Are media overhyping Lin?

Is it possible to be a victim of too much media coverage? Ask New York Knicks rookie phenom Jeremy Lin–he’ll say Absolutely.

Over the past month, “Lin-Sanity” has swept the nation, mainly through ESPN’s most-watched program SportsCenter. Deadspin.com reported that any form of “Lin” or even “Super-Lin-Tendo” was dropped around 350 times last week, topping LeBron James, Tiger Woods, and even All-Star teammate Carmelo Anthony.

In particular, the media avalanche increased after the Sunday New York Times

story of the Chinese-American’s success.  While it’s nice to see sports writers focus on basketball players other Bryant or James, the appearance is that many locker room journalists simply are regurgitating what they read in journalism’s Gray Lady.

Michael Piff of ChicagoNow.com writes that the media has blown Lin’s story out of proportion.  By continuing to provide Lin with extensive coverage proves that the major media outlets are merely trying to build hype and create advertising opportunities.  In turn, SportsCenter and other major media outlets will continue to lose credibility as long as they keep clogging their coverage with Jeremy Lin.

Jeremy Lin came up through the ranks after going undrafted out of Harvard and starring in the NBA Developmental League before joining an NBA team.  Lin was cut by two different teams before being picked up by the injury-ridden New York Knicks.  Nobody expected Lin to have this type of success, hence the reason major media outlets are marketing and advertising Lin so aggressively.