The one-size-fits-all sports phenom

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Some non-sports fans might say a ball is missing in the New York Knicks' basketball team logo.

At the bottom of a strong North Jersey front page in The Record today, Editor Marty Gottlieb falls for a superficial sports story on the Knicks' Chinese-American "sensation," Jeremy Lin.


According to Staff Writer Steve Popper, Lin is "an inspiration for Asian-Americans." Really? Maybe he meant to write "for other Chinese-Americans."


What is Popper popping?


Can you really lump all Asians into the generalization, given well-known tensions between Korean and Japanese residents of North Jersey -- a story the Woodland Park daily has ignored.


And what about Asian Indians? Why is Lin more of an inspiration to Asians than any number of Korean golfers? Isn't Tiger Woods half-Asian?


Finally, would an all-Jewish pro basketball team be called the Knishes?


More on Syria


I don't know how much Gottlieb knows about North Jersey, but his use of a photo of the Syrian uprising on Page 1 is of intense interest to thousands of Syrian-Americans in North Jersey.


But isn't it time for the editors to assign a reporter to interview Syrian-Americans about the slaughter in their country and on which side they stand?


After years of standing by as greedy landlords exploited Passaic city residents, the City Council is getting into the act by proposing to charge 237 disabled residents for once-free parking spaces (A-1). What an outrage.


Change of heart


On the front of head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section, readers have to plow through all the cute writing in the Road Warrior column before Staff Writer John Cichowski reveals a change in his position on pedestrians killed by NJ Transit trains (L-1).


In the past, Cichowski essentially has blamed the victims -- in lockstep with the state mass-transit agency.


But now that he has finally interviewed the father of Nick Sabina, 17, one of three teens killed by trains in separate accidents last October, the reporter says the agency isn't doing enough to improve safety along the tracks.


The only Hackensack news in the section today is a non-story on a motion in a series of lawsuits alleging abuse of power in the Police Department (L-3).


Who got rich?


A story on an 8% drop in the prices of North Jersey homes reminds readers not to hold their collective breath for an investigation of who got rich and who lost their shirts as a result of the housing bubble, which burst in 2008 (L-7).


In Better Living, Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung doesn't explain why she is critiquing another Turkish restaurant or why it took her more than five years to find Hunkar in Carlstadt.


She notes prices are higher than at many Turkish restaurants, but says the "value" is "good if you value atmosphere." However, service is slow. 


Let's hope readers who go there don't try to make off with a tablecloth or the silverware.