When the Knick's lost their bid to win eight games in a row, "Lin Mania" hit a bump in the road that was soon put behind them when Lin and the Knick won their next game, going 8-1 under the leadership of Jeremy Lin. After that loss, ESPN sportscasters musing aloud asked a question that is often asked when discussing teams and athletes, "Is there a chink in Lin's armor".
The phrase, "Chink in one's armor" first appeared in the 1400's and came into casual usage in the 1600's. Do not believe that it was anyone's intention to deliver a racially charged epitaph, yet that is what ESPN has been charged with, one employee has lost his job, one sports announcer is now serving a 30 day suspension. For what? Because people have gotten too sensitive? Should someone lose their job because others want to make an issue where there was none intended. What was the intention...does anyone seriously believe that ESPN staff sat around and said, "What racially charged epitaph can we throw at Lin"? If there was no intention to be racist, should not a simple apology suffice?
Jeremy Lin himself accepted the apology, said himself that he did not believe it was the intent of ESPN or the people involved to be racist in their question. A cursory Google search would show that the term "Chink in ones armor" was and is not a racially charged statement, and has a long history that has nothing to do with one's ethnic heritage. ESPN was correct to apology for not realizing that the comment when applied to Jeremy Lin could be misconstrued, but ESPN was and is wrong in their firing of the employee, is wrong in suspending one of their announcers.
Maybe the time has come where people need to relax a little bit, need to stop looking for slight and attack where none was intended.
Chink In Armor
1) An narrow opening and vunerable area in one's armor that the opponent will usually aim for. This term relies on "chink" in the sense of "a crack or gap," a meaning dating from about 1400 and used figuratively since the mid-1600s.
2) A figurative term for a one's weakness, largest flaw or their prevention of success.
Jeremy Lin himself accepted the apology, said himself that he did not believe it was the intent of ESPN or the people involved to be racist in their question. A cursory Google search would show that the term "Chink in ones armor" was and is not a racially charged statement, and has a long history that has nothing to do with one's ethnic heritage. ESPN was correct to apology for not realizing that the comment when applied to Jeremy Lin could be misconstrued, but ESPN was and is wrong in their firing of the employee, is wrong in suspending one of their announcers.
Maybe the time has come where people need to relax a little bit, need to stop looking for slight and attack where none was intended.
