I love the internet.  It's a big attic with all kinds of great stuff in it.  Open any box.  There's always something interesting.  Most of it's useless, it's killing our productivity, and the kids have seen more porn by the time they are 14 than Hugh Hefner has produced in a lifetime.  But you just have to look.

Which brings me to Google Trends:

http://www.google.com/trends

You type in a name and based on the number of clicks you see a chart of the last few years.  You can believe it's the first thing Paris Hilton looks at every morning, right after the mirror.  There is also a listing of the top ten cities for clicks on a given name.

Which brings me to Sidney Crosby and why the NHL is doomed to second class sports citizenship.

The volume of clicks on Crosby's name is respectable, but it's the top ten cities that ought to worry the league.  1. Halifax, 2. Moncton, 3. Pittsburgh, 4. St. Johns,  5.  Burlington,  6. Quebec,  7. Winnipeg,  8. Hamilton,  9. Kitchener, 10, London.  Nine cities in Canada and Pittsburgh for the best and most marketable player in hockey.

Compare Crosby to LeBron James.

1. Cleveland, 2. Columbus, 3. Philadelphia, 4. Chicago, 5. Miami, 6. Washington, 7. New York, 8. Toronto (which Crosby didn't get), 9. Atlanta, 10. Houston.

This is why the smart money is invested in the NBA.  You get all the media centers.  Anywhere an advertiser wants to go, LeBron James and the NBA is already there.

Tiger Woods?  He's big doings in Minneapolis, box office in Atlanta, Dallas, and Chicago, and even gets alot of attention from Birmingham, England. 

Jimmy Rollins is probably the best player in baseball and completely unknown outside of Philadelphia and New York.

Tom Brady gets you all of Massachusetts and all the warm weather cities, (Miami, LA, SD).  He's gold in the major markets and even gets a fair number of Portugese clicks.  What is a Portugese click?  Not a clue?  Or a click?

Brady's Super Bowl opposite number, Eli Manning gets the biggest number of his clicks in Jackson, Mississippi followed by New York and Newark.  You always associate Jackson and New York, right?

NASCAR can be proud of Jeff Gordon.  He gets clicks from Charlotte but also from Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, and Phoenix.

Serena Williams gets you Atlanta, Miami, and Washington but also Brussels and Melbourne.  Roger Federer is even more international.  He owns Zurich but Latin America even more.  He clicks in big from Buenos Aires, Lima, and Santiago.  But wait, there's more!  With Federer you also get Montreal, Sydney, Toronto, and New York City.  You hear me right....New York City!

So if you're bored, go to Google Trends and check out your favorite player or celebrity.  Just don't type in Dudski.  Sadly, "does not have enough search volume to show graphs". 

We'll work on that and get back to you.