As Lin-mania sweeps the nation and world, readers of some overseas editions of Time got a cover story on the Knicks point guard sensation — but here at home, the US edition of the newsweekly served up a slightly less hot topic on its cover: the secretive North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Time executives, who nicknamed the North Korean tyrant Lil’ Kim, insisted there is no mix-up of the editions, which hit newsstands yesterday.
“Lin’s a 10-day phenomenon,” said Time Managing Editor Rick Stengel. “I think the inside story of the untested leader of a nuclear power who could set off World War III is a little more important.”
“And,” Stengel added, “I’m sure Lin would agree.”
But will readers think so?
The Lin story only made the cover of the Chinese editions that go mainly to Hong Kong and Taiwan. The rest of the Time International editions also got the newly installed 29-year old North Korean dictator.
Oddly, both the European and South Pacific editions of the magazine, while featuring Kim as the cover subject, tease Linsanity above the title. Here in the US, the Linsanity tease has been replaced with a tease on the Rick Santorum campaign.
One interesting tidbit in that story: When Kim Jung Un was a youngster studying in Switzerland, he was a big basketball player and fan of the Chicago Bulls’ Michael Jordan and even wore the jersey of the tattooed power forward Dennis Rodman.
Still there was plenty to elevate the Lin story beyond a hometown sports story to national prominence.
“He’s literally all anyone in New York and around the world has been talking about,” said the blogger ProSkore.
In the Feb. 6 to Feb. 14 period social media and Twitter users mentioned Lin 2.6 million times — that’s more frequently than President Obama and also more frequently than the next seven most-mentioned NBA players combined, according to social analytics firm General Sentiment.
On the business front, the stock of The Madison Square Garden Co. soared to a new 52-week high yesterday, hitting $33.49 in the late afternoon before closing at $32.85. Shares are up nearly 15 percent this year.
In addition, Time Warner Cable and the MSG Network finally resolved their 48-day impasse over carriage fees TWC would pay to the regional sports network, home to MSG’s Knicks and Rangers and two other hockey teams.
Pressure from 2.1 million mostly New York City outraged Knicks fans, who were blocked from viewing the team’s resurgence under Lin during the past 10 days was said to be a big behind-the-scenes factor.
Stengel, who played basketball for Princeton , which won the 1975 NIT tournament, admits, “In my own household, there is Linsanity, If he [Lin] keeps it up, maybe we’ll put him on the cover.”