Introduction:
Ever since Michael Jordan, Kobe
Bryant is arguably one of the best players currently in the National Basketball
Association (NBA), leading the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire five championship
titles in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2010. And now in 2012, there has recently
been another name in town: Jeremy Lin—an Asian-American basketball player for
the New York Knicks who was once an unknown on the NBA's Development League,
but out of nowhere (and out of luck or fate), catapulted to the forefront of franchise.
Lin is now one of the most critically acclaimed players this year after leading
his team to seven consecutive victories while putting down numbers comparable to
veterans that have been in the franchise for years, outscoring even Mr. Bryant
himself in one game. Lin currently averages 26 points and 6.3 assists per game.
For more detailed information on Lin's progress in the NBA franchise, visit: http://www.hoopsworld.com/fantasy-focus-jeremy-lin
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Jeremy Lin has vocally credited
his success to God and attributes it as a miracle. Quoting Lin from an
interview:
"Anytime something like this
happens, a lot of stuff has to be put into place, and a lot of it is out of my
control. If you look back at my story, doesn't matter where you look, but God's
fingerprints are all over the place where there have been a lot of things that
had to happen that I couldn't control. You can try to call it coincidence, but
at the end of the day, there are 20, 30 things when you combine them all that
had to happen at the right time in order for me to be here. That's why I call
it a miracle (Isola, NY Daily News)."
Moreover, to further consolidate
his Christian belief, Jeremy Lin has also been involved in philanthropic
activities as well, such as helping to improve communities that are in dire
need of help.
This attribution of success to
God is a concrete illustration of the inextricable link between Sports and Religion that has existed for quite some time now. Dubbed Muscular
Christianity or even Sportianity, the underlying ethos here is that
Christianity is implicated in many sports around the world (hockey, basketball,
etc). Needless to say these sport organizations are heavily fuelled by money
and a lot of profit can be generated from them, but on the receiving end is an
unexplainable euphoria that captivates fans and commands not only their money,
but their undivided attention as well. Sports entitle fans to a sense of
belongingness; a social, hermeneutical and even a transcendent feeling and this
is what led many researchers to view sports as some kind of Religion, despite
ongoing debates. In the case of Jeremy Lin, he has re-energized the crowds at
Madison Square Garden, bringing the New York Knicks back into the center of
sports for the first time in ten years (Keith, Sports Illustrated).
For more information:
The Rise of Jeremy Lin
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