Elfforkusu
Member
Commercialization alone, yeah.what societal impact did Jordan have though? He was obviously insanely popular...maybe his impact is with the commercialization and branding of sports and an individual athlete.
But there's also something that I haven't seen quantified:
As a kid, the occasional racist shit I heard out of old white folks didn't really mesh with the fact I spent about 1000 hours in the driveway every summer trying to get that 15 foot fadeway to go in.
Dale probably had the biggest impact of any US race car driver since Mario Andretti -- due to his brand and image. But I don't think NASCAR itself has much of an impact, apart from in a few regions (where it was always popular anyway).Is he?
Shit I also feel like Dale or Petty could be on the list.