‘Pick a side coward’: even-handed Elmo enrages New York Knicks fans

Prospect of first NBA title since 1999 fuels wave of righteous outrage against Big Apple-based Sesame Street character

The NBA basketball finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs has already drawn commentary after Spurs fans earlier this week continued a habit of wearing distracting, candy-colored T-shirts to honor the Texas city's annual Fiesta festival.

But now the Knicks' first opportunity to win the title since 1999 - the last time they were in the finals, also against the Spurs, when they lost - has thrown fans in the Big Apple into such a partisan frenzy that some have come for one of their most beloved own.