Culture

The Winners and Losers in the Linsanity Market

From the rise of gay sex to the absolute demolition of a New York Times columnist, we've seen and read about Linsanity's far-reaching effects -- so who are the real winners and losers in the Jeremy Lin market?

By Alexander Abad-Santos
Saved Stories
This article is from the archive of our partner .

From the rise of gay sex to the absolute demolition of a New York Times columnist, we've seen and read about Linsanity's far-reaching effects -- so who are the real winners in the Jeremy Lin market? We'll make it easy for you:

David Brooks

The Skinny: One terrible opinion piece that missed the mark on Jeremy Lin gave this New York Times columnist a new legion of haters.

Winner/Loser: Biggest. Possible. Loser.

Buy/Sell/Hold: Buy. It can't get any worse after Brooks ran headfirst (and seemingly without any preparation or knowledge of sports) into the perfect storm of Linsanity, can it? (And look, he just won an award for "civility"!)

The Financial District 

The Skinny: It's reportedly Lin's new neighborhood. Littered with condos converted from the bones of old office buildings and the young college graduates and new families affluent enough to afford them, this Manhattan neighborhood has long wanted to increase its hip factor, and Lin and all his hype may just be able to do that in a way that not even the New York Times' Real Estate section and its FiDi trend pieces have. (Full disclosure: your blogger lived here in 2005, right off of the 2/3 Wall Street stop at a time when perpetually open Duane Reade stores would close on weekends.)

Winner/Loser: Winner.

Buy/Sell/Hold: Strong hold. Just be prepared to get delivery from Adrienne's Pizza Bar (Grandma pie) if the hype continues.

photo via flickr user: Vincent

Madison Square Garden

The Skinny: As The Street reported a little over a week ago, Madison Square Garden's stock hit an all-time record high right in the middle of Linsanity. For now (at the time this went to print) it's up 16 percent on the year, and at $32.83 is just a touch off its all time high of $33.49. Also, where else (other than a Laker game) will you find Beyonce, Jay-Z, and Chloe Sevigny all sitting together?

Winner/Loser: Definite Winner.

Buy/Sell/Hold: Weak buy -- making the playoffs in this abbreviated season isn't a pipe dream for the Knicks, who are just one game under .500 -- good enough for second place in their division.

Racism

The Skinny: Yes, the conversation went there. Bolstered by racist Twitter rants and jokes from boxer Floyd Mayweather and Fox sports writer Jason Whitlock, it seems the latest person to jump into the Linsanity conversation about race is ex-player Rex Chapman.

Chapman refuses to apologize (in case you didn't get his "joke," it's that J.R. Smith will be able to know who Jeremy Lin is since he played in China and -- nudge, nudge, wink, wink -- "Asians all look alike.") Then there's this, from Greg Kelly (remember him?) -- fresh off his hiatus and making a "squinty eye" comment.

Winner/Loser: Loser.

Buy/Sell/Hold: Hold -- you should be selling, but unfortunately it looks like if you give people enough airtime or a Twitter account, it's only a matter of time before some idiotic things are said.

Editors 

The Skinny: ESPN fired a writer after that groan-inducing "Chink in the Armor" headline (it should be noted that they also used that headline when Team USA Basketball beat China in 2008). While yes, the final effect of having a racial slur next to Jeremy Lin's picture was pretty awful, ESPN's writer, Anthony Federico, has apologized and said it was not meant as a racist comment. We're not sure if Frederico is telling the truth (since admitting that you're a racist to the media isn't really a good idea), but shouldn't any editor in tune with the public (you know, what they're paid to do?) and worth their weight in SEO spot and kill that poor headline immediately? Then there's this Buzzfeed post about a call to stop an Asian "joke" (and all "Asian" "jokes"), which in your blogger's humble, Asian-American opinion isn't even in the vein as a "Chink in the Armor" headline or Chapman/Kelly's remarks (it's turning a racist prejudice on its head, not perpetuating one).

Winner/Loser: Losers

Buy/Sell/Hold: Sell. There are probably going to be many more faux pas, and many more bad judgment calls on what's PC, racist, or un-PC, before we're through.

One Gay Man

The Skinny: Justin Huang, a gay Asian guy living in Los Angeles, writes that he's getting the Lin bump in his bedroom on his blog, Yellow Peril. "On my Adam4Adam account, I have a picture posted that features me clutching a strategically placed basketball," writes Huang. "The image of an Asian man clutching a basketball was meant to be a critique on societal stereotypes. How quickly things change. Now, I’ve gotten no less than 30 messages on Adam4Adam that directly comment on the basketball picture, gushing about Jeremy Lin." (Adam4adam is a gay "dating" site.)

Huang adds: "In this sense, Linsanity applies not just to me, but to all Asian men, regardless on where they fall on the sexual orientation spectrum. You see, blonde twinks have David Beckham, and we have Jeremy Lin."

Winner/Loser: Winner.

Buy/Sell/Hold: Sell. While Huang might be benefitting Lin's popularity, his presumptuous blog post might turn off a few potential suitors.

The New York Times Magazine

The Skinny: A little late to the Linsanity phenomenon, the New York Times Magazine comes in guns blazing and judgment-ready today. You see, they don't like the T-shirts from this movement. "Seriously, have you seen those T-shirts? Hastily conceived junk, like from a tourist shop," the staff wrote on the The 6th Floor blog. "A New York hero of Jeremy Lin’s magnitude calls for a graphic treatment that is both tasteful and revolutionary." You can kind of figure out where this is going. "So we are holding a design competition, open to all, but especially to members of the graphic-design community — let’s rescue Linsanity from aesthetic mediocrity."  Their design staff produced four prototype designs that well...have a look.

Winner/Loser: Loser. If you're going to admit you're a little late to the game (in their own words: "Sad, weak-knee’d fools for it, really"), why all the hate, New York Times Magazine?

Buy/Sell/Hold: Sell, because these T-shirts won't.

The New Jersey Nets

The Skinny: The Jay-Z-owned Nets pounded out a 100-92 victory over the Knicks the other night, with their star point guard Deron Williams getting the best of Lin. Everyone was interested to see how Lin would do, which was not bad (21 pts. 9 assists), but was definitely eclipsed by Williams' monster night (38 points, 6 assists).  It also stings a little more considering the interstate (more like crosstown) rivalry between the two squads, and the Nets own sad 10-24 record so far.

Winner/Loser: Winner.

Buy/Sell/Hold: Strong Sell. Like Linsanity, one game isn't going to define the phenomenon or the Nets.

Politicians

The Skinny: Both President Barack Obama and fading Republican afterthought Sarah Palin jumped on the very heavy Lin bandwagon last week. Obama, a big basketball fan, was "very impressed and fully up to speed" with Lin, ABC reports, adding that the president has already watched a Lin game. Palin, as Gawker explains, is "no longer afraid of Asians" as evidenced by her support for Lin last week.

Winner/Loser: Push. Liking Lin isn't necessarily going to win you fans. But having a racist Asian ad like Pete Hoekstra did will definitely garner you some negative attention.

Buy/Sell/Hold: Weak buy for Obama; Sell on Palin. If Palin loved Lin as much she loves attention, it'd probably be a different story.  And unfortunately, we doubt Linsanity can do anything to quash political rancor.

Jeremy Lin

The Skinny: Well, obviously he's the guy who started it all. Aside from his stellar play and his sleeping-on-his-brother's-couch-to-sleeping-in-Trump-Tower rags-to-riches story, he's also trademarked "Linsanity." Oh. And he also just joined Facebook and already has over 200,000 subscribers.

Winner/Loser: Biggest. Possible. Winner.

Buy/Sell/Hold: Weak buy. With the return of scorer Carmelo Anthony and the addition of the trigger-happy JR Smith, chemistry will need to be sorted out again, and there's a chance Lin's numbers will dip. But, since he was there for the success and had his hand in orchestrating that magic winning streak, he probably won't be blamed for the team's troubles in the near future.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.