Kristi Yamaguchi makes the grade as part of the "Class of 2006" Olympic Hall of Fame

Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi has been inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame as part of the "Class of 2006".

Yamaguchi scored Olympic gold in ladies singles at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games. Winner of back-to-back world titles (1991, 1992), the four-time U.S. World Team member was one of the first American women to compete in both pairs and ladies singles. At the 1988 World Junior Championships, she won the ladies' title as well as earning the pairs gold medal with partner Rudy Galindo.

Married to Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Bret Hedican and mother of a 2 year-old girl, this gold medal winning figure skater is also an active humanitarian. She has discovered innovative ways of providing funding for a diverse range of programs to inspire and embrace the hopes and dreams of children and adolescents through her Always Dream Foundation.

Other "Class of 2006" inductees, include sprinters Evelyn Ashford and Bob Hayes, swimmer Rowdy Gaines, gymnast Shannon Miller; Paralympian Diana Golden-Brosnihan; hockey coach Herb Brooks; veteran Jack Shea, the 1984 men's gymnastic team and special contributor Dick Ebersol.

Yamaguchi and the rest of the Olympic Hall class of 2006 will be inducted Dec. 8 at the Harris Theater in Millennium Park during the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, presented by Allstate, Induction Ceremony, in Chicago, Ill.

A nationally-televised special will air early in 2006 to...

Update:

February 27, 2012

Two award-winning writers weigh in on the Jeremy Lin story. 

Author and former Wall Street Journal writer William Wong reports on what Jeremy Lin may have had to do to get his 'game on' and how that confirms a few stereotypes, in his fifth "Linsanity" column.

Wong writes, "In at least two articles, sportswriters in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York have given us a fuller picture of how Lin — with the help of coaches and trainers — transformed himself from a skinny kid with an awkward jump shot into one of the most exciting point guards in the NBA, after graduating in 2010 as a star player at Harvard (definitely NOT an NBA “farm team” the way lesser universities are), but ignored in the NBA draft and getting cut by two other NBA teams."

"The essence of these stories is that Lin has worked extremely hard over the past 18 months to improve his game — gaining weight and bulk, refining his jump shot, learning the fine points of point-guard play. In doing so, Jeremy Lin, instead of smashing stereotypes, is confirming a few stereotypes of Chinese Americans/Asian Americans — of being diligent hard workers, and smart."

William Wong's full article at SFGate.com

AsianConnections' columnist, author, and former senior editor of Rolling Stone magazine Ben Fong-Torres says Jeremy Lin's success is a dream come true - his dream, as well as the dream of countless other Asian American kids.

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February 23, 2012:

Update

February 29, 2012

The blogosphere an social media erupted again - This time over a conversation about race and Jeremy Lin between ESPN.com's Lynn Hoppes, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless.

Just take a look at the running comments about ESPN's commentary on the video replay page online at http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7624785

The conversation was titled by ESPN "Has Society Become Oversensitive with Race?"

Update:

March 1, 2012

Jeremy Lin inspires a nation. Writer Dave Zirin delves under the headlines to better understand why Linsanity means so much more than basketball to many Asian Americans. 

His full article is here at Nation Magazine.
 

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February 29, 2012

Radio host, Sam "The Shaolin B-Boy" says his family has a strong case of Linsanity so he brought them together to talk about the causes of going Linsane at KPFA-FM radio.

Click here to Sam's podcast conversation with his cousin Brian Weller, a student at UC San Diego who was a high school basketball point guard, and his father, noted author and journalist William Wong.

Related:

February 27, 2012

Two award-winning writers weigh in on the Jeremy Lin story. 

Author and former Wall Street Journal writer William Wong reports on what Jeremy Lin may have had to do to get his 'game on' and how that confirms a few stereotypes, in his fifth "Linsanity" column.

Wong writes, "In at least two articles, sportswriters in the San Francisco Bay Area and New York have given us a fuller picture of how Lin — with the help of coaches and trainers — transformed himself from a skinny kid with an awkward jump shot into one of the most exciting point guards in the NBA, after graduating in 2010 as a star player at Harvard (definitely NOT an NBA “farm team” the way lesser universities are), but ignored in the NBA draft and getting cut by two other NBA teams."

"The essence of...

October 4, 2013

As "Linsanity" the documentary about Jeremy Lin hits theaters this weekend (go see it!),

here's a think piece with a headline that grabbed my attention about a question that Frank H. Wu has been pondering.

Wu is a Huffington Post blogger, and Chancellor & Dean of UC Hastings College of Law. He is also the author of Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White. Click here to his blog.