Jeremy Lin trying to find his way in the NBA

After a few weeks of speculation, the Golden State Warriors sent rookie Jeremy Lin to the NBA "D-League" after their game Monday evening.  Lin will be playing for the Reno Bighorns team with the intention of getting more playing time and learning to play the point guard position.

The Bighorns actually played tonight (Tuesday) and I got a chance to watch the second half of the game.  Lin scored 10 points (8 in the first half) and here are some my impressions.

The first thing I noticed is that Lin's play tonight was similar to how he was playing with the Warriors.  Two examples of this:

1. Lin would bring the ball up, pass it to the wing and then get out of the way.  His teammates would pass it among themselves and then put up a shot. 
2. Lin would bring the ball up and try to attack the basket.  The couple of drives Lin took ended up being called offensive fouls.  Lin still has not developed a secondary move and teams know he doesn't change direction when he drives.  

The commentators for the game were pretty hard on Lin as they said he needs to look up more, pass the ball earlier and stop trying to go one-on-one. 

I'd have to agree with the commentators that Lin needs to improve his game.  My current impression of Lin is that he is a shooting guard trying to convert to a point guard.  Though Lin played point guard in high school, he was a shooting guard through most of college and I think those college instincts are showing.  

Lin wants to go and attack the basket and then dish out to his teammates.  However, the lanes he had in college aren't quite there.   Lin should be able to pull up for his jumper but he seems reluctant to shoot his jumper in the professional ranks.  Lin's perimeter shooting in college was reasonable and if he could replicate some of his college success, Lin would be able to play much better. 

Lin's best attributes right now is his defense.  Unfortunately, this isn't football where Lin can play only defense.  For Lin to enjoy a long career in the NBA, Lin needs to develop his point guard mindset AND improve his outside shooting.  He's not quite there yet but given Lin's history, I wouldn't doubt his ability.  

The End Of The Road For Yao Ming?

I got home tonight and found the unfortunate news that Yao Ming suffered yet another stress fracture in his ankle:

Sports Illustrated:  Only Yao Can Make The Next Call

From reading all the various articles online, there is speculation that with the latest injury, Yao Ming's career could be over at the age of 30 years old.   This is based on Yao's previous comments that if he continued to have injuries, he would likely choose to retire.

Of course, nothing is set in stone.  Neither Yao Ming or the Houston Rockets have publicly commented on the latest injury yet, though I presume this will come in the next few days.

If this is the end of the road for Yao Ming, it will be a loss for the NBA, China and the Asian-American community.

Yao's presence greatly enhanced the marketability of the NBA in China and the NBA profited immensely from this.  Losing Yao is a blow because there is no other Chinese player (in the NBA or China) that had the appeal Yao had.   Yi Jianlian is the only current Chinese player in the NBA.  Despite have some talent and potential, Yi hasn't played anywhere close to Yao's level.  In fact, Yi has suffered his own share of injuries recently.  Other players like Sun Yue are just marginal players who may or may not get another shot to play in the NBA in the future.

If Yao retires, China may be hurt the most.  Yao Ming was the face of Chinese basketball for marketing purposes.  However, Yao Ming was also the undisputed best player for the Chinese National team.    The Chinese National team played ok without Yao during the World Basketball Championships in September.  Yi Jianlian stepped and had a solid tournament.  Other Chinese players also did reasonably well.  Yet, none had the impact Yao has had.

There has been many discussions over Yao Ming's NBA career that China needed to improve their basketball development process.  After all, with the exception of Yao, no other Chinese player has had a huge impact (Wang Zhi-Zhi, Bateer, Sun Yue, Yi Jianlian).   However, I think China always looked at Yao and thought:  "As long as Yao is around we'll be ok".  Unfortunately for China, the future may be now!

Lastly, if Yao retires, it will be a loss to the Asian-American community here in the United States.   Though Yao was not born in the United States, he was the first Asian player to play a high level in the NBA.  He brought an Asian face to the NBA, where the majority of players are mainly African American.  Lastly, in a country where Asian-Americans are not prominent in the media, Yao was a positive presence that many Asian-Americans could look up to and say "Hey, maybe I can make the NBA like Yao did."

In addition, Yao brought an entirely different side to Asian-Americans and Chinese culture.  Yao was born in China but had a great sense of humor that everyone loved.   If you look at the other Chinese players that have played in the NBA, none had this ability to endear themselves to different people.

Jeremy Lin has been garnering a lot of attention as one of the few Asian-Americans to play in the NBA. However, even the staunchest Lin supporter will agree that Lin is nowhere the player Yao Ming is.   Unfortunately, if Yao retires, the torch may be laid at Yi Jianlian and Jeremy Lin's hands.  Alas, I don't think either one is ready to pick the torch up.

Whatever ultimately happens, Yao Ming was a welcome bright spot in the NBA.  Hopefully he can heal up and play in the NBA for years to come.  If not, I wish him well in his future endeavors.

Pinball Machines: Reflections Of A Different Time & Era

About a month ago, I was searching for some activities to do in the East Bay.  While researching via Yelp, I stumbled upon the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, CA. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to visit at the time. However, I was in the area today and stopped by for a visit.  I didn't regret it one bit as I spent a solid two hours at the museum.  

While the initial entry cost of $15 may seem steep for a museum, it is actually quite a bargain.  The $15 entitles you to unlimited play of all the various pinball machines that in the museum.   There's quite a selection of older and more modern pinball machines that you can play.   In addition, you get "in and out" privileges.  So if you need to step out to get a bite to eat and come back later, it is perfectly ok.   As I noted, I spent a lot of time at the museum today and had a blast.  Strangely enough, I gravitated to playing some of the older pinball machines than some of the newer ones (though I enjoyed a couple of them).

After leaving the museum, I started to think about why I enjoyed my time there today.  After all, I was child of the 1980's.  I grew up in the era of Pac-Man, Donkey King and other well known arcade games as well as the era of the Atari, Coleco, and Commodore (among others) video game and computer systems.

The answer I came up with is that the pinball machines harken back to a simpler era.  The purpose of playing pinball is to stay alive as long as possible and get as many points along the way.   It didn't matter if you were playing a pinball machine from the 1950's or the 1980's, the purpose remained the same.   The same purpose of getting as many points as possible is basically the same purpose as the majority of 1980's arcade games.

It didn't matter if you played Pac Man (eating dots and ghosts), Donkey Kong (jumping over barrels), Pole Position (driving), or Galaga (shooting aliens), the major purpose was to stay alive as long as possible, advance to higher levels and accumulate points.   Obviously there were exceptions like Dragon's Lair.

Given this, it was no surprise that I found a love of pinball machines.  With the ability to have unlimited play at the museum, I kept trying multiple times at several machines and did pretty well toward the end of my stay.

Unfortunately, pinball machines are reflections of a different time before video games and computers existed.  From doing some research online, there does not appear to any companies who are mass producing pinball machines today due to a lack of demand from the mainstream public.  With all fancy graphics and sound available on home systems today, pinball machines are looked at as relics.    All the young people today go for Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft and other games.

However, as the Pacific Pinball Museum shows, pinball is still alive in the underground.  There were a good number of people of all ages at the museum today.  There was a party there were kids and their parents present.  There were quite a few other families who showed up after I arrived.  The folks that run the museum also host an annual expo as well.

Pinball might not be as fancy as today's video games, but I think it's definitely worth a visit from gamers of all ages.  You don't always need to play the latest and greatest to have a good time.

Returning Home May Not Have Been the Wisest Choice For Jeremy Lin......

Jeremy Lin's NBA career got off to a good start when he played a solid 12 minutes in a 40 point blowout against the LA Clippers last week.   I'm sure that must have pleased the Warriors and the many Jeremy Lin fans out here in the Bay Area.

However, Lin's second game last Friday proved to be a little more rocky.  He came in with 4 minutes left in the game against the Sacramento Kings.  I personally don't know the score at the time but the Warriors were leading by a decent margin.  Unlike the Clipper game though, the intensity level was still high and that might have unnerved Lin.   He logged about 1 minute and 20 seconds of game time, turning the ball over three times and got yanked by Coach Keith Smart.

On the surface, it looked bad that Lin fared poorly.   However, in an article in the Contra Costa Times, Coach Smart took responsibility for putting Lin into a tough situation:

"Smart took the blame for the struggles of guard Jeremy Lin against the Kings. Lin played for just one minute, 21 seconds and had two turnovers. He looked out of sync. Smart said he put Lin in the game at the wrong time, when Sacramento was pressing to get back in the contest. It wasn't the best situation to put Lin into at this stage, Smart said."

Part of the reason Coach Smart may have put Lin in was because the Warriors fan started calling for him late in the fourth quarter.  This can be seen on the various highlights posted on YouTube.  While I'm not in Coach Smart's shoes, he probably let Lin play both to keep the fans happy and see how Lin could handle the situation.

However, I'm starting to think that Jeremy Lin returning home may not have been the wisest of choices for him.   Lin may have been better in Dallas (or some other city outside of California) where he could practice and work under the radar.

As is Lin is under the microscope more than your typical un-drafted rookie.  Lin is obviously from the Bay Area and has family and friends who will go to his home games.   Being Asian, Lin is drawing exceptional support from the Asian-American community as seen in the videos.    This kind of support is unheard of for a rookie and much needed for a guy who needs to work hard to prove that he belongs in the NBA.

But all of this can be seen as a negative as well.  It can be suffocating to try to live up to the expectations of all those who will be in attendance of home Warriors games this season.   I'm sure Lin is a realist but when you have thousands of fans cheering for you, it is awfully hard to ignore.  Being the perfectionist, he seems to be, I'm sure Lin wants to do well and is disappointed when he doesn't play well.

I hope Warriors fan temper their enthusiasm.  Let's cheer Jeremy Lin on but not go overboard.  It's funny that I probably annoy all of my friends via my various links, blog postings and Facebook postings on Jeremy Lin.   Yet, I have not attended any of the preseason games yet.  My hope is that Jeremy Lin will get plenty of practice time to develop.   Once the regular season rolls around, I hope to see Jeremy Lin out on the court for more meaningful minutes.

Good Time for Dance Music........

Sometime back while I was in college in the late 1990's, I met a classmate who did some DJ'ing on the side.  Thanks to this classmate, I started listening to various genres of dance music like Eurodance, Freestyle, House and Trance.  I hadn't realized it before but I'd always been a dance music fan.   I had listened to many 80's songs that were considered dance:  "Spring Love" (Stevie B), "Into The Grove" (Madonna), among many others.

In the late 1990's, there were various dance songs that I loved:  "Be My Lover" (La Bouche), "Another Night" (Real McCoy), "Rhythm of the Night" (Corona) and others. However, as the year 2000 rolled around, the trend went to more electronic / trance type songs.  After a while, all electronic music sounds the game and I stopped following the dance music market.

More recently, Far East Movement's "Like a G6" finally gained national airplay including two of our local "party" music stations so I started listening to radio again.  I was surprised to hear a load of dance type songs that caught my interest:

"Like a G6" - Far East Movement
"California Gurls" - Katy Perry
"Dynamite" - Taio Cruz
"DJ's Got Us Falling in Love" - Usher
"I Like It" - Enrique Iglesias

To me, it's great that artists are putting out these vocal dance songs.  Electronic Music has it's place but the best dance songs that I've ever listened to were from the 1980's.   While I don't think some of these recent releases will ever become classics like some of the 1980's stuff I like, it's good that there is still solid dance music coming out these days.

iPhone 4 - All in one communication device..........

My friend and I were talking for a few hours today over various things.  Among the items discussed were our iPhone 4's that we each have.  I suggested a few applications my friend might want and vice versa.  As we were talking away, I realized how the iPhone 4 is the all in one communication device for me (probably many others as well).

The iPhone 4 is first and foremost a phone.  However, you can also receive text messages.  The next thing is there are various applications of instant messaging.  Lastly, there's Skype for making voice calls over the Internet.

I told my friend that if they couldn't reach me at any of the methods above, I definitely was not available!  :)

SIDENOTE:  Despite picking up the iPhone 4, my old Blackberry Curve is still around.  While the Curve doesn't serve as a phone anymore, I still have many songs on the device.  In fact, once I get around to deleting the various applications that no longer work, I will have even more space.  I plan to keep the Curve around as a portable music device for some occasions.  Recycling technology!  

The Rise of Far East Movement (FM)

According to Wiki, Far East Movement's been around since 2003.  I'd heard inklings of them from various Asian-American sites but not being a fan of hip-hop music, I never paid them much attention.

It wasn't until I ran across the song "Girls On The Dance Floor" which drew my attention.  It combined rapping with dance beats and I was in love.  I'd always listened to dance, trance and other electronic music and this was perfect.  In fact, many other acts like the Black Eyed Peas and others were getting into the hip-hop / dance music act.

When Far East Movement released their album "Animal", I immediately purchased and loved it.  There were many great songs and I thought it was a shame that only a small market of people would likely purchase the album.  Anytime I was in the car, I made it a point to pump up the volume a bit when I had the "Animal" album playing.

"Girls On The Dance Floor" did well enough to garner some national attention and Far East Movement ended up signing a contract with Interscope / Cherry Tree Records.  Far East Movement has followed up Girls On The Dance Floor with several other songs:

"2 is Better"
"Go Ape!"
"Like a G6"

While Girls On The Dance Floor was a club hit,  "Like a G6" is looking more and more like the breakout hit they have been looking for.  The song has been playing in Bay Area powerhouse stations Wild 94.9 and Movin' 99.7  In addition, "Like a G6" debuted in Billboard Top 100 list at #92.

"Like a G6" by Far East Movement (Video)

The success is well deserved and I hope the guys keep it up.  Asian Americans have plenty of underground artists but not many have had mainstream success.  Far East Movement is looking to break that trend and be a role model for many Asian-Americans in the years to come.

If you ever wondered why I post the stuff on Facebook that I post.....

On Facebook, I tend to post a lot of links to things I like to my wall, which in turn goes out to my friends home pages.   There is one trend that I am sure most people have noticed.  A good number of those links are Asian or Asian-American themed.    They may be about Asian athletes (Jeremy Lin, Ed Wang, Yao Ming), Asian-American movies (usually independent stuff), or music videos by Asian-American performers (Far East Movement, etc).

Why do I do that?  Considering that Asian representation in the movies, TV, music and the professional sports arenas are fairly sparse, I want to take advantage of the Facebook platform to promote all things Asian.

That might seem odd to a degree.  However,  one should not underestimate the power of the media to influence people of all ages.  The people who see my postings may enjoy what they see and that is good.  But maybe some young kid who hadn't thought of pursuing interests in acting, music or athletics might be influenced by what he sees and give it a shot.

Asians families are a practical sort.  They encourage their kids to focus on careers that are solid, stable and earn money.  Acting, music and professional sports are not always guarantee of that.

However, I would hope that Asian families learn to encourage their children to follow their passions to wherever it takes them.  After all, the Jeremy Lin's, Ed Wang's, John Cho's and the Far East Movement's of the world have been able to do it.  Your child may be able to do it as well.  Even if he fails, it's not the end of the world.  That is one aspect of life that is so great.  Mistakes are usually not fatal and will teach you to do better in your next endeavor.  

First Impressions: Blackberry Torch = IPhone 4 LITE

My first ever smartphone was the Blackberry Curve 8310 from AT&T.  I've had the curve for about two years now and enjoy it greatly.  With the release of the IPhone 4, I have been quite tempted to join the Apple bandwagon.

I have to admit that I like the IPhone 4 especially for it's browser, camera and video camera.  The negatives (for me anyway) has always been the lack of a physical keyboard.   With supplies limited, I've been sitting on the fence about getting the IPhone 4.

However, when the Blackberry Torch was announced a week ago, I was intrigued.  A touch screen Blackberry, new operating system AND a physical keyboard?   Today was the first day the Torch was at AT&T stores and I went to check it out.

My initial impressions was I was a little disappointed.  The new browser in the Torch was nice but I could not get the screen shift when I tried to go to the widescreen view.   Also, the touch screen wasn't particularly responsive and I had trouble clicking on the proper links on websites.

In addition, there were times I didn't know how to navigate back to certain screens using the touch screen.  It turned out I had to use some of the physical buttons on the Torch to do so.  To be fair, it was my first time using the phone so perhaps I had a bit of a learning curve.

Unfortunately, since I was at the AT&T store, I couldn't get a feel of the sliding mechanism of the phone.  The phone was locked into place with the keyboard showing.   Using the keyboard was a different experience.  Each Blackberry seems to have it's own distinct layouts.  I find the Curve's keyboard the most comfortable.  I use a Blackberry Bold for work and the keys are a little big for me and it takes a little getting used to.

Using the Torch's keyboard, I thought the keys were a little smaller than the Curve.  In addition, due to sliding mechanism, the keyboard portion of the Torch feels flimsy.   Typing with thumbs as many do with Blackberries may be a little difficult than before.

Overall, I left with a relatively "BLAH" impression of the Torch.   I knew I wasn't going to be blown away.  However, I thought I might leave with the impression that Blackberry created a device that combined the best of the Iphone 4 and Blackberry worlds.  Alas, I think there's still some work to be done.

I don't think the Torch is an IPhone 4 killer.  At best, it may be an IPhone 4 LITE.  It does some things that IPhone does and keeps some of the Blackberry sensibilities.  I think there will be a market for it but RIM shouldn't expect the masses clamoring for the Torch like the IPhone 4.

What's Going On in China?

Reading some news online earlier, I saw that there were a couple of mass murders that occurred in China the past couple of days. One involved a guy who started running people over with a tractor.  The other involved a man who snuck into a school and then used a knife to attack teachers and children.

Besides these two events, there has been a spate of other mass murders that have occurred, causing outsiders to wonder what is happening.  Many people are speculating that the dramatic change China is going through (from a Communist country to a more Capitalist country) is taking a mental toll on poorer citizens.   The concern is that mental illness is growing and the government is not addressing the issue properly.

While I don't live in China, being an American Born Chinese person, I have some insight into why some of these problems may be happening.

Though my upbringing is a mix of Chinese and American,  I know that many Chinese people prefer keep their problems "in the house".  They don't not want outsiders to know their dirty laundry.   This causes many problems, especially for kids like me who were born Chinese-American.  I remember reading a few years ago about some young Chinese-American kids who committed suicide because they couldn't handle the pressure of school and other things.   This set off many Chinese-American mental health groups to reach out to the community to let people know that is was OK to share their problems.   I don't know about the success of the outreach but hopefully the Chinese-American community is better off.

Keeping what I said in mind, the citizens of China may not have the options that we have in the United States.   There are definitely support groups but as a whole Chinese culture is conservative and it's difficult to change the collective mindset.

I haven't been in China since 2007 so I don't know how things have changed.  However, I'm sure that China is moving to the future at a unprecedented pace.  Unfortunately, like many things, some people have an easier time than others.

While the recent issues have been disturbing, I hope that this causes China to look at the issues and address them appropriately so that these kind of things don't happen again.

The first time I heard about Jeremy Lin

With the Golden State Warriors signing Harvard grad and Bay Area product Jeremy Lin, the Internet has been buzzing with news and blog postings about Jeremy. The news outlets have been going with the "hometown boy does good" story line. There has been many blog postings (including your truly) talking what Jeremy means to the Asian American, Harvard and Palo Alto communities.

However, with all of the focus on Jeremy these days, I feel I should take a step back and talk about when I first heard of Jeremy Lin.

The first time I was aware of Jeremy Lin was sometime during the 2005-2006 high school basketball season (Jeremy's senior year). I can't pinpoint an exact date. However, as a huge basketball fan, I follow a lot of basketball at all levels including youth, high school, college and NBA.

My main recollection is that the San Francisco Chronicle / SFGate mentioning Jeremy Lin and his Palo Alto team being a favorite to get to the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) State Championship game in Division II. Up to this point, I had not heard of Jeremy Lin or his Palo Alto team. After all, living in San Francisco, I'm usually more focused on how the San Francisco public and private high schools do at the state tournaments than other teams in the Bay Area.

However, I was intrigued about who this Jeremy Lin kid was. As someone who lives here in the Bay Area, it's not unusual to see a ton of Asian kids play basketball at the youth and high school levels. There are some solid players too but they play in obscurity because their teams aren't that good. Not that many of them are Division I or pro material but there's some talent and skill there, even if they aren't the biggest or tallest players around.

However, it was a rare thing to see an Asian kid be the primary focal point of a team that had STATE CHAMPIONSHIP aspirations. From then on, I followed Jeremy and his Palo Alto team through their league playoffs, Central Coast Section (CCS) playoffs, the Northern California playoffs and finally the televised State Championship game between Palo Alto and Mater Dei.

Having never seen Jeremy play before, watching him play on TV for the first time was interesting. He didn't look physically intimidating and I thought his jumper looked a little awkward. However, just as those in the Ivy League and the NBA Summer League found out, Jeremy could play and Palo Alto knocked off mighty Mater Dei to claim the CIF Division II State Championship.

From there, I was curious about Jeremy's future plans. For many of the Asian basketball players I had seen in the past, they might go to play at junior college or small college to continue playing competitively. Many of the same players also played in the various Asian adult leagues and tournaments that are prevalent around the Bay Area and California.

In doing my research, I saw notes that Jeremy wasn't heavily recruited though he might walk on to the local Pac-10 schools. It wasn't until later that I found out that Jeremy was going to Harvard.

The rest, as you might say, is history. I heavily followed Jeremy Lin's career at Harvard through the Internet. Many people don't know that during Jeremy's sophomore year at Harvard, the Harvard team came to play in a tournament at Stanford. Unfortunately, Stanford blew out Harvard and Jeremy didn't score though he did bounce back with better games in the next two games in the tournament. I'm sure Jeremy would have loved to do well in front of the home crowd.

All in all, outside of Jeremy's family, friends, coaches and others from Palo Alto and Harvard, I believe I am may be one of Jeremy Lin's earliest fans (in fact someone pointed out to me they were following him before me....COOL!) . I didn't know if he could make it to the NBA but I was glad to see he had a great career at Harvard.

The fact that the Golden State Warriors have signed Jeremy is an added bonus. Good luck to Jeremy as the 2010-2011 NBA season slowly approaches. Many fans are eagerly awaiting this!

COUPLE OF SIDE NOTES:

1.

An interesting story line that doesn't get mentioned anymore is that Palo Alto was also a favorite to represent Northern California in the state championship during Jeremy's junior season. However, Jeremy decide to play pick up ball a few days before the CIF Northern California championship game and injured himself. Palo Alto would go on to lose in the Northern California championship game. I believe Jeremy himself mentioned this incident motivated him to work hard to get his team back to the State Championship his senior year.

2.

There was an article today in a local newspaper that was discussing how many people in his circle of friends and coaches that believed that Jeremy could make the NBA. Among the people who was interviewed was one Thomas Fang.

Not everyone surprised by Lin in the NBA

Fang was a 6'5" forward who played for Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose and later walked on to the Cal basketball team. Jeremy's Palo Alto team defeated Fang's Mitty team in the Northern California championship game prior to playing Mater Dei.

When Palo Alto and Mitty played for the Northern California championship in 2006, I thought it was great that TWO ASIAN-AMERICAN kids played an integral part in each of their team's success. Jeremy was obviously the star of Palo Alto. Mitty's star was 6'9" Drew Gordon who would later go to UCLA and now New Mexico. However, Fang was a starter and an all league player in his own right.

Though Fang didn't play much at Cal, he plays in intramurals and other leagues around the area.

Jeremy Lin is coming home to the Bay....as a Golden State Warrior

I play in a summer adult basketball league and my team was beaten tonight 47-30. Afterwards, a few teammates and I headed off to dinner and the discussion wandered off to the Golden State Warriors and Jeremy Lin. Some of my teammates and I had just purchased Warriors season tickets for the upcoming season and we were discussing how to divide the tickets up.

Along the way, we were also discussing where Jeremy Lin would end up (Dallas Mavericks or Los Angeles Lakers). Since I hadn't checked the news in a few hours, I went online via my Blackberry and was stunned to see the news that Jeremy Lin might sign with his hometown GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS!

Various news outlets have confirmed a deal is in the works and could be signed by tomorrow.

It's a good move overall for the Warriors for a couple of reasons:

1. It's a great marketing move. Jeremy Lin is a hometown kid from Palo Alto and sure to draw friends and family to Warriors games. In addition, being Asian-American, Lin is sure to attract many Asian-Americans basketball fans as well.
2. It's a good economic move for the Warriors. Lin was an un-drafted free agent and thus wouldn't command a huge salary. It's a low cost move with the potential for a high reward if Lin shows he can play in the NBA at a solid level.

The signing of Lin is tempered by the fact that the Warriors first round draft pick is out with an injury. In addition, David Lee, whom the Warriors acquired from the Knicks hurt his finger during practice with the USA basketball team.

However, I am personally excited by the prospect of Lin playing on the Warriors. It's the most excited I've been about the Warriors in years.

Jeremy Lin and the Model Minority Myth

There are many stereotypes that Asian-Americans try and fight on a daily basis. One of the major ones is the stereotype that Asian-Americans are a "model minority":

To quote from the wikipedia entry on Asian-Americans and the model minority myth:

"Asians are seen as hardworking, politically inactive, studious, intelligent, productive, and inoffensive people who have elevated their social standing through merit and diligence. This label is given in contrast to other racial stereotypes which routinely accuse minorities of socially unwelcome traits: such as laziness or criminal tendencies."

Personally, I find this very funny as I was never a great student in high school (graduating with a 2.50 GPA or somewhere along those lines). I attended my local State university and graduated with a double degree. All in all, I'm pretty much the anti-Asian Model Minority.

However, along with this model minority myth comes other stereotypes. Asian-Americans become these model minorities through hard work sometimes at the expense of other things. Stories are told of Asian-American parents telling their kids not to date or play sports so they can study to get into the Stanford's and Harvard's of the world. Thus starts the stereotype of the geeky, smart and non-athletic Asian-American kid who can get into college with an academic scholarship but not an athletic scholarship.

However, if you are Asian-American and live in the community on a daily basis, you will know that the model minority stereotype (as with all other stereotypes) are not true. There are smart and academically minded kids. Then there are kids who are more athletically gifted, though not many of them get into the public eye.

However, there are minimal amount of Asian-American athletes in the professional sports world and thus the stereotype of the non-athletic Asian-American still abounds. Therefore when foreign born Asian athletes such as Yao Ming, Ichiro and others made a splash, many Asian-Americans were happy to embrace them even if they didn't share their American born experiences. These were guys who were different and showed a different side of Asians that many people hadn't seen before.

When Jeremy Lin had some breakout basketball performances during his junior year at Harvard, some Asian Americans (including me) began to track him to see if he could make it to the NBA and finally shatter the stereotype of the non-athletic Asian-American.

Despite a good senior year, Jeremy Lin wasn't drafted. Many NBA executives didn't think he was athletic enough to compete in the NBA. However, Jeremy got an opportunity to play in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas with the Dallas Maverics. While his stats weren't great, he showed poise, leadership and skill against much higher level of talent than he faced during his four years of college ball at Harvard. Thanks to his performances, there are many NBA teams that have shown interest including the defending NBA champions, the Los Angeles Lakers.

The ironic thing with Jeremy Lin? Yes, he's shown he can play basketball with just about anyone. But he did it the "Asian way". He had a 4.2 GPA in high school and played four years of basketball at Harvard and graduated with his degree! Harvard is more known for it's academics than athletics. Compare Jeremy Lin to the many college kids who leave school early to try to play basketball professionally.

Jeremy Lin has shown that it's possible to be both a good student and an NBA caliber basketball player. I am sure Jeremy Lin spent many hours in the classroom studying but also on the basketball court working on his game. These are all things that Jeremy Lin should be commended for.

Asian-Americans have spent many years trying fight the stereotype of the model minority. With Jeremy Lin leading the way, perhaps Asian-Americans need not try to fight the stereotype and instead channel it into other things besides academics. I hope that Jeremy's exploits will convince Asian-American parents to allow their kids to pursue their passions instead of settling for the traditional money making occupations such as being a lawyer, accountant or doctor. Jeremy Lin has shown a smart kid can play basketball. Why can't Asian Americans become singers, actors or other things?

No matter what happens to Jeremy Lin in the near future, he has already left a good example for future generations of Asian-Americans to follow. We just have to be bold to take those steps to pursue our life's passion rather than settling.

The spectacle that was LeBron James

Most of my friends know I am a basketball fan. However, most don't realize how much of a fan I really am. I play basketball regularly, I officiated semi-regularly, and I used to coach youth basketball. In addition, I follow high school, college and NBA basketball in person and on TV.

However, one thing I don't like about basketball (and sports in general) is there is a lot of drama OUTSIDE of the games themselves. In high school, there are star players who can't keep up their grades to play and hurt their schools. Or there are the kids who constantly transfer to schools with better reputations to try to land college scholarships. In college, there are star players who come in for a year or two and then leave for the NBA (whether they are ready or not is another story).

In the NBA, like most professional sports, drama is built in. There are stories of guys sleeping with multiple women and having tons of kids. There are hold outs for more money. The list can go on. Tonight, we can add LeBron James's free agency to the list of wild spectacles.

By all accounts, LeBron is not only a great player but a good person as well. However, after his Cleveland Cavaliers suffered a stunning loss in the players to the Boston Celtics, speculation began on whether LeBron would leave Cleveland.

The speculation ended tonight as LeBron announced his intention to sign with the Miami Heat on a one hour special on ESPN tonight. LeBron joins his friends Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, who announced earlier in the week that they intended to sign with Miami as well.

I haven't necessary lost respect for LeBron as he did what he felt was the best move for his career. However, I do think this situation could have been handled better. The constant news reports on LeBron's impending decision was overkill. I also thought that having a one hour long show dedicated to LeBron's decision was not the best. I don't remember any other free agent in the time that I've watched the NBA garner as much attention as LeBron did.

All in all, what LeBron did was fine though I think that Miami signing three star players in LeBron, Wade and Bosh sets a bad precedent. In years past, most NBA teams built around one or two star players. This year, that path has been shattered. If you can't win, you try to get as many star players as you can.

It remains to be seen how Miami will look as they only have a few players under contract. Three good players will help but they will need a solid bench.

Who's the next Jeremy Lin (and why aren't there more of them?)

The NBA finals have ended and once again the Lakers are on top of the NBA world. While I am hardly a Lakers fan, congratulations to them for the repeat championship. It's not something that comes easily and they are deserving of praise of their dedication and effort.

With the NBA finals over, all the NBA teams now look forward to the draft and free agency. With Lebron James's name headlining the free agent class, Asian Americans also have something to look forward to. Many Asian Americans are looking to see if Bay Area product and Harvard basketball star Jeremy Lin gets drafted.

Lin has been preparing and has gotten looks from various NBA teams:

Jeremy Lin looks forward to NBA draft
Jeremy Lin workout with Memphis Grizzlies

Speculation is that Lin may indeed get drafted but in the second round.

As Lin is trying to impress NBA team now, it is good time to look toward the future. Who is the next Jeremy Lin? Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any prominent Asian-Americans in college basketball that drew any national attention. The only Asian player I am familiar with (who was born in China) is 7 footer Max Zhang of California. While Max is tall he is just a role player for his Cal team and not going to draw a lot of attention at this point in his career. If he develops and improves him game, maybe he will be the next Yao Ming.

With no prominent Asian Americans in college basketball in the short team, perhaps we will see more in the future with Jeremy Lin's influence. I believe the attention that Jeremy Lin drew in recent years will impact the future generations of Asian-American basketball players. While Asians/Asian-Americans are not highly represented in the NBA (Yao Ming / Yi Jianlian were the only players) or college (very small percentage), there are tons of players at the high school level and below.

That brings up an interesting question. Why have there not been many Asian-Americans like Jeremy Lin who had an impact on college basketball and had a shot at the NBA level?

It is definitely not due to LACK OF INTEREST. Because of the lack of Asian representation at the highest levels of basketball, many media and business folks think Asians are not interested in basketball.

That is not true if you look at the number of youth who participate at the youth and high school levels. Even youth who may not make the school team play for various AAU and/or Asian club basketball teams. Asian-American adults also participate in adult leagues to a large degree as well.

If it's not the lack of interest, is it a lack of talent? I don't think that is the case. I see a lot of talented players at the high school level who lead their teams. These guys wouldn't be on the team if they couldn't play. However, do these players have college and pro level talent? That I can't answer.

To be honest, there isn't one answer to why there hasn't been more Asian-American players in the NBA. I believe it's a combination of things. Asian-Americans sometimes think they are too short or too small to compete against other players. On the other hand, Asian-American parents sometimes push their kids hard academically and athletics are unfortunately left out.

In the future, I believe this will change. Jeremy Lin is every Asian parents dream. A tall guy who excelled academically and went to Harvard. But not only was he good academically, he was good athletically as well.

Asian-Americans have spent years trying to change the myth of the model minority (good academically). With Jeremy Lin, maybe we don't have to. We'll just be good at everything instead!

Happy 30th Birthday to Pac-Man!

For a fan of retro video games, I'm surprised that I didn't know it was Pac-Man's 30th Birthday today! Of course, waking up at 6:30 AM for some work stuff probably didn't help as I was a zombie through most of the day today.

However, celebrations are due for the MOST iconic game of the 1980's. The 1980's were the golden age of arcade video games. You had Asteroids, and Space Invaders that all originated in the late 70's and games like Donkey Kong which originated a year after Pac-Man debuted. While Donkey Kong and other games were popular, Pac-Man was the most popular video game of the 1980's. This was for many reasons. The game play was very simple. The graphics were not high tech but were effective and the sound effects, music and other touches (the ghosts, the intermissions) all played a part in Pac-Man's popularity.

I don't recall my first introduction to Pac-Man but it had to be in the early 1980's. I remembered playing the game many times at the arcade but my best memory is from playing Pac-Man on my Atari 5200 with my mom and dad. Those were definitely some interesting times. I remembered excitedly getting my parents to buy Pac-Man for me and playing it for hours, even with the Atari 5200 joystick.

Pac-Man's popularity led to many video game sequels: Ms. Pac-Man, Super Pac-Man and Jr. Pac-Man. I played Ms. Pac-Man and Super Pac-Man a lot through Jr. Pac-Man not as much. There was even a Pac-Man cartoon for sometime that I watched as a youngster.

Today's video games are very technologically advanced and would blow Pac-Man away with their superior graphics and sounds. However, what many newer games today don't have is the simple game play that will allow anyone from kids to older people to get into the games. That is why the Nintendo Wii has gained popularity for it's ability to get many people to play games.

So happy birthday Pac-Man! Let it be a reminder to all the game developers that sometimes simple games can be just as fun as more complicated games.

For those who want to play Pac-Man, Google has a version on their main search page. Click the "Insert Coin" button to play. A special treat for the Google Pac-Man. Click the "Insert Coin" button TWICE and you can play with both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man at the same time. Good luck trying to play both at the same time. You're better off having another person with you! :)

There are also versions of Pac-Man that can be played on various current generation of video game systems for those so inclined.

YouTube celebrates it's 5th Anniversary

The SF Chronicle published this article on YouTube's fifth anniversary:

2 Billion daily views and growing

I posted this comment on the SFGate site and will expand on it later this week:

I remember when people questioned whether YouTube would last. YouTube means a lot of different things to different people. For some, it's about watching old videos they haven't seen in years. For others, it's about reaching out to an audience they otherwise wouldn't be able to reach easily (Indie artists, film makers). Yet, there's always mommy and daddy taking videos of their kid's basketball games and other events.

Youtube is all about the videos right? Well, in a sense, it's also (like someone else said) preserving many pieces of history. THe 9/11 attacks and news coverage? Michael Jackson videos? Little Johnny's videos? Check, Check, and Check.

YouTube has gone from a site about "You" or "Me" to what amounts to a digital archive of today's society and that is something to be celebrated!

Helping those who might need it......

A while ago, a thought crossed my mind that I should look up some information on mental illness. Why? There were two people that I had run into that either had come from tough family upbringings or perhaps had developed some sort of mental illness.

One guy (let's call him Guy #1) is someone that I played basketball with and against on a semi-regular basis. He has a habit of talking and mumbling to himself when he is alone. In addition, when he plays basketball, he gets very distracted and doesn't play defense. So, many of the guys get frustrated and so they don't pick him up to play.

I don't know if he necessarily had a mental illness but he is a very distracted individual. I understood the others frustrations on the court and I admit I got frustrated too. Off the court, I am a pretty easy going individual and tried to talk to Guy #1. I felt being friendly would be a good approach. After all, sometimes people just need someone to talk to. Alas, that didn't get me too far. Guy #1 is not the type to reflect and look at himself.

The second guy (Guy #2) is a former high school classmate of mine. I hadn't seen him in years but ran into him at the mall one day. Like Guy #1, Guy #2 tended to mumble to himself as well. When I talked to him, he stuttered a lot and was very high strung.

The interesting thing is that Guy #2 actually recognized me and we talked a bit. Unlike Guy #1, Guy #2 seemed to be a little more in touch with himself. However, I don't know what issues Guy #2 had in his life as he was working a part time job as a ticket taker at the local theater near the mall. There's absolutely nothing wrong with what he was doing. However, when I asked him what he has been doing since high school, he said had been going to school but never finished. I didn't mean to make him feel guilty but I was just curious.

All in all, I can't say for sure these two individuals had mental illness. They could have just come from some tough circumstances in their family lives. The one thing that does tie these two guys together is that they are drifting through life. Guy #1 indicated that his family had moved back to Asia leaving him and his sister here. Guy #1 is not working and I assume is living off his sister or something. Guy #2 is working a low level job and doesn't seem to have any plan for the future.

For myself, I see these guys and wonder "Why can't anyone help them?" or "Why don't they realize they might need some help?" I am seeing a lot of people these days that are like these two individuals. They wander around and drift through life aimlessly.

Sometimes I wonder if I should be doing more but I am but one individual and I'm not trained to help people in life matters. Plus, sometimes, friends and/or family need to step up and realize that these individuals need to get help.

My first impression of the Apple IPad

I'm back! I've been busy with work recently and writing the blog hasn't been the highest priority. However, today felt like a good day to get back to writing a bit.

This morning, I officiated a couple of youth basketball games. Afterward, I headed to the mall to grab some lunch (Spaghetti and Meatballs, bread stick, potatoes).

After stuffing my face, I decided to head to the Apple store located in the mall. It had been about a month since the Apple IPad had been released and I figured it would be a good time to check it out.

There were still quite a few people checking out the IPad's, but I got lucky. There was one available IPad that no one was using to I immediately swopped in and began to explore it's functions. Specifically, I used the IPad to check my email, go to Youtube, and browsed around Yahoo. All in all, I spent about 15 minutes or so using the IPad.

My impressions? I surprisingly liked the IPad but not for the reasons that Apple may want. Apple markets the IPad as a replacement for the netbook computers that have taken off in recent years. I don't think the IPad will replace netbooks due to the touch screen keyboard. I found it difficult to touch type. Perhaps I will get better with practice but that was a minus.

It should be mentioned that the IPad touch screen keyboard is better than the IPhone because the screen is bigger. I never liked the IPhone touch screen since it was too easy to hit the wrong key. That is less of a problem with the IPad. Also, there is an option keyboard that can be used though it wasn't demoed at the store.

On the positive side, being able to browse with Safari on a large sized mobile device was great. Watching YouTube videos and seeing websites in full size was definitely a bonus. The IPad's were using basic wireless to connect to the Internet and I had no complaints about the speed.

I believe the IPad is going to be a hit with the multimedia crowd. Lugging a laptop around to watch videos and listen to music is sometimes impractical. The IPad is hardly small BUT is portable enough to not get in the way. I believe tons of people are going to use the IPad to watch videos, listen to music and read a book, especially when they travel.

While the IPad is not great for email or other business applications that require a lot of typing, it's not impossible to use those applications. People will just have to get used to the touch screen keyboard.

Additionally, I saw other people playing with various applications such as games. I didn't get a chance to look at those applications but will try to do so in the future.

All in all, I liked the IPad and would consider getting one just for the multimedia aspects. I love watching YouTube videos and being a music guy, I would listen to tunes as well. However, I won't be getting one anytime soon as I want to see what Apple's future plans are with the IPad before plunking down money for one.

NCAA Women's National Championship: Stanford vs. UConn

As a basketball fan, I follow all things basketball including college. The majority of fans likely followed the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament including myself. Thanks to some fortuitous choices, including selecting Duke to WIN the men's championship, I won TWO NCAA basketball pools (I used the same picks for both pools).

While I don't generally follow the NCAA Women's basketball tournament, I admit being interested in the championship game tonight as a Bay Area school in Stanford was playing UConn. Stanford has always been a power in women's college basketball but hadn't won a title since 1992.

The game started while I was still at work. Before I left for home, I checked the score on the web. I was shocked to see two things: Stanford leading and a 20-12 score at HALFTIME! I got home about 20 minutes later and by then Stanford had the lost the lead.

What struck me about the game was the poor shooting and a game that was really boring. Stanford's offense consisted of passing around the perimeter and shooting three's (which they were missing). UConn was hardly scorching the nets, but they eventually warmed up and that is why UConn ended up winning.

I was worried that Stanford wouldn't crack 30 points with the way they were shooting but they hit a bunch of shots late and made the final score respectable at 53-47.

All in all, this was a poor showcase of women's basketball. I have nothing against women's basketball but both team's didn't play that well. In women's basketball, with the majority of the action is below the rim, missing a lot of shots takes the excitement out of the game.

Hopefully, next season's NCAA women's championship game will be a better played and more exciting affair.

Ben Legere and The Meaning of Life

Wednesday evening, long time San Francisco youth sports official passed away suddenly at the age of 77. The sudden passing of Legere caused a lot of former athletes, coaches and others toreminisce fondly about the man simply known as "Benny".

Here are some links to several of my own items plus one news feature and one tribute from CYO on Ben Legere:

The passing of Ben Legere - SF CYO loses an original

Longtime sports official Ben Legere passes away at the age of 77

SF CYO Tribute to Ben Legere

KPIX-5 feature on Ben Legere

While many people (including myself) are saddened by the passing of Ben Legere, I found the timing very interesting. It caused to think that perhaps Legere's passing was meant to be and served a higher purpose.

A friend of mine had given me a spiritual book sometime last year. The book was a fascinating read but I won't rehash all the subject matter discussed in the book.

The pertinent line in the book that I thought applied to Legere was:

"When you accomplish what you have been sent here to accomplish, then your life will be ended. But not before then".

Legere had dedicated nearly his entire adult life to San Francisco Youth athletics. Many people on websites such as Facebook and others shared many memories of Legere and how he helped in various sporting activities through the years.

In recent years, I believe Legere felt under appreciated despite his past accomplishments. I don't have any proof of this but it was a just a feeling I got whenever I officiated or talked with Legere.

However, two things occurred which ensured Legere was recognized for all his contributions to San Francisco youth athletics:

1. Legere was inducted into the San Francisco CYO sports Hall of Fame in 2008
2. KPIX-5 in San Francisco interviewed Legere and had a feature on his 50+ years officiating about a month ago.

As I mentioned in my other blog posting, I saw and talked to Legere the day the feature was supposed to air. I had not talked to him in a long time so it was good to catch up. I found him to be very relaxed, happy and upbeat. After finding out that the KPIX-5 feature was going to air, I realized why Legere was happy.

When the news of Legere's passing was confirmed, I was shocked. After all, a whole new generation of people has been introduced to Legere and his accomplishments over the years through the news feature. I thought it was too bad that future generations of athletes would not get to see Legere officiate games again.

However, when I take a step back and think about the book quote I noted earlier, everything fell into place. I now believe that Legere had accomplished all that he could have done in this life and that it was his time to go. The Hall of Fame induction and the KPIX-5 news feature were the final chapter in the life of Ben Legere. They ensured no one would forget what Legere has accomplished over the years.

I do not know the whole story of Legere's passing. However, according to what I've read, Legere passed away while heading home after umpiring a baseball game. If that is the case, then Legere went out the way I think he would have wanted. He went out after doing something he loved. Not many people can say that.

Rest in Peace Benny. You will be missed!

America's Best Dance Crew: West Regional

The show's not over yet, but Season 5 for America's Best Dance Crew is shaping up to be entertaining. My early favorite has got to be the all-Asian crew from California, Poreotix, which just got selected to the Nationals. They aren't a traditional b-boy crew but have a unique style which is pretty entertaining.

Hype 5-0, another Asian crew from Hawaii was also selected and I like their style and energy.

More on this later.

What do Jeremy Lin, Far East Movement, and John Cho have in common?

This is NOT a trick question. Yes, all the people above are Asian, but that is not the answer I am looking for. I'll give you a few seconds to mull the question over..........................

Time's up! The answer is that all of the above people have some Christian influence in their life. As has been reported by the national media, Jeremy Lin is a Christian. I was listening to some Far East Movement music at a friend's house back in 2009. Another friend who was with us mentioned that the members of Far East Movement had become born again Christians thanks to the influence of Jaeson Ma (http://www.jaesonma.com).

The only person I didn't know about was John Cho. I did some quick research on Google last night and was surprised to find that Cho was the son of a PASTOR! Alas, I couldn't find any information on whether Cho is Christan himself. Regardless if Cho is actually Christian or not, I do believe he grew up with a heavy Christian influence that shaped his life to a certain extent.

As I mentioned in my previous blog posting, John Cho, Jeremy Lin and Far East Movement are current and future role models for Asian-Americans due to their visibility in movies, TV, basketball and music.

What I didn't realize at the time was they all had Christian influences. This makes these guys even BETTER role models regardless if you are Christian yourself. Why? The reason is that many high profile movie, TV, basketball and music stars live a life on the edge. These stars do drugs, sleep with many women and run afoul of the law. However, all of these guys seem to stay out of trouble and do what they're supposed to do.

John Cho, Jeremy Lin and Far East Movement are proving that Asians can succeed in movies, TV, basketball and music. However, they are also doing it in a GOOD way which many people (not just Asian-Americans) can appreciate. This alone should make all these guys worthy of our support!

Jeremy Lin: Asian American Role Model

Last night, at the Leavey Center on the campus of Santa Clara University, a throng of 4,700 fans showed up to watch the basketball game between the Harvard Crimson and the Santa Clara Broncos. The game was a sell out and the largest crowd ever to watch a Santa Clara non-conference basketball game.

While there was a solid throng of Santa Clara students, cheerleaders and band members there, one can safely say that the majority of the other people in attendance were there to watch one person: JEREMY LIN of Harvard.

The 6'3" guard from Palo Alto made what is likely to be his final home appearance in a collegiate uniform. Besides his family, a huge throng of Asian Americans made their way to Santa Clara to watch the best Asian-American college basketball player play.

However, expectations of Lin may have been a little too high. Santa Clara focused their defense on stopping him. Lin did not try to score much throughout the night and finished with 6 points (2-5 FG, 0-2 3PG, 2-5 FT), 9 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 4 turnovers. Lin played like he usually does and contributed in every single category. However, after huge scoring games against good competition, the 6 points may have been a let down for the crowd.

The game itself wasn't that great. Both Harvard and Santa Clara struggled in the first half. Both teams went through a scoring drought of 5+ minutes which left the crowd restless. The good news was that Harvard played better in the second half and eventually won the game 74-66. Lin seems like a low key kid and his own personal statistics don't matter to him much as long as his team wins. At 11-3, Harvard is doing well and will begin their Ivy League season in a few days.

Looking past the game itself, I'm very proud that Asian-Americans came out in large numbers to support Jeremy Lin. This fact was noted by many media outlets both local and national. Jeremy Lin, whether he likes it or not, is now a role model to many young Asian-American athletes.

Whether the industry is movies, TV, music, athletics or otherwise, Asian-Americans have had minimal role models to emulate in the past. There have always been foreign born Asians like Yao Ming (basketball) or Jackie Chan (movies). While having some Asians are better than nothing, people like Yao and Jackie Chan do not understand the challenges of growing up Asian in America.

However, I feel like this is the calm before the storm. Jeremy Lin has suddenly stormed into the public spotlight in college basketball. John Cho has gained exposure in movies and TV with Harold & Kumar, Flash Forward and Star Trek. Far East Movement, an Asian-American hip-hop band, garnered national exposure in 2009 with their hit song "Girls On The Dance Floor".

All the people above have given Asian-Americans a slice of the positive representation we've always yearned for and role models in which to emulate. This bodes well for the future as young Asian-American kids grow up. They may decide to be an athlete, actor or a musician all because of Jeremy Lin, John Cho and Far East Movement.

No matter what happens to Jeremy Lin in the future, he has left a legacy for others to follow his footsteps in the future. All one has to do is not be afraid to take those steps. In time, I would hope that it is no surprise that Asian-Americans do well in sports, movies, TV, and music.