2012 Belmont Stakes: Where Does It Rank On 2012 New York Sports Scene?

This Saturday I'll Have Another will try to become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown when he leads the field for The Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, NY. Big sporting events, and big happenings in the sports world, are nothing new to New York. With that in mind, where does the June 9 Belmont rank on the list of the top sports stories of 2012 in New York?

Well, here's how I see it.

1. New York Giants Win The Super Bowl -- No sporting event in America is bigger than the Super Bowl, and that puts the Giants victory over the New England Patriots at the top of the list regardless of anything else that happens.

2. Tebowmania Storms The City -- The New York Jets traded for Tim Tebow, and things have not been the same since. Nor will they ever be the same again. Tebow is a story every day without trying to be a story. It seems like the entire world is fascinated with the guy, which makes the media capital of the world the perfect place for him.

3. Linsanity -- The height of Linsanity, the over the moon popularity of New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin, did not last long. It was, however, like nothing we had ever seen before. Obscure point guard of Asian descent comes from the end of the bench to resuscitate a moribund franchise, sets off a media and merchandize frenzy, and has multiple countries bidding to 'claim' him as their own.

4. Belmont Stakes -- It's a huge event in the horse racing community, and it is very cool that the final leg of the Triple Crown is run in New York, but this story has a limited audience. A day or two after the race, regardless of whether I'll Have Another is successful in his Triple Crown bid, New York will have largely forgotten about horse racing and moved on.

5. Rangers vs. Devils -- The NHL Eastern Conference Finals featured the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, a matchup of bitter local rivals both on the ice between the players and in the stands between the fans of the two teams. The Devils won to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. The local rivalry angle, and the intensity of the dislike between the two teams, might make this a bigger story -- except that we are talking about the NHL. As much fun as the series was, I watched the page view numbers for the series here at SB Nation New York. Hockey simply has a limited audience -- a passionate one, but limited. Still, this matchup has to make the list.

-- Let us know what you think of our list. There are several other stories that deserved consideration, including Johan Santana's no-hitter, the Nets move to Brooklyn and their pursuit of Dwight Howard and the craziness that is the world of the New York Knicks.