I don't think there is any doubt that the Indian cricket players on the list are simply benefitting from large population size.
Yeah, that's why I didn't include Asia on my earlier list. I can definitely believe NBA stars being very popular there.
I thought by adding Messi and D that I was exuding my non USA sports knowledge. But honestly, I think there are more world renowned stars than James and Virat. I'm not taking away from their sports participation or anything, I just think they aren't top 10. I'll acknowledge JR might be world famous cause of WC knowledge bombs dropped on me, I don't know, but ask somebody who Virat Kohli is vs Usain Bolt.Everywhere outside of India, Bolt wins. If Virat were that good, or that unique, or that awesome, I would've heard about him. I've heard of Don Bradham in passing. I've heard of Gary Sobers. Never heard of Virat.
Heard of Sachin Tendulkar? Because I definitely would have said he was world famous. The "has one American guy heard of him" test probably isn't the best one
This isn't true at all. I can make a statement that X is better than Y and that statement can be completely focking true. Meanwhile, you could make a statement that "nah man, Y is better than X because of these reasons...." and your statement, despite finding evidentiary support, could be complete nonsense if your methodology was flawed/silly/stupid/full-blown-retarded, etc.
I have to disagree. What is fame if not the state of being known? And I consider myself a reasonable sports fan.
The point here, VK, is that if people like Invol and myself have never heard of them -- and we can pass ourselves off as reasonable sports fans with a straight face -- then we are representative of many many more. And we live in America, which is still the epicenter of fame.
This is the problem with your statement. There are people that are popular everywhere but America, and there are American football players that are huge here and relatively anonymous everywhere else. The idea that someone isn't allowed to be world famous just because one random guy doesn't hear about them on American sports sources is ridiculous. Invol mentioned that he knew Messi and Ronaldo, so he knows some soccer players. If some Indian guy knows Kobe and Jordan and no other basketball players, and then tries to say that LeBron James can't be world famous because he never hears about him in India, most here would think he's insane. Yet that's basically the same point you're trying to make, with the major distinction being, "We're America, and everything revolves around us."
Fame isn't a 1 person 1 vote thing. Being huge in America or not being huge in America is dispositive on the subject.
