Erie Comes Down with “LinSanity” Fever

The Erie community is passionate about sports. It’s a passion for something they love to watch. It’s a community with sports fever, a community all about “LinSanity.”

Jeremy Lin poster at the Erie Civic Center.

Jeremy Lin played for the Erie Bayhawks, a National Basketball Association Developmental League team, for only one game. The game was an out of town game; so many people in Erie did not see Lin’s performance. His performance made Bayhawks fans go crazy, which is known as LinSanity, for Lin memorabilia. They gave away Lin posters, New York Knicks hats and t-shirts, etc.

Jason Vaughan, Manager of
promotions and client services
for the Erie Bayhawks.

After Lin played one game for Erie, signed with the Knicks, and started making history in the NBA, Jason Vaughan saw this as a perfect way to get people to come to more Bayhawks games. Vaughan, manager of promotions and client services for the Bayhawks said, "We wanted to ctach the wave and get right on top of that stuff, so we did a LinSanity night March 3rd. Basically if your name had any form of 'Lin' in it you got in for free. Like Kaitlin or Colin. If you were a Harvard graduate you got in for free. If you were 17 you got in for free because that was his number. If you sat in section 17 that day, we gave giveaways."

Jeremy Lin's Erie Bayhawks replica
jersey.

To draw more people to the games, Vaughn thought it would be a good idea to sell Lin’s Bayhawks jersey and practice gear on eBay, a website people use to buy and sell items. “It brought in all together close to $20,000, which was ridiculous. I was sitting at home and the jersey expired at 4 p.m. on a Saturday. We didn’t play that day so I was watching the bidding with my wife and kept hitting refresh and it was at $4,000 to start the day. Then with an hour left it was at $7,000,” Vaughn said, “then inside a minute I hit refresh and 45 seconds left it went up to $10,000. Then at 12 seconds left I hit refresh again and it was at $12,500. So I hit refresh again and it was over and it was at $13,800.”

A LinSanity t-shirt.

On their Facebook page, a social network people use to communicate online, Vaughan would post different promotional events and questions. “Once I would tag @JeremyLin and would hit refresh we would have 15 new friends right away,” Vaughan said. Season ticket holder, Melissa Smith said, “We follow Jeremy Lin on Facebook and actually bought a Jeremy Lin t-shirt. I mean I’m not a huge fan of Jeremy Lin, but it’s pretty cool he played for Erie for a game. When we came to ‘LinSanity’ night it was insane. We saw people fighting over different Lin things, it was nuts.”
The community is passionate about sports in the Erie area. When it comes to the Bayhawks, Erie thrives for Lin merchandise. People will go to all costs to get their hands on a piece of the memorabilia. It’s a “LinSanity” fever.

A Childhood Dream Come True

Karen Bukowski's certificate for Harbor
Ridge Golf Course.

For some, passion captures images of relationships. It is a love for something you always wanted to do. For others passion implies an internal drive. For people like Karen Bukowski, passion is everything. It defines her life and her career choice; golf. The 54-year old is a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association and Professional Golf Association.

Bukowski’s passion for golf developed at an early age. “I was kind of a daddy’s girl. And on Saturday mornings my dad would go out for his one round of golf a week and I would be running behind the car going, ‘dad, dad take me with you.’ Back in the day girls didn’t play golf,” Bukowski said.   She says her father didn’t buy into that, he would take her anyway. After going with her father, Bukowski would play golf with the boys in the neighborhood.

Karen Bukowski's business cards.

With many friends insisting she try to become a professional, Bukowski did just that. “I applied to the LPGA, flew out to Phoenix and had to shoot a certain score and if you do you’re in and if you don’t you’re out. I was lucky enough to get in, so I started through that whole process,” Bukowski explained, “now I’m actually a member of the class A member of the LPGA and PGA and I’m certified in instruction for both organizations. So it’s fun.”

Bukowski became an adaptive golf instructor and has worked with many disabled people in her career. Adaptive golf is making any modifications to how the game is learned and played using some form of a modified swing technique, equipment used, and the delivery of instruction. Bukowski’s interest in adaptive golf came from her father. “It was my dad. Seeing how he loved playing the game and because of his age he had to step away from it. I believe golf is universal. You can start at any age and play at any at any age. Just because you acquire a disability, that joy should not be taken away from you. I didn't want anyone to be excluded from the game and I think because those doors were shut for mefor different reasons," Bukowski said, "my dad is now using a walker, he's 90 years old and we havea little jelly beanchip off every year. We put a little net up in the house and we hit the jelly bean into the net. Golf is very inclusive and I'm glad to be apart of that."

Karen Bukowski and Patrick Leighton at the Bayfront

Convention Center event.

Golf is a passion, a passion that captures many images of different relationships. For Bukowski, golf is her passion. For her, passion is everything. It defines her life and her career choice. Bukowski has impacted many people’s lives by teaching them the different skills of golf she has learned. She has made her childhood dream come true. “You’re outside in this beautiful location and you make people happy. You can’t even call it work sometimes,” Bukowski said.