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ESPN is at it again! A brand sports “hero” has arisen and once again they are giving it too much thought.
A few days after Knicks guard Jeremy Lin took the NBA by storm ESPN began comparing him to Tim Tebow. How DARE you, ESPN! I have a couple of problems with this…
Tim Tebow was EXPECTED to do what he did! Are you seriously trying to tell me, ESPN, that you had NO idea that Tim Tebow was capable of playing like a top notch running quarterback? Hello! Did you forget about what he accomplished at the University of Florida? Tim Tebow was a FIRST ROUND draft pick! You don’t just pick a scrub in the first round of the NFL draft. How can you be so surprised when a STARTING quarterback begins winning football games? Is that not what he gets paid millions of dollars a year to do? Is it the fact the he is religious that attracted you to him? I think so! I can almost GAURUNTEE that every single player in the NFL prays before taking the field. What makes him so special?
Let’s turn to Jeremy Lin. Jeremy Lin was an undrafted player from Harvard. He absolutely came out of left field. Before he became the Knicks next super star, he slept on his brothers couch in Manhattan. Nobody had ever heard of him. The Knicks signed simply because they needed another guard. Do you honestly think that the Knicks organization thought that Lin would explode like he has? They certainly did not.
Why can’t we just appreciate everything that Lin has fought through? He went from sleeping on his brothers couch and coming close to giving up his dream of playing in the NBA to a super star in no time flat! What was your adversity Tebow? Oh that’s right! “They said I couldn’t do it.” What do you think Lin heard? “You’ll probably be better than Michael Jordan”? I’m thinking no, Timmy.
The mere thought that ESPN can compare Jeremy Lin to Tim Tebow is sickening and down right disrespectful. Rarely do we get to witness a player at the professional level do what he did. He got his opportunity and made the most of it. Nobody expected him to be that good (if you did…you’re lying). He is humbling doing what he does best…play basketball.
This is no Tim Tebow story, ESPN. The Jeremy Lin story is real. Tim Tebow was expected to play up to the level that he did. I will even venture to say that Tebow was nearly a BUST (that’s right! I said it!). Jeremy Lin was not even a thought when this NBA season got started. Did you see and number 17s at Madison Square Garden when the season got started? No. Did you even see them in the shops?! No! What about number 15s in Denver? You betcha! They were everywhere well before he even got his first start.
My point is, we are witnessing something that we may only get to see once in our lifetime. Why does ESPN have to blow it up and compare him to somebody else? Can we please just sit back and enjoy this for once, ESPN? We have a legitimate Linderella…I mean…Cinderella story in sports for once. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.
By Brian Skinnell