Lin-Sanity or Insanity…

If you haven’t already heard, there is a new phenom in the sports industry named Jeremy Lin who plays point guard for the New York Knicks. Lin has recently taken the sports world by storm, or shall I say, the sports world has taken him by storm, with a lot of helpful winds from social media. Nicknames such as “Lin-sanity”, “Mr. Lin-credible”, and “Super Lin-tendo”, have grown from the depths of social media and into the platform of the sports industry. In most cases, this story would have been the talk of the town for a week or so, but with social media, there is no telling when or if this story will ever die down.  Every sports channel, talk show, and radio personality brings this story up at least four times per show, which can begin to get overwhelming, at least for those living outside of Taiwan and New York.

            Social media has two faces. The first face is obviously that of having a strong positive influence on how others perceive you and how you want to be recognized, both professionally and socially. The second face has to do with the negativity that can come from a social media presence, either self-inflicted or from an outside source. In Jeremy Lin’s case, too much attention can end up burning out his welcome to the hearts of sports fan within America. Similar to Tim Tebow and the whole Tebowmania movement, outside sources can sometimes overdo it and can cost them more than they help.

            Social media has become a dangerous game of stardom roulette where being too famous can lead to becoming an annoyance to others. This is particularly sad for good guy athletes who do not ask for such attention. Tim Tebow was victim to this attention bug that bit him extremely hard and now has its teeth sunken into Jeremy Lin and the Lin-sanity movement.

 And to make Jeremy’s social bug bite bigger, here are some of Jeremy’s social media outlets.

https://twitter.com/ - !/jlin7

http://www.facebook.com/jeremylin7

Also, Check out these links to learn more about Jeremy Lin and his rise within the sports world:

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP3ba67ee16b1a499a82d5f8cc193da96f.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/opinion/brooks-the-jeremy-lin-problem.html

References      

Rosenburg, M. (Photographer). (2012). Tebow comparisons not fair to jeremy lin; he's much better story read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/michael_rosenberg/02/14/lin.tebow/index.html

From Rags To A Super Bowl...

            It was only a few months ago that the state of the National Football League was in disarray and a cloud of confusion lured over the hearts of fans. But with the breakthrough of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and the first play from scrimmage, this season for NFL fans, players, and owners has been a true rollercoaster without much safety harnesses. And now, we can set our sails on the biggest game of the year, the Super Bowl.  

            Although every Super Bowl has its own drama and theme attached to its build up, this Super Bowl however, has a unique competitive make-up that the past could not have scripted itself. The New England Patriots and the New York Giants will be playing for the title this year and both share a familiar past in recent Super Bowl history. If you can recall in 2008, the New England Patriots were on their way to an undefeated season before they ran into the Giants in the Super Bowl and suffered the most important loss of their incredible season. And unlike most Super Bowl matchups, this rematch has an interesting tale behind it that will leave most fans forgetting about the devastating idea of never having a 2011 NFL season. Seems too good to be true, or perhaps it is an entertainment force of nature that knows how to capture the hearts and minds of its fans.

            The NFL has done something that most companies, organizations, or corporations can ever imagine, and that is to damage their customer’s trust, only to later rebuild their product that was focused on reconnecting with their fans and television sponsors in order to bring forth a better and stronger product. This weeks Super Bowl will give proof to this because the league has brought this year’s Super Bowl to life within the fans and their football experiences. For example, this season alone has brought forth more Super Bowl sweepstakes and prize give-a-ways than the last three years combined. More sponsors have joined the NFL in hopes to ride the momentum train straight to top of the media and sports world. This is no longer a game played by great athletes; instead, this is a dynamic force of entertainment that most people find hard to resist. And come Sunday’s kickoff, this force will reach new levels of sports, media, and entertainment.   

Check out this link below in order to learn more about this years Super Bowl:

http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/44