[pepsionice]

I hate to say this about Barkley, but in terms of celebrity status....at best, he’s a ‘4’ on a scale of one to ten.

If you follow basketball...you might know of him. Beyond that, I’d say that about 60-percent of Alabamians absolutely know nothing of the guy. Maybe 20-percent will say he’s a sports figure but suggest that it’s major league baseball or NFL action. Beyond that, I doubt if you can find more than 3-percent of the adults in the state who value his opinion on something beyond basketball.

[chiller]

Actually, Charles does have some cache in Alabama. In a state that has no major professional sports, college athletes are tops. In fact, they just unveiled a statue of Barkley outside the Jurden-Hare field before the Alabama game 2 weeks ago.

He's a bit of a legend, at least with 1/2 the state. Perhaps reviled by the other 1/2.

I will wager, however, that he's converted zero potential Moore voters to the other side.