I awoke at 5:00 this morning, turned on the coffee, checked email on the computer and, throwing on my favorite oilskin cap and coat went for a walk in drizzle.  While I am walking the earliest evidence of dawn appeares.  The pre-dawn is my favorite time of day, and it always has been.  It is the time when the screech owl and the other  night creatures go to their daytime cover, and just before the shift begins for those who move by day.

While I am coming back a neighbor’s rooster begins crowing and I think of Mohammed Ali, the man who crowed like a rooster, floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee... and I think of Jeremy Lin. 

On February 25, 1964, Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston in Miami, Florida.  The bout was much hyped because of the behavior of Clay.  Brash, fast talking 22 year old Clay won against an out of shape 32 year old Liston.  White boxing fans were so put off by Cassius Clay’s bragging and what today would be called trash talk, that they actually rooted for Sonny Liston, a man that they had previously called a thug.

Cassius Clay, after his conversion to Islam, changed his name to Mohammed Ali.  As everyone knows Ali became one of the greatest boxers of all time.  For white Americans who admired strong silent men of the Gary Cooper type, Ali was brash, abrasive, a braggart, a draft dodger, and a host of other unprintable things.  For many African Americans he became a hero, a man who stood on his convictions, a role model.

Lately, it seems that Asian Americans, particularly Chinese Americans, have a hero, an athlete who breaks the stereotypes of Asian Americans.  At 6’3” and 200 pounds, Lin plays point guard for the New York Knicks. In his last 10 games he has averaged 19.7 p.p.g., and in February his average was over 21 ppg.  In games the Knicks win he averages 17 p.p.g.  In games the Knicks lose he averages 3.2.  He seems incredibly self-assured, winning on 3 point shots that go through after the buzzer sounds.  One out of 4 three point shots is good and his free throw percentage is .749 (3 out of 4).

The enthusiasm that fans in New York show has been termed Linsanity.  Why all the fuss?  He isn’t the first Chinese to play in the NBA; Yao Ming came from Chinese basketball to the U.S. and turned in a respectable performance in the NBA.  Yao returned to China and has retired from basketball.  Maybe it is the fact that at 7’6" and 310 pounds Yao was given a head start on being a good basketball player.  Maybe it’s the fact that Yao wasn’t born here and always seemed to be a Chinese playing away from home.  Whatever the case he never excited Chinese Americans the way Lin has.

Even NBA players, who are not convinced that he is as great as people seem to think, admit that he has a terrific work ethic.  That is sort of faint praise.  It’s what black players said about Larry Bird; that he was just a fairly tall white guy who worked hard.

Maybe Lin has become a sensation because he seems like a modest guy who comes out to play, plays his 20 minutes a game and gives it his best.  There are a lot of New Yorkers who don’t care what ethnic group he belongs to, because he is making the Knicks winners.

Basketball at all levels is dominated by black athletes.  Part of the enthusiasm for Lin may be for the simple reason that he plays like a star and he isn’t black. 

Boxing went through phases of ethnic domination.  It was dominated by the Irish, and then the Italians, and then African Americans and now Hispanics.  The same transition is unlikely to happen in basketball.  The game favors athletes who are tall, who have endurance, who have exceptional hand-eye coordination, and jumping ability.  It could have been designed for African Americans.  It is just an exceptional person that is white, Hispanic, or Asian who fits that picture.  It will be interesting to see whether Lin is a flash in the pan, whether he gains the respect of members of other teams, and whether, like Ali, he becomes an athlete that everyone respects because he is just that good.

The walk is over, the rooster is insistent, and the rain is supposed to last through the morning.

Time to get that cup of coffee.