February 20th update

ESPN's racist headline dampers incredible NBA weekend

• The Jeremy Lin train finally hit a bit of a bump for reasons both on and off the court. On Friday night the Knicks finally lost under the purview of their superstar rookie, surprisingly to the lowly Charlotte Hornets. While nobody thought the Knicks would never lose again, the Hornets have been downright awful and its possible the Knicks overlooked them as they prepared for the NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday.
• This is when ESPN’s mobile division got into some hot water. The Mobile site of ESPN had the headline “Chink in the armor” with a picture of Lin above it (Chink being a very derogatory term for Asian people). Lin had said that he was called that while playing at Harvard as a way to get under his skin. ESPN has apologized and fired the employee as well as suspending another for 30 days.
• Lin obviously was not adversely affected by the issue, going off for an incredible 28 points, 14 assists and 5 steals in a win Sunday vs. the Mavs. He's the only player ever to put up those totals against a reigning NBA champion.
• In other NBA games, the Oklahoma City's young core had a monstrous game against the Denver Nuggets. Kevin Durant scored a career 51 and Russell Westbrook did his best to keep up, scoring 40. Serge Ibaka only scored 14, but also had 15 rebounds and 11 blocked shots, giving him the first triple double in the Thunder's team history. Durant and Westbrook's 91 combined points were more than 6 teams scored on Sunday, including the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics and L.A. Lakers.
• Rising stars Kevin Love of the Timberwolves and Kyrie Irving of the Cavaliers each made two free throws with less than a half-second remaining to win their respective games by 1 point.
• Speaking of the Lakers, Kobe Bryant scored 32 but was forced into 10 turnovers, 1 off his career worst in an ugly loss to the Phoenix Suns.


American taking the bobsledding world by storm

• Steve Holcomb is not a household name. He doesn’t have a big Nike endorsement, he hasn’t been hit on by Kim Kardashian and he probably wont be visiting the White House anytime soon. That doesn’t mean he’s not one of the most dominant Americans in his sport.
• Two years ago in Vancouver he lead the American 4-man bobsledding team to their first gold medal since 1948. The year before that he lead the American 4-man team to their first gold medal in the Bobsled World Championships.
• This past weekend Holcomb did the unthinkable (you know, in the bobsledding world) and captured the gold medal in the 2-man competition, despite being known more competing with a team twice as large. A strong second day surge pushed Holcomb and his partner Steve Langton past the Canadian team that had been holding the record.
• While we at Sportico realize this is not a Summer Olympic game, as we approach that season we will be doing a full preview, blow-by-blow and recap of this year’s events in London and will be featuring more and more Olympic athletes as we get ready for the 2012 games.


Gary Carter dies

• Former Montreal Expos and New York Mets star catcher Gary Carter passed away late Thursday night from complications from brain cancer. He was 57.
• Carter played 19 seasons and was part of the 1986 “Amazin’” Mets team that defeated the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. His 9th inning single in game 6 sparked one of the most famous comebacks in sports history (aided by a defensive laps by Red Sox 1st baseman Bill Buckner). Carter was known for his infectious smile and his durability. Playing a position that usually wears a player down quickly, Carter was unflappable playing the second most games all-time at the Catcher position.
• Carter later went on to become a baseball coach and mentor. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003.