Duff McKagan, Jeremy Lin: Rocker Compares 'Linsanity' to Guns N' Roses' 'Cinderella-Like' Success in the '80s

Posted on Feb 16th 2012 6:00PM by Amy Sciarretto Comments

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Former Guns N' Roses and current Velvet Revolver bassist Duff McKagan is a writer in his spare time, penning columns and items for The Seattle Weekly and Playboy. Today the rocker authored a column for ESPN's website, musing on the "Linsanity'' phenomena that has swept not only New York City and its beloved Knicks of the NBA, but the nation in general. Knicks' point guard Jeremy Lin has burst onto the scene, seemingly out of nowhere, and now everyone is paying attention to this Harvard-grad-turned-basketball-record-breaker.

The Linsanity trajectory sounds a bit like the early days of GN'R, who are about to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, now doesn't it?

In his column, the well-written McKagan draws parallels between 'Linsanity' and GNR's meteoric rise to prominence and how that type of media hype is inescapable. It will affect those caught in the eye of the publicity storm.

McKagan also offers a little "been there, done that" advice to Lin, telling him to enjoy it now, while he can...because he can.

Below is a sample of McKagan's Lin column:

"Since I am not your usual type of writer here at ESPN (read: not a sportswriter by anyone's wildest imagination), it has been my mission to try to equate a sports story here or there to something perhaps that I have experienced. McKagan has seen some @$#*. McKagan is a sports fan like all of y'all. McKagan got himself a column. Period.

I am from a city (Seattle) that has lost its NBA team. Since that loss occurred -- the NBA itself and as a whole -- has been sort of "dead" to me. Oh, I sort of still follow in the most shadowy of terms (Blake Griffin has inspired a certain modicum of fandom); but for the most part, Seattle basketball fans are like the proverbial "man without a country."

But this past week it seems, something now dubbed "Linsanity" has swept us all up into a lather. Yes. Jeremy Lin, that normal guy who could in many ways be you or me (well, if you or I could go to Harvard and play excellent basketball and still be an unnoticed hoops asset on par for the next level), has absolutely and out of nowhere just been crushing it in the past six games for his New York Knicks. He did it again Tuesday night, scoring 27 points and hitting the game-winning 3-pointer with 0.5 left at Toronto. It is fun to watch. It is exciting, and it piques our collective imagination of the underdog. Davey has been stomping on mean ol' Goliath as of late. It has become a daydream story of what "could be" in our own lives."

Read the entire McKagan column at ESPN.com.

Watch 'Linsanity' Hits New York

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