Jocks and Geeks

Linsational! New York Knicks Point Guard Jeremy Lin has Taken New York and the Rest of the Basketball World by Storm

(Point Guard Jeremy Lin has become a sensation of late and could be the next big NBA star)

First it was Victor Cruz of the New York Giants and now it is Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks. It’s seems as though New York is getting all the young talent these days. The point guard from Harvard University has become a sensation overnight dating back to Feb. 4 when he came off the bench against the New Jersey Nets. He would later make his first career start against the Utah Jazz on Feb. 6. Ever since then the Knicks have won seven straight games in a row and at the moment are 15-15. Before Lin began to become a starter, the Knicks record was 8-15 to start the season.

So, why is Jeremy Lin so important and popular with so many people? Well for starters it is his background story. Lin was a Harvard graduate who began his NBA career undrafted. He was later picked up by his hometown team the Golden State Warriors in 2010. The Asian American (the first American player in the league of Chinese of Taiwanese descent) struggled and was later put on waivers. He bounced around the league from the Houston Rockets to playing in the D-League (minor league basketball). It was not until Dec. 28, 2011 when Lin was picked up by the Knicks that he was playing for a NBA team again.

Lin did not become a star right away and was actually demoted to the D-League in mid-January. Then with an injury to starter Carmelo Anthony and a leave of absence by Amar’e Stoudemire (death in the family), Lin returned to the Knicks line-up. He came off the bench against the Nets and began to showcase his talents to the world. It was actually Carmelo who insisted Coach D’Antoni to give Lin more playing time. It was a good choice as Lin had 25 points, five rebounds and seven assists, all career highs in a 99-92 victory

With this display, a sensation was about to begin as Lin continued to play consisted basketball and leading New York to impressive wins including one against the always favorable Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. Lin also had an amazing win on Valentine’s Day in Toronto when he shot a game-winning three-pointer to break the Raptor’s hearts. During the streak, Lin has scored more points in his first five games as a starter, passing Shaquille O’Neal. The fans of New York and across the country are getting fanatic over him. The Knicks have rushed to sell Lin’s number 17 t-shirts and jerseys as their online store increased 3.000%. The MSG network saw a 70% increase in their ratings during the Knicks games. The fans everywhere have given Lin so many nicknames such as Linsanity, Linderalla, and my personal favorite Super Lintendo.

The reason why Lin has become a sensation is not just because he is the only Ivy Leaguer or that he’s from Asian descent. It is all because he has performed at a high level in a very competitive league. He came from absolutely nowhere, being bounced around the league and was even days away from being cut by the Knicks. Opportunity had open doors for Lin when injuries occurred and he was able to showcase what he had to offer. He is a true underdog and that is why so many people right now adore him. The country, especially the New York Metro area, loves a good underdog story.

Although many people are buying into Lin, others are not. With success story like this also comes controversy. The fame boxer Floyd Mayweather was quoted on Twitter saying that:

“Jeremy Lin is a good player, but all the hype is because he’s Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don’t get the same praise.

Yes, race does play a factor with Lin. He is after all one of the few Asian-Americans to ever play in the NBA, but with that saying you can’t not under estimate a player or person base on race nor over hype him because of it. A black player would get as much praise if he was in Lin’s shoes just base on his clutch shots and bringing a team back to .500. The hype also helps when you are playing in the City of New York where there is a large Asian population. You can interpret the Jeremy Lin craze all you want, but one thing sure this guy is special.

Dear Phillies Fans,

I know how it feels to get eliminated from the post-season by the Cardinals after posting the best regualr season record. If you want, we can talk about this over some coffee.

Yours Truly,
A Heart broken Mets fan who suffered pain after A Game 7 loss in the 2006 NLCS

Dear Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves fans,

I feel your pain and I know exactly what you are going through right now.

Yours Truly,
A Heart Broken Mets fan that went through the 2007 and 2008 collapses

Grad School has kept me down

Greetings again from Jocks and Geeks! I know I haven’t post anything over the last month. That is because I have start Grad School and let me tell you it is a BIG time consume where, unlike undergrade, I can’t afford to procrasinate too much. On top of that, I am working at a deli too, which is tiring. This means I’m not going to be able to post as much game reviews or sports topics as much; more with the game reviews since my PS3 is back home instead in my apartment in Long Branch where I am attending school (Monmouth University). If there are any game reviews posted, it’ll be on emulator games or Retro Reviews. As for sports, the NFL season is full under away, so I’ll talk about that as much as possible considering I try to get my work done as much as possible on Sundays to relax and watch the games. The MLB playoffs is also coming into full swing so I’ll talk about that as well. To also add on, I might create a new Tumblr called “Philadelphia Eagles Tumblr” (Title work in progress) that will follow the Eagles games every Sunday, sort like an update. It will also have a blog too of course! So if you’re an Eagles fan, keep a look out for it. I’m doing this because there is no Eagles Tumblr that I know of. So that’s the update for now. I’ll do my best to have a post here a there.

Game Review: Infamous (PS3)

Thanks to the “Welcome Back” package Sony offer to it’s customers during the aftermath of the hacking, I was able to download this wonderful $29.99 title for free. What can I say about this game besides wonderful and the best game I ever downloaded for free? Well, let me break it down. First, the story line and just like any good game these days, it has to have a good story. The protagonist Cole MacGrath, a bike messenger, one day delivers a package at a random location in Empire City (where the game takes place, which resembles New York City). MacGrath opens up the package which is reveal to be a mysterious device known as the ‘Ray Sphere’. It implodes like a nuclear bomb killing numerous of people, but leaving Cole alive with super hero like electric powers. After the explosion, Empire City is in quarantine after a mysterious plague is causing people to get sick. Added to this, the city is terrorize by a gang known as the Reapers. It is up to you as Cole to save the city (or take over it!) I’ll explain this in a little bit.

I won’t go to deep into the story line since I don’t like giving away any spoliers, but I would add that the ending is mind blowing! Okay, now into the gameplay. The gameplay is a third-person shooter, sort of like Uncharted, but instead of shooting a gun, you shoot lightning bolts from your hands. It also has a bit of a Devil May Cry feel to in a sense that you gain XP to purchase new abilites. The abilites themselves are easy to use and cool to pull off and can create endless amounts of combos which helps gaining extra XP when defeating enemies. You can only gain certain abilites, depending on your actions. This is when the karma factor comes in. Depending on your actions in certain missions, if you choose to do good, gain powers applying only to do good. If you choose to do bad actions, you gain powers applying to do harm.

I love the karma factor in this game because it alters the storyline down the road and cause certain characters to be with you are against you. You can tell your karma just by your meter on the screen. If you do good, the karma meter will be in blue and you can be a hero when it is full. If you do bad, the meter will be in red and can be infamous when it is full. Disappointing, though is that no matter if you finish the game good or bad, it has the same ending (still not spoiling). But, other than that, it still good to see what actions occur when doing good or bad, adding reply value. Speaking of which, this game does a good job of doing this, adding plenty of side missions and things to collect like blast shards which increases your electric bar to keep Cole from draining his powers too fast. You can also collect dead drops which are call from an agent called John who gives interesting background information to the story.

Now, this game is great, but not perfect since it has it’s flaws. Some of these flaws include some glitchy moment in which the Cole gets stuck while climbing. I had also felt from the street to apparently to a virtual bottomless pit. Also, recovery time can be a pain sometimes when you are recovering from multiple bullet wound because it takes so long. Later on, though, I learn you can recover quicker by draining electricity from vents, transformers, etc, which I thought it was only use to fill Cole’s electric meter. So, silly me. There where only a few bosses in this game as well and they were pretty easy, excpet for the last one. There are only three major bosses in this game and the third and final one is the only one with a life bar, which I found odd. The difficulty in this game is fairly easy, which is fine, but I like a challenge. Even hard mode was fairly easy and I didn’t see any difference except that you earn fewer XP for killling an enemy. I was expecting like a really difficult challenge like Crushing Mode in the Uncharted series.

Overall, though, this game is a must get if you are looking for a good action-adventure game with a gritty storyline and of course good game play. It has interesting characters and a bad ass protanganist/anatagonsit depending on which path you choose. I like to be a hero, but sometimes being a dick and infamous can be actually fun. Sucker Punch created an awesome franchise strarting with this title. I enjoyed so much that as soon as I was done with it, I went to purchase the second one, making my summer of gaming the best one yet! Speaking of which, that is the next game I’ll be reviewing, so keep an eye out for it.

Review on Infamous games (coming shortly)

It’s been a while since I post a blog. Sadly, I have been very lazy to write anything. But, I got my flow of writing back (I hope) and I will post my reviews on both Infamous and Infamous 2, games that I have made my boring summer entertaining. That was another reason why I haven’t post anything because these games have kept me busy. But, I’ll post a new review on the first Infamous game then infamous 2 shortly. I’ll talk about the off-season moves in the NFL, but I need to get my geek on and get these game reviews in. Stay tune ;)

Jose Reyes: A Shortstop on a Free Agency Mission?

    Jose Reyes having a Career Year (Picture Courtesy of Yahoo)

It has been a career season so far for New York Mets shortstop and free agent Jose Reyes. He has put up numbers that would rival with the best of baseball and has every one’s attention. The man has just been a beast with the bat and on the bases. So far, Reyes is batting .354 with 54 RBIs and 65 runs as well as 30 stolen bases, which ties his total from last season. What’s more staggering is that he has 15 Triples. 15! And we are just at the half point of the baseball season. Reyes is on pace for the most triples in a season. He is putting up Ty Cobb numbers, which is great company to be in by the way. And there is no surprise that Reyes has been selected onto the All-Star team for his fouth time in his career and second time starting. There is no doubt that Reyes is have a season for the ages. 

The question is, though, just like any free agent on his last year on a contract, is Reyes playing like this just to get a deal with the Mets or another team? It has been seen in recent years with players playing amazingly on their last year on their contracts only to be a disappointment the following season with a new team. A great example of this situation would be current Minnesota Pitcher Carl Pavano. In 2004 with the Marlins, Pavano put up some great numbers posting a 18-8 record, an ERA of 3.00 and had 139 strikeouts. He ends up signing a large contract with the Yankees and in 2005 posted mediocre numbers: Goes 4-6, ERA 4.77 and 56 strikeouts. He has had a mediocre career ever since.

I’m not knocking Reyes because there is no doubt he is having a fantastic season. It just that out of the blue he his playing well. It could be the last year of his contract that has spark him or perhaps, like many players in the career, has reach their prime in which they know the game inside and out. The reason I say this is because as a Mets fan I watch the games every year and have the golden opportunity to see Reyes play every night. In his last few season he has put up average numbers, mostly due to injuries. Last season, he had a .282 batting average with only 30 stolen bases and 54 RBIs. He was also impatient at the plate with a .321 on base percentage and 31 walks as oppose to his 27 walks he has right now.

Realistically, I do not see Jose Reyes coming back with the Mets next season. The Mets would have to give him “Carl Crawford Money” which would be about $140 Million. The Mets, having money issues from the whole Madoff scandal, will have a difficult time giving Reyes that type of contract. I do believe that he will end the season in a Mets uniform and not get trade around the deadline if the Mets stay competitive in the Wild Card race.

Make no mistake about it, Reyes will get a large contract to whoever it may be. I would say, though, whoever signs Reyes should be cautious. Although he is 28 years old right now, speed decreases with age and he might not be able to steal as much bases as he use to. Also, his history with hamstring injuries that has plague him through much of Reyes’s career. There were times in his career as a Met that Reyes would be gone for months on end, hurting the Mets chances of scoring and winning. Right now he has a minor hamstring injury, which is no biggie, but the Mets are being cautious with him right now because they know his history. Reyes is on the verge of becoming one of the best shortstops of all time. It will be a sad as a Met fan that he won’t play his whole career as a Met and would be a miracle if he does re-sign with Mets this off-season. But, where ever he goes, hopefully for Reyes and for MLB he doesn’t become a flop in his new contract.

UPDATE: Reyes lands on the 15-Day Disabled List. Guess that Hamstring Injury wasn’t so minor after all. He should return on July 31st, the day of the trade deadline