the buzz log
Sports Jerseys Buzzing Big
The sports jersey, as donned by fans, is popular despite many obstacles. First, they're expensive. Second, if worn in a hostile neighborhood (a Red Sox jersey in the Bronx, for example), fisticuffs may ensue. And third, jerseys are often quickly outdated since athletes are switching teams with ever increasing frequency.
And yet... people love 'em. Every week, we see countless searches on all kinds of sports jerseys. From the very general (MLB jerseys) to the eerily specific (1986 Gary Carter Mets Jersey), there is hardly a team or player that goes unsearched.
A recent article in the Bleacher Report breaks down a list of ten "unwearable" jerseys. What does "unwearable" mean, exactly? It's those jerseys that, for whatever reason, bring about an overtly negative reaction. Some self explanatory examples from the list—Bill Buckner, Michael Vick, Jose Canseco, and, of course, Mr. O.J. Simpson.
Inspired by the site's list, we took to assembling one of our own—the most searched for player jerseys from last week. We're happy to report that Ron Mexico didn't crack the top ten, while, despite the Bleacher Report declaring it "unwearable," a jersey from a certain WNBA star did. Let's hear it for Candace Parker -- her shirt gets more buzz than both Kobe's and LeBron's...
Filed under: Jerseys
Official Jerseys: Looking the Part
Sports fans are always looking for ways to support their favorite players and teams. One method, albeit an expensive one, is to throw down some cash for an official jersey.
Jerseys are perpetually popular in the Buzz, and this past week was no exception. There were significant searches on all the usual suspects, including "nba jerseys," "nba throwback jerseys," "mlb jerseys," and "nhl jerseys." Manchester United and the Boston Celtics were the most popular teams, while lookups on jerseys for the defunct USFL also made a strong showing.
When it comes to individual athletes, we were a bit surprised to see a retired guy top the list. That's right, kids—Michael Jordan's #23 is still the most popular jersey in the land. The uniform once worn by his royal airness draws more buzz than LeBron's, Shaq's, and Ronaldo's combined.
But even though Jordan dominates the Search box just like he did the court, his isn't the only coveted jersey. Below, we rank the players whose duds are drawing the most buzz. Dress to impress.
The Hottest Numbers: Top 20 Jerseys
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.
Jolly For Jerseys
With two weeks left in the NFL season, you must ensure you have the proper jersey wrapped under the tree for the football fan in your life. With the playoffs looming, properly attired fans can hold their heads high over the plate of nachos balanced precariously on their lap.
So how to choose the name on the back of the jersey? Well, we looked at searches over the past week to determine the hottest names in the NFL. We found young Tony Romo wasn't just a passing fancy. Romo held the top spot last time we checked, and his Dallas Cowboys #9 still holds the top spot in Buzz. Join us on a rush through the rest of the top 20 jersey searches...
The Hottest Names in Football
This past weekend, searches on "nfl jerseys" jumped 83% as fans looked to don the colors of their favorite squad. Last time we checked, the football season was just underway and a "kurt warner jersey" or a "drew bledsoe jersey" didn't seem like a half-bad idea. Now we've reached the midway mark of the schedule and fans are starting to show their allegiance to a new crop of gridiron warriors. Here are top 20 football jersey searches right now...
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford 400 | Breakout! |
| 2 | Indonesia Ferry | Breakout! |
| 3 | Jordan Chandler | 3481% |
| 4 | Evan Chandler | 2322% |
| 5 | American Music Awards | 1841% |
| 6 | John F. Kennedy | 1529% |
| 7 | Turkey Stuffing Recipes | 1361% |
| 8 | Liam Hemsworth | 1172% |
| 9 | Lou Dobbs | 1142% |
| 10 | Hendrick Motorsports | 888% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Black Friday | +340 | 1290 |
| 2 | NFL | +489 | 670 |
| 3 | Jennifer Lopez | +451 | 515 |
| 4 | New Moon | -67 | 250 |
| 5 | American Music Awards | +236 | 249 |
| 6 | UFC | -36 | 239 |
| 7 | Miley Cyrus | +66 | 169 |
| 8 | Hulu | -11 | 154 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.