Freddy Adu and Sidney Crosby Lead Leagues
Who's the best player in MLS this season? Christian Gomez, right? The leading scorers? Jeff Cunningham and Ante Razov. The player with the best last name? Preston Burpo, in a runaway. (Although he still doesn't compare to the best-named athlete in the U.S.: American volleyball's Cynnamon Burns. Would you believe me if I told you that her younger brother's name is Phyre Quickly Burns? Well, it's true. He has the best name in all of humanity, and he's supposedly quite an athlete. Pray that he gets to the NFL.)
Anyhow, Gomez, Cunningham, Razov and Burpo all fail to appear on the list of most-popular MLS jerseys, which is now being reported on the Bog as semi-breaking news. Or at least semi-original news. The list of best-sellers, courtesy of MLS, in order:
1) Freddy Adu: Get your United kit now; will be a collector's item by next year.
2) Landycakes Donovan: Shirt looks great in the store, tends to crumple when you actually need it. (And get your "Primadonovan" t-shirts here.)
3) Ben Olsen: "An offensive lineman on a list full of quarterbacks and running backs," says a colleague. This is the equivalent of all those Chris Cooleys at Redskins games; he's likeable and nothing but solid, but it's still a little bit inexplicable.
4) Jaime Moreno: The 99 helps; great number. Plus, this is an instantly recognizable classic, like a No. 88 Alan Page or a No. 7 Ron Mexico.
5) Taylor Twellman: Might as well buy the Revolution jersey, since the U.S. Twellman jersey is sorta hard to find.
Leading team kit sales at the start of the season, courtesy of MLS: Chicago Fire, Chivas USA, L.A. Galaxy,
D.C. United and Red Bull New York, in that order.
And a quick tour of other leagues' leaders....
NHL: Top six, in order: Sidney Crosby, Peter Forsberg, Steve Yzerman, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Ovechkin and Henrik Lundqvist (05-'06 season).
(I have no link to any real stories, and I think this also might be semi-original news. The rankings came from the NHL. If anyone has a link, send it along.)
(Remember when it was cool to wear Gretzky's Kings jersey; not just fantasy hockey league cool but legitimately cool? Crosby and Ovechkin jerseys have that potential, right? Buy in now.)
(Crosby sales, an NHL spokeswoman told me, are 48 percent higher than Yzerman sales were when he led the league two years ago. "You can wear jerseys to work in Pittsburgh," explains colleague Sonny Amato, a Pittsburgher.)
(If Ovechkin isn't No. 2 when the new rankings come out, something is wrong in the world.)
NFL: Randy Moss, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, Michael Vick, Troy Polamalu, and the rest of the top 11.
(No Redskins. And how 'bout a safety finishing fifth? Colleague Sonny Amato reports that the Thursday night opener in Pittsburgh was "a sea of Polamalus." Plus Hines Ward was seventh. Lots of disposable income in Pittsburgh, I guess.)
NBA: Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, LeBron James. No Wizards in last year's top 10, although Arenas should be. A superstar in No. 0? C'mon.
WNBA: Lisa Leslie, Becky Hammon, Diana Taurasi, and the rest of the top 10, of whom I've heard of eight. Only Mystic was No. 10 Alana Beard.
(Btw, free digital ink to the first person who finds a photo of Pau Gasol wearing a Beard jersey.)
(Seeking input on stealth popular jerseys out there that didn't make these lists. Also any personal favorites, like all those Vikings Alan Page fans I met. Personally, I'll still take a No. 83 Andre Reed, thank you very much.)
By Dan Steinberg |
September 13, 2006; 7:20 AM ET
| Category:
D.C. United
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Posted by: BurgherGuy | September 13, 2006 8:48 AM
At least people are buying actual jerseys. I always get the guy in front of me that has his own last name.
Nothing like a No. 1 Penguins jersey that say "WILSON".
I hate that guy.
Posted by: Chaz11 | September 13, 2006 8:58 AM
It seems to be a contest among DC United regulars to have game worn jerseys of the more obscure players in United history. George Glenovatch, David Hayes, Geoff Aunger, etc.
Posted by: Kim | September 13, 2006 9:04 AM
Your disdain for Landon and Twellman has earned you an open invitation to the Screaming Eagles Nest at RFK (you don't have to wear a player jersey but you do have to wear black!)
Posted by: SEKim | September 13, 2006 10:23 AM
How could Red Bull have been on the list? They didn't even have the jerseys made up in time for the season to begin, and only had t-shirts available when United played there in the fourth week of the season? Is MLS fudging Red Bulls' sales numbers like they do with their attendance?
Posted by: SE Podcast | September 13, 2006 11:36 AM
SE Podcast -- The category is sales, not deliveries. They've been pre-selling NYRB shirts all year long, they may have even started to ship them by now.
Posted by: Kim | September 13, 2006 11:49 AM
Is there a bigger loser in the world than someone over the age of 10 buying a WNBA jersey?
If there is, it's the guy on the company softball team who has piscked #69 for his jersey number every year since he played intermurals.
Posted by: Mike | September 13, 2006 1:53 PM
Kim - wouldn't sales figures, by nature, be indicative of a fanbase?
Posted by: SE Podcast | September 13, 2006 3:19 PM
I'm from Pittsburgh, and can honestly say that the money used to buy a Stillers jersey falls under a necessary expense, like rent and food and Iron City, and not disposable income.
Posted by: DanielLarussosGonnaFight | September 13, 2006 5:03 PM
Wow, you sure have a thing about Landon Donovan. I suppose I'd be critical, if you weren't a world-class athlete yourself.
Posted by: Thom | September 14, 2006 4:59 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Ok, as someone who owns a Crosby and Ward jersey and lives in Pittsburgh, I'm offended.
We're only allowed to wear jerseys on casual Fridays, Mondays after wins, when the Steelers are on MNF and random Thursday openers....and training camp and the Friday before draft day.