ESPN Poll: Americans Think John Tavares Is a Soccer Player

Here's a bucket of cold water right to the face. ESPN has a poll up right now asking the question: Who is John Tavares? The choices: Emergency starter for the Mets, U.S. Soccer midfielder, Ricky Rubio's agent, or NHL draft prospect.

The answer, of course, is NHL draft prospect (and he's likely to go No. 1 to the New York Islanders in about four hours). Unfortunately, based on the 6,062 responses as of 3:15 PM ET, only 22 percent of ESPN's readers know that, while an incredible 38 percent(!) are living under the assumption that he is a midfielder for the U.S. Soccer team. The only individual state that knows Tavares' true identity is, of all places, Rhode Island. My goodness is that embarrassing.

Frankly, I don't know if that says more about the popularity of hockey in the U.S., or Soccer.

Of course, ESPN's readers/viewers might have a better understanding of what sport Tavares plays, and the high level he's capable of playing it at, if the self proclaimed world wide leader in sports actually spent some time covering the NHL (and the draft) as opposed to what Kevin Love is twittering (or tweeting?) about his team's draft picks, or the most recent time Brett Favre changed his mind about something.

Just a thought.