Linsanity!

Anybody who has been on the internet during the past two weeks has probably been bombarded by articles upon articles about the athlete who overcame all the odds to rise to the top of his game. Well, you can thank Jeremy Lin for that, as his performance in the past seven New York Knicks basketball games has inspired a legion of supporters worldwide, in a phenomenon that can only be described as Linsanity.

But why has Jeremy Lin suddenly taken the world by storm, while other basketball players who perform similarly (Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, etc.) aren't making as large waves? Well, the answer lies in the pathos of Lin's story.

The underdog story is one of the most loved sports storylines. However, many of these seem like movie fiction, only possible through the mastery of writers. Lin is the real life personification of one of these movies. Lightly regarded in high school, Lin was not recruited by any major NCAA basketball programs. Eventually he landed at Harvard, who is not known for their basketball program. After a stellar career at the University, Lin moved on to the NBA.

However, when the NBA draft ended, Lin still did not have a team. In fact, Lin hadn't had a steady contract for the past two years, being shipped from team to team, being given no chance. Earlier this year, he was cut by two teams before landing with the Knicks. Even then, he saw little playing time, and was to be relegated to the D League (minor league basketball) to further develop his skills.

But then, a string of injuries forced Lin into a starting role, where he suddenly excelled, scoring more than 20 points in each of his first six games. Suddenly, the young man who lived on his brother's couch, was an NBA superstar. Now, Lin has a guaranteed contract, a starting position for the Knicks, an apartment in Trump Towers, and international fame.

This story is the type of feel good story of perseverance that people love to hear about. It makes them happy and feel that anything is possible if they work hard enough. Media outlets realize that fans are attracted to the Pathos of the story and know that if they keep printing stories about Lin, readers will keep focusing on the stories, as it makes them feel good.

If Jeremy Lin was a highly recruited star who played at the best basketball school and was drafted first in the NBA draft, nobody would care. That storyline is expected, and doesn't have the emotional edge that Lin's story does. It's not Lin that people like, it's the Pathos he presents that people are attracted to. The same thing happened to Tom Brady at first too. But if Lin is as good as advertised, Linsanity will soon die out as fans will look for the next emotionally attaching story.