"Lin-sanity." The term is on every sports show, magazine and newspaper in North America (and beyond). If you read today's Vancouver Sun headline: Jeremy Lin-sanity sweeps Vancouver, you could be forgiven for thinking the Knicks were playing a game in Vancouver. But the Grizzlies are long gone and the Phoenix Suns only played that one exhibition game here a couple of years ago. So why is Lin-sanity sweeping the city?

According to the paper, symptoms of this sports-related affliction are particularly evident in the region’s Chinese community. As the sun explains it, the 23-year-old point guard—born to Taiwanese parents—is a “touchstone for basketball-crazy Chinese.” To a sports apparel store in Richmond we go for evidence:

The Jersey City store in Richmond Centre was open to 7 p.m. on Tuesday — or in Lin-sanity terms, for about 30 minutes after New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin drained a three-pointer with half-a-second remaining to lift his team to a dramatic 90-87 win over the Toronto Raptors.

In that time, half-a-dozen Asian customers came in looking for a No. 17 Knicks jersey. The Lin phenomenon has definitely hit the West Coast.

“Oh my goodness,” said Jersey City employee Alberto Hernandez when asked how many had been in looking for a Lin jersey in the 10 days since the first U.S.-born NBA player of ethnic Chinese heritage had become a spectacular overnight success and a cultural supernova.

“I can’t tell you a number, but it’s a lot.” 

Sure, Lin is a Chinese-American, but could there be more to the fandom than the young man's heritage?

It doesn’t hurt that Lin is polite, well-educated and up front about his Christian values. He has talked about becoming a preacher once his playing days are done.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm for this guy,” says Ward Gasque, who conducts English services for the 1,000-member Richmond Chinese Alliance Church. “He seems like a nice guy, a good role model who’s clean-cut, religious. As a role model, he’s the Asian ideal in that he’s smart.

It might be worth noting that basketball fans are not uncommon in Vancouver. As we noted at the top of this blog entry, the city had its own franchise for six seasons. Yes, it eventually left Lotusland. But the Grizzlies never had an exciting athlete, like Lin, that was able to carry the team out of the league’s basement. And of course, one of the NBA’s premier players, Steve Nash, is a B.C. native. Heck, basketball was invented in Canada. Really, it should be no surprise that people of all backgrounds take interest in the sport.

As for the enthusiasm surrounding Lin himself; of course members of the Chinese community are going to be excited and take pride in his performance. But lots of people love an underdog story. Lin is an undrafted player who climbed out of the D-League for a chance to prove himself in the NBA. And in just eight days, he's become the talk of the sports world. Every Jersey City in the country should be ordering number 17 New York Knicks jerseys.

I mean, have you seen the way the Toronto crowd reacted to the man when he scored the winning basket against the Raptors? It's Lin-sane.