New York. The city with the bright lights, the big market, and the center of attention. It is probably every person's dream to succeed and conquer the Big Apple. New York, the city of dreams, a place wherein you can make every fantasy a reality or a place where greed, power, and money takes over? Oh the dilemma.
Sports is at the center of the Big Apple. Arguably the most passionate fans, they have a wide variety of professional teams to rout for. The Yankees used to headline sports page with their fantastic play, major signings, or October collapses but suddenly the Knicks made waves through a bandwagon called, Linsanity.
The rise of Linsanity has been well documented. People riding on the popularity of a Harvard graduate who seemed to flourish under the bright lights and the huge expectations. When your in New York, everyone's eyes are on you. Every night will be a battle not only against your opponent but also against the passionate and very harsh fans. When your in the Big Apple, you were brought there to succeed and not to fail. Jeremy Lin indeed has done that in leading the struggling Knicks into playoff contention despite the inconsistent play of All-Stars Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony. It is not very often where you see someone, especially a young player, do to handle the spotlight day in and day out and to succeed doing it.
Once Linsanity erupted, everyone jumped in. T-shirts, jerseys, caps, among many other souvenirs and memorabilia skyrocketed. Its value up 100, 200, even 300% because of its popularity. Never did you see a Jeremy Lin jersey or poster before Linsanity.
On the other hand, there's one man trying to share that same spotlight as Jeremy Lin. Something probably even larger than life and that's Tebowmania.
Tim Tebow, arguably the most successful collegiate American Football player in history, created a phenomenon even greater than that of Linsanity with his passionate play with the struggling NFL franchise, the Denver Broncos. After graduating the University of Florida with a Heismann Trophy (the first true sophomore to win it), two National Championships, and a ton of records, Tebow was dubbed as a great football player, not a quarterback. Amidst all his success in both the high school and collegiate level, he just didn't cut it out for Pro Scouts. His style unsuited from the Pro Game. Something he's gotten use to.
Tebow was placed as a second, third, even fourth round selection for the NFL Draft. That probably isn't the way to treat the greatest collegiate player in history. Someone whose impact off the field is as great as what he does every game. When the Broncos decided to take that risk, they selected Tebow with the 25th pick in the 1st round of the draft.
After the selection was made, critics and fans continued to express their disbelief with him. They continued to judge him for what he was instead of what he could do. Tebow was strapped on the sidelines in his rookie year and the first several games of his sophomore year and only appeared during blowouts and running situations. As the performance of Kyle Orton slid, fans of the Tebow pressured the Broncos to start the kid, and they did.
Tebow often started the game sluggishly with his team falling into huge deficits but that was the start of Tebowmania. A national phenomenon that would sweep the nation. By the fourth quarter, he would instigate a comeback and most often that not, they won. We wouldn't know if it was by pure luck, divine intervention, or just his skill that got the job done. It didn't matter as long as he continued to win games. Games that would ultimately lead them to capture the AFC West division title.
Despite his success, Tebow was disregarded. The Broncos signed Peyton Manning to a lucrative deal and left their Savior in the trade block. They ultimately decided to trade him to the New York Jets.
And here we are, two of the biggest phenomenons in all of sports in one city. A city ready for championships aside from the Yankees. A city ready to harshly judge every mistake and celebrate after every win. Both dubbed as Saviors of struggling franchises share the spotlight on the grandest city of them all, New York a concrete jungle where dreams are made off. I know both are up for the challenge to lead their respective teams to a championship but we will just have to wait and see on how they'll flourish under the bright lights or shy away from the spotlight but one thing is certain, they do things for the glory of God. They don't do it for all the fame, success, and recognition but to be an instrument of his love.
Two great Christians being great role models on how to succeed not only with skill but also through faith.
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