I don't think it's the sport or the athlete that people idolize so much as the obscene amount of MONEY professional athletes are paid.
Every armchair athlete dreams of being the 10 million dollar man out on that field/ice rink. It's the riches and fame that people look up to. .
well, a lot of it's the money, but not all of it... maybe the fame.
i say that b/c young kids - 3 yr olds, 8 yr olds... usually don't really grasp the money thing but they still dream of being American Football Stars. i grew up in Dallas and from about age 3-8 my "dream" was to be a Dallas Cowboys footbal player -- somewhere around 8-10 it changed and i just wanted to be an alpine skiier... (which sucked b/c i lived in Texas)
i hardly even knew that cycling or xcountry skiing were sports until i was about 20 year old!
i don't know... maybe the money makes the parents interested, and then the kids idolize the players their parents do... but then basketball is in general more popular with kids than adults...