BOSTON -- Across the river from Harvard, where this freight train first took off, a young man sips on a pint of beer, watching Jeremy Lin on a flatscreen from a barstool. It is Greg Maneikis' 23rd birthday and tonight -- well, all weekend -- he'll celebrate, temporarily prolonging the annoying question of what he's going to do with the rest of his life. He recently graduated from Boston College, recently got laid off from a job at a restaurant, and substitute teaches at his old high school to pay the bills.

About the only consistent thing in Maneikis' life right now is basketball. He plays at least three times a week, and lately, when he's driving to the hoop, people in the gym have taken to calling him Jeremy Lin.

Click here to read the rest of Elizabeth Merrill's column.