How well-known are these all-time great sports figures?

[familytoad]

I’d say George Foreman is more recognizable than many on this list...certainly Smokin’ Joe seems especially elevated.

[oldjudge]

I think all the top athletes are way overstated. Even if you limit your sample group to adult English speaking people it is still overstated. Many people could care less about sports and a non-trivial amount of the people in the U.S. are illiterate (14.5% based on 2003 data).

[Fred]

Pete who? Oh, Pele... What's Pele's last name?

[Snapolit1]

Cool thread. I think your numbers are crazy crazy high. Hell, probably 50% of the population can't name the Vice President. Here are my guesses.

Babe Ruth 99%
Muhammad Ali 99%
Jackie Robinson 90%
Pele 20%
Lou Gehrig 20% (disease obviously raises name recognition)
Mickey Mantle 40%
Joe Frazier 10%
Roberto Clemente 10% (died too early)
Joe DiMaggio 25% (Marilyn; Simon & Garfunkel song)
Ty Cobb 5%
Shoeless Joe Jackson 5% (mostly because of beloved/hated Field of Dreams)
Wilt Chamberlain 10% (reports of 10,000 helped!)
Bill Russell 5%
Jack Dempsey less than 1%
Joe Louis 5%
Rocky Marciano 5%
Jim Thorpe 1%
Jack Johnson 1%
A.J. Foyt 1%
Richard Petty 20%
Honus Wagner 5%
Satchel Paige 5%
George Mikan less than 1%
Rogers Hornsby less than 1%
Christy Mathewson less than 1%
Walter Johnson less than 1%
Bobby Jones less than 1%
Bronko Nagurski less than 1%
Josh Gibson less than 1%
Georges Vezina about .001%

[Snapolit1]

I doubt 75% of major league baseball players have any idea who a lot of these baseball players are.

Seems like every year there is a news story where some young player admits to a reporter he doesn't know who Jackie Robinson was.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Cool thread. I think your numbers are crazy crazy high. Hell, probably 50% of the population can't name the Vice President. Here are my guesses.

Babe Ruth 99%
Muhammad Ali 99%
Jackie Robinson 90%
Pele 20%
Lou Gehrig 20% (disease obviously raises name recognition)
Mickey Mantle 40%
Joe Frazier 10%
Roberto Clemente 10% (died too early)
Joe DiMaggio 25% (Marilyn; Simon & Garfunkel song)
Ty Cobb 5%
Shoeless Joe Jackson 5% (mostly because of beloved/hated Field of Dreams)
Wilt Chamberlain 10% (reports of 10,000 helped!)
Bill Russell 5%
Jack Dempsey less than 1%
Joe Louis 5%
Rocky Marciano 5%
Jim Thorpe 1%
Jack Johnson 1%
A.J. Foyt 1%
Richard Petty 20%
Honus Wagner 5%
Satchel Paige 5%
George Mikan less than 1%
Rogers Hornsby less than 1%
Christy Mathewson less than 1%
Walter Johnson less than 1%
Bobby Jones less than 1%
Bronko Nagurski less than 1%
Josh Gibson less than 1%
Georges Vezina about .001%

The Vezina percentage is beyond ridiculous....

The trophy awarded to the NHL goaltender "adjudged to be the best at his position" each season - and every season since 1926-27 - is named in his honour, hence, even casual hockey fans have at least heard and know the name.

[Snapolit1]

OK, didn't know that about Vezina. Good point. A major award is named after him. Didn't know that.

By the way, how many people out of 100 in the US do you reckon are serious hockey fans? I can name large racial and ethnic groups that, as a general proposition, have overwhelmingly have very little if any interest in hockey.

I think we are all biased in that we overestimate the general interest in things we are interested in.

[Huysmans]

It could be a single person out of that 100... and it would blow away that absurd and hyperbolic number you posted. You said it yourself... "I didn't know".... and apparently, you don't.

[Snapolit1]

I apparently am one of the few Americans who have never heard of him. Plead guilty.

[Michael B]

You are missing a very big name - Jesse Owens!!!

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I apparently am one of the few Americans who have never heard of him. Plead guilty.

Considering he did play a century ago, and you obviously are clueless about hockey... your ignorance is forgiven.

Now, regarding the amount of Americans "I reckon" that are "serious hockey fans"... why don't you tell me how many Americans you think have heard of Wayne Gretzky? Or better yet.... how many people in the world? I can guarantee he's known by more people than literaly every athlete on your list.
.... and hockey yet... Go figure.

[Writehooks]

Glad you specified that you're limiting the name recognition to the US. I'm a Canadian who has worked as a sportswriter in Beijing for the past seven years, so I can offer a different perspective. A couple of years ago my paper (circulation 675,000) ran a contest in which readers named their "all time favorite" sports hero. The No. 1 response, by a considerable margin, was Ali ... followed by NBA stars Yao Ming and Michael Jordan. Pele was fourth and David Beckham was fifth.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by Writehooks

Glad you specified that you're limiting the name recognition to the US. I'm a Canadian who has worked as a sportswriter in Beijing for the past seven years, so I can offer a different perspective. A couple of years ago my paper (circulation 675,000) ran a contest in which readers named their "all time favorite" sports hero. The No. 1 response, by a considerable margin, was Ali ... followed by NBA stars Yao Ming and Michael Jordan. Pele was fourth and David Beckham was fifth.

Sure Tiger Woods is still up there very high, despite his career doldrums.

[Stampsfan]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

The Vezina percentage is beyond ridiculous....

The trophy awarded to the NHL goaltender "adjudged to be the best at his position" each season - and every season since 1926-27 - is named in his honour, hence, even casual hockey fans have at least heard and know the name.

I told this story here once before, and it still blows my mind. My hockey team consists of guys from their 30's to deep into their 50's, and I'm one of the latter. We are relatively competitive, and while none of us "made it", we all can play.
Most of the guys know I collect, but nobody else does. I made a comment one day in the dressing room that I'm looking at an Art Ross card from 1910 (they wouldn't know what a C56 is). One guy on my team (in his 50's) said "Who's that? Never heard of him."
I said "There's a trophy named after him." Now, appreciate the Vezina and the Art Ross are trophies that have been around since the 20's and the 40's respectively, and as well known as the Cy Young to baseball fans. I was embarrassed for the guy, but there is no excuse for ignorance. And he watches more hockey than almost anyone I know.

Originally Posted by bnorth

... It amazes me how many people don't know who Wanderlei Silva is. ...

Oh yeah, his dad is the commissioner of the NBA...

[packs]

I think it would be hard to find a person who didn't know who Mike Tyson is and he's certainly an all time great.

[brianp-beme]

I had my loved one take this quiz (she's pictured there in my avatar), and I copied what Derek posted of the responses his wife gave, then added her capitalized responses for comparision. She definitely did well in my main collecting pursuit (preWW2 baseball players), but obviously doesn't follow sports closely.

Babe Ruth 99% - yes / YES

Muhammad Ali 99% - sorta - she first thought he was a basketball player, then remembered he was a boxer (phew) / NO!

Jackie Robinson 99% - no thought he might have been a track star...she did know that he was black though. OMG / KINDA - she knows of him and that he broke the color barrier, but the name just didn't ring a bell tonight...she guessed female track star!

Pele 99% - yes / YES

Lou Gehrig 95% - yes / YES

Mickey Mantle 95% - yes / NO...she guessed soccer!

Joe Frazier 80% - no / NO

Roberto Clemente 80% - yes / NO

Joe DiMaggio 75% - yes / YES

Ty Cobb 75% - yes / YES

Shoeless Joe Jackson 60% - yes / NO...Say it ain't so, Joe!

Wilt Chamberlain 50% - no / NO

Bill Russell 50% - no / NO

Jack Dempsey 30% - no / NO

Joe Louis 30% - no / NO

Rocky Marciano 30% - no / NO

Jim Thorpe 30% - no / NO

Jack Johnson 25% - no - she hears that name and thinks of the singer/songwriter / NO - same response...he's a singer she likes (who evidently writes some knockout lyrical hooks!)

A.J. Foyt 25% - no / NO

Richard Petty 25% - no / NO

Honus Wagner 15% - yes / YES

Satchel Paige 15% - no / NO

George Mikan 10% - no - nor did I / NO...but I did

Rogers Hornsby 3% - no / NO

Christy Mathewson 3% - no / YES

Walter Johnson 3% - no / YES

Bobby Jones 2% - no / NO

Bronko Nagurski 2% - no / NO

Josh Gibson 2% - no / NO

Georges Vezina 1% - no / NO...and I have only known about him in last couple of years because of Net54 and the member with 'Vezina' in his member ID

Mike Tyson (added just for fun) - NO


Brian P - YES (thankfully)