TERRIBLE Lin pun, right?

I tried for a few minutes and it just wasn’t happening. Sorry.

But look how cute Beyonce and Jay-Z were last night, courtside at the Knicks game, seeing Jeremy Lin in person for the first time. NY lost last night but #17 was the top scorer with 21 pts, 7 rebounds, 9 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers, and, well, perhaps even more attention that the parents of the Blue Ivy Carter, if that’s actually possible.

For Lin, lately, it totally is.

He was, after all, the cold open on Saturday Night Live. Beyonce’s baby-warming party was only the 2nd sketch. A few of you have written to me asking for commentary on the Lin situation, specifically ESPN’s “Chink In The Armour” headline, and Jason Whitlock’s Twitter, and all the other bigotry surrounding Lin’s overnight success.

The ESPN f-ck up was appalling, totally unacceptable. But do you know what’s even more disturbing? What’s more disturbing is the reaction to what went down. Go online and take a few minutes to explore the debate that’s arisen from the controversy. Read the comments. Read how suddenly “those people” are attacking, and then ask yourselves who they are, and whether or not you really don’t know them. This is why The Help accomplishes nothing. We can’t identify with caricature characters like Hilly Holbrook. It’s easy to distance ourselves from the extremes like Hilly Holbrook. But it’s not the Hilly Holbrooks we need to be wary of. The folks at ESPN who allowed that sh-t to go down aren’t walking around in white robes. Racism is often most dangerous in moderation.