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发帖数: 9501 | 1 Little beyond faith to connect Tebow and Lin
Gwen Knapp
Thursday, February 16, 2012
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Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks dribbles the ball against the Sacramento
Kings at Madison Square Garden on February 15, 2012 in New York City.
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The connection between Linsanity and Tebowmania is thinner than a strand of
hair. The objects of fascination are both avowed Christians. Their talents
were undervalued, if not dismissed, before the spectacular liftoff of their
pro careers.
Beyond that, equating Jeremy Lin and Tim Tebow is comical. They arrived at
phenomenon status from very different places, and they appear to be headed
in divergent directions. The leading contrasts include:
-- Tebow: Heisman Trophy and two-time national-title winner at Florida;
first-round draft pick despite concerns about his ability to adapt to the
NFL. Lin: no athletic scholarship; went to Harvard; never drafted. Cut by
two NBA teams this season (including the Warriors); was an Erie BayHawk, in
the NBA's D-League, less than a month ago.
-- Hype paved the way for Tebow. Billboards in Colorado, as well as Skip
Bayless from ESPN, campaigned for the evangelical idol to replace Kyle Orton
as the Broncos' quarterback. Hype followed in Lin's wake. Teammates had to
get hurt before he could get off the bench for real playing time.
-- Tebow published an autobiography at 23. No publisher has announced plans
for a Lin book ... yet.
-- Two years ago, Tebow and his mom appeared in a subtly anti-abortion Super
Bowl ad from the religious group Focus on the Family. A prayer position
employed by supplicants for generations has been re-branded as "Tebowing"
because the quarterback does it on the field. Lin eagerly talks about his
faith, and he held Bible study in college. But that did not fuel Linsanity,
which fed off the charm of combining a filleting of ethnic stereotypes, an
Ivy League background and a just-up-from-Erie breakthrough.
-- Tebow is truly flawed technically. He practically winds up like a pitcher
before he throws. Denver adjusted its offense to a more collegiate style
for him, conceding that it does not believe, as yet, that he can perform
like a conventional quarterback. Lin plays like a classic young guard. Teams
will have to scour film to find his shortcomings. As he matures, Lin will
probably correct most of them.
-- Tebow is vulnerable to defenses figuring him out and to serious injuries,
because of how often he runs the ball. His success might be a fluke. Lin's
is not. As Warriors general manager Larry Riley told Marcus Thompson of Bay
Area News Group, while conceding the team's regrets about letting Lin go, "
he will have a long career."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/02/15/SP0S1N845D.DTL#ixzz1mc1o6zXy |
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