Sportsman You Love To Hate

[JasonM]

17 minutes ago, Bobfoc said:

Djokovic doesn't get as much credit as I think he deserves in the media. A lot of people still talk about Federer and Nadal as the two greatest players of their era, but Djokovic has won 17 Grand Slams, only two fewer than Nadal and three fewer than Federer. The latter is six years older than Djokovic, who also has a winning record against both of them. If not for the Pandemic, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Djokovic had ended up matching Federer's total this season.

For me, a big thing that's irked me about Djokovic ha been that he's stopped Andy Murray from winning more Grand Slams. He'd probably have won them all if not for a combination of injuries and meeting Djokovic in finals.

I think Djokovic doesn't get much credit because he appeared at the tail end of the tennis boom that Nadal/Federer had been a huge part of. So whilst Djokovic has been as good, if not potentially better than those two, it has gotten a lot less exposure because tennis wasn't booming anymore.

And the aformentioned strategical play of him is phenomenal, but he's not a particularly exciting player. Nor did his rivalry with Nadal/Federer get as big as those two amongst each other. Federer came on the scene and started beating legends from before him, then when Federer seemed unstoppable a kid named Nadal came out of the woodwork to challenge his utter dominance of the tennis game.

Djokovic never really had a strong narrative through his career, and in any sport a narrative can make a huge difference in how people see you, even when in terms of wins/trophies you're probably better than the guys people pay attention to.

[FestiveJack]

I think Djokovic is the player who in a few decades time we'll look at as the best out of all of them, but he does everything in such an understated fashion that only with distance will he truly be appreciated, not only for his play on the court, but for his leadership off on the court in a number of areas regarding player well-being, equal prize money, etc etc.

[Moses Julep]

Honestly, I used to get so much schadenfreud from the misery of unlikeable players. The worst offenders were Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira. They were great players obviously but they played for Arsenal and were terrible human beings and cheats that kept diving and shithousing. I was always happy when they were miserable and one of my favourite things was Pires sulking as Wenger yanked him out early of the CL final.

I will throw in Terry’s miss in the penalty shootout and Gerrard’s slip as some of my favourite moments.

I don’t hate as many people these days. Maybe I’m just more mature or maybe I don’t have enough time >_>

[METALMAN]

David “unless it’s a knighthood fuck off” Beckham is a cunt, people who like him are dumb and repressed.

But he’s just an idiot. But he’s also like a chair or a cupboard or something. Just there. You can’t work up that much ire over a cupboard.

To be honest most sportspeople (I assume we’re allowed to look at both sexes, in spite of the title) are too bland and uninteresting to properly hate, and to properly enjoy hating. I’m trying to think of an exception and I’m struggling.

I’m not especially fond of Cristiano Ronaldo, Serena Williams, or any UFC fighter, but I’m not sure I can work up the energy or interest required to actively hate them.

A lot of the sportspeople that are hated - Diego Maradona, Kevin Pietersen, Raheem Sterling - I quite like because it amuses me how much they annoy people. Even if, like Pietersen, they can be exceptionally obnoxious.

[Jimmy]

32 minutes ago, metalman said:

David “unless it’s a knighthood fuck off” Beckham is a cunt, people who like him are dumb and repressed.

But he’s just an idiot. But he’s also like a chair or a cupboard or something. Just there. You can’t work up that much ire over a cupboard.

To be honest most sportspeople (I assume we’re allowed to look at both sexes, in spite of the title) are too bland and uninteresting to properly hate, and to properly enjoy hating. I’m trying to think of an exception and I’m struggling.

I’m not especially fond of Cristiano Ronaldo, Serena Williams, or any UFC fighter, but I’m not sure I can work up the energy or interest required to actively hate them.

A lot of the sportspeople that are hated - Diego Maradona, Kevin Pietersen, Raheem Sterling - I quite like because it amuses me how much they annoy people. Even if, like Pietersen, they can be exceptionally obnoxious.

sounds like you're just a bit jealous andy

[METALMAN]

Well the subsequent paragraph suggests I’m not really bothered either way 😕

[Rich]

19 hours ago, OctoberRaven said:

Don't care. He demolished any hope of a Strikers revival. He's dead to me forever.

You sound cross, which incidentally is something that David Beckham is excellent at.

38 minutes ago, metalman said:

Well the subsequent paragraph suggests I’m not really bothered either way 😕

I think you are

[The Buscher]

Derek Jeter is definitely in the mix.  I didn't start to hate the Yankees really until the 2000 World Series when they beat my Mets.  But living in western Connecticut, yes there are Mets fans to be found throughout but it's predominantly a Yankee town.  Yankee fans were like teflon in a way because any early or midseason struggles could be totally no-sold with "talk to me in October" and they'd win the division and play in October just like they always do.

From middle school right through college I feel like I'd rarely see anyone rocking Yankee gear until October, and that minged me off too a bit.  I've been known to throw on Mets or Giants shirts whenever, no matter how bad they're doing.  Yet they can't wear Yankee stuff during the heart of baseball season?  That's not to say they're all fair weather fans, but it represents that same level of cockiness.  They know the season doesn't really start until October.  Kinda like Pats fans viewing the regular season as a tune-up for their annual playoff trip.

But Jeter was the one that I loved to hate because he was at the forefront of those Yankee teams.  Clutch player, captain of the team, always being talked up by the media, makes a ton of money, on countless TV commercials, dated an endless roster of starlets.

Jessica Alba vs. Jessica Biel was a big debate among the guys when I was in high school.  Jeter simply dated them both.

[gunnar hendershow]

The biggest thing that annoyed me about Jeter (and it's completely not his fault) is that he was never the best player in baseball but he was for 15 years the absolute face of the game. Jeter probably should have won MVP in '98 or '99 as well as being outright robbed of it in 2006 and for much of his career he was very much in the mix with the other best players in the game. But nobody is going to rate him above Albert Pujols or (ignoring steroids) Alex Rodriguez.

And the whole Yankee fair weather fan thing wasn't as big a factor down here in Baltimore where the team was dreadful for almost all of Jeter's career and as a result the Yankee games in Baltimore became home games for them.

[MDK]

Kobe.

I love the way he rape dat bitch and and got away Scot free. He even make a Oscar for real. 

[MalaCloudy Black]

7 hours ago, B-li Manning said:

Derek Jeter is definitely in the mix.  I didn't start to hate the Yankees really until the 2000 World Series when they beat my Mets.  But living in western Connecticut, yes there are Mets fans to be found throughout but it's predominantly a Yankee town.  Yankee fans were like teflon in a way because any early or midseason struggles could be totally no-sold with "talk to me in October" and they'd win the division and play in October just like they always do.

From middle school right through college I feel like I'd rarely see anyone rocking Yankee gear until October, and that minged me off too a bit.  I've been known to throw on Mets or Giants shirts whenever, no matter how bad they're doing.  Yet they can't wear Yankee stuff during the heart of baseball season?  That's not to say they're all fair weather fans, but it represents that same level of cockiness.  They know the season doesn't really start until October.  Kinda like Pats fans viewing the regular season as a tune-up for their annual playoff trip.

But Jeter was the one that I loved to hate because he was at the forefront of those Yankee teams.  Clutch player, captain of the team, always being talked up by the media, makes a ton of money, on countless TV commercials, dated an endless roster of starlets.

Jessica Alba vs. Jessica Biel was a big debate among the guys when I was in high school.  Jeter simply dated them both.

YEAH JEETS

[gunnar hendershow]

The punchline about Jeter is that now he's a bad sports owner who no one likes.

[METALMAN]

 

8 hours ago, damsher hatfield said:

The biggest thing that annoyed me about Jeter (and it's completely not his fault) is that he was never the best player in baseball but he was for 15 years the absolute face of the game. Jeter probably should have won MVP in '98 or '99 as well as being outright robbed of it in 2006 and for much of his career he was very much in the mix with the other best players in the game. But nobody is going to rate him above Albert Pujols or (ignoring steroids) Alex Rodriguez.

Yeah, I think Jeter's the only baseballman of recent years that your average person in the UK might be able to name.

I like baseball a lot, but have never really followed it avidly because of the time difference. I remember getting a baseball game in 2000 or thereabouts and Jeter's one of the best players on it. Don't think about the sport at all and pick up another game in 2013 and he's still there! I imagine that might have been annoying. And he was in that Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett song...

[Meacon Keaton]

Jeter’s a goddamn treasure, you heathens.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Y E A H JEETS

[gunnar hendershow]

1 hour ago, Meacon say “Hi People!” said:

Jeter’s a goddamn treasure, you heathens.

I give him credit for finding ways to help the Yankees even in retirement. True company man.

[Benjamin]

Recently, LeBron, probably. Once your team is probably out of the playoffs, you just want any other team in the Eastern Conference to beat him. Probably didn’t help that the only time we met him in the finals and didn’t beat him, it was because Bosh and Allen were better clutch players at the time 

The New York Knicks, because they’re shit and it’s fun to make fun of a shit organization that hasn’t accomplished anything in over 20 years despite getting more media attention and a bigger fan base than all other 29 other teams that are better than them. What a garbage team. 

Cristiano Ronaldo during that 08-14 period, when he and Messi felt really like anything could tip the balance in their favour. That 2014 World Cup was supposed to solidify for me that Messi would get something Ronaldo never could, but stupid Germany  So I guess in a way I love to hate the German men’s national football team too.

Mat Fraser because he’s so goddamn good and nobody’s beating him anytime soon. 

It’s hard to say any MMA or other combat sports athlete, because they’re all mostly trash human beings anyway, so it’s mostly just utter disdain for them as people. The good ones I’m a fan about just probably don’t have anything revealed yet that is just shitty about them. I guess maybe Fedor because I was always on Nog’s side? But then Fedor and Nog have turned out to not be so great people anyway. 

[MDK]

1 hour ago, Benjamin said:

LeBron

And because he was a rapist 

[Benjamin]

19 minutes ago, MDK said:

And because he was a rapist 

Wrong basket guy, LeBron's the one who cares more about how many Nike shoes he sells than whether human beings get murdered.

[MDK]

3 minutes ago, Benjamin said:

Wrong basket guy, LeBron's the one who cares more about how many Nike shoes he sells than whether human beings get murdered.

Quite