No college senior should have the pressure of the entire pan-East Asian diaspora on him, but it’s pretty cool. NPR interview. (RT Steve Lin) If he goes to the NBA he can be our Bill Bradley. (Random and indirect tie in with my research–I’ve heard that he’s being mentored by IV staff at Harvard.)
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For Jews, abundant as fans but uncommon as top players, the visibility of a Shlomo Veingrad serves both reassuring and cathartic roles. Having a Jew to root for — whetherHank Greenberg, Sandy Koufax or the Israeli N.B.A. rookie Omri Casspi — “has a lot to do with our desire to define ourselves as Americans in the most American way, which is sports,” said Jeffrey S. Gurock, a history professor at Yeshiva University and the author of “Judaism’s Encounter With American Sports.” (full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/us/06religion.html?em)
(I often wince at Asian // Jewish comparisons–not all but some–but this one makes sense)
