Linsanity: The Jeremy Lin Story

Following the conclusion of the NFL and the end of Tim Tebow's season, America's obsession has shifted to another athlete.

Taiwanese-American, Jeremy Lin, point guard for the New York Knicks, has triggered Linsanity following his rise from being almost cut by the Knicks to star playmaker of a big city team that has struggled to live up with the likes of the Celtics, Heat, Mavericks, Lakers, Bulls, Spurs and heck even the Thunder from Oklahoma City.

Following his fashionably dramatic last second winner against the Toronto Raptors, Jeremy Lin scored more points than the great Shaquille O'Neal in his first five games as a starter. The first Asian-American to play in the NBA is also the first player with at least 20 points and 7 assists in his first four starts, including a career high 38 points and 7 assists against Kobe Bryant's Lakers.

Lin's effect at New York's much famed Madison Square Garden is a bit similar to Tebow's effect on the Denver Broncos. Both were teams which had forgotten what a winning streak felt like. In fact, the Knicks' barren championship run goes back far further than the Broncos' - the Broncos of course won the Super Bowl in 1998 and 1999 with the great John Elway while the Knicks haven't won the NBA championship since 1973, and last won the conference in 1999.

Whether Linsanity can take the Knicks to the next level in this abbreviated NBA season remains to be seen. Just like the 2011 Broncos, the 2011/12 Knicks don't quite have the playoff pedigree or all-round quality needed for a sustained title challenge like the Lakers, Celtics and Heat. Mind you, the Mavs were a Dirk Nowitski one man show last year when they took down the star-studded Heat to win the title - so Knicks fans can still hope that Lin could match the great German's efforts although the lanky kraut had been in the NBA for 10 years when he finally ended his championship drought.

Whatever happens to Linsanity, one thing's for certain: the baton for Christ which Tim Tebow started carrying and leading the race with in October last year is still very much moving forward at a rate of knots courtesy of this very bright (intellectually too given he went to Harvard) basketballer who epitomizes migrant America today.

And that model certainly gives hope to a franchise that has struggled to compete for success with the many other sports franchises in America's largest cities. Perhaps Jeremy Lin could emulate Eli Manning and Derek Jeter one day in bringing the championship parade down Times Square.