When Linsanity Ends, Where Does That Leave Jeremy Lin, Fans, Media & Sanity?

This is certainly not the first story written about Jeremy Lin. It won't be the last, either. Lin sure seems like he can really play the NBA game, going from nearly out of the NBA entirely to leading the league in scoring—and jersey sales—since he entered the Knicks' starting lineup.

Night after night, Lin continues to amaze. It is clear that he isn't going anywhere.

But the fad will dissipate. The spotlight will eventually go away. We are all so caught up in the whirlwind of excitement emanating from New York City that most of us haven't thought of what will happen when it ends.  

This is all just one big case of temporary Linsanity, and it's going to be really weird and sad and, in a way, boring when it's gone.

People have been trying to equate the Lin story to other proverbial rags-to-riches stories in sports, and the more they try, the more unique Lin's story feels. Lin is not Tim Tebow, who was a national champion and Heisman Trophy winner in college. Tebow was never a "rags" story, even if every scout and NFL pundit in the world tried to convince whoever would listen that the kid couldn’t play.

Lin is not George Mason going to the Final Four. Mason had to win four games to get to the Final Four. Lin helped the Knicks win that many games in less than a week and, thanks to the rigorous NBA schedule this season, continues well beyond the small sample size of a Cinderella in the NCAA tournament.

Sure, the media hype surrounding a Cinderella like Mason—or Butler the last few years—is as big as what Lin has faced the last few weeks, but unlike an NCAA tournament team, one loss does not end his season, let alone the buzz that surrounds him.

Many on Twitter have suggested that Lin is most like Kurt Warner, which is ironic given that Warner—an absolute rags-to-riches phenomenon in the NFL—didn't play in the Twitter era. Sure, Warner came onto the scene by storm, but even as the quarterback of an NFL franchise, I'm not sure his immediate impact on the game was a huge as the rabid fanaticism that surrounds #Linsanity (or, if you are a fan of last week's Sports Illustrated cover, #SILinsanity).

While Lin's rise to the top of the sports world is as close to Warner's as any one player in recent memory, Warner became so good—the guy has the numbers to back a serious bid for the Hall of Fame—that comparing him to Lin is heaping way too many expectations on the young point guard.

No, there's another mega-fad that might parallel Lin's meteoric rise: Regis.

Remember the hit game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? How could you forget such a huge phenomenon? Not only did Millionaire shatter prime-time ratings for game shows, but it also reinvigorated Regis Philbin's career to the point where everyone in the country started use his catch phrases and even dress like him.

Shiny silver ties with black shirts? No lifeline in the world could stop us from that look. 

Lin—more specifically the insanity surrounding his NBA breakout fortnight—is our Millionaire, which would make the New York Knicks our own present-day Regis Philbin.

Lin has reinvigorated the Knicks and Madison Square Garden. Spike Lee is wearing Harvard throwbacks. It's cool to go to Knicks games again. The number 17 on a New York tank top is the sports world's black-on-black shirt-and-tie ensemble.

Millionaire was a ratings bonanza for ABC, but eventually the ratings started to dissipate. Oddly enough, unlike countless prime-time game shows that came after it, Millionaire found a good niche. It wasn't just a fad, despite some desperate gimmicks to stay more relevant after most of the audience had moved on.

By and large, the show was a really strong, smart player in the TV game, lasting longer than anyone thought. I believe some version of the show is still on these dozen or so years later.

Yes, I'm playing this analogy out until I can figure out a way to include Meredith Vieira as the next coach of the Knicks. 

Of course, the irony in using this analogy as a premonition for Lin's career is that the player isn't even a millionaire yet. That will come. He's proven that. Linsanity may be temporary, but Lin looks like he will find a good niche in the NBA. Go ahead and phone a friend on that.

The question then becomes, what's next? What's next for the horde of media (myself included) that longs for great stories upon which to pontificate? Who will be the next great story in sports?

That's what makes sports so much fun…we have no worldly idea what's coming next. Nobody saw Linsanity coming, which is why it has been so exciting. 

The anticipation for what's next is almost as fun as what's now. Sports, after all, are insanely awesome.