Jeremy: Love to Hate

I was listening to ESPN Radio this morning and the guy hosting the show (I have no idea who is was and I can't seem to figure it out) was discussing an interesting topic that I thought I'd take a stab at. He was talking about people in sports, that for one reason or another, people hate. Athletes, owners, commissioners, referees, etc. It's not something we think about often, but we know the people that strike a negative chord with us, no matter the reason. (Hate is a strong word, and my Mom told me I should never use it to describe another person... sorry Mom... for the sake of dramatics I'll continue to use it.)I thought, for my own enjoyment, I'd list my favorite sports personalities to hate and why, in no particular order.

*George Steinbrenner - I'm sure I've said this before, but in my opinion the Yankees represent everything that is wrong in sports, and Steinbrenner is the grand marshall of that parade. He's willing to pay ridiculous amounts of money for any player he wants, because he knows that he's going to make twice that amount off of t.v. and jersey revenue. I don't know what's worse, the fact that he'll pay those salaries or that the players keep showing a quick willingness to accept them. I'll give Steinbrenner one thing: the system allows him to run his team the way that he does, and he does it better than anyone else... that doesn't mean we have to like him.

*Kobe Bryant - I never liked him. I never liked the comparisons to KG, I never liked his smug swagger, I never liked his "me first" attitude, and I never liked that he had so much trouble with Shaq. Kobe has multiple rings, and he would never have gotten any of them without The Diesel in the post. He has always carried himself like he believed he was above everything going on around him, and he proved it with his extra-marital activities in Colorado awhile back. Unfortunately for the Kobe haters he's one of the top 3 players in the game right now and if you like scorers, there's nobody who is more fun to watch.

*Bobby Knight - I would call this a bit of a love/hate for me. I hate Knight because, like Kobe, I think he feels like he's above the law. But having said that... I'd love to see him coaching my team. He's a throw-back, as task-master and a teacher. No matter what you think of him as a person (which might be not much) he's still a great college basketball coach.

*Bud Selig - My opinion that baseball is the most screwed up professional sport is well-documented. I wouldn't say that I blame Bud Selig for that, but I would certainly blame him for being seemingly unwilling to do anything to make it better. I understand that the players union would have a fit if Selig tried to introduce a salary cap, but how does Selig not see that this would be the best way to save the competitiveness of the game? Instead of getting a handle one how much money the owners are paying the players Selig talks about contracting teams that aren't doing well financially. And how can he expect all of these teams to do well financially when the playing field is not level?

*Terrell Owens - If there's anyone is sports who seems like he wants to be hated, it's Owens. T.O. is the poster-child for the entitled athlete, for the players who think they always deserve something more for what they do on the field, no matter what they already have. Unfortunately he's also one of the top 5 most dangerous offensive weapons in the game. If the guy never played another down in the NFL I don't know if anyone would miss him, but behind Barry Sanders and Bo Jackson he would be number two on the list of "What if..." NFL players. I can dream can't I?

*Sean Salisbury - Let's get something strait: this guy played quarterback for the Vikings in the early 90's... EVERYBODY played quarterback for the Vikings in the early 90's. His accolades as a player have nothing to do with his prowess as an analyst, and nothing to do with my feelings about him. As an analyst he is annoying, he is over-bearing, he is rude, he is a know-it-all, and the sound of his voice makes me cringe.

*Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Johnny Damon, Randy Johnson... you get the idea - anybody who cut their teeth with a MLB team and then sold their soul to the devil himself to be overpaid by the Yankees deserves to be sucker-punched in the stomach. Okay, okay, I get it, all together now: IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY! I don't care. It sucks. It makes me sick, and I will never, ever, be okay with it.

*Iowa Hawkeye fans - Once, in Iowa City for a Gopher football game against the Hawkeyes, I literally feared for my life. I am not even joking about this. I really thought that if things continued to get out of hand I might not make it out of Kinnick Stadium alive. Hawkeye fans are rabid (which isn't, in and of itself, necessarily a bad thing) to the point of being rude, and being jerks. They take all of the fun out of friendly trash-talking. Usually while tailgating at Gopher games I like to rib the opposing fans a bit, and usually everyone has a good time with it, but I won't even talk to the Hawkeye fans. There's a chant we love: "WHO HATES IOWA??? . . . WE HATE IOWA!!!" I think for many Gopher fans it's not so much a chant as it is a way of life.

That was fun... this might not be the last you hear of this topic... Jeffrick, you got anything?