Jeremy Lin vs. Victor Cruz

For the past week all anyone has spoken about is Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks. Jeremy, for those of you that don’t know, is a point guard from Harvard University who was drafted in the second round of the NBA draft. Lin is of Taiwanese descent, and has an economics degree.  Being picked in the second round of the NBA draft is the equivalent of being undrafted in the NFL.  Lin bounced around a few teams and never really showed much, and even spent some time in the D league, which is the triple A of Basketball.

Lin has taken the sports world by storm by becoming the starting point guard of the New York Knicks and turning the teams fortunes around.  They have now won 6 straight games with Jeremy Lin in the starting line up.  He has been the undisputed star of every one of those games, and is now the the center of attention of a star driven league.

Victor Cruz, of course, was an undrafted free agent out of Umass.  He made his mark in the pre-season for the New York Giants, and when injuries forced him into the starting lineup he made the most of the opportunity.  Victor Cruz was the talk of the league for most of the second half of the NFL season and helped the Giants win Super Bow 46.

Now Lin and Cruz are alike in a few ways.  They are both from minority descent, they were both undrafted out of college, they both made the most of their opportunity when it presented itself, and they are both very nice young men that know that the Team comes first.  Of course, Lin has a long way to go to be part of a Championship team, but he certainly has the attitude and the drive to make himself a success in the NBA.  Two great stories. Two great kids. Two underpaid athletes. Two New York Underdogs for the fans to root for, and we all know how New York loves an Underdog.