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.