New Era Selling Licensed Linsanity Caps In Manhattan, Buffalo

New Era yesterday “began selling a licensed ‘Linsanity’ New York Knicks cap at its stores in Buffalo and Manhattan,” according to Stephen Watson of the BUFFALO NEWS. New Era said that it is "ordering another batch of stretch-fit caps for the Buffalo store after going through a few dozen caps by midafternoon ... and the company said the caps have sold well on its website, too.” New Era Corporate Communications Manager Dana Marciniak said, "It's nice to have a product you can turn around so fast for the fans and capitalize on these great sports moments." The company “got the idea to make the Lin-themed caps a couple of weeks ago, after noticing the outpouring of attention” Knicks G Jeremy Lin “had generated since breaking into the Knicks' starting lineup.” New Era, a licensed partner of the NBA, “swiftly received permission to produce the caps, which feature ‘Linsanity,’ the Knicks logo and Lin's No. 17.” New Era produced "three versions of the 39Thirty stretch-fit Lin caps," with "slight differences in color and style.” The caps also are “on sale on NBA.com and at Madison Square Garden.” Marciniak said that the company will come out with “59Fifty fitted Lin caps on March 25, and also is producing” women's "Linsanity" T-shirts (BUFFALO NEWS, 2/29).

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH? ESPN.com’s Lynn Hoppes wrote under the header, “Stop The Linsanity Insanity.” Hoppes, who is Asian, wrote, “Please don't automatically assume that every Asian-American is rooting for him to become a star and help the Knicks make the playoffs. And don't automatically assume that every Asian-American is offended by the jokes and comments about Lin.” He continued: “Stop making generalizations about Asian-Americans, that all of us are running outside to play basketball now, or that we're collecting every Lin item we can find” (ESPN.com, 2/27).

NO MORE STREAKING: On Long Island, Neil Best noted Lin “does not appear on the back page of Tuesday's Newsday, ending a 23-day streak in which he was included in some form on the cover of the sports section” (NEWSDAY.com, 2/28).