Afternoon Baseball

GQ's Ten Most Hated Athletes

Some great comments, including a mention of GQ's list.
Lots more to read...
To jump back to ESPN.com's poll for a second, Bum expands upon my saying that Bonds will be hated more in the long-term than Terrell Owens.

"He whines about not being appreciated, being underpaid and not being surrounded by good enough talent. I hear that all the time, the only difference is we pay more attention here becuase Owens is an awesome player while the majority of those who complain are not as good as they think they are."

Absolutely true. McNabb and Manning, to name two, whine and bitch just as much, but they do it in more subtle and outwardly respectful ways. And less disruptive ways, arguably.

Bum's also right in that Ron Artest is a child. But of course, that's the likely route when you have no education and have everything handed to you, no matter what you do for a living. Actually, it's the having everything handed to you part that might cause more of the infantile behavior. Rich spoiled inheritence kids, rich spoiled ballers from the street. Not much difference. Mike's comment below alludes to the difficulty in truly hating Artest.

Mike's comments are pretty funny, with good points:

Just to let you know this discussion actually started with an article that GQ wrote (albeit a terrible one) that listed the top 10 most hated athletes. I sent the link to your IM. Personally, I could care less, but if I had to vote it would be for Schilling or Owens. The two of them intentionally try to annoy everyone. Artest clearly has mental issues so it's almost wrong to choose him and a vote for Bodie Miller is so irrelevant it would be like voting for Nader.

The GQ article is lacking. Here's why. They base a lot of the hatred on guys who just don't happen to have friends in the sport they play. That's often a good indicator, but hardly the only one. Also, they tend to lump ultra-competitiveness in as the same as being an asshole. Maybe that's true. But in another light, that's also called "killer instinct." Some people can lead only by their performance on the field.

Key examples: Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Sure, both think too highly of themseslves and surely have been allowed too much power by managers and management throughout their career. But look at their success and the success of the teams they've been on. No one questions their ability on the field or their preparation, with few exceptions. So while people may not like socializing with them, or think they're jerks, that's not the same as hatred. Unless it's jealous hatred.
Johnson, for instance, does dictate too much about the defense and catcher behind him. Easy fix -- don't let him. He's never been a troublemaker, and there's no reason for him to start now. He's just used to getting his way without a peep.
As for Schilling...you can say he's overrated to those who put him in the Hall of Fame. Otherwise, I just don't think he's overrated. Often injured, yes. Anyways, the worst some anonymous guy can come up with is: "“I’d say a large percentage of them like [Schilling] — every fifth day. He wears on people.” So, he could be talking about Pedro, Randy, or even a younger Clemens. There's lots of nice guys that can't deliver every fifth day.
And let's not even bring up Pedro Gomez. "Consumate table for one"? This from the man whose stated job is to [deleted] Barry Bonds. You can imagine what verbs I might use.

Even the anecdote about the fake blood on the sock isn't original -- Skip Bayless, of all people, mentioned this months ago. Stealing ideas from him is like stealing wardrobe from Woody Paige.

Pierzynski and Leyton Hewitt, on the other hand, are good examples. Nobody really wants A.J. for a teammate, and if I didn't think the Angels were a bunch of arrogant posers, I would have hated how everyone rewarded him this postseason for dirty play. Hewitt gets booed in the super-generous nation of Australia. Bonzi Wells is an interesting darkhorse pick, although you could probably pick 50 or 60 other current or ex-NBAers (Isiah Rider, anyone?).

I can see how people wouldn't like Phil Mickelson, and his insecurity (and A-Rod's) is blatantly obvious, especially when he's around Tiger (any scene from 2004-05 with celebrating will show how A-Rod has no idea how to react, and kind of alternates between over-excitement and freezing like a statue, looking around for something/someone to bail him out). But hatred? I'd think people almost feel more sorry for the bastards.

The rest of the picks I either don't get (the fisherman?) or are about right. But GQ could have done better, for sure.