Linsanity Versus Tebowmania

Even though Knicks winning streak with Lin has ended, the “linspiring” “linsanity” continues. Every time I turn on ESPN it seems the anchors are either talking about Jeremy Lin or comparing him to Tim Tebow. While both Tebow and Lin have run amuck not only on TV but also in America (and in the case of Lin all over the world), the two phenomena are inherently different.

Mr. Lin said it himself when he was asked about comparing his story to Tebow’s: they are not comparable. Yes, they both play tremendously in the fourth quarter and have led their teams to improbable winning streaks, but you can say the same for Tom Brady or Kobe Bryant.

The first and more obvious difference between the Lin and Tebow sensations is of course the hardest to avoid: race. Tebow is white and part of the dominant racial class, while Lin is not white and therefore not part of the same racial class. Now, this is not the most important difference, and I don’t believe it should be the main one. However, it is a difference that needs to be explored in order to separate the two stories. Lin plays a sport that is dominated by whites and African Americans. Before Lin started a few weeks ago, the only basketball players of Asian descent I could name were Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian. Out of those two players, one (Yao) is retired and the other (Jianlain) just isn’t good. Now, Lin is being portrayed as a superstar, and bringing in fans that the NBA hasn’t seen since Yao Ming was at his peak. While Lin’s race shouldn’t and doesn’t play a large role in his game, I think it is important to note because it does make his story much more different from Tebow’s story.

The difference between Lin and Tebow dates all the way back to high school. Tebow was a highly recruited quarterback that went to a huge football school in Florida. Lin played basketball in California and led his team to a Division II state title his senior year. However, Lin was only guaranteed spots at schools like Brown and Harvard, where he wouldn’t even get an athletic scholarship. Tebow had an illustrious career at Florida, winning national titles and Heisman trophies. Lin had a great career at Harvard, but it was Harvard, and he never went to a NCAA tournament. The Denver Broncos drafted Tebow in the first round of the 2010 draft. Lin went undrafted the same year in the NBA draft.

Tebow was supposed to succeed, well, at least more than Lin. Scouts and players said Tebow was not an NFL quarterback, save for Skip Bayless. However, no one doubted his will to play, his ability to play, or the fact that he was an athlete. Lin, on the other hand, was never supposed to succeed. He was an NBA journeyman until finding his niche with the Knicks. Basically, Tebow had much higher expectations than Lin because of who he was and how he grew up. However, Lin has exceeded any expectations he had, and more.

The final and most important difference is the level of play between these two players. Both have lifted mediocre teams to new heights, but Lin has been way more consistent throughout the entire game and has almost single-handedly led the Knicks to victories. Tebow had help. His defense played very well during that stretch of seven wins and the running game was the best in the league. With Lin, he did everything: he scored, he passed, he made threes, forced turnovers. Also, Lin played well during the entire game. From the moment he was thrown into the game versus the Nets until now, he has played at a very high level, especially in the fourth quarter. Tebow, as we all know, has not played well until the final quarter. He has been a mediocre quarterback with less-than-average statistics in the first three quarters. But when the fourth quarter rolls around, it’s Tebow Time. Essentially, he is the anti-Lebron. Lebron may only give you three quarters if you give him a dollar, but Tebow will give you one quarter that is a super-rare super-old mint condition quarter. Lin will not only give you four quarters for that dollar, all the quarters will be rare state quarters.

Lin fits into the Knicks still of play perfectly: offense, offense, and offense. While the Broncos had to morph their playbook around Tebow, the Knicks can just let Lin do his thing and win. Tebow and Lin have similar stories because they both are winners, and, as Skip Bayless put it, they are ballers. The Lin story is just twenty times better than the Tebow story because Lin was never supposed to succeed but did anyway. The coverage Lin is receiving is comparable to Tebow, but the stories are not.

Another noteworthy issue is the portrayal of the two stars is their coverage in the media. With Tebow, the coverage has been mostly positive, with a few negative opinions from Stephen A. Smith. Tebow is a part of the dominant social class that controls the media and therefore would never be given negative treatment on air.

Lin, however, has also received positive coverage, but there have been instances of “accidentally” racism. An ESPN headline ran for a few hours before being pulled. The headline ran a "Chink in the Armor,” and was seen by many as a racial slur towards his Taiwanese heritage. The employee was subsequently fired by ESPN. Recently, Lin had lunch with the employee, who apologized for his actions.

With the recent trade of Tebow to the New York Jets and the not-so-lintastic play of Lin, the media coverage has spun back towards Tebowmania. So this begs the question: Was Linsanity a concession towards Asian-American minorities in the news? No one can know for sure. But the stories of Tebow and Lin are not over yet, and the question regarding which story will receive more news cannot be answered until another media splash that will captivate audiences.

-Tyler Greenawalt