Jeremy Lin's Fame Goes Beyond the Basketball Court and into the Food Court

Jeremy Lin’s Fame Goes Beyond the Basketball Court and into the Food Court

If you don’t know who Jeremy Lin is you must be living under a rock. On Shabbat, the Rabbi (at my shul) referenced him in the Dvar Torah and Saturday Night Live’s opening sketch was all about the New York Knicks new super star basket ball player. Now, I find out his name is being used to name sandwiches and drinks.

Jeremy Lin graduated Harvard in 2010 and after being dumped by two teams, Golden State and Houston, was picked up by New York in December. In the last two weeks he went from bench-warmer to super star and from sleeping on his brother’s couch to living in his own Trump Tower apartment with his $800,000 contract with the Knicks.

He also happens to have a “Lintastic” name to play with and restaurants and bars all around Madison Square Garden are having some fun. They are honoring the Taiwanese-American player with items like Lin-burgers and “Lings” — Asian-spiced chicken wings. Several bars have concocted “Lintinis,” while the Shake Shack chain is offering a “Jeremy Lin-Mint,” a chocolate and mint cookie milkshake.

Arctica Bar and Grill in the Murray Hill neighborhood colors their “Lintini” blue and orange — Knicks colors — with a dash of blue Curacao and an orange garnish. Ditto for their Lin and Tonic. Feile, a restaurant near Madison Square Garden, concocts a Lintini with Absolut Wild Tea Vodka. At the outskirts of Greenwich Village, Snap Sports Bar hosts an hour-long open bar — read free drinks — after every Knicks win.

Lin’s sucess is good news for Yanjing, a Taiwanese beer. the number of New York bars serving Yanjing has more than doubled to 340, says Mike Burmil, general sales manager at SKI Beer, the lager’s area distributor.

So what happens when all this dies down, when Lin cools off, or maybe even gets less game time once injured players begin returning? Will the Lintinis go away? Will beer sales shrink?

Maybe, but let’s all enjoy it while we can. What Lin creations can you come up with?

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