Category Archives: sports

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I’m no “Lin-fidel,” just a realist on Jeremy Lin. Still, he’s just what we need as more people keep blurring the difference between Asian and Asian American

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I’ve got good reason to love Jeremy Lin. I’m an Asian American who went to Harvard. I didn’t play basketball, but I did play white guys in black theatre productions. (You take your extra-curriculars where you can). So my love for Lin is real. I’m just realistic. I root for the Golden State Warriors and we had a mild case of Lin-phomania last year. 

Lin-sanity is a New York phenomenon.   I’m not sure it can be sustained.

I wish Jeremy nothing but the best. No Schadenfreude from me.  He’s a Norcal homey. He worked hard and when he had his chance this time around he delivered. But I’m not sure if last week was one of those special weeks you remember forever because you just don’t replicate it that easily.  I ran for 187 yards on 7 carries as a Pop Warner half-back. I still talk about that. OK, yeah, Jeremy’s doing it in the NBA. Big diff.   I hope he has a long run and can play at the level he’s shown, but I remember last year in Oakland when he couldn’t get off the bench. 

Still, we can thank Jeremy for reinforcing the point to all of America–there’s a difference between Asian and Asian Americans.

It’s more than a technicality. It’s a point worth stating over and over.

We forgot the distinction in WWII and opened up internment camps—for Americans.

As China shows its economic might, some in this country are trying to blur distinctions again.

Maybe Jeremy Lin will help remind people during this critical time in world history, there are Asians, and then there are Asian Americans.

For more,check out my post on the Asian American Legal Defense Fund blog:

 http://aaldef.org/blog/linsanity-call-it-linphomania.html.

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The Nevada Caucuses aren’t the Super Bowl, Thank God: Who will win the really big game and why

Mitt Romney may have won in Nevada as predicted, but a caucus is not a Super Bowl. It’s not even the AFC wild card game. If you’re a candidate, the best thing you can say after leaving Nevada is, at least Sheldon Adelson still likes me. And if you’re Romney, you’re happy that your Mormon homies thought enough of you to back you. And then you move on to the next state before you say something dumb about poor people.

I’ll refrain today from saying any more, except that Newt Gingrich, who lost in Nevada, was on “Face the Nation” this morning referring to what he called Obama’s attack on Catholics.

What he do? Take away their rosaries?

This is a real B.S. GOP ploy, and I’ll have more on that tomorrow.

But you know it’s B.S.GOP ploy when Bob Schieffer, the FTN moderator doesn’t take the bait. Nor should you.

The GOP sure likes to take up religious wars.

No, the only war that applies this Sunday, even among Catholics (especially those who pray to “Touchdown Jesus”) is on the football field.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. We are now in the middle-aged Super Bowls, where the Roman numerals require translation.  I remember seeing the first one on TV with my buddy Frankie Veracruz over on 18th Street in San Francisco, just down from the Castro. A lot has changed since then.

When your team(s) aren’t in the big game, it just feels like an obligatory thing. Like going to church. So my heart’s not into it, but I’ll genuflect to the NFL just the same.

Here’s my analysis:

I’ve been following the NFL more this year than in the past because I realized I needed a new mid-life addiction: Fantasy Football.

Because of this, I know the Giants well.  If Eli Manning can throw to Victor Cruz regularly, it’s a signal that his game is on and the Pats defense is vulnerable.  If you see Manning throwing more  to Nix and Manningham more, then the game will be much closer.

Cruz is the key to the air attack. When he gets open, Manning marches down the field. As the defense adjusts, then the running game does its thing.  On the ground, it’s all about Bradshaw. When he was hurt in the middle of the season, Jacobs filled the void well, so well that Bradshaw had a hard time getting back into it. If Manning establishes the run with both running backs, the Patriots defense will be struggling to keep up.

I like Brady to Welker for the Pats, and my days around Boston, as well as Brady’s local Bay Area ties to his Catholic high school, make me want to root for the Pats.

But I think the Giants will be too much for the Pats’ D.

Besides, actress Rooney Mara is a granddaughter of the Giants’ owner. Have you seen her in “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”?

MY PREDICTIONS

The score goes 7-0, 7-7,  heavy eating ensues, 14-7, 14-14, halftime, all toilets flush, Madonna has  a career malfunction when at least half the audience wonders why Lady Gaga has tamed her act and is singing all those old songs,  21-14, 21-21, we all eat more bad food, 28-21, 28-28, drink more here,  31-28. … done. NY Giants over the Pats.

The “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” beats “Victoria’s Secret.”

Too bad, 49ers. Coulda shoulda…

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It is now 9-12. Back to the diversions…the NFL, the dying SF Giants, and coming to the aid of a real charity– “Kate plus 8”

Yesterday was appropriately somber.

Let’s see if we can keep up the memory of 9-11 long enough to let the spirit of unity seep into all the things that polarize us and keep us a part…at least politically.

http://aaldef.org/blog/taking-the-leap-the-horror-and-the-love-of-911.html

Yesterday, the diversions came back. Football was an escape—from baseball. My SF Giants won, but they’re on an egg-timer running out of sand.  Attention turns to the gridiron.  Hey what about that Cam Newton? People doubted his smarts. The guy is the real deal.  The 49ers win, but not because of Alex Smith. Ted Ginn Jr., take a bow. The Jets come to life on a Reavis INT. Hey what about that Cam Newton?

The morning news tries to revive American Jobs Act in the news cycle. I think Obama should have added reality TV stars to the list right after teacher layoffs.

Did you see poor Kate Gosselin on “The Today Show”?  Her shows being cancelled tonight and she’s out of a job. Boo-hoo.

Pathetic.  It may as well be a job interview.

The gal had the gall to dis her ex- who said it’s good that the kids could have a normal life. Instead of seconding the thought, Kate rails on about how John wants a “mediocre” life for his kids, and how going back to “normal” is cruel and unusual for the now reality TV addicted Kate and family.

I felt sad for the hapa kids who now have a media mother who has been sucked into the consumer culture big time. Reality is no longer good enough. Only the fake world  satisfies. 

Maybe we can find her a half-way house, a show on local cable. Or maybe a YOUTUBE channel.

The best idea to avoid John’s idea of “mediocre,” is to pimp herself and the kids out to a “mediocre” reality show. Since interracial forays are her thing, maybe she can hook-up with FlavaFlav and his big clock on BET? Or maybe Erik Estrada or George Lopez would like to do something with her on Telemundo. Or maybe she can have celebrity babysitters. The Kardashians? All of them.

But I think it’s sad for the half-Asian kids.

Their lives could use a different kind of Tiger Mom.