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Jackie Robinson gets Called to the Majors
At the time, baseball was the only major sport in the United States. Other sporting leagues existed, but they lacked the type of mass-market audience that baseball had attained. Robinson first signed to the lower team, where most baseball stars begin, and soon after, when Robinson first played in the big leagues for the Brooklyn Dodgers, more than 14,000 black fans filled the stands to watch Jackie and the Dodgers compete against the Braves. Robinson's time in baseball is etched in history. -
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Robinson's impact in baseball
The impact Robinson made on Major League Baseball will be forever remembered. On April 15 each season, every team in the majors celebrates Jackie Robinson Day in honor of when he broke the color barrier in baseball, becoming the first African-American player in the 20th century to take the field in the big leagues. He opened the door for many others and will forever be honored for his contribution to the game. His impact was more than baseball though, he put hope in the hearts of all minorities. -
Miracle on ice US v Russia
Though not as impactful as the Jackie Robinson story, the USA vs Soviet hockey match was one of the greatest hockey matches in US history. Similarly to Robinson's story, the miracle on ice was a great underdog story, where just a bunch of college athletes faced up against the great back-to-back Soviet champions. Three days before the Lake Placid Games began, the Soviets routed the U.S. team 10-3 in an exhibition game at Madison Square Garden in New York City. -
Miracle on ice (Cont)
The young American team was scrappy and lacked the chemistry the Soviets had. Few had high hopes for the seventh-seeded U.S. team entering the Olympic tournament, but the team soon silenced its detractors, making it through the opening round of play undefeated, with four victories and one tie, advancing to the four-team medal round. The first seed Soviets went undefeated as well. On Feb 22, however, the whole Olympic games changed when the US shocked the world, beating them 4-3. -
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Linsanity
On December 11, 2011, what seemed to be a sign and dump to fill the role of injured Iman Shumpert, went on to shock the world. Jeremy Lin was just a regular rotational bench player, but February 4, 2012, marked the start of a historical run that put Lin on the map. After playing just 55 minutes all season, Lin came out of nowhere to log 36 minutes against New Jersey. The Knicks had lost 11 of their previous 13 games, so a change was needed. To everyone's surprise, Lin clocked in 25 points. -
Linsanity cont
30 points after 30 points, everyone was ready for him to fail, but Lin kept producing. To this point, Lin's surge was a nice story. Surely he'd soon slip without Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire in the lineup as support. Contrasting the others who rose into stardom, Lin's 30 plus games seemed to be "poised to end". The NBA wasn't ready for an Asian American star and it was obvious; fellow Star player Carmelo Anthony didn't want to be on the same court as Jeremy. -
Linsanity cont.
Though not a happy ending like Robinson's story, Lin's underdog story gave other Asian Americans hope. As time passes, underdogs are always present, the teams may change, the face may change, but ironically, our society who loves the underdogs are the ones who create them. Often the quiet kid, picked last in pickup basketball, Lin destroyed the narrative for his people and gave legitimate hope. The underdog of all underdogs, Jeremy Lin
