I’m not much of a sports fan, and I haven’t followed basketball for quite some time. A few weeks ago, I started hearing about a player for the New York Kicks named Jeremy Lin. Even then, I just heard blurbs, and didn’t read much further. I just didn’t care.

If I had told you that I didn’t notice he was Asian, I’d be lying. As a matter or fact, it was mentioned in a few stories, since there really haven’t been many high-profile Asian players in the NBA.

This week, the Jeremy Lin story took a turn in another direction. Rather than focus on athletic accomplishments, his story has been hijacked by perceived racism and hypocrisy.

This weekend, ESPN Editor Anthony Federico wrote an article with the following headline: “Chink in the Armor: Jeremy Lin’s 9 Turnovers Cost Knicks in Streak-Snapping Loss to Hornets.” After the story was published, ESPN fired Federico and apologized profusely. Federico also apologized, pointing out that he had used the phrase countless times and meant nothing by it. I believe him.

Of course, I believe him because I’m thinking logically. Is the man really going to intentionally use an epithet in an article read by millions, knowing full well he would likely be fired and labeled a racist? I don’t think so. Not surprisingly, there are many illogical people out there. Enter Rep. Judy Chu.

During an interview on MSNBC, Chu stated the following:

“I think that the use of the term is appalling and offensive,” she said on MSNBC. “The ‘c’ word is for Asian Americans like the ‘n’ word is for African Americans.”

In response to Federico’s claim that he used the phrase many times in the past, Chu later added:

“And if he was using it all those times, that is extremely sad. The word was used since the 1880s to demean Chinese Americans and to deprive them of rights, and it is used on playgrounds specifically to humiliate and to offend Asian Americans. So I don’t know where he’s been all this time.”

Judy Chu needs to get a life. If you still doubt it, check out this exchange between her and boxer Floyd Mayweather on Twitter

The congresswoman also called out boxer Floyd Mayweather during the interview, calling him the “heavyweight champion of insensitive remarks” for his tweet last Monday that “Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he’s Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don’t get the same praise.”

On Feb. 15, Chu tweeted: “Jeremy Lin is living the #American story – success built on hard work and perseverance. Too bad he isn’t playing for #LA! #Linsanity @Jlin7.”

Floyd Mayweather is absolutely correct. If Jeremy Lin weren’t Asian, his story would have stayed on the sports pages, and wouldn’t have become a national sensation. Remember when Tiger Woods first became famous? If he were white, he wouldn’t have been nearly as famous. Part of his story and his appeal were that he was different, and was opening doors.

As for Judy Chu, she comes off being more racist then Anthony Federico could ever hope to be. She’s from Los Angeles, but she seems obsessed with a New York Knicks player. Does she only like him because he is Asian? Does she like him better than other players because he’s Asian? These are questions Rep. Chu should ask herself.

By the way, here’s the definition of Chink from Dictionary.com:

1. A crack,cleft, or fissure.
2. A narrow opening.

It seemed like a serious situation, and as I read on, a transcript of the offensive exchange was at the end. Here it is:

Smith: “Look who’s in.”

Lawler: “Hamed Haddadi. Where’s he from?”

Smith: “He’s the first Iranian to play in the NBA.” (Smith pronounced Iranian as “Eye-ranian,” a pronunciation that offended a viewer who complained.)

Lawler: “There aren’t any Iranian players in the NBA,” repeating Smith’s mispronunciation.

Wow. These guys were suspended for one game and forced to apologize not once, but twice for mispronouncing the word “Iranian.” I’m not going to ask if things have gone to far, since that happened a long time ago. The question is how much further will we go? Since when does intentionally mispronouncing the name of a country make you insensitive or a racist? By the way, would they have been suspended if the player were “Eye-talian,” or are people from “those” kinds of countries immune from being offended?