Tebow or Lin?

It is amazing the reception that Jeremy Lin has gotten. So much so that I think I need another blog about him. That is two in a row on Lin, which is something that I did not do for Tim Tebow. In fact the comparison of Lin to Tebow is quite interesting.
Both Lin and Tebow were almost overnight media sensations. It is probably fair to say that both got more coverage than they deserved. But both are helping a team to win that was not winning before they took over their starting positions. And both are evangelical Christians. These are the similarities between the two athletes.
But there is a critical observable difference. Tebow came with a great deal of controversy. It is fair to say that at times it seems that as many people hated Tebow as loved him. His detractors were legion and it was not just because of his football skills, or lack thereof. Some commentators and football players took shots at his faith as well. There has been some controversy generated by Lin but it has not been widely supported. For example, everybody condemned the controversy over the “Armor” comment featured on ESPN. Nobody defended it and an editor was fired over it. When Saturday Night Live decided to mock Tebow with a skit in which a fake Jesus criticizes him, there was not an equivalent outburst and no one was fired. Furthermore, Tebow has inspired t-shirts and a facebook page dedicated to hating him. There is no doubt that Tebow has produced more antipathy than Lin and it is not even close.
Why this difference? I have a theory. In a divided country we look for clues that indicate whether it is allowable to support a certain person. Tebow, as Lin, is an open evangelical Christian. That signals to religious, and even political, conservatives that Tebow is someone that can be supported. But there is nothing about Tebow for progressives to support unless they are a fan of the Florida Gators or Denver Broncos. So such progressives feel free to hate him.
Lin is also an evangelical. But he is also an Asian-American breaking into a field where Asians and Asian-Americans are relatively rare. This has the imagery of a racial minority conquering new territory and this image is welcoming to political progressives. So in addition to his obvious appeal to Asian-American fans that image also provides a cue for progressives to accept him as well.
I like Lin. I am quite happy for his success. He is fun to watch and I tend to root for him, as long as he is not playing my Spurs. But I have to wonder if he would be getting so much love if he was just another white or black ballplayer. I would wonder if his faith would create the level of controversy that we saw with Tebow. I am not blaming progressives here. I do not think that conservatives would support Tebow and Lin to the extent that they do if they were not evangelical Christians. But we live in a culturally divided society and the different fate of Tebow and Lin illustrates this.
Sincerely,
Trouble-Maker