Talking Balls: Lintelligent Puns, The Elk's Arrival & Games Galore

What another lincredible week for Jeremy Lin. He’s gone from "novelty to Knicks star" in almost a linstant and now there’s lots of linterest in him on the linternet. His name is also the kind that the media love in their sports stars – it is very easy to bend into very bad puns. Wordplay aside this young man has got game. Just not as much as Yao according to NBA supremo David Stern. There’s lots more coverage of JLin all over the web. There's USA Today’s article on Asian stereotypes in coverage of the Knicks’ guard, another on Lin being happy to smash stereotypes and the news that people are already trying to turn this hype into profit. Hell, it's even got to Beijing Boyce. Anyway, here's Jeremy larking about off the court ...

The CBA Playoff matchups are finalized. Beijing will be taking on Zhejiang. The playoffs start on Wednesday and will continue into March if they go to game five. Here are the home games:

• Feb 24 7.30pm
• Feb 26 7.30pm
• Mar 2 7.30pm

Below is a handy graphic from China Daily that makes very clear that should Beijing beat Zhejiang they’ll play the winner of Shanxi and Shanghai. The graphic then goes some way to confusing everyone by making it look like last year’s champions, Guangdong Southern Tigers, are already in the playoff final. They’re not yet. They probably will be. They usually are.

In the world of football, Nicolas Anelka has been unveiled as a Shanghai player and is now officially the biggest deal in the history of the Chinese game. He’s been photographed everywhere from getting his visa checked at the airport to fulfilling his first promotional obligations for Firefall. The Elk has said that he may be joined by the Drog at Shenhua, meaning that the Drogba-to-Shanghai rumours are now even stronger.

Even if Drogba does come, he won’t be the best African footballer in the CSL. That is Henan’s Christopher Katongo. The Zambian was voted MVP at the Cup of Nations after leading his Zambia team to victory in the final over Drogba’s Ivory Coast.

To bring us back down to earth, Beijing Guoan’s home fixtures for the merry month of March have been confirmed. Here they are:

• Mar 10/11 vs. Guangzhou R&F
• Mar 16 vs. Shanghai Shenhua
• Mar 20 vs. Brisbane Roar
• Mar 30 vs. Tianjin TEDA

One last thing on Guoan, and it might seem obvious to point this out, is that they really don't get on well with Shanghai fans. Wild East Football have this piece, 18 Years of Loathing, on what Danny Dyer might call a "proper naughty little derby."

And finally, Sina Weibo proved that Valentine's Day makes the internet do stupid things too. They had a page solely for CSL players to share their messages of love with the fans. In most other countries clubs spend a great deal of time trying to stop their players doing exactly that.

Photos: China Daily