That time when 'Linsanity' came to Seattle

Sadly, I don't need to remind any of you that we no longer have the NBA in Seattle, but that doesn't mean this city hasn't gotten a taste of the NBA's current phenom, Jeremy Lin. Lin, and you've no doubt heard by now, has taken the sports world by storm of late going from little known backup guard to New York Knicks sensation.

And Lin's story is certainly one worth celebrating. He grew up in the shadow of Stanford University, but couldn't get a scholarship offer, so he ended up playing at Harvard. From there he, predictably, went undrafted, and over the past year-plus bounced around the NBA with hardly anyone noticing. In his first 20 games this season, Lin never scored more than nine points or played more than 20 minutes, 10 seconds. But when the Knicks became desperate thanks to injuries, Lin saw his playing time, stats and stature take off this month. In his past five game, the Knicks are 5-0 and Lin has scored 25, 28, 23, 38 and 20 points while averaging eight assists per game.

So what does this have to do with our NBA-less neck of the woods? Well it was just over two years ago that, with little fanfare that Lin came to Seattle with Harvard to take on Seattle University in a mostly empty KeyArena. I was at that game (full disclosure, I'm a Seattle U alum and season ticket holder) and remember at the time thinking, 'Who is this guy that keeps getting to the basket and scoring points?' I mean, not many of us think of Ivy League schools as producing top-notch basketball talent, so it was odd watching this unknown point guard go off. Lin finished that game eight of nine from the field to score 21 points in a 21-point victory.

Well, at least now, two years later, Seattle U fans can take comfort in knowing that the unknown guard who lit them up on that January night is now doing the same thing to NBA defenses. Heck, these days, holding Lin to 21 points qualifies as a good day.