理性看待"林來瘋":林書豪只是中國人借來的英雄

Chinese sports fans had been looking for a new hero to call their own. Their top football league was upended in the past two years by a vast match-fixing scandal (39 players, referees, owners and officials were recently sentenced to jail for their part in it). Chinese basketball had seen no heir to Yao Ming as international standard-bearer. Then along came Jeremy Lin, a Taiwanese-American phenomenon who has been the story of the season in the National Basketball Association (NBA). American basketball is hugely popular in China, as are successful foreigners of Chinese origin. Mr Lin ticked both boxes, as he set about amassing an awful lot of points on the court. On February 20th Chinese time, Mr Lin's team, the New York Knicks, played a game against reigning NBA champions, the Dallas Mavericks. The game appeared to pitch two very different players against each other: Mr Lin against the once-hyped, Chinese-born-and-trained Yi Jianlian of the Mavericks. Mr Yi, it had been hoped, would succeed Mr Yao as a Chinese star in the NBA.

中國的體育愛好者一直希望能夠擁有一個自己的體育英雄。過去兩年，中國足壇黑幕被揭開（39名隊員、裁判、俱樂部老闆和官員入獄）；中國的籃球運動員也沒有一個能夠接替姚明成爲新的代表國際水準的球員。不過，林書豪出現了，這位臺灣裔的美籍運動員已經成爲了美國籃球協會（NBA）新星。美國籃球在中國很受歡迎，同樣，華裔的外籍運動員在中國也備受喜愛，林書豪正是一個完美人選，他在球場上成績優秀。北京時間2月20日，林書豪所在的紐約尼克斯隊對陣NBA王牌籃球隊小牛隊。在這場比賽中，兩名球員成爲了對手：林書豪對陣小牛隊的中國球員易建聯，後者一直被中國人寄予厚望，希望他能接替姚明的位置。

Mr Lin's popularity in China exposes a number of curiosities about the country's attitude to sport. Most obvious is that he is an American who is proud of his family's roots in Taiwan, an island that China claims—and a fact that complicates China's efforts to claim Mr Lin (and they have tried). But there are three other reasons Mr Lin's stardom could fluster the authorities. First, he is openly Christian, and the Communist Party is wary of the deeply religious. Second, he is not a big centre or forward, the varietals which are the chief mainland Chinese export to the NBA, including the Mavericks' Mr Yi (who stands at 7ft, or 2.13m tall). And third, in a sporting sense he emerged from relative obscurity, having been educated not in a hothouse American sports college but at Harvard, a prestigious but somewhat less sporty American university.

林書豪的經歷是中國官方體育系統永遠無法複製的。如果在中國，他很可能因爲身高不夠而不能夠進入官方體育訓練（林書豪身高1.91米）。林書豪的父母個子都不高，這會讓評委們對林的身高潛力不看好。中國的體育系統看重身體指標，而不是更看重控球后衛（林書豪即是此角色）的反應能力和戰術水平。

Mr Lin is everything that China's state sports system seems unable to produce. As a young boy, he might even have been denied entry into China's sports machine because of his modest height (he now stands at 6ft 3ins). One look at his parents, each of unremarkable stature, might have made evaluators sceptical. The Chinese machine excels at identifying and churning out physical specimens, rather than point guards (Mr Lin's position), who must be quick-witted, tactical maestros.

林書豪在中國的大熱引發了我們就中方對體育事業持何觀點的好奇。明顯的一點是，林書豪是一個美國人，並且爲自己的臺灣籍貫感到驕傲。大陸與臺灣的明暗關係讓中方很難將林書豪納入本國陣營（中方的確嘗試過這樣做）。面對林書豪的崛起，中方還有一個顧慮。首先，他是一個公開的基督教徒，而共產黨是對宗教徒有所警覺的。第二，他與小牛隊的易建聯（身高2.13米）不一樣，不是中國向NBA輸出的球員。第三，就體育層面來說，林書豪的背景一般，他不是在體育表現不錯的大學讀書的，而是在哈佛大學，而哈佛在美國大學中體育運動的表現一直不怎麼樣。

Indeed, Mr Lin's parents might never have allowed him anywhere near the system. To put a child (usually an only child) into the Chinese sports system is to surrender his upbringing and education to a bureaucracy that demands sporting success at any cost. If a child were to be injured or fail to make the grade as an athlete, he would for nothing have been separated from his parents for lengthy stretches—and given up his chance at an all-round education, to boot. Although poorer parents from rural areas may welcome the chance for their child to attend a sports school, with the chance of upward mobility, most middle-class Chinese parents prefer to see their children focus on schooling and exams. So China almost certainly has its own Jeremy Lin, but there is no path for him to follow.

事實上，林書豪的父母也許永遠不會讓他參加官方的體育訓練。讓孩子（通常是獨子）進入國家體育系統意味着將孩子的培養和教育全部交給政府，這個政府將獲勝當作唯一的目標。如果孩子在訓練期間受傷或者表現不理想，他所付出的代價（例如放棄受教育的機會、與長期父母分開參加訓練等等）將得不到任何回報。雖然在農村的家境不好的地區，父母願意利用這次機會把自己的孩子送入體校，因爲這樣有利於提高他們的社會地位。中國中等收入的家庭寧願希望他們的孩子專注在學業和考試方面。中國也許有自己的林書豪，只不過他在當前制度下無法像林書豪那樣成長。

China Central Television (CCTV), the national monopoly that usually broadcasts NBA games, has not joined in the "Linsanity", as American commentators have called the fever surrounding Mr Lin. CCTV told NetEase, a Chinese internet portal, that most Knicks games could not be shown owing to the time difference. But if the timing allows, it said, the games "will definitely be broadcast preferentially." It remains to be seen if that will happen.

中國中央電視臺（CCTV）是中國的國有電視臺，並經常播出NBA的比賽，但是這次他並沒有加入到“林來瘋”的行列。“林來瘋”是美國評論者給“林書豪熱”定的名字。央視告訴中國門戶網站網易：由於時差關係，大多數尼克斯的比賽都沒能在中國轉播。但是如果時間允許的話，央視表示“一定會選擇性地播出。”至於是否會播出，還要靠時間來證明。

Fortunately for Chinese sports fans, the internet provides a ready-made alternative to the state television system. Most of Mr Lin's games are being made available by live stream on the portal . The game against Mr Yi's Mavericks was an exception, a mysterious black hole on 's NBA schedule. Frustrated Chinese fans had to go looking for dodgier streams elsewhere online. What they found was a closely fought game between the two teams, with Mr Lin again starring and leading the Knicks to victory 104-97. More poignantly, they saw their countryman, Mr Yi, remaining on the bench for the entire game, reduced to the role of spectator. As a glimpse of the Chinese sports system versus American soft power, it was perhaps deemed not fit for viewing.

中國球迷是幸運的，因特網成爲了電視頻道之外的首選。很多林書豪的比賽都在新浪網上直播。不過林書豪對戰易建聯所屬的小牛隊的比賽並沒有顯示在新浪網的賽程表上。沮喪的中國粉絲們只好通過其他並不穩定的在線直播觀看比賽。球迷們發現林書豪再次閃耀賽場，尼克斯以104-97的比分贏得小牛隊。與林書豪形成對比的是，易建聯在整場比賽中都沒能上場，淪爲一個觀戰者。兩個人的處境顯示了中國體育系統與美國軟實力的差距，對於中國當局來說，的確還是不看得好。