the buzz log

One of our favorite ways of measuring the popularity of sports stars is to check jersey searches. If a player is cool enough for fans to wear his or her name on their back, the athlete's status in buzz is cemented.

The most popular jersey search is for a player who hasn't shown much on the pitch lately. David Beckham came over to the MLS with plenty of hype, but while he's sold a ton of L.A. Galaxy jerseys, his on-field output is lacking. Two other soccer stars made the top 20, but you won't find them dribbling alongside Beckham. Outspoken U.S. Women's team goalie Hope Solo and retired superstar Mia Hamm both scored with jersey searchers this week. Here's how the rest of the top 20 stacks up...

A few final jersey notes before we head out to the dry cleaners...

—Becks snagged the top spot, but second and third place go to members of America's Team. Dallas Cowboys' QB Tony Romo was hot in jersey searches last season, but red-hot RB Marion Barber has surpassed the signal-caller.

—San Francisco 49ers rookie linebacker Patrick Willis has made an impression with in-the-know NFL fans. While not exactly a household name (yet), the tackling machine has more people looking for his jersey than Manning, Brady, or Bush.

—Florida Gators QB Tim Tebow was the only college football player to crack the top 20.

—Two team styles garnered a bushel of search interest: The colorful "eagles throwback jersey" and the fresh looking "san jose sharks new jersey."

—Retiring Astros legend Craig Biggio was the only baseball player to dent our list, though Yankees star Derek Jeter came close.