Biggest sports star ever?

[4ringslvr]

I was thinking about it, is Tiger Woods the biggest sports star ever? How many belong in this category? How many people do you recognize simply from their first name or nickname? MJ, A-Rod, Beckham, The Babe...
I bet anywhere you go you could easily find someone who knows who Tiger is. He has completely turned golf around. Before Tiger I never knew much about golf, maybe had heard a couple names, Arnie, Jack Nicklaus, etc but no one like Tiger. The only one I think that can compare is Michael Jordan.

[extremeld]

because of the modern media, it would be tiger.

But i would suggest if Pele were at his peak now i would think it would be him as soccer is followed and played by the masses in most countries around the world.

Too young to remember, but was Ali known everywhere or just the developed world?

[VOX]

Ali and Pele are still way ahead

[GaijinGolfer]

To be fair, how many people do you know of who are named, "Tiger"?

[mirv]

i'd be inclined to say babe ruth and michael jordan, with tiger coming in a close third.

[extremeld]

Babe who? NO CHANCE.

Michael Jordan played basketball but who plays basketball except the USA 4%of the population of the world.

Sure i have heard of babe ruth, but then i am a bloke with cable etc etc i happen to enjoy watching a bit of basketball but relative to Pele or Ali i would say no way.

[extremeld]

actually thinking about it, could be Khan from india who was world squash champion for around 10 years, as they have close to 1billion people.

Or


How about xiang chinese hurdler? population way bigger than USA and little interest in golf, except selling cheap components.

[PEZGolf]

I was thinking about it, is Tiger Woods the biggest sports star ever? How many belong in this category? How many people do you recognize simply from their first name or nickname? MJ, A-Rod, Beckham, The Babe...

Tiger is only a golfer, and most of the people on this planet could care less about golf. Football, or "soccer" as it is called in America, is KING. Pele was the King of Football, and most people in the world know the current stars of that sport, including David Trezeguet, David Beckham, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Football stars play before 120,000 or more people for one game. The World Cup dwarfs the Super Bowl in number of people who watch on TV. The Masters and the golf Majors do not even appear on the screen of most watched sporting events.

Bear in mind that I make these statements even though I love golf. However, golf is a game in a world where real sports are the most popular. And that is not going to change.

[4ringslvr]

Thats what Im saying though. He is unbelievably known for being a golfer. People know him around the world. I was in Spain this last summer and saw a nike ad with Tiger. Insane

[MI Rob]

Tiger is up there. But in my opinion I am going to say Michael Jordan.

[extremeld]

Tiger, most famous golfer ever and due to technology probably the most known - i.e how many people would say, hey that is Tiger.

I reckon its a good question for a golf forum, but i cannot see past Pele.

Its about cost - poor kids can play football and impersonate their idols, poor kids dont mimick Tiger.

You have the Internet so you are not in the majority.

[cubdog]

Don't forget Jack Dempsy, Joe Louis, and Seabiscuit. Along with Babe Ruth they were, in their day, all more famous than Tiger.

cubdog

[RichF]

What's with all the 'Michael Jordan' stuff??

It goes like this:
1 - Ali
2 - Pele
3 - Woods

[HiMyNameIsMichelle]

Don't get mad at me or anything But who's Pele? And I'm not sure the question of the greatest could really ever be answered. It depends on your generation and your exposure...

[RichF]

Don't get mad at me or anything

It's ok - Americans only really know about 'American' sports stars.

But, I'll give you a clue to get you started: www.google.com

[starchuk]

lance armstrong

[cocky_watchman]

Don Bradman-probably the greatest of them all-no doubt. the best ever cricketer and cricket followed by more people worldwide than anything maybe? India go mad for it
Current biggest players are Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar etc-but all their records are nothing compared to Bradman. he was even more phenomenal than Tiger-he had a batting average of 99.9!

John McEnroe, George Best, Ben Johnson (wrong reasons-depends what biggest means), Joana Lomu-21 stone and can do 100metres in 10.1 secs-thats pretty big, he's Rugby Union by the way. Carl Lewis. Mike Tyson. Ayrton Senna.

All the ones I would go for are gone-Ali, Pele, I dont consider American sports since noone else plays them-but we have heard of Babe Ruth, Jordan and isnt their some quaterback fella who stood out! What about that guy for Chicago they called the fridge-I remember him he was BIG

[RichF]

lance armstrong

Indurain

> Armstrong