My Take On The “Linsanity” Craze and The Comparison to Tim Tebow

Added by Stephen Zimkouski on February 15, 2012.

If you’re like me then you’re tired of hearing comments being made about Jeremy Lin because of race (Jason Whitlock and Floyd Mayweather). And you’re also tired of hearing the comparisons between Tebowmania and Linsanity. First of all I’m appalled at some of the negative racial comments against Jeremy Lin that have been said on the internet in the past week. I thought that we lived in a society where somebody could be talked about for his basketball talents and wonderful story instead of being the subject of racial hate, I guess I was wrong.

Having said that, Lin and Tebow have nothing in common besides being part of the ESPN hype machine. Tebow has been given the benefit of the doubt in his NFL career thus far while Lin has been over looked his entire basketball career. Tebow had a legendary career at the University of Florida winning one Heisman and two National Championships. This success made him a first round pick but he shouldn’t have been a first round pick talent wise. He was given the starting job reluctantly by management because of both the poor play of Kyle Orton and because of his popularity with both the fans and the media.

Yes, Tebow won games by making clutch plays but the Denver Broncos defense and running game were able to keep him in most games, to make those moments happen. Now don’t get me wrong I like Tebow and admire him a lot, but he is just not a quality quarterback at the NFL level.

Tebow is an excellent leader and clutch player which is way to early to tell for Lin, but that’s as far as the similarities between the two go.

Now on the other hand Jeremy Lin is a quality NBA starter who has shown superstar talent in his first few starts. Lin went undrafted and wasn’t recruited much out of high school. He was cut by two teams (the Warriors and Rockets) this season and was riding the end of the Knicks bench before given an opportunity.

Lin is the ultimate underdog that anybody who’s ever faced adversity can relate too and that’s why he has been given all this hype. Race has nothing to due with Lin’s success or opportunity. Let the kid play his game and continue to develop like anybody else. If he continues to amaze along the way like he has so far then let the Linsanity ensue.