Pele, Ali, Maradona and Jordan are, in my opinion, the four most transcendental athletes of the last century.
Pele's impact on the game was greater as an ambassador of the sport (particularly in the USA.) Maradona was loved and hated more around the world (iconic.) Both were easily more popular than Jordan.
In theory I definitely agree. But in practice it may be different; How many people actually saw Pele play? Not many, due to pre-Satellite/TV technology. Maradona, maybe once every 4 years. Jordan on the other hand, was seen and beloved by everyone, simply becuase his career coincided with live international broadcasts. I've been in parts of rural Africa buying items with Jordan's face on it; I don't know if anyone's ever reached that level of popularity. It doesn't have anything to do with sport or skill, just technology. That's why Beckham and Ronaldinho may be the most popular people on earth.
Beckham was more "popular" than Pele and Jordan surely. While those oldies were mostly known by MEN, Beckham was known by MEN + other sex (female and gay and les) ... LOL
I'm curious to know how popular Jordan really is (at least in comparison to those two) outside of America, Africa, the Caribbean, etc. Even Muhammed Ali was known on all six continents. Football is played by roughly a billion people, and around a fourth of the world's population (the USA, China, and India likely preventing it from being a clear majority) watches the world Cup finals. Basketball may be second, but still lags way behind.
When a reporter asked if his fame compared to that of Jesus Christ's, Pele replied, "There are parts of the world where Jesus Christ is not so well known."
The popularity of Beckham/Jordan is greater in developed nations where commercialism literally forces/forced these fellas into our faces. Even though we may not consciously know about them, we will most likely identify them or their names. But the popularity of these fellas isn't as far-reaching as those of Pele and Maradona. There are many villages in Argentina and Brazil where most people know s*it about Michael Jordan. You could say the same thing about US, Canada or Australia, where footballers aren't household names. But the most populated areas in the world are third-world nations where football greatly overwhelms all other sports in popularity and appeal. As part of my job, I have been to various corners of the world....and almost everywhere there have been 3 names (3 sportsmen) whose name are (by far majority) is more recognizable than any others: those of Pele, Maradona and Ronaldo. I absolutely can't fathom MJ to be anywhere close to Ronaldo, Maradona or Pele in terms of global popularity.
According to Google and many other sources, Tiger Woods is the most famous athlete and the most recognized athlete in the world.
An athlete's popularity is ephemeral, however, more so in the field of sports. I think a more substantial criteria is whether an athlete became transcendental, in which case Pele, Maradona, Jordan, Ali did, while Beckham or Ronaldo didn't. I think it's still uncertain on Woods.
Well, transcendence is different that popularity. Ali or Jordan may be "transcendental", but I don't think they are as popular as Ronaldo/Beckham from a global scale. Also, Tiger Woods doesn't fit this "transcendental" quality. Just because he is an unarguable superstar of his sports doesn't make him transcendental. For one, many people aren't that fond of gulf. Similarly, success in gulf isn't as high regarded as success in other (more physical) sports, such as football, basketball or boxing. Plus, these "transcendental" figures were "transcendental" for more than sporting reasons: their cultural impact.
Yes, I completely agree especially your last sentence - beyond sports, they impact us culturally and socially. You're right about Woods, I think most of his popularity and being a household name has to do with cultural/social reasons, a multiracial individual better at his trade than anyone else by a good margin. He appeared at a time, late nineties, when the recently globalised world was craving for someone like him. I agree though that ultimately Woods is more popular than truly transcendental.
India is crazy about soccer, and Maradona is considered to be God there. Entire towns and villages are bathed in Brazilian and Argentine flags during the World Cup and Copa America. I posted on another thread pictures and videos of India's soccer fanaticism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport_in_India Field Hockey is India's national sport, and Cricket is the most popular. That popularity may be in certain regions (like in the US and other large nations) rather than nationwide.
Field hockey is the official national sport, but no one really watches it. Cricket is the most popular sport and they are good at it (won the World Cup last week). In soccer they are not good (ranked below 100), but the popularity of the sport is as fanatic as Latin America. Not regional but everywhere. When I spent a semester in India during college, they would show the games in movie halls, and the street scene after the games could be out of any Latin American or European soccer country. There are frequently violent clashes between Brazil and Argentina fans in India. Villages and smaller towns are generally pro-Brazil and large cities are pro-Argentina. Argentina fan sites that are in English have more people from India than Argentina. Search Youtube for "Maradona Kolkata visit" and you'll know what I am speaking about. Also if there is any Indian or anyone living in India currently reading this, please feel free to comment on this.
You've summed it up pretty well. Although violent clashes between Indian Argentina and Brazil fans I'm yet to come across. If I am allowed to generalize, football support ( when it comes to watching the games) in India mainly restricted to the English educated relatively well to do youth of Urban India, who see it as a 'hip' thing to do. It is widely popular in West Bengal among people of all social classes. Lots of official franchises have sprung up all over India in the last few years. Here in Bombay, there is a Man Utd Cafe/Pub where they sell merchandise and telecast live games. In spite of the exorbitant charges the place levies on food and alcohol, its pretty difficult to get place to stand at the counter (leave alone a seat) on match days. Same is the case with most sports bars on a CL/ EPL/ World Cup/ Euro Cup night. In the state of West Bengal, the game is followed more seriously. The local derby between the two Kolkata giants rakes in a crowd of 140,000+ people. Also Latin American teams are pretty popular here. Mainly Argentina. And that has a lot to do with their attractive style of football and the fact that West Bengal was ruled by a communist party for a long time and they have always been supportive of Maradona, both on and off the field. My husband was in Kolkata for a business deal the day Maradona was scheduled to land. Though he was aware that it would be a big thing locally, the scale took him by surprise. Almost 300,000 people ( as per the news reports) were at the airport waiting to catch a glimpse of Maradona. The government had to declare a holiday because most people did not turn up for work that day. My husband had no choice but to extend his stay there. The chief minister ( equivalent to the governor of a US state) received Maradona in person and conferred upon him one of Bengal's highest civilian honours. Mind you, this is state of 85 million odd people and the chief minister didn't do any of this when Sarkozy paid Kolkata a visit. While they support Argentina, its always Maradona who comes first. In the state of Goa, there is widespread support for Brazil and Portugal.
This is actually a pretty good point. overall popularity is maybe difficult to grasp - Michael Jordan I think really was extremely popular. But it has to do with the different eras of sports and technology. The NBA had been growing, the sports popularity was rapidly growing and it was easier to follow when Jordan was tearing up the NBA. Bigger - the international game was getting a bit more attention, you had some great rivalries developing (USA & Eastern European countries, etc.). But here's where I think Jordan falls short - where you said Pele had a massive impact as an ambassador. This is 100% true. To have who many considered the best player of all time reach out and spread the game. Jordan never really did this. He was extensively marketed, endorsed and presented as the face of basketball, but when I really think about it - even the 1992 Olympic Team, he didn't want to initially be a part of. And in addition to this - I remember the whole 'Olympic Uniform' incident as well that showed just how much corporate endorsements/etiquette had infiltrated the spirit of the games with that team (the podium controversy...) Jordan is kind of an interesting guy - maybe even shy in a lot of ways. But he never really got into color commentating, never really got into media discussions - it always seemed like a big deal if he spoke at all. He was (is) an aloof guy, seemingly Magic Johnson served as more of an 'ambassador'. So playing in, say, Spain or Italy, etc. never seemed to interest him, whereas with a Pele, being an ambassador of the game was important to him. In terms of eyeballs seeing the players, it's the players of today who are even more 'popular' than Jordan, Pele or Maradona even jsut because the sport and technology has changed so much & the world's become smaller. Ronaldo (Brazil) was a vital link to an era (mid-late 90s to today) in that regard with Beckham truly capitalizing.
Well said. I would also add Pele's international tours with Santos/civil war-stopping game in Nigeria and endorsments for the first World Cup in the USA.
Thanks for personal confrimation of these events. I read about large clashes between Brazil and Argentina fans in Bangladesh as well about flying the Brazil or Argentina flag on the highest tree during the WC. One thing's for sure- the Pele/Diego legacy runs much deeper than the Tiger/Jordan/Beckham thing.
These are two of the FULL articles on this CNN/SI poll that was conducted back in '99: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/centurys_best/news/1999/03/13/cb_explanation/ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/centurys_best/final_battle/men.html It should now be clear as to why "Babe" Ruth defeated Pele and then Michael Jordan was voted into the #1 spot on this poll. If you're not following me, just LMK and I'll explain it to you...
The CNN/SI network: [As you can see from reading the articles that I posted the links to: this bracket competition/poll wasn't done by or under the auspices of "SI" the magazine. It was done by the CNN/Sports Illustrated NETWORK, which was a cable/satellite news channel geared towards covering American and Canadian sports that was on the air from Dec. of '96 to May of '02. Although the news network has since folded, it's website is still in operation. I can post a link if anyone really needs to see it...]
Who would you place from 1 to 5? I think it is hard to reach top 5. Counting olympic sports only (so no BS sport like Formula One) I think the following are significantly greater. Ali, Michael Jordan, Owens, Carl Lewis, Federer, Spitz, Phelps, Daehlie, Merckx, Eric Heiden, Nurmi, Bjorndalen, Aamodt, H. Maier, Bolt, Zatopek, Gebreselassie, Weissflog, Bubka Maybe I forget some (for sure) I think it is also possible to include some in the battle for iconic and innovative reasons. Bikila for example, Ben Johnson or Bjorn Borg (who was a bit like the George Best of tennis).
Michael Jordan was the most electric athlete i've ever seen. You would get chills down your spine every time he got the ball. He defined a whole era in culture, It was surreal, true transcendent.