Well the Jeremy Lin circus continues. Last night he had another 20+ point night and added 10 assists for good measure. Lin is now a full fledged sensation, he was featured in a front page article on the New York Times and the Knicks sent me a Spam email letting me know that I could pre-order a Jeremy Lin jersey. Whether Lin is a flash in the pan or the real deal remains to be seen, but at least for this week Lin has brought hope back to disconsolate Knicks fans.
There is a fairly famous Noam Chomksy quote in which he eviscerates sports fandom. To wit: "Take, say, sports -- that's another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it -- you know, it offers people something to pay attention to that's of no importance. That keeps them from worrying about -- keeps them from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about. And in fact it's striking to see the intelligence that's used by ordinary people in [discussions of] sports [as opposed to political and social issues]. I mean, you listen to radio stations where people call in -- they have the most exotic information and understanding about all kind of arcane issues. And the press undoubtedly does a lot with this."
Basically Chomsky says that people who are disaffected by political issues misplace their passion and intellect onto sports. Chomsky's certainly got a point, if you read any sports blog you'll find a myriad of well informed, passionate, and articulate people discussing such inanities as Jeff Francouer's OBP or whether or not Shonn Greene is an every down Running Back. Certainly, if people paid as much attention to America's foreign entanglements or economic situation the level of political discourse in the country would be more substantial, and the critical mass could affect change. But people have been convinced that their ideas about politics don't matter and can't change the fundamental political reality, and instead they place their interest into the spectacle that is sports.
It's a tale as old as time, the Romans offered their citizens a diet of "bread and circuses" to keep them distracted from the crumbling empire, and it's hard to argue, especially after the orgy of consumption and violence that was the Super Bowl, that our reality is any different. I've often thought to myself that people are drawn to sports because of its objective fairness. If you do something the right way in sports you are generally rewarded with a goal or a point or what have you. It's a meritocracy. It's an even playing field and rules are supposed to be enforced equally, in contrast to modern life sports is a beacon of fairness.
But the other thing people love about sports is the visceral thrill. Whether it be momentary, like last nights buzzer beater by Duke or more ongoing like Jeremy Lin and Tim Tebow's success, sports has an electric quality, it imparts an intangible feeling of excitement and happiness. Long term sports fandom is fundamentally meaningless, but in short bursts the excitement sports can provide is very real.
In less than a week Jeremy Lin has galvanized a city, become an ethnic hero, and saved a sports franchise that was on the brink. Lin has had running mates, Steve Novak continues his clutch shooting, Iman Shumpert has improved since switching back to his natural position, and Jared Jeffries continues to be a goofy player who's shortcomings make him more fun to root for. The underdog is insanely fun to root for, there is nothing like watching someone overcome impossible odds, it's been true since David slew Goliath. Oh to have been a spectator when that man brought down a great beast with a mere slingshot, you probably could have made a lot of money that day if there were any bookies in Israel.
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