, or freaking mauve.
weakness of the competition
Good point. But even better teams lose to weak competition. Heat recently dropped 2 games to Milwaukee.
posted by cixelsyd at 01:50 PM on February 16, 2012
regardless if the player was black, white, yellow, or freaking mauve.
I totally disagree. Would it ba a story, yes. Would it be Lin-mania? NO. I am in no way putting the kid or his accomplishments thus far down and I hope he continues to do well, but the NY media is blowing this up tebow style and I think it is nuts and would be different under different circumstances.
posted by Debo270 at 02:05 PM on February 16, 2012
I am in no way putting the kid or his accomplishments thus far down ...
That's exactly what you're doing. It's Rush Limbaugh and Donovan McNabb all over again.
posted by rcade at 02:17 PM on February 16, 2012
the NY media is blowing this up tebow style and I think it is nuts
That's why we're lucky all the hoopla is about a grounded, mentally tough Harvard grad rather than a Ryan Leaf type.
It's never a good day when major hype hits the wrong doorstep.
posted by beaverboard at 02:20 PM on February 16, 2012
That's exactly what you're doing
Not at all. All I am saying is his ethnicity is a big factor in how big this story is. If you disagree with me, fine, my feelings are not hurt. I just think is this was some black kid it wouldnt be such a big story.
posted by Debo270 at 02:26 PM on February 16, 2012
I just think is this was some black kid it wouldnt be such a big story.
If the black kid was sleeping on his brother's sofa, had been previously cut from two other teams this year, and was a graduate from a non-traditional basketball (but otherwise famous) university (say, Yale), I'm pretty sure he'd be a big story.
posted by grum@work at 03:04 PM on February 16, 2012
If the black kid was sleeping on his brother's sofa, had been previously cut from two other teams this year, and was a graduate from a non-traditional basketball (but otherwise famous) university (say, Yale), I'm pretty sure he'd be a big story.
Can you imagine how big it would be if he was a wear-his-faith-on-his-sleeve, born again devout Christian?
Is there such thing as good-natured trolling?
posted by tahoemoj at 03:07 PM on February 16, 2012
but the NY media is blowing this up tebow style and I think it is nuts and would be different under different circumstances.
Are you really shocked at the NY media blowing something up? The only other circumstances where they would not blow this up would be if the Knicks weren't shit for [insert number of years they've been shit]. Yes, his ethnicity is a story unto itself. But he'd still be a big deal around here if he wasn't Asian.
The NFL season is over and MLB isn't in full swing yet. The Rangers are doing well, but they only get back page coverage if there are no other big stories. And around here, the Knicks winning is a big story. Add in the fact that his name lends itself to an endless amount puns, this story isn't leaving the back page any time soon.
posted by goddam at 03:40 PM on February 16, 2012
Can you imagine how big it would be if he was a wear-his-faith-on-his-sleeve, born again devout Christian?
Um.
He is a born again devout Christian.
Maybe he doesn't wear it on the sleeve of his outermost layer, but it's there.
What he doesn't do is start every single interview with an affirmation.
But if you check out his humourous little video on youtube, you'll see that his faith is important to him.
posted by grum@work at 04:22 PM on February 16, 2012
Um. He is a born again devout Christian.
I'm guessing tahoemoj knew that? I mean, does anyone who's heard the name of Jeremy Lin not know that?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 04:37 PM on February 16, 2012
All I am saying is his ethnicity is a big factor in how big this story is.
It's a factor, but not much of one. It's a goddamn underdog story. Just about everyone loves that. And not just an underdog, but one who, as insomnyuk notes, scored more points in his first 5 games than any player ever. That's kind of newsworthy regardless of his skin color.
posted by yerfatma at 04:53 PM on February 16, 2012
Peyton Manning's ego won't let him retire. It's for that reason I won't really lose sleep over the idea of him hurting himself further. I just wish the Colts would end it and let him go. Can't blame them for realizing he won't get back to his former status, and their choice would be to either have him not play well, stand on the sidelines, or get injured worse. Colt fans will bash them regardless of what they do. The fact he had even more procedures on his neck proves just how screwed up it is.
posted by dyams at 05:45 PM on February 16, 2012
Peyton Manning's ego won't let him retire
I tend to believe it's more his love of the game than his ego.
posted by cixelsyd at 06:01 PM on February 16, 2012
Thanks for catching that LBB. I just wanted to troll up a good old fashioned discussion about the place of faith in sports, because it seems like it's been at least a month.
posted by tahoemoj at 06:33 PM on February 16, 2012
Mark "the Bird" Fidrych was an out-of-nowhere phenomenon in 1976, making the Detroit Tigers as a non-roster invitee and not getting his first start until mid-May because the scheduled starter got the flu. By July he was starting the All-Star Game. The Bird was non-Asian and didn't play in New York, but as nine-year-old me can attest, the attention he got was enormous.
posted by rcade at 07:17 PM on February 16, 2012
the scheduled starter got the flu . . . The Bird was non-Asian and didn't play in New York
+H1N1
posted by yerfatma at 07:22 PM on February 16, 2012
You'd have to put Fernando Valenzuela in there too. He had his own special summer of love.
And also one of the special heroes of my youth, Vida Blue.
Those two guys kept some serious buzz stoked even though they only started every fourth or fifth day, like Fidrych.
And they were both on the West Coast when they took the baseball world by storm. In those days, it was a lot harder for a player to capture the country's attention if their night game box scores got filed after the East Coast newspapers of record went to press. Sometimes, I'd have to wait two days after their starts to find out how they did.
But both guys had supporting characters helping to fan the flames, Fernando benefiting from Lasorda's ebullience and Blue enduring Finley's attention getting buffoonery.
posted by beaverboard at 11:53 PM on February 16, 2012
Can you imagine how big it would be if he was a wear-his-faith-on-his-sleeve, born again devout Christian?
He can't have very much faith; there is damn little sleeve on his jersey.
To say again what I have said before, neither his ethnicity nor his faith really have anything to do with the story. Rather it is about how talent can go unrecognized by those who are paid to know better. It is also illustrative of how starved the sports media are for stories, that they jump all over a Jeremy Lin or a Tim Tebow before their talent has been truly developed or tested. Careful study showed coaches the way to defeat a Tebow-led offense. The same sort of study will reveal tendencies and weaknesses in Lin's game that will enable opponents to limit his effectiveness. Should Lin (or Tebow) last long enough to make the necessary adjustments and improvements, and his game improve to the point where he is effective on a nightly basis, then he will have attained stardom. I should like to see that happen, it would be good to see "nice guys" finish well.
posted by Howard_T at 01:56 PM on February 17, 2012
Peyton Manning had a fourth, undisclosed neck surgery within the last year. Is there a job he could be offered that would convince him to retire from football and not risk his head falling off his body after a brutal sack? As one of the NFL's all-time greats as a commercial actor, surely he'd do well in the MNF booth or as a NFL Network analyst.