Compared to last year when the likes of Cloutier, Greenstein, Chan, Brunson, Seidel and co all took down bracelets, this year seems to be the year of the 'unknown' player. I kinda find his a shame. I always route for the 'name' player, mainly because it shows that this game doesn't just revolve around luck, even if they do only start with a thousand or two in chips. Of course, all that assumes that the 'name' players are indeed the better players.
Hmm, food for thought.
With Rafe Furst, Dutch Boyd, David Williams, Sam Farha, Max Pescatori, Lee Watkinson, Chip Reese and David Pham winning bracelets already this year, there have certainly been some high-profile winners. We've also had Allen Cunningham and Eric Froehlich winning bracelets in both 2005 and 2006.
I agree though, they're not as famous to the casual poker viewer as some of last year's bracelet winners, i.e.: Ivey and the ones you mentioned above.