oMaJoJ:
If you're going to try to be literal about it thinking that's he is an exact copy, yeah, it's dumb. But if look at in the context that fanboys and homers will jump on you if mention any flaws, or that the streak has been built on teams that mostly range from mediocre to terrible, you would get called a hater and that's hard to have real discussions (at least where I work). The wins and the narrative are beginning to mask reality, so in that sense, it's an apt comparison that he is Asian Tebow.

No they're not. The article points out exactly why he isn't the Asian Tebow. Tebow is loved and hated not on his playing skills, but on his beliefs. People who love Tebow religiousness thinks he's the best thing on that field. People who hated Tebow religiousness thinks he's just overhyped, no matter how good he does on the field. Lin on the other hand, everybody agrees he's playing great.

He's just getting so much attention because 1) he's breaking the racial barrier - anytime you do that, you're going to get a lot of attention. 2) the dude was sleeping on his brothers couch last week, and today he's the most talked about person in the US.

That's not to diminish Tebow or Tebow-mania. It's just different. People who equate it with Tebow-mania are doing it disparagingly. They're the same people who don't think Tebow is a good player because of his religiousness.

whitey_d: Automator: whitey_d: I think the point the author is trying to make, is that in the NFL superstars can appear unexpectedly. More like a Victor Cruz type that was virtually unknown. Whereas in the NBA, there are very few stars that were not drafted in the first round.

That probably has more to do with the size of football teams versus basketball team though.

But there are plenty of guys in the NBA who appear unexpectedly. And there are plenty of first round guys who fall off the face of the earth. And then there's Kwame Brown, who somehow still has a job in the NBA.

Obviously with any sport there's going to be busts, but there are very few undrafted NBA stars. Think about the top NBA stars, most if not all are going to be first round draft picks. Look at the NFL, you have Brady who was a 6th round pick, Arian Foster, who was undrafted, Antonio Gates, undrafted.

Again this probably has more to do with the size of the teams so more players can stand out, but there's very few NBA stars that appear out of nowhere.

I was going to point out Ben Wallace and a bunch of others and then did a little googling and came up with a pretty pathetic list so... yeah...

dletter: The guys point is that the whole Lin thing is basically because he is playing in NY, and that in the NFL, you can play on their teams like Green Bay and Jacksonville and still get star power. One, nobody on Jacksonville has every really been a top level "NFL Star



Not quite super-duper Brady/Manning level, but for an RB, taht guy's a pretty damn knwn star from the Jags.

oMaJoJ: LarryDan43: Rwa2play: litespeed74: Another Fark thread for Asian Tebow?

Bravo, so much fail in so little words!

What do you mean they are exactly the same.
Both homeschooled.
Both led their college teams to back to back NCAA championships.
Both hyped coming out of college despite lacking good fundamentals.
Both drafted in the first round.
Both forced into a starting role by a groundswell of public support.
Both only good for a couple minutes per game.
Both deeply polarizing figures due to their strong christian faith.

If you're going to try to be literal about it thinking that's he is an exact copy, yeah, it's dumb. But if look at in the context that fanboys and homers will jump on you if mention any flaws, or that the streak has been built on teams that mostly range from mediocre to terrible, you would get called a hater and that's hard to have real discussions (at least where I work). The wins and the narrative are beginning to mask reality, so in that sense, it's an apt comparison that he is Asian Tebow.

So the only thing that's similar is that people like them?

skilbride: March Madness consistently gets higher ratings than the NBA playoffs, which I would consider the true test.

March Madness attracts more viewers because of the format (single elimination) which gives a greater upset factor and because so many games are shown at the same time. The final game would be a better predictor of overall enthusiasm for college basketball - last year 11% saw the championship game while 13% saw the final game of the NBA finals.

roncofooddehydrator: skilbride: March Madness consistently gets higher ratings than the NBA playoffs, which I would consider the true test.

March Madness attracts more viewers because of the format (single elimination) which gives a greater upset factor and because so many games are shown at the same time. The final game would be a better predictor of overall enthusiasm for college basketball - last year 11% saw the championship game while 13% saw the final game of the NBA finals.

Don't forget the brackets as well

vdawg: Jason Smith should be fired for drinking on the job. This is as bad as journalism gets. He makes Chris Chase from Yahoo look insightful.

Jason Smith's job title is Fantasy Analyst, which pretty much explains this article away.

Fark You Buddy: roncofooddehydrator: skilbride: March Madness consistently gets higher ratings than the NBA playoffs, which I would consider the true test.

March Madness attracts more viewers because of the format (single elimination) which gives a greater upset factor and because so many games are shown at the same time. The final game would be a better predictor of overall enthusiasm for college basketball - last year 11% saw the championship game while 13% saw the final game of the NBA finals.

Don't forget the brackets as well

Also, as someone mentioned above. March Madness appeals to sixty-five fanbases plus the general b-ball fans while the NBA playoffs appeal to sixteen fanbases along with the general b-ball fans. And anyone who thinks college basketball provides a higher quality product on the court is insane.

dletter: The guys point is that the whole Lin thing is basically because he is playing in NY, and that in the NFL, you can play on their teams like Green Bay and Jacksonville and still get star power. One, nobody on Jacksonville has every really been a top level "NFL Star"... two, the Green Bay Packers are an anomaly of the "small market" team stereotype in sports, because of their history, they have a national following despite playing in a city of 150,000. So, that is why Aaron Rodgers is a star there.

Then he goes into "But there's no one of the opinion that Lin isn't good."... which, while maybe technically true, there are plenty of analysts that do point out he turns the ball over too much, and a few other flaws. But (much like Tebow which is what he won't admit) when you win games, flaws are overlooked.

Back to the first point though, there is something to be said for the NBA being too "Top team" heavy. Case in point, here are the number of different teams that have won championships in the various sports since 1990 (MLB & NHL have a season lost for each of them in the time span tho):

NFL (13): Giants (3), Dallas (3), New England(3), Green Bay (2), Denver (2), Pittsburgh (2), Baltimore, St. Louis, San Fran, Washington, Tampa Bay, Indianapolis, New Orleans
MLB (13): Yankees (5), Florida (2), Toronto (2), Boston(2), St Louis (2), Minnesota, Cincy, Atlanta, Arizona, Anaheim, White Sox, Philadelphia, San Francisco
NHL (13): Detroit (4), Pittsburgh (3), New Jersey (3), Colorado (2), Montreal, Edmonton, Rangers, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Carolina, Anaheim, Chicago, Boston
NBA (8): Chicago (6), Lakers (5), San Antonio (4), Houston (2), Detroit (2), Miami, Boston, Dallas

If you can back another decade to 1980, you can add another 2 NFL Teams (Raiders, Bears), 6 MLB teams, 2 NHL teams, but, only the 76ers added to the NBA.

Another way of looking at it... percentage of teams in league that have never won a league title:
NBA: 13/30 (43%)
NHL: 13/30 (43%)
MLB: 8/30 (26%)
NFL: ...

Notice how the other leagues have playoff series. If the NFL had a system similar to Champions League, I bet you would see those NFL statistics change quite a bit.

Rapmaster2000: But first things first. Comparisons of Lin to Tim Tebow are completely inaccurate.

Probably right. Lin hasn't inspired legions of people who rarely watch his game to flood message boards with "HE JUST WINS" comments.

Lin is far more Kurt Warner than Tim Tebow. The Knicks offense is 30% more efficient with him running the team than whoever they had before.

moralpanic: oMaJoJ:
If you're going to try to be literal about it thinking that's he is an exact copy, yeah, it's dumb. But if look at in the context that fanboys and homers will jump on you if mention any flaws, or that the streak has been built on teams that mostly range from mediocre to terrible, you would get called a hater and that's hard to have real discussions (at least where I work). The wins and the narrative are beginning to mask reality, so in that sense, it's an apt comparison that he is Asian Tebow.

No they're not. The article points out exactly why he isn't the Asian Tebow. Tebow is loved and hated not on his playing skills, but on his beliefs. People who love Tebow religiousness thinks he's the best thing on that field. People who hated Tebow religiousness thinks he's just overhyped, no matter how good he does on the field. Lin on the other hand, everybody agrees he's playing great.

He's just getting so much attention because 1) he's breaking the racial barrier - anytime you do that, you're going to get a lot of attention. 2) the dude was sleeping on his brothers couch last week, and today he's the most talked about person in the US.

That's not to diminish Tebow or Tebow-mania. It's just different. People who equate it with Tebow-mania are doing it disparagingly. They're the same people who don't think Tebow is a good player because of his religiousness.

The point I was trying to make was that the wins & the story is overlaying the reality, which is that competition hasn't necessarily been the best. I live in New York (so it's different for me) and I've been arguing that point along with others with people and I can't make any headway whatsoever. It's like arguing with the farking Bleacher Report or AM Sports Radio. They beaten 7 meh teams to get back to .500, so obviously they're going to make some noise in the playoffs. They're about to sign JR Smith, that makes them that much harder to beat. Seriously, the Knicks already have 7 guards on this squad, the only way JR Smith helps that is if you suit him and fire him out of a catapult at LeBron when he goes up to finish a lob. I saw similarities reading the Fark threads during the NFL season about Tebow 6-0 as a starter negating all other arguments. That's why I see him as the NBA or Asian Tebow, I suppose YMMV.

Doogled: dletter: Notice how the other leagues have playoff series. If the NFL had a system similar to Champions League, I bet you would see those NFL statistics change quite a bit.

Ya, but that would be like soccer, and we don't watn that commie crap in our sports.
/sarcasm, in case it is not apparent

And a wag of my finger to Time Warner, for allowing its customers in Buffalo to actually witness Sabres games on MSG...

craigzy: [kmryan79.files.wordpress.com image 200x148]

And a wag of my finger to Time Warner, for allowing its customers in Buffalo to actually witness Sabres games on MSG...

MSG and TWC have reached a deal. It was confirmed by CNBC. Funny how Lin's popularity got them to the table to hash out a deal quick.

regindyn: vdawg: Jason Smith should be fired for drinking on the job. This is as bad as journalism gets. He makes Chris Chase from Yahoo look insightful.

Jason Smith's job title is Fantasy Analyst, which pretty much explains this article away.

Good point...lol

This reaching article proves that Lin-Lin situations are rare.

/have to stop drinking at work.

litespeed74: Another Fark thread for Asian Tebow?

It seems ESPN and the other lamestream mainstream atheist gotcha media LSMSAG media will focus on one very special Christian during every sporting season.

For football it was white Southern Christian Tebow now basketball has Asian Tebow.

Does hockey have one? Arena football? Soccer? Billiards?

Who's next?

We really need to stop calling him Asian Tebow. He's better than that. We should at least call him Asian Kurt Warner. At least the skill set and circumstances are more similar.

oMaJoJ: moralpanic: oMaJoJ:

The point I was trying to make was that the wins & the story is overlaying the reality, which is that competition hasn't necessarily been the best. I live in New York (so it's different for me) and I've been arguing that point along with others with people and I can't make any headway whatsoever. It's like arguing with the farking Bleacher Report or AM Sports Radio. They beaten 7 meh teams to get back to .500, so obviously they're going to make some noise in the playoffs. They're about to sign JR Smith, that makes them that much harder to beat. Seriously, the Knicks already have 7 guards on this ...

I think the internet has ruined me as the Weeners I had to your post was, "Scoreboard Biatch."

//I do not actually disagree with your point

GreatGlavinsGhost: litespeed74: Another Fark thread for Asian Tebow?

It seems ESPN and the other lamestream mainstream atheist gotcha media LSMSAG media will focus on one very special Christian during every sporting season.

For football it was white Southern Christian Tebow now basketball has Asian Tebow.

Does hockey have one?

As a general rule, hockey players tend to keep their personal religious and political opinions to themselves. Even the ones that are religious don't make public displays of religiosity. They don't thank God or cross themselves if they score a goal or win a game. I'm an avid hockey fan, and know a lot about a lot of players, and I hardly know anything about anyone's politics or religious beliefs.

That's why Tim Thomas has caused such a stir lately, by posting his teabaggery on Facebook. It's a weird aberration.

Jeremy Lin.

Penis.

The Guitar Solo from Ride the Lightning: Balchinian:

Why you are seeing Lin being so over-hyped: Because the NBA is simply that desperate. Viewership is down so much because of the strike-shortened season and because without the NBA to watch people have rediscovered how much better college ball is to watch than pro ball.


Do you want to know how I know you don't know anything about NBA ratings?

/spoiler: up across the board, and this article's only using preLininary data
//sorry, had to


Do you know how I know you can't recognize faulty logic when you hear it? Let me show you:

FTA: "The first 325 games of this NBA season averaged attendance of 17,094. That's better than 89 percent of capacity, and a hair better than the first 325 games of last season, which averaged 17,057."

That is apples and oranges. You can't compare the first 325 games of this season with the first 325 games of last season fairly because they happened at different times of the year. Compare the first 325 games of this year with the 325 games which occurred at the same time last year, and you might, might, be able to make a valid comparison. Better yet, take a look at the 325 games which happened at the same time as the first 325 games this year, and compare them to the first 325 games of the actual season last year. My guess is that you would find a similar rise in viewership. The exception of course would be the numbers shown by NBATV, which are easily explained by the simple fact that many more people have access to it than last year.

Finally, you ought to know better than to take anything written by ESPN at face value when it comes to the promotion of sports. It is where their money comes from...they are going to promote it as best they can, and honesty and integrity do not enter into the equation. This has been consistently demonstrated time and time again.

No Asians, subby?

redmid17:
Tebow is hated on plenty because of his playing skills. I'll vouch for myself, if no one else will. He's an abomination of a QB.

Really? You hate Tebow that much solely because of his skills or lack of skills? Do you have as much hate for all the other QBs who are worst then him?

I fall in the camp that doesn't like him purely because of his religiousness, but at least i'm honest about it.

Balchinian: Jeremy Lin's success reminds us of why the NFL is so great

No, it reminds us why the NBA sucks so bad.

Why you are seeing Lin being so over-hyped: Because the NBA is simply that desperate. Viewership is down so much because of the strike-shortened season and because without the NBA to watch people have rediscovered how much better college ball is to watch than pro ball. So when they have something like this happen they play it all up as if it is some sort of Cinderella story (basketball fans LOOOVE Cinderella for some reason), in order to entice viewers to start watching more pro ball. So now they have themselves a celebrity with broad appeal, one who also can be used to point to and say "aren't we diverse!" while they use him as a tool to drive up ratings. He is in the news all over the place because the NBA is putting him there.

Fact is, he is just another basketball player, not really better or worse than any other pro player who goes on a streak of good games, or who has a really good year.

One of the most rediculous posts ever. You don't have to like the NBA, but just about everything you said is wrong.

Slu: One of the most rediculous posts ever. You don't have to like the NBA, but just about everything you said is wrong.

Ignore him, I'm pretty sure I've see him threadshiat the NBA threads a few times before

never heard of the guy before yesterday and I'm already sick of him.

oMaJoJ: Slu: One of the most rediculous posts ever. You don't have to like the NBA, but just about everything you said is wrong.

Ignore him, I'm pretty sure I've see him threadshiat the NBA threads a few times before

Noted.

I'll never understand people that go out of their way to rip the NBA, especially when they claim to like college ball. I like all basketball and appreciate both for what they are.

LOL the Knacks lost at home to the Hornets.

9beers: LOL the Knacks lost at home to the Hornets.

9 TOs, though Fields/Shumpert going a combined 4/17 didn't help much either. I almost understand why you would pay J.R. Smith money to be a crazy asshole in a city that can enable a crazy asshole like few others.

Almost.

EvilMonkeyBoy: 9beers: LOL the Knacks lost at home to the Hornets.

9 TOs, though Fields/Shumpert going a combined 4/17 didn't help much either. I almost understand why you would pay J.R. Smith money to be a crazy asshole in a city that can enable a crazy asshole like few others.

Almost.

The Knicks seem like they will be very good when Melo and Smith come back.

Lin was a tale of two halves. He was a disgrace in the first, and the kid we've been gushing over in the second.

Hornets played fantastic ball tonight.

Zombie Hitler: EvilMonkeyBoy: 9beers: LOL the Knacks lost at home to the Hornets.

9 TOs, though Fields/Shumpert going a combined 4/17 didn't help much either. I almost understand why you would pay J.R. Smith money to be a crazy asshole in a city that can enable a crazy asshole like few others.

Almost.

The Knicks seem like they will be very good when Melo and Smith come back.

Lin was a tale of two halves. He was a disgrace in the first, and the kid we've been gushing over in the second.

Hornets played fantastic ball tonight.

Oh, I agree. If their shooters stay healthy they are a threat. That Lin can take over when they are out or having a cold night is just a bonus on top of his ability to dish it.

A young PG in a 7 seconds or less style attack playing those kind of minutes going to have some turnovers. Just part the deal.

oMaJoJ: Slu: One of the most rediculous posts ever. You don't have to like the NBA, but just about everything you said is wrong.

Ignore him, I'm pretty sure I've see him threadshiat the NBA threads a few times before


I'd appreciate some citations here, from both of you. You find me an unbiased and credible source comparing viewership of the first 325 games this year to the 325 games played during the same period last year and I will listen to you. Otherwise STFU. The article is not about 10 year trends, so leave that out of it. And if you can find me posting anything in another NBA thread, feel free to link to it for us and I will be the one to STFU.

Alternatively, you could put me on ignore, as was suggested, and you will be happy living in your own logic-free fantasy world once more.

/It is spelled "ridiculous", btw.
//Oh, and nice Myspace page, Slu. *snerk*

I didn't take as much pleasure in seeing the Knicks lose to the Hornets as I took in seeing the Broncos lose to the Patriots.

/not sure what that means
//if anything

Doc Daneeka: The NFL, by contrast, has basically no diversity. 99.9% of the players come from one country, one culture, and speak the same language. Aside from the occasional Aussie kicker or something, basically all the players are Americans.

Was their a point to this or was it just to point out that amerukans kick ass at the only real sport left!??????? Hell fuggin yeah!


That being said, basketball lends itself to improvisational skills, its why "showtime" took off, the celtics turned around again, and MJ dominated in the 90s, now someone else is doing the same thing even though it doesnt always work. The NBA is flexible and a player can change the game unlike football where once teams catch up they will stomp you down, I liked basketball for this, at least until they quit calling traveling.

lajotu: I didn't take as much pleasure in seeing the Knicks lose to the Hornets as I took in seeing the Broncos lose to the Patriots.

It means your a patriots fan, everyone else wanted them to lose except pats fans.

Balchinian: I'd appreciate some citations here, from both of you. You find me an unbiased and credible source comparing viewership of the first 325 games this year to the 325 games played during the same period last year and I will listen to you. Otherwise STFU. The article is not about 10 year trends, so leave that out of it. And if you can find me posting anything in another NBA thread, feel free to link to it for us and I will be the one to STFU.

NBA fans refuse to admit their sport has been dying for almost a decade, they cite numbers from the past couple of years "see the ratings went up!!!!" Yeah well, looking at the past the NBA is in the tank, usually major sports only start to lose ratings if they have a work stoppage, MLB, NHL, and both of those sports have ratings equal or higher than they used to have before strikes but not the NBA after a half season missed, nobody missed it and the ratings are barely close to what they were a few years ago.

Michael Jordan was great.
Lin isn't. Put any mediocre level defender on him and he gets picked every trip down the court.


This is why the NBA is great--morons want to believe in shatty players. It's like NASCAR for black folks.

The NBA has better ratings than the MLB and NHL. The NHL's ratings are embarrassing.

Boxxyfan: The NBA has better ratings than the MLB and NHL. The NHL's ratings are embarrassing.

Yes and at one time they were asking when the NBA would over take the NFL, not if but when, at one time it was a foregone conclusion that it would eventually be larger than the NFL, now the NBA is barely staying above their expected ad revenue targets and are close to MLB ratings, in atlanta the braves get higher ratings than the hawks along with most cities. The NHL is only embarrassing if you ignore that they have been almost doubling every year since the strike, if they can keep it up they will be out of embarrassing range in a year.

That doesn't matter. Nothing overtakes the NFL. It's embarrassing because ultimately no one cares about hockey. It doesn't really matter who the champion is if there's no interest in your product.

Doc Daneeka: GreatGlavinsGhost: litespeed74: Another Fark thread for Asian Tebow?

It seems ESPN and the other lamestream mainstream atheist gotcha media LSMSAG media will focus on one very special Christian during every sporting season.

For football it was white Southern Christian Tebow now basketball has Asian Tebow.

Does hockey have one?

As a general rule, hockey players tend to keep their personal religious and political opinions to themselves.

I wonder why that is. More foreign players?

Boxxyfan: That doesn't matter. Nothing overtakes the NFL. It's embarrassing because ultimately no one cares about hockey. It doesn't really matter who the champion is if there's no interest in your product.

Of course, it doesnt matter that at one time the NBA was mere percentage points away from the NFL in ratings where now they lose to MLB on a regular basis and the NHL is gaining every year, I will laugh my ass off if the NHL ends up catching the NBA, its far more entertaining than the NBA is at this point.

/fark the atlanta spirit
//farking morons

Captain Steroid: FTL: In the NFL, if you're a star, we'll find you no matter where you play... This is because any market can win a championship. It's how the league is set up. You can go from 5-11 to the Super Bowl.

It's true: ANY team in the NFL can go from obscurity to Super Bowl Champion overnight.

... except the San Diego Chargers.

\ BOOM! :D

Or the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, etc.

>ESPN