National Football League

Who owns New York: Tebow or Lin?

Published Mar. 26, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

Peter Schrager

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think a sports editor at one of the New York newspapers was in control of the 2012 sports year. Consider this:

The Giants and Jets played in a “winner goes to the playoffs; loser goes home” game on Christmas Eve. The Giants won, dominated headlines through January, and took home their second Lombardi Trophy in five years on Feb. 5.

Before the parade confetti was even picked up from the Canyon of Heroes, “Linsanity” took hold of the Big Apple. For three weeks, the Knicks’ Jeremy Lin was the most famous guy in all of Manhattan, if not the entire country. But just as interest in the undrafted point guard out of Harvard started to fade from public consciousness, the Jets traded for Tim Tebow.

I’d say the Internet broke with the news of that one last week, but it’d already broken 10 times so far this year.

Though Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are sure to find their ways on to the New York Post’s back page in the coming months, it’s all about Tebow and Lin for now. Tebow’s expected to serve as Mark Sanchez’s backup and run six or more plays out of the Wildcat package each game. And yet the Jets hosted a press conference at their facilities Monday afternoon to announce his arrival.

Tebow or Lin? Lin or Tebow?

How do New York’s two newest sports media obsessions match up against each other? Let’s break it down.

LIN VS. TEBOW

CATEGORY	JEREMY LIN	TIM TEBOW	THE EDGE
National craze nickname	Linsanity	Tebowmania	Lin
Athletic achievements in college	All-Ivy League first team in 2010; beat 17th-ranked Boston College in 2009	Heisman Trophy winner; two-time BCS national champ	Tebow
Coolest offseason story	Played in Las Vegas Summer League in 2010, averaging 9.8 ppg	Was motivational speaker for inmates serving life in prison	Tebow
Oddly personal item being sold on eBay	Signed 7th-grade yearbook	Game-worn pants	Lin
Most unique custom-made T-shirt	Jeremy Lin/Spike Lee Mars Blackmon “Bal-Lin”	"Property of the Meadowlands: No. 15—MESSIAH”	Lin
New digs	Trump Tower	Suburbs in New Jersey	Lin
Previously backed up...	Toney Douglas	Kyle Orton	Tebow
Linked in gossip pages with ...	Kim Kardashian	Katy Perry	Tebow
Teammate he says he’s friendly with	Landry Fields	Mark Sanchez	Lin
Mentioned in a rap song by...	Mega Ran	Rick Ross	Tebow
Magazine cover shoot	Sports Illustrated	GQ	Tebow
Biggest celebrity fan	Spike Lee	Pat Robertson	Lin
Recently slept on...	his brother’s couch in a 600-square-foot NYC apartment	a private plane to Florham Park, N.J.	Lin
Master of...	The high-screen-and-roll	Game-winning comebacks	Tebow
Inked a book deal after...	9 career starts	first NFL season	Lin
Celebrates a big score by...	acting out the reading of a book and bumping chests with Landry Fields	"Tebowing”	Tebow
Emerged on the scene when...	he scored 38 vs. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on national TV	he threw a funky jump-pass against LSU during his freshman year at Florida	Lin
Older brother is...	a dental student at NYU	his personal manager	Lin
Famous alumni from his college	John Adams, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Conan O’Brien	Erin Andrews, Teddy Dupay, Andrew DeClerq, Steve Spurrier	Lin
Has been publicly doubted by...	Everybody	Everybody, including Todd McShay	Tebow
Has made everyone forget about...	Baron Davis	Drew Stanton	Lin
Let go by last team because...	The Rockets needed to make room for Samuel Dalembert’s contract	The Broncos signed the greatest quarterback of all time	Tebow
Team owner is...	a guitar-playing cable television magnate	a green tie-wearing heir to the Johnson & Johnson fortune	Tebow
Purists’ criticism of skills	Can’t defend faster point guards	Can’t throw a football	Tebow
Most borderline offensive New York Post headline thus far	“Amasian!”	“God Him!”	Lin
Facial Hair	None	Early 2000’s Limp Bizkit chin strap beard	Lin

THE FINAL TALLY: JEREMY LIN 14, TIM TEBOW 12

Though Tebow will dominate New York Post and Daily News headlines for the next few weeks, Jeremy Lin still has a slight edge in the battle for the “Somewhat Kinda Maybe King of New York” crown.

In other news, the Super Bowl champion Giants re-signed David Carr, their backup quarterback, on Thursday.

For whatever reason, there was no press conference.