Most popular athlete IN THE WORLD ever to wear no. 23: Jordan or Beckham?

[QUOTE=Geandily]ding ding ding thread decision:


America wins (as always)[/QUOTE]

[IMG]http://failsalon.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/missionfail2.jpg[/IMG]

Nothing against my American friends, just this guy is a dick :oldlol:

Something interesting written on Jordan after his last game with the Bulls,basically 10 years ago...

[quote]'That was God disguised as Michael Jordan,'' said Larry Bird after the Chicago Bulls star scored 63 points against Bird's Celtics in a 1986 play-off game. And when God retires, the world grinds to a halt. Jordan's farewell to basketball, announced on Jan. 13, was stop-the-presses news, bumping minor incidents like the impeachment of the President back to page 37.

God is in fact somewhat less universally admired than Jordan, the most famous man in the world. [b]Adventurers who stumble into remote African villages or nomadic encampments in Mongolia find small children wearing the No. 23 Bulls jersey. His image is everywhere, and his miracles, like conjuring up last year's NBA championship with a last-minute steal and picture-perfect jump shot, are recited like chapter and verse. And then there's his awe-inspiring Midas touch. FORTUNE magazine estimated his cumulative economic impact -- tickets sold, NBA broadcast contracts fattened, products endorsed -- at $10 billion[/b]. [/quote]

[url]http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,274282,00.html[/url]

^^the only modern athlete that will get close to that kind of impact is Tiger

i heard that jordan is regarded as god status in china, more than yao , that's a lot of people.

I remeber bekham with the number 7..

Jordan! No doubt about it

Beckham is extremely OVERRATED! He got popular because of that goal against Wimbledon back in 95 i think

read david halberstam's book "Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World That He Made" to get a sense of how popular this guy was. If there is no Michael Jordan, there is no David Beckham.

this one indicates stuff too

[url]http://www.nba.com/jordan/jordan_icon_thiel.html[/url]

one quote i find interesting...

"Upon the Bulls' arrival in Paris for the McDonald's Championship in October, 1997, the front-page story in the France-Soir national newspaper began:

"Michael Jordan is in Paris. That's better than the Pope. It's God in person.'' "

and thats a soccer country. god in person is mr. jordan.

jordan was INSANLEY popular in countries were basketball wasnt popular. he MADE a sport internationally popular when it was only really popular here. david beckham happened to play a sport that was already the most popular sport internationally, yet he is failed to make it popular in the US.

plus soccer is gay.

The measuring stick for this debate should simply be how many fans of each athlete are there around the world.

It's simple. Beckham wins in a landslide.

[QUOTE=Kblaze8855]When I really think about it...is Jordan more famous in his time than Joe Louis in his? In America that is. technology gives more worldwide access to modern guys but hearing about Joe makes me think he may have been bigger here. As popular as Jordan was you wont have damn near all of america sit down to watch/listen(as the case may be at the time) to his games. I dont think anyone modern can approach the level of interest over the Joe Louis/Max Schmeling fight. Hearing about the level of interest....entire towns meeting in one place with dozens of radios so everyone could hear? Nationwide parties after Joe won? Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, and guys like that were probably as big as Jordan for the people who had access to them.[/QUOTE]

Blaze, you're wrong about this subject. I've lived and travelled extensively overseas, and am also very familiar with Jordan's career. The three most famous people in this history of the world are:

Muhammed Ali
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan

In no particular order. There have been studies done on this issue, etc. etc. Jordan was MOBBED in China like two years ago. This is 10 years after he retired from the Bulls.

I think that being in the US, you really don't have a true grasp on the extend of Jordan's worldwide fame. He wasn't just another very famous athlete, he reached the pinnacle of the famous elite, and I'm talking about on a historic scale.

[QUOTE=Knoe Itawl]Blaze, you're wrong about this subject. I've lived and travelled extensively overseas, and am also very familiar with Jordan's career. The three most famous people in this history of the world are:

Muhammed Ali
Michael Jackson
Michael Jordan

In no particular order. There have been studies done on this issue, etc. etc. Jordan was MOBBED in China like two years ago. This is 10 years after he retired from the Bulls.

I think that being in the US, you really don't have a true grasp on the extend of Jordan's worldwide fame. He wasn't just another very famous athlete, he reached the pinnacle of the famous elite, and I'm talking about on a historic scale.[/QUOTE]

If you go by what JtotheIzzo said, China is one of the few countries that like basketball more than futbol.

[QUOTE=i seen hippos]The measuring stick for this debate should simply be how many fans of each athlete are there around the world.

It's simple. Beckham wins in a landslide.[/QUOTE]

That has nothing to do with it. Jordan's fame exceeded basketball. People who never watched basketball before or since him watched. I know PLENTY of people like that. They only watched for Jordan and now that he's gone they never looked back.

There are more fans of soccer, I would wager than boxing yet Muhammed Ali is one of the most famous people in history. More famous than all of the top soccer players.

So your premise is false.

[QUOTE=Knoe Itawl]That has nothing to do with it. Jordan's fame exceeded basketball. People who never watched basketball before or since him watched. I know PLENTY of people like that. They only watched for Jordan and now that he's gone they never looked back.

There are more fans of soccer, I would wager than boxing yet Muhammed Ali is one of the most famous people in history. More famous than all of the top soccer players.

So your premise is false.[/QUOTE]

If you don't think Beckham transcends futbol, then you must have been living under a rock for the last decade.

Again, to me popularity isn't simply "Ya, I've heard of the guy" or "I know what he did". It's "I love the guy" or "He's my favorite".

Of course everyone here is going to pick Jordan and those that did are incredibly biased.

It's David Beckham and it isnt even close.

[QUOTE=i seen hippos]If you go by what JtotheIzzo said, China is one of the few countries that like basketball more than futbol.[/QUOTE]

As I said, not only have I lived and travelled extensively abroad, but I have also read about Jordan and his international fame. At one time, in the mid 90s he was described as the most famous person in the world.

Oh, and I would wager that if he went to South America, Europe or wherever he would still get mobbed there as well.

The fact is that he is one of the most famous people in history, and at the height of his fame easily more famous than Beckham.

Like I said, the only two people that approach him at the height of his fame are Michael Jackson and Muhammed Ali. Tiger may come close, and Madonna but that's it.

[QUOTE=Hawker]Of course everyone here is going to pick Jordan and those that did are incredibly biased.

It's David Beckham and it isnt even close.[/QUOTE]

Wrong. Has nothing to do with bias and everything to do with what I've actually read on the sujbect.