Before computers ruled our lives, before the Internet connected everyone to everything, relevance was a far more subjective attainment. Stardom was a feel, degrees of which were debatable.
Nowadays, with our ability to measure the relative joy in/admiration for/tolerance of almost anything thanks to Internet analytics, we have measures for relevance. Things like web hits, Twitter trending topics, Facebook “Likes.” Self-esteem used to have no statistical measurement. Now it has Twitter followers.
These measurements have become incredibly handy in sports (especially in the content-driven part like radio and blogs), as we can truly see in numerical form which athletes/personalities are moving the needle.
To that end, how about this latest bit of data?
According to besttickets.com, America appears to have completely forgiven LeBron James four years after the “Decision” fiasco that led to his signing with the Miami Heat, as he was the most Googled athlete in 24 of 50 states, including his home state of Ohio. Here is the complete state-by-state list of winners:
ALABAMA: LeBron James
ALASKA: LeBron James
ARIZONA: LeBron James
ARKANSAS: LeBron James
CALIFORNIA: Kobe Bryant
COLORADO: Peyton Manning
CONNECTICUT: LeBron James
DELAWARE: LeBron James
FLORIDA: LeBron James
GEORGIA: LeBron James
HAWAII: Manti Te’o
IDAHO: LeBron James
ILLINOIS: Derrick Rose
INDIANA: Peyton Manning
IOWA: Adrian Peterson
KANSAS: Andrew Wiggins
KENTUCKY: Andrew WIggins
LOUISIANA: LeBron James
MAINE: Tom Brady
MARYLAND: LeBron James
MASSACHUSETTS: Tom Brady
MICHIGAN: LeBron James
MINNESOTA: Adrian Peterson
MISSISSIPPI: LeBron James
MISSOURI: LeBron James
MONTANA: Peyton Manning
NEBRASKA: LeBron James
NEVADA: Floyd Mayweather
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Tom Brady
NEW JERSEY: LeBron James
NEW MEXICO: Peyton Manning
NEW YORK: LeBron James
NORTH CAROLINA: LeBron James
NORTH DAKOTA: Adrian Peterson
OHIO: LeBron James
OKLAHOMA: Kevin Durant
OREGON: LeBron James
PENNSYLVANIA: LeBron James
RHODE ISLAND: Tom Brady
SOUTH CAROLINA: LeBron James
SOUTH DAKOTA: Adrian Peterson
TENNESSEE: Peyton Manning
TEXAS: Johnny Manziel
UTAH: LeBron James
VERMONT: Tiger Woods
VIRGINIA: LeBron James
WASHINGTON: Russell Wilson
WEST VIRGINIA: Geno Smith
WISCONSIN: Aaron Rodgers
WYOMING: Peyton Manning
Sorted by number of states won, the rankings look like this:
ATHLETE RANKINGS (# of states) 24 – LeBron James
6 – Peyton Manning
4 – Adrian Peterson
4 – Tom Brady
2 – Andrew Wiggins
1 – Aaron Rodgers
1 – Derrick Rose
1 – Floyd Mayweather
1 – Geno Smith
1 – Johnny Manziel
1 – Kevin Durant
1 – Kobe Bryant
1 – Manti Te’o
1 – Russell Wilson
1 – Tiger Woods
A few observations from the data:
* Generally speaking, most states are ruled by one of two things — LeBron or the NFL. The biggest stars in the NFL have a clear regional appeal, with Peyton Manning owning virtually all of the Mountain time zone (not to mention the two states he’s played in other than Colorado — Indiana and Tennessee), Adrian Peterson owning the upper Midwest and Tom Brady taking two thirds of New England.
* One last time: If the Houston Texans want to gain relevance in their own state and usurp some of the Dallas Cowboys’ buzz, they have the first pick in the draft and the most Googled athlete in the state on the board at a position of need. Just sayin’.
* Taking a look at the list by sport…
27 – NBA
18 – NFL
2 – College Basketball
1 – College Football
1 – Boxing
1 – Golf
….all I have to say is, poor baseball.
* Finally, if Google were used to elect our commander in chief, the electoral vote count would look like this:
274 – LeBron James
55 – Kobe Bryant
42 – Peyton Manning
38 – Johnny Manziel
23 – Tom Brady
22 – Adrian Peterson
20 – Derrick Rose
14 – Andrew Wiggins
12 – Russell Wilson
10 – Aaron Rodgers
7 – Kevin Durant
6 – Floyd Mayweather
5 – Geno Smith
4 – Manti Te’o
3 – Tiger Woods
LeBron would have four more electoral votes than the 270 necessary to win the election, with Kobe (thanks to the sheer size of California) the runner-up.
Hail to the King!
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/SeanCablinasian.
This article appears in Apr 17-23, 2014.
