Linsensitive: A Look at the Worst Jeremy Lin Puns

With the recent end to Linsanity, we at The Back Page wanted to say a final adieu to all the puns, merchandise, and slogans out there that were a little, well, linsensative to Jeremy Lin ’10. And how else would we do that other than by rank.

5. We all know that the New York Post likes to think of the most outrageous, punny headlines possible. The question here, though, is is this too far? Judge for yourself. After Lin hit a three-pointer to capture a win over the Toronto Raptors on Feb 14, the NYP decided to go all-in with this headline: “Amasian!”

4. Before all the hype, Lin wasn’t quite as well known. In fact, the “Voice of the Clippers” Ralph Lawler didn’t know him at all in late 2010, accidentally replacing the name “Lin” with “Lee”. On national TV. Ouch.

3. Getting hurt isn’t a funny situation. But, for thousands on the internet, the puns just kept on coming when it was announced that the Harvard alum would miss six weeks due to a torn meniscus. Naturally this involved into a “torn Liniscus,” a “Linjury,” and, of course, a “oh-hopefully-he-won’t-be-walking-with-a Linp.”

2. At our very own Harvard Square Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream franchise decided to make a claim of its own in the Lin craze. Unfortunately, it did this through creating a flavor whose ingredients included bits of fortune cookies and lychee honey, an ill-judged reference to Lin’s heritage. Bad form, Ben & Jerry’s, bad form.

1. The name of ESPN, the self-proclaimed “Worldwide Leader In Sports”, should be synonymous with professionalism, class, and headlines that aren’t incredibly politically incorrect. Clearly no one told that to Anthony Federico, a former ESPN employee who, after a bad night on the court for Lin and the Knicks, decided to post the slur of “Chink in the Armor” as the international headline to the less controversial article.  Federico was fired shortly thereafter.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: April 7

An earlier version of this article said that the writer was Cayla C. Calderwood. In fact, the blog post was written by Juliet Spies-Gans.