We Speak of Jeremy Lin

He’s been so everywhere, it’s hard to remember the lad has been under the big top for, as I write this, only 15 days. His first NBA game as a starter occurred on February 4, 2012.

How big is he? In 15 days, the Knicks point guard has gone from crashing on his brother’s couch to 446,316 Twitter followers. His Facebook page has 830,905 “like this” check marks. He made the cover of Time magazine (Asian edition) after five games. Also on the cover of Sports Illustrated. Forbes says Jeremy is the world’s fastest-growing athlete brand, zero to $14 million since February 4. The price of New York Knicks tickets have gone up an average of 27 percent, their television ratings are up 66 percent, and the market value of their parent corporation has increased by $139 million.

On February 14, ten days in, Lin and the Knicks traveled to Toronto to play the Raptors. On Wednesday the Raptors played the San Antonio Spurs. The cheapest ticket for that game was $12.50. The cheapest seat for the Raptors/Knicks game was $44. Multiply the difference by every seat in every game the Knicks play.

Let’s clap our hands.

Here’s the definitive Lin backgrounder from the source of all sports news, Fox News Channel’s Studio B with Shephard Smith. Shep is interviewing industry leader Fraser Seitel, a “public relations consultant.”

Seitel is talking about Jeremy Lin: “He’s on the end of the bench, he’s five days from getting cut, the two superstars go down, he gets Lin-serted into the lineup and — bingo — the whole world becomes Lin-toxicated. In six games, he’s virtually Lin-vincible, and in terms of marketing, PR, and merchandising, the appetite is virtually Lin-satiable. He is sitting on a gold mine.”

FEEL THE GOODNESS!

But, the Box seeks a more textured Jeremy Lin story, one not often told. We’ll begin in the back alley of professional writing, a place where imagination, texture, and subtlety are shunned, a place where citizenship is restricted to those who hate the English language. I speak of travel writing, tech writing, self-help writing, and business writing.

Which brings to mind Ashkan Karbasfrooshan (real name), CEO of WatchMojo...“one of the leading producers and providers of professional video content to portals, web publishers, online magazines, blogs, social networks, and video portals. The company boasts a library of nearly 7500 videos on pop culture and infotainment.... Karbasfrooshan is the author of Course to Success: Everything You Need to Succeed Beyond School and The Confessions of Alexander the Great: 33 Lessons in Greatness.”

Follows is the genius of Ashkan Karbasfrooshan. First, he takes an article written by Forbes contributor Eric Jackson, who penned the epic, 10 Lessons Jeremy Lin Can Teach Us Before We Go to Work Monday Morning. That think piece was published on Day 7 of the Jeremy Lin era. Karbasfrooshan feeds on the carcass of Eric Jackson’s seminal work with the wit and wisdom that springs forth from sentences like this one, a sentence akin to the experience of eating cardboard.

Now then, in the Eric Jackson article, the second lesson was, Seize the opportunity when it comes up. This alone is worth the price of the magazine. But, is that sentence perfection? We can go back and forth and never agree upon a definitive answer. It took another Karbasfrooshan inspiration, one that gracefully enhanced and expanded on what seemed, at first glance, to be a perfect sentence, to settle the question. Karbasfrooshan put the snap and crackle in the pop and bang, “Lin pounced on his opportunity like a cold-blooded and calculated assassin.”

Genius.

Here’s another example of what a certain somebody can do with dead sentences. Build on a Strong Foundation. Again, it takes Karbasfrooshan to show the way forward. “He [Lin] was the editor of his school paper. As a high school senior, he captained Palo Alto High School to a 32–1 record, winning the state title.”

YOU DON’T NEED TO KNOW MORE!

How about, All Overnight Successes Are Years in the Making. Never seen it put that way before, have you? Karbasfrooshan expands and enhances, “In fact, while it’s debatable whether leaders are made or born, they don’t appear overnight, so don’t get disappointed if you don’t have a breakthrough moment.”

Karbasfrooshan jewels are sprinkled on our minds like raindrops on rose petals, soft and soothing, nurtured by Earth’s love, “...don’t expect to slack off all of your life and then be handed an opportunity on a silver platter.” “You Can Only Succeed If You’ve Failed.” “No Flash, All Substance.” “Make Your Doubters Pay at Every Level.” “Loyalty Matters.” “Respect the Chain of Command.”

Live long and prosper, Ashkan Karbasfrooshan.