Jeremy Lin Rents Again; Don't Call Albert Pujols 'El Hombre'

Jeremy Lin is renting his second apartment is as many weeks, Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is unhappy with a team billboard, and the state of Wisconsin is close to giving Aaron Rodgers his own ceremonial holiday.

Today in sports: Jeremy Lin is renting his second apartment is as many weeks, Angels first baseman Albert Pujols is unhappy with a team billboard, and the state of Wisconsin is close to giving Aaron Rodgers his own ceremonial holiday. 

New York Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, who was sleeping on his brother's couch a month ago, has rented his own apartment. If this sounds familiar, it's because Lin also rented an apartment last week, a two-bedroom, $3800-a-month place in the Trump Tower out in White Plains. His new place is in the W Hotel in Manhattan's Financial District, which has the advantage of being livelier than White Plains, but only slightly. According to an excited Knicks fan who lives in the building sources, Lin plans to spend most of his time at the W. This makes sense, since it's within walking distance of Madison Square Garden. Apparently, Lin's apartment is "a mid-level unit" in the building, where rents range from $3,600 to $8,900 a month. Per The New York Post, the two-bedroom apartment is "outfitted with $30,000 to $35,000 worth of Tui Lifestyle furniture," which sounds pretty high-level to us, but let's assume the new place costs $5,000 . It also means Jeremy Lin -- an economics major at Harvard with a pretax salary of of $600,000 -- is paying $8,800 a month to rent two apartments in the same metropolitan area. He might want to think about accepting one of those lucrative, multi-million dollar endorsement offers, just to be on the safe side. You never know: New York can be an expensive town for a young point guard on the rise. [New York Post]

New Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols isn't thrilled that the team is referring to him as "El Hombre" on a bunch of new billboards. Back in St. Louis, he also objected to the nickname -- Spanish for "The Man" -- on the grounds that it was disrespectful to Cardinals legend Stan "The Man" Musial. He's not in St. Louis anymore, but still doesn't like it., As a rule of thumb, when your $240 million free agent prize says he doesn't like a billboard, it's best to pull the billboard, burn it, and bury the ashes where they will never be found. Ever. [The Los Angeles Times]

New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has been dropping strong hints that the 2012 season will be his last. Rivera told reporters at Spring Training that he's already made up his mind on the subject and insisted his decision -- whatever it is -- is "irrevocable."  So coy, this Mariano Rivera. The one person excused from the childish guessing game is Derek Jeter, who Rivera revealed his plans to after the shortstop -- get this -- asked him what he was going to do. In seamless Jeter fashion, he didn't betray Rivera's confidence when asked about the conversation, but also sent the beat reporters away happy by mentioning what a good idea it would be to "appreciate [Rivera] while he's here" instead of speculating about when he's leaving. Message received, Derek Jeter. [New York Daily News]

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers would very much like to host Saturday Night Live. In the meantime, he'll have to be content with December 12 being "Aaron Rodgers Day" throughout the great state of Wisconsin. The state Assembly unanimously passed a resolution giving the MVP his own symbolic holiday yesterday. Now it's up to the state Senate to do the same, which will happen, unless the universe collapses into smooth nothingness before a vote can be taken. [AP]

Peter O'Malley has dropped his bid to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers, ending any chance of the club somehow returning to the family that owned the team for nearly 50 years, during which time the Dodgers won all six of their World Series titles. O'Malley wouldn't comment on why he decided to abandon his bid, which was being financed at least in part by "South Korean conglomerate E-Land." The second round of bids for the club must be submitted this week. [Los Angeles Times]