BLOG FEBRUARY 14, 2012
You may not have read what I wrote yesterday, possibly because I haven’t posted it yet.
It is about mockery. You know everyone is capable of mockery, but that doesn’t make you a Mocker.
No one can completely avoid mockery, but you can (and must) avoid a Mocker.
And by the way, today is Valentines Day, 2012 where the biggest story in sports, and besides the debacle in Greece, the biggest story in the news is “VaLintines Day”, “Linsanity”, Jeremy Lin. He is an NBA basketball player.
His rise to basketball, and international fame is as unlikely as what is pictured above. Don’t stop reading because I mentioned the NBA. The NBA is just like every other group of people. It’s a group of people with distinctly individual stories.
I wrote about mockery yesterday, but I’d like to mention it again today. Let’s not engage in it today, on Valentines Day. I woke up to several lovely Valentines messages today. That’s nice. One wasn’t.
It said, “I have no valentine today… It’s a ‘lame’ holiday, anyway.”
Let’s stop it right there.
You don’t have to love the NBA, any more than you have to love Valentines Day. But don’t call it, “lame”. First of all, that’s not a nice expression. Secondly, your talking about human beings. You don’t have to go out and get the NBA package for your cable TV, but you don’t have to sneer when people mention it, either.
Don’t worry, I’m not going to spend 400 more (or less) words trying to sell you on the NBA. And I don’t have to sell you on Jeremy Lin. Just have a gander at USA Today and you’ll see him. I don’t bet on sports, but I’ll bet on Jeremy Lin (being on the front page). Right now, nobody can beat Jeremy Lin. For generations, parents have wanted their children to attend Harvard, just not for basketball.
What does Harvard have to do with Valentines Day? 
Jeremy Lin went there and played basketball. And Jeremy Lin is the story this Valentines Day, 2012 (except Greece). Nobody goes to the NBA from Harvard, let alone Asian Americans who are under 7’5. You might not even be aware that Harvard had a basketball team. Yes, Jeremy Lin’s rise to fame in the NBA is as unlikely as what Valentines Day is supposed to represent – individuals falling in love.
Think about how unlikely it is for individuals to fall in love.
I don’t love all of the Seinfeld vignettes. But do you remember when Jerry and “Elaine” are talking about how unlikely it is for individuals to get together?
JERRY: 80% of the population is undateable.
ELAINE: How do you explain the other 20%?
JERRY: Alcohol
My wife and I did not drink when we met. So you can’t explain it that way.
And let me tell you, our rise to matrimony is about as unlikely as the Jeremy Lin story; and it’s as impossible as any love.
My wife was born in Orange County. Not the Orange County in the state where Jeremy Lin now plays basketball. It was Orange County, California.
Yours Truly was born in Eastern Canada (same hospital as my good pal, Ryan Gosling).
My wife moved far to the East: Hong Kong
Yours Truly moved West, to Yakima, in the state of Washington.
My wife next moved to Vietnam.
Yours Truly moved all the way to Bellevue (WA).
Yours Truly went on a (singing) tour to The Phillipines, and sang at the school my future wife was attending. Missed her though. My future was presently back in California.
I found my true love for her in Africa. Happy Valentines Day to my True Love of 25 years!
Not even the beloved Jeremy Lin can beat that!
MPower
Wow! What a round about way to say you love your Elizabeth. But… I like it. Wink.