Mr. Stringer: I just love athletes who when the stage is big, somehow outperform. I watched Matsui's first appearance at Yankee Stadium and he hit a home run. I looked at him and thought, This man has the sense of occasion. And I was at the World Series when he hit those home runs. He's become a beloved figure in New York. Maybe there are people with better statistics, but I love it when an athlete crosses over into the local psyche of the crowd and becomes a folk hero.
Yao MingStephon Marbury, formerly of the NBA, now of the Chinese Basketball Association, taps Yao Ming, who traveled the other way. Speaking strictly, he's certainly Asia's biggest sports star, at 2.3 meters tall. His outsize appeal may be measured by the international brands embracing him: He's had deals with both Reebok and Nike and both Pepsi and Coke, not to mention McDonald's. And of the 639 athletes on China's 2008 Olympic team, Mr. Yao was the one to carry the flag in the opening ceremony.
Mr. Marbury: I think Yao is the most influential basketball player in Asia, because he paved the way for every athlete to become globally recognized. It's great when you're 7 feet 6 and you don't have to jump to dunk a basketball. It makes the game that much easier on the court and off the court.
這篇文章短而有趣，究竟誰是亞洲最偉大的運動員？華爾街週末雜誌(Weekend Journal)訪問五個名人粉絲，從粉絲的角度來談談他們心中的偶像。文章標題是Extra Stellar，stellar是恆星的意思，用extra stellar是因為談到最偉大的運動員，人們心裡浮現的多半是西方臉孔。
曼尼 帕奎奧(Manny Pacquiao)－unwavering confidence
菲律賓Ring 雜誌的記者泰德雷納(Ted Lerner)認為是曼尼 帕奎奧(Manny Pacquiao)。一個憑著堅忍信心從赤貧中脫身的菲律賓拳擊冠軍。受訪者用了兩個不同的字形容其堅毅性格，unwavering confidence是堅忍信心，tenacity，這是不屈不撓。
除此之外，曼尼真是不可思議，他身兼數職，除了拳擊手，既是歌星又是國會議員。（On top of this, he lives an incredible life, always doing 10 things at once….. ）
on top of 也是老外的口頭禪之一。相當於中文裡的，除此之外，或更重要的是….
例如：We missed the bus, and on top of that it started raining. 我們錯過公車，更糟的是，開始下雨了。
松井秀喜(Hideki Matsui)－sense of occasion
索尼的CEO 史川傑（Howard Stringer）選擇松井秀喜，說他有很強的時機感，他用”has the sense of occasion”──松井秀喜永遠知道，什麼時候應該來一個全壘打（home run）。sense of occasion指人對重要氛圍的感知能力（a feeling that a time or event is special or important）。例如：
His performance was totally lacking in any sense of occasion.（他的表現完全缺乏臨場的應變能力）。
姚明 (Yao Ming)
史帝芬 馬布里(Stephon Marbury)前NBA球員，說姚明亞洲最大的體育明星，身高2.3米，替許多知名的世界品牌代言。替亞洲選手躍上國際舞台開了一條路。而且7尺6的大塊頭，不須跳起來灌藍 (you don't have to jump to dunk a basketball.) 。dunk原意是浸泡的意思，在食用前先浸泡在湯或咖啡中以軟化食物，如：He dunks a piece of bread in the soup.。在籃球術語，表示灌籃等同於slam dunk，如: He dunked the ball.
亞洲其他的重要國家如印度與南韓也有粉絲力挺心目中的偶像。印度未來集團(Future Group)創始人和集團總裁阿迪Biyani，選擇他的同胞板球明星欽泰杜爾卡(Sachin Tendulkar)。首爾市長吳世勳選擇的是今年冬季奧運女子花式溜冰冠軍金妍兒(Kim Yu-na)。