Doubting Jeremy Lin

I wrote about Jeremy Lin in mid-November and since then he has caught the attention of the national media after standout performances against the University of Connecticut and Boston College. One of the best articles was written by ESPN writer Dana O'Neil:

ESPN: Immigrant Dream Plays Out Through Son

Being Asian-American and a huge basketball fan, I am thrilled to see Jeremy Lin succeed and garner positive national attention for his skills and accomplishments. I am sure many people in the Asian-American basketball circles all over the United States are quietly cheering for Jeremy Lin. Despite the national attention, I know there are some people who still don't know about Jeremy Lin. I've taken it upon myself (as have many others) to tell their friends about this "Asian kid" who is doing well on the basketball court. Thanks to the power of the Internet, this is very easy to do these days.

Despite Jeremy Lin's success on the court, I have talked to people within the Asian-American community who doubt his skills or look down at his success. There are others who doubt Jeremy Lin can make the NBA. I am a little surprised at this. I would expect that Asian-Americans would back a guy from their own community rather than looking down at his success.

I had to step back and think about why Asian-Americans would doubt Jeremy Lin and I came up with two interconnected reasons:

1. Some Asian-Americans have a self-defeating notion than they cannot compete with other ethnic groups in basketball.
2. They have never seen a guy like Jeremy Lin before and cannot believe an Asian player can compete against other high level players.
   

In regards to item #1, I've heard and read about this from many sources over the years I've been involved in basketball. Many Asian-Americans simply believe they are at a physical disadvantage (height, speed and/or strength) when it comes to playing basketball against other ethnic groups.

When I was younger, I didn't question this notion. After all, it was fairly well known that Asian-Americans were generally smaller in stature than most other ethnic groups. As I've gotten older, I began to realize that Asian-Americans need to reanalyze this notion.

1. Asian-Americans are generally smaller but as Yao Ming (and others) have proven, not ALL Asians are short.
2. Just because someone has height does not make them a basketball player. Just because someone is short, it does not mean they cannot play basketball.
   

I believe Asian-Americans need to get over the notion that they cannot compete because they are short or not as strong. They need to embrace the notion that skill CAN triumph over height if the skill level is great enough. After all, the NBA does have players like Nate Robinson (5'9") and Earl Boykins (5'5") still playing. If these guys can make it, Jeremy Lin (standing 6'3") has a chance as well.

Item #2 is a direct connection to Item #1. Because many Asian-Americans believe that CANNOT compete in basketball, they are surprised that Jeremy Lin can play and play well against other ethnic groups.

Up until recently, video highlights of Jeremy Lin were sparse. In years past, it was easy to see Jeremy Lin's stats and just say "He's doing it against weak competition". However, as Jeremy Lin has garnered national attention, there is no more excuses. Jeremy Lin put up great games against VERY good competition and there are Youtube highlights to prove it:

Jeremy Lin: 30 Points against UCONN

My point in writing all of this? Regardless of whether you think of Jeremy Lin, I think all of us Asian-Americans should SUPPORT him. Any success that Jeremy Lin has on the college (and hopefully professional) level will indirectly help the Asian-American community.

Asian-American role models in the college and professional sports arena are sorely lacking. Jeremy Lin, who by all accounts, is a quiet and humble guy, would make a great role model for future generations of Asian-Americans who want to pursue opportunities in college and professional sports.

Volunteering

Volunteering my time has never been a problem. In the past, I have volunteered to coach basketball teams, officiate basketball games and other assorted activities. However, most of my activities centered around working with my immediate group of friends, immediate communities or activities that I am usually involved in. For many years, I am wanted to volunteer in a different capacity but never explored the opportunity myself.

A few weeks ago, an old friend of mine sent me a message asking if I wanted to volunteer at a homeless shelter. A mutual friend of ours had taken a position working at the homeless shelter and was looking for helpers to serve a Christmas dinner for the residents of the homeless shelter. It was a great opportunity that I couldn't turn down. It was a chance to catch up with old friends but also a chance to volunteer in both a different capacity (food server) in a different community (homeless folks in the Tenderloin) that I don't usually associate with.

That volunteer opportunity was tonight and it went great. I caught up with old friends and met a lot of the other volunteers who helped out. The work itself was a little easier than expected. We were only serving people who lived in the homeless shelter rather than just anyone who could walk in from the streets so that limited the number of people. Also, we had a great number of volunteers which helped minimize the workload even more.

While I didn't interact with the residents of the homeless shelter too much, one older lady was quite friendly. I talked to her briefly and got to know her background. She was a loner with no immediate family who had an artistic bent. It was different talking to her. Most of us are used to asking "How's work", "How's your family" or other things like that. For this particular lady (and probably a lot of the homeless people), some of these things don't apply. I had to take a different tactic to talk to her.

I had told myself that if certain people seemed like they wanted to talk, I should be open to it. My reasoning was that many of these people have gone through tough lives. While I can't change all the circumstances for any of these people, I figured a smile or a chat might make them feel better about themselves. I don't know if that was the case with the lady. She seemed fairly relaxed about her circumstances. However, if I was able to make her feel better in any way, then the time I spent today was worth it.

All in all, it was a great experience that I would gladly repeat again. Sometimes those of us who are "well off" forget that lots of others are in need, especially recently with the tough economic times. If you've never volunteered before, give it a shot. It may give you a different perspective on things you've never thought about before.

Cardio Boxing: Nintendo Wii Style

I've had my Nintendo Wii for a little over six months now. I've probably played the system for about three of those months. If you've read some of my previous posts, the main reason for playing the Wii was to get some additional exercise (and have some fun) for myself and my mom.

In the time I've had the system, I've primarily played Wii Sports (the game that comes with the system). I love Wii Sports and got the hang of the baseball, bowling, tennis and golf games. Yet, for some reason I stayed away from boxing. Perhaps it was due to some tough early experiences playing the game because I just didn't know how to play.

In the past month or so, I finally gave in and started playing the boxing game. It took a little while (and some reading) to get the hang of the game. Now that I have gotten the hang of the game, I LOVE it. Unlike the other four sports, boxing requires some effort and forces you to expend a lot of energy while playing. I find that using the three boxing training games and the main boxing game itself gives me a decent workout.

Recently, I got a copy of EA Sports Active for the Wii. I've loving EA Sports Active due to the great number of activities in the game. Among my favorites? If you guessed boxing you would be correct!

While I won't be participating in real boxing anytime soon, I actually thought about getting a punching bag or something similar. It would be nice to do some real boxing work rather than just using the Wii.

I'll be back.........

I'm still here. I just haven't posted in recent weeks. Lots of things to talk about but I just haven't focused on it due to other stuff going on. Thanks for reading and look for new posts soon enough!

15 years of the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors

I have been a fan of the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors for a long time. The Warriors are a Asian American comedy troupe that was formed back in San Francisco around 1994. Over the past 15 years, they have performed all over the world and won several awards for their efforts. The first time I saw the troupe perform was at San Francisco State university around 1995 or 1996. Since then, I have followed the troupe heavily and attended many performances.

Several years ago, the troupe decided to perform in Southern California exclusively. I don't remember the exact reason for this. However, it's not hard to imagine that the troupe wanted to be closer to Hollywood and perhaps get bigger gigs than what was available in the San Francisco Bay Area.

However, as the troupe was celebrating it's 15th Anniversary, they made a return appearance to their home in the Bay Area after a three year absence. There were three shows scheduled for this weekend (Friday 7 PM, Saturday 7 PM & 10 PM) in San Jose.

As soon as I found out the troupe was performing this weekend, I asked a friend to go. We attended the Saturday show at 7 PM. Overall, the show was entertaining though it felt short to me (running around 1 hour and 20 minutes or so). There were a few skits that were great and a couple of that felt flat to me.

However, I'm not here to review the show. I want to commend the group for staying together for fifteen years. I don't know how much money the various members of the group make for each show they perform. My friend and I agreed that the performers probably don't make much. Most of them probably have regular jobs and do these performances as a labor of love.

From what I saw tonight, even though the 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors have been around for 15 years, they still have the creativity to create new skits and retain a great passion for their work. As someone who watches many Asian-American independent films and listens to underground Asian-American musicians, I appreciate the work that the Warriors do. I fully support the many people who work to present more positive representations of Asian-Americans in the media.

Congrats on 15 years and here's to many more!

What Jeremy Lin means to Asian-Americans

Palo Alto, CA native and current Harvard basketball star Jeremy Lin had a great weekend. He hit a running 3 pointer at the buzzer to allow his Harvard team to stun William & Mary 87-85. Interestingly enough, he was also just featured in an article on Slam magazine's website.

Links here:

Jeremy Lin - Buzzer Beater highlights

Slam Magazine Feature on Jeremy Lin

As an Asian-American AND a basketball fan, I am thrilled that Jeremy Lin is having success on the basketball court at Harvard. I am definitely curious if Jeremy can play in the NBA in the future. While it's unfair to put a lot of burden on Lin's shoulders, I think his success at Harvard (and hopefully in the NBA in the future) will indirectly help Asian-Americans in many ways. Here are some of the ways:

- Changing media representation and stereotypes about Asian males

For whatever reason, Asian males have been stereotyped in the media as geeky and unathletic. Why this is the case is unknown. The fact that Asian representation in major college and professional sports (baseball, basketball, football) is not all that high does not help. When it comes to athletics, Asians are usually not the first people that come to mind.

Jeremy Lin breaks a lot of these stereotypes. First he's playing basketball, a sport that is sometimes looked at as a primarily African-American sport. Secondly, he isn't your typical "short" Asian standing at 6'3" tall. Third, he isn't just a bench warmer. He is a starter for the Harvard team and earned All-League and MVP honors.

- Changing Asian's perceptions about sports

Asian families are really practical. Parents are usually found encouraging (pushing might be the better word sometime) their kids to study hard, get an education, find a job and earn a lot of money. The downside to this is that when the academic demands become too great, parents force their kids to drop some activities. The first activities that usually get dropped are sports. For some reason, certain Asian parents feel that sports is for fun but is not a priority when compared to education. As many Asian kids can attest to, Asian parents always encourage kids to study practical subjects like Accounting, Finance or something in the medical field.

Thus many kids who may have a talent for sports get pushed to study instead. They never get a chance to develop their talents. Jeremy Lin's success in basketball at Harvard may help change that. Harvard is an elite university that DOES NOT offer athletic scholarships. While Lin is a gifted basketball player, the fact that Harvard accepted him into the school means he was a smart kid as well. While I don't know how Lin is doing at Harvard, I think he has proven that sports and academics CAN co-exist, even in college. Asian kids should not longer aspire to simply be an accountant or doctor. They could also dream about being a college basketball (or other sport) player like Jeremy Lin. I would also hope that Asian parents allow their kids to pursue professional sports as a career as well.

I'm going to talk more about this point in a separate post later this week.

- Asian-Americans DO EXIST!

It has been great that Asian-born players like Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian (among others) have made their way to the NBA. As great as it is to have Asians represented in the NBA, these players do not have share or understand the Asian-American experience. Those of us who were born in the United States have vastly different experiences than someone who has lived in China their whole lives. When Yao or Yi speak, they represent "China" but not "Asian-Americans". Yao or Yi cannot understand how it is to be a minority in a country. They don't understand how racism and stereotypes about Asian-Americans exist. The Asian-American experience is one thing that is nearly invisible in the United States. Fortunately many schools have Asian-American Studies courses and many books have been written.

Jeremy Lin could be the bridge to shed light on these experiences. Jeremy may look Asian like Yao or Yi but he is a full-blooded American. If Jeremy can make it to the NBA, he may have a platform that allows him to discuss how it is to be an Asian-American that no other person has ever gotten (short of Bruce Lee).

2012 the movie: Typical Hollywood Fare

If you were not familiar with the theory that the world might end sometime in December of 2012, you probably got a little education with the release of the film (aptly titled) 2012 this weekend.

I'm not going to summarize the theories that have been thrown out there on why the world might end in December of 2012. If you're curious, watch the History Channel as they have had many shows covering this topic recently. If you happen to miss any of the shows, it's ok. Given the interest in this topic, the shows will likely be repeated many times from now until 2012! Also, Wikipedia has a summary of information on 2012 as well:

2012 Phenomenon

I'm also not going to summarize the plot of the 2012 film. It's really a typical Hollywood film. Take a subject matter, write some story around the events, throw in some drama and then have a happy ending. I will say that the film is entertaining and will make lots of money. However, as with many Hollywood blockbusters, you'll probably have to suspend belief in certain situations.

While the film's happy ending was predictable, the fact that the remnants of the people on Earth were saved by getting gigantic arks was an interesting nod to Christian mythology. In fact, animals were shown being moved to the Ark as well.

Overall, while I liked the film, there are a couple of points I hope people take away from the film besides being entertained:

1. I hope that people take some time to learn more about the 2012 theories. None of us know what will happen in 2012. However, it doesn't hurt to be educated and prepare if needed.
   
2. I hope that people enjoy life every day like it's their last. Regardless if the world ends in 2012 or tomorrow, we should enjoy our time with friends and family.