Lin and Let Die.

I promise to not use any name flips or puns in this blog (ok maybe just a few).  The date was February 4th.  My Knicks were 8-15.....the team that many predicted to make noise this year in the East due to supposedly touting the best front court in the league.  We had just lost by 3 and 2 points to the Bulls and Celtics respectively in the first 2 of our 3 games in 3 nights stretch.  For the first time in my 20 years as a Knicks fan (I was a bulls fan the first 4, until I met MJ, and he was a complete jerk to me, different blog/day) I was ready to check out.  You may be laughing while pointing to the ineptitude that was the 2000s after our trip to the lockout finals.  But those years never hurt nearly as much as this.  Those teams were all bad.  I knew it, my pops (the biggest Knicks I know of) knew it, heck the team knew it.  As much as I tried to trick myself into thinking that Shandon Anderson/Howard Eisley/Keith Van Horn/Glen Rice/Michael Sweetney/Clarence Weatherspoon/Dikembe Mutombo (the AARP version)/Penny Hardaway (the post Lil' Penny Version)/Eddy Curry (the heart attack watch version)/Stevie "Franchise" (the post great but pre this----> http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/684/512845323.jpg/ version)/and Stephon Marbury (the guy who thought he was the best PG in the league only to get torched by J Kidd version) would lead us to the promised land, I always knew it was fools gold. 

I had to start a new paragraph after ending the last one with all those gross memories.  The 2011-12 Knicks were supposed to be different.  We were supposed to be good.  We got a little glimpse into what we could be the second half of last year.  There were a lot of lumps as the team got adjusted to each other....but there were nights where you could at least sit back and say: "man, we aint perfect, but we're building."  After the first round match-up against the Celtics and the heart that the undermanned/overmatched team displayed, I went into the off-season with a feeling I hadn't had in ages: excitement.  Top that off with us adding the recent NBA Champion winning Tyson Chandler??? A defensive center not named Patrick Ewing? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yea so we didn't have a point guard, but that's not a big deal (more on that later), We got a front line that can carry us, easy.  Then the games started.........The Toney Douglas experiment part deux had the same feelings as part one, only worse, cause last year, at least he would hit rim when he missed.  Shump looked good at the point off the bench, so they started throwin him out there with the starters.  Not sure how he went from looking like a ROY candidate to not even getting picked for the Rookie-Sophmore game....but clearly he wasn't it.  Then there was the B-Diddy watch.  If I got a dollar for every time I watched an interview when I heard stuff like: "i'm close" "i'm almost there" "i'm starting to feel like myself".....yea, he started saying that mid December. 

On February 4th, I was done being emotionally invested.  With our cap situation, and the roster clearly not even good enough to hold down the 8th seed, there wasn't much reason for optimism anymore.  I envisioned something like us going on a random run to squeak into the playoffs, and then having to sit through D'Antoni/Amare/and Melo talk about how "we match up well with the Heat," and "we're gonna be a tough out," before getting summarily blown out in 4 straight games (last year, but worse).  We were playing the Nets...and nothing pisses me off more than losing to the Nets, cause....well their bad...and they used to be disrespectful when they went on their Bridesmaid runs to the Finals (bridesmaids cause they never really had a chance to win).  Then all of a sudden this dude Lin gets in the game.  I was actually at the point where I would rather see us lose with this random guy on the court (provides an excuse) than watch Shumpert try to pretend to be a point guard anymore.  Then what happened next......well......you know. 

I was sitting beside my girlfriend Tacyana :) and we were watching something on my computer.  I had the game on mute.  Saw we were losing and started mumbling some crap under my breath.  My dad got home, and as he usually would when the Knicks were on asked me: "Hey fool (fool is not the word he used, but those growing up in a black home...yea, fill in the one word blank) what's happenin' with the Knicks."  One thing about my Dad is when it comes to the Knicks, he is the eternal optimist/pessimist at the same time.  I remember before we traded for Melo he told me "man....trade all these bums for Melo...who in the world is Mozgov?"  One week later he said, "man.....don't get me wrong, Melo is nice...but we aint got no center, all Turiaf does is flop around....Mozgov was comin' around."  So yea, u get it all from my pops.  8-15 or not, he's locked in.  Sound came on and Lin's stat line flashed.....needless to say I was locked in from that point on.  After every Lin drive and score, my dad and I were fist poundin' and borderline chest-bumpin'.  Yea it was a midseason game against the Nets...but the spirit this "random Asian guy" (no offense meant, just trying to be true to the moment) was something that we hadn't seen in a while.  A spirit that Amare' used to play with before we got Melo (different blog).  You could tell he was a guy who knew he was prolly in the midst of his last chance...and anyone who has been in the midst of a last chance could respect what he was doing. 

My dad and I hadn't been this excited/in awe after a Knicks game since Allan Houston fist pumped that stunned-looking front row of Miami Heat fans.  For most of my life, some of the most connected moments I have had with my pops has occurred in front of Knicks/Yankees games.  As for the Yankees, we've obviously had a lot of ups.  But in front of those Knicks games.....talking about how bad we are, and looking forward hopefully to the day that we could be proud of that team again.  I don't know what the rest of this season is going to hold.  But what I do know is this, I'll be locked in, my pops will be locked in, and when the day comes that we finally do get that 'ship we've been so hungry for, we'll be together to savor it together.  So this blog is about J Lin, but in a different way.  The run he's going on is not only infusing life into NY and the country at large, it is, at least in my case, bringing Fathers and Sons back together to take in a Knicks game, and talk about life, and look forward to the day when our constant devotion will all be worth it.  Thank you Jeremy Lin, God bless.