Jeter better than Ruth, survey says

Derek Jeter may be coming off the worst season of his career, but he still is considered greater than Babe Ruth.

At least in the opinion of the 801 New York State residents surveyed in a recent sports poll conducted by the Siena College Research Institute.

In an open-ended question asking who is the greatest New York athlete of all time, 14 percent answered Jeter and 11 percent chose Ruth, the only two athletes to receive more than 4 percent of the votes, according to the survey released Tuesday. In fairness to the Great Bambino, the poll is a representative sample of New York residents, many of whom -- if not all -- were not around to see him hit 714 career home runs. It's also important to note that 41 percent of the people polled said they were not sports fans.

"Jeter does well across the board," said Dr. Don Levy, the director of the Siena Research Institute. "He does particularly well with women, but he does quite well with people who are avid fans and he even does well with people who are non-fans.''

Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Joe Namath each received 4 percent, just edging out Patrick Ewing and New York's latest star, Carmelo Anthony (3 percent). Although he has been in town for less than three weeks, Anthony beat out 17 other prominent New York athletes, including Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Mark Messier and Lawrence Taylor.

Football narrowly eclipsed baseball as the most popular sport in New York (23 percent to 22), but the Yankees were easily voted the most popular team in the state, receiving 30 percent, followed by the Mets and Knicks with 11 percent. Perceived as second-class citizens in New York football, the Jets (9 percent) slightly edged out the Giants (8 percent). Somewhere, Rex Ryan smiles.

The poll also touched on current topics. Regarding the NFL labor issues, 59 percent were on the side of the players and 21 percent supported the owners. Expanded use of instant replay in baseball? Purists are fading as 54 percent are for it, and 31 percent are against it. When asked about the legalization of mixed martial arts in the state, 41 percent were opposed, compared with 39 percent who support it.

SEE PHOTOSWho are the 10 greatest Yankees?

"Right now, people that favor support and legalization of MMA have drawn, for all intents and purposes, equal with people who oppose it," Levy said. "Interestingly, men are strongly in favor of it and young people are strongly in favor of it. Women and older New Yorkers are the ones who are opposed. I think we are going to see MMA legalized here in the state of New York before too long."

Of the 801 individuals polled randomly from Feb. 22-March 1, 106 were from Long Island, where Ruth still stands as the greatest New York athlete of all time. Ruth edged Jeter, 12 percent to 10 percent.

The Yankees reign supreme on the Island as well with 38 percent of the vote. They are followed by the Jets (16 percent), Mets (14), Knicks (10), and Giants and Rangers (4 each). The Islanders, Long Island's only professional team, received just 2 percent of the vote from Long Island residents, tying with the Buffalo Sabres.