Tiger Woods falls into tie with Kobe Bryant as America's favorite sports star
Jul 20, 2010, 1:50 PM EDT
The king is dead? Well, technically Tiger Woods is still in first place in the latest Harris Interactive poll to determine America’s favorite sports star. But for the first time since 2006, he has to share the title. Kobe Bryant moved up from last year’s fourth-place finish to share to the top spot in the poll released today. From the Associated Press:
LeBron James dropped from third to sixth in the company’s survey of 2,227 adults conducted online from June 14-21, before he left Cleveland to sign with Miami. Retired NBA star Michael Jordan fell from second to seventh.
So who’s now in third?
Yankees captain Derek Jeter moved up one spot to third and quarterback Brett Favre went from ninth to fourth. Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning was fifth, up from seventh.
Of course you never really know how seriously to take these things. For instance, a recent Forbes Magazine poll has Woods as the No. 4 most hated figure in all of sports. No. 1 was Michael Vick.
Meanwhile in the Harris poll, Jeff Gordon and Albert Pujols — who have just been minding their own business and not hurting anyone — dropped out of the top 10.
Who’s the top female star? Take a guess. (Hint: It’s not Caster Semenya).
So what does this all mean? First, the public has a short attention span. We’re a little past the seventh anniversary of the night in which Bryant was accused of rape at a hotel in Colorado. The case was eventually settled out of court, but the star’s popularity plummeted.
Second, Tiger’s hardcore constituency cares more about golf (or more specifically, winning at golf) than they do about Tiger’s personal issues. The 2009 Harris poll was conducted before news of Woods’ extra-marital transgressions hit the news, and the new pol;l has him still in first, albeit tied. Now that he’s not winning golf tournaments, will those numbers continue to fall? You betcha. If Tiger doesn’t win a major by this time next year (a big if), his fans will start start jumping ship. The only question is if there will be enough lifeboats.
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The most hated man in sports? The answer may surprise you (OK, maybe not) [Out of Bounds]
Woods drops into tie with Bryant as favorite star [Atlanta Journal Constitution]
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- Tony's Psychiatrist - Jul 26, 2010 at 1:02 PM
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Tony:
Please get back on your medications again. We are trying to stage an intervention for you but you keep locking yourself in your room screaming “Kobe will save me.” You are a troubled little boy and we are only trying to help.
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- Tony's Parole Officer - Jul 26, 2010 at 1:06 PM
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Tony – You know that the terms of your parole said that you had to stay away from rapists. That includes staring at pictures of Kobe while you rub your junk. Now cut it out or you are going back to jail!
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- Tony - Aug 4, 2010 at 6:58 PM
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You queer my psychiatrist and parole officer? Wow, how old are you? Mad because I state facts and your just some dumb kid playing on the computer? What mad you cant get a date? You can’t even get a girl to talk to you. Your a sad lil boy. You need a psychiatrist. Kobe Bryant is not a rapist and I do not play with myself thats what my girls are for. You should try getting some.
