NBA Trade Rumors: Should the Cavaliers Be Players?
February 3, 2010Browns News: Dawn Aponte Officially “Traded”
February 3, 2010This might be the most obvious post I ever write. Then again, I think it might be time to really talk about this a little bit. With all the problems that the Wizards have today with Gilbert Arenas and the fact that their “big three” of Arenas, Jamison and Butler have failed to materialize as a force to be reckoned with in the NBA, there seems to be a lot of sniping at LeBron James. Yes, there is a history between the teams in the playoffs and the situation with LeBron and DeShawn Stevenson. Some of the reason that the Wizards never got over the hump is because LeBron is just that good. Then again, I don’t think we ever truly saw this Wizards roster at its best due to injuries. Regardless, what ends up being tangible out of the whole situation in the NBA is the hate directed at LeBron James, and it isn’t just from Wizards fans. I think it is worth exploring a bit, because as Cleveland fans, we know a lot about sports hate.
Sports hate isn’t truly hate, for the record. When I say I hate someone in the sports world it isn’t meant to be as ugly as if I hated my neighbor who I know and could potentially interact with. So let’s get that out of the way first. I can’t stand Braylon Edwards, but if he was trapped under a wrecked car, I would certainly do everything I could to try and help him. In that respect sports hate is far from real hate in my opinion.
That being said, as a Cleveland fan, I know all about sports hate. I hate Bill Belichick because he cut Bernie Kosar, was around when the Browns moved to Baltimore and then inexplicably became the greatest coach of the last decade. I hate Michael Jordan because he single-handedly ruined the championship chances for the best Cavs teams in franchise history up until the LeBron era.
If you look at both those scenarios though one of the common elements of sports hate is jealousy or resentment of success. Even this weekend with the Superbowl, I am sure a lot of people out there will be rooting for the Saints in part because they think Peyton Manning is over-exposed or they hate him. Let me be the first to tell you though. I hate Ben Roethlisberger because he plays for the Steelers. I have even argued in the past that I think he might be a bit overrated. Guess who I would love and defend “Big Ben” to the last inch if he played for the Browns? That’s right. Ben Roethlisberger.
There have even been players that are really really great that I have said I wouldn’t want on my team even if they are the greatest ever. Ray Lewis is a name that comes to mind. At various times I might have actually said that I wouldn’t want Ray Lewis on the Browns. That is the second portion of sports hate. Irrationality is a key component.
As I said in the opening paragraph, this might be the most obvious thing I ever write. The bottom line is this. Anyone who says they hate LeBron James isn’t necessarily lying, but they are definitely irrational and probably somewhat resentful and jealous. It is a fact. Take it from someone who has sniped at Kobe Bryant in the past. I probably even sniped at Shaquille O’Neal in the past. Now he could be a key component to a championship should the Cavaliers find a way to do it this year.
So as Cleveland fans when we are out on the blogs, or reading twitter we should probably remind ourselves that, for the time being at least, we have one of those guys that is going to be the target of massive amounts of sports hate. We shouldn’t take it too seriously because all those people that say they hate LeBron would be his biggest supporter if he was on their team. Even the Wizards fans might be heard defending the crab-dribble if he had pulled that maneuver in a Wizards uniform. Well, maybe I went a little too far with that last one, but you get my point.
61 Comments
this is chess, know the difference ‘tween and king and a pawn, BLOW THE WHISTLE
When Shaq played for the lakers, he was my most “hated” sports figure. Yes, even above Kobe. Now I embrace the Diesel as one of Cleveland’s own. Perfect example of what Sports Hate is.
Craig – Fun stuff. But can we not dishonor Bill Belly with statements like “inexplicably became the greatest coach of the last decade.”
As much as I understand the sports hate, give credit where credit is due. Recognize greatness. I mean…
…the man is the best cheater the NFL has ever known.
Interesting post, especially because just yesterday a group of friends in DC sent me this article [DC Sports Bog] Where the author tries to decide if he could live with Lebron on the Wizards.
Lavar Arrington compared his coming to the Redskins as being on the same importance to DC sports as the Wizards getting LeBron. His point being that one player can’t change an a franchises fortunes.
I wanted to reach through the radio and choke the stupid out of him, but that would be like taking a few hydrogen atoms from the sun.
I hate DC sports radio, because they give guys like Latard a show.
The difference between a lot of these mentions is personality. LeBron is all around a good guy (or at the very least presents that image) and is only disliked because he’s really good. (like Peyton or BigBen, etc).
Ray Lewis watched someone be murdered. Kobe has always been aloof, even discounting the Colorado “incident”. Bellick had a terrible personality, and ran OUR team down before reinventing himself elsewhere. These are quantifiable events.
@4, lol
In the infamous words of Arnold Schwarzenegger… “Why would I listen to losers?”
People have to have a natural enemy, I go to Wizards games and half of the fans are rooting for LeBron. Truth is people will always have to be anti-something. They force their anger on LeBron because they have a horrible team to root for. Every game LeBron comes to the Verizon center is sold out Tickets are through the roof… you can’t even get a scalper to sell you one.
The haters need LeBron. No him, they would be at home.
I hope Sarah Palin doesn’t read this blog.
/Rahm Emanuel’d
I used to hate Ben Wallace, but ever since he played for us i love him. It’s funny how this works out, one of my best friends is a Heat fan and hates on LeBron all the time, however he admits that it’s really just because he is jealous of how good he is
My wife summed this up well a couple of weeks ago while watching UF-Cincy. We spent four straight hours making Tebow jokes with the volume down, because at that point, he was number one on my sports hate list. My wife asked why I despise him so, and my answer was that I hate the way he is slurped by announcers and fans alike. Its constant. If not for his crappy showing at the senior bowl, we’d of had to listen to it for another three months. Her response is that it is exactly the same for LeBron, and after I opened my mouth to refute her, I shut it again because she is/was right. As much as I hate the too good to be true athlete, who is arguably one of the best to ever play, has a smokin hot girlfriend he doesn’t have relations with, and is absolutely slurped for four hours everytime he is on TV, if I wasn’t a Cavs fan, I’d probably feel the same about LeBron, as he meets three of the four criteria I just set. But being a Cavs fan, I block out all that other stuff and choose to focus on the awesomeness.
I used to love CC Sabathia, and now, he is in my top 5 most hated Cleveland sports figures of all-time. No, not because he left for $. But because of his comments at the Garden…
I used to hate Larry Hughes when he played for the Wizards, and now…oh, wait.
Summit – Hahah.. Thanks for that. YES I SOMETIMES WONDER IF I COULD LIVE WITH A-ROD PLAYING FOR THE TRIBE OR PEYTON MANNING PLAYING FOR THE BROWNS, IT WOULD BE OH SO DIFFICULT.
To me, there’s a difference between hating someone and finding pleasure in their failure.
The only sports-related person I hate is Art Model.
Relish that schadenfreude, Scott!
Barkley out of USC is on my pre-hate list. WHY CAN’T HE STOP SMILING?
@6/Swig: Don’t completely agree that the only reason LeBron is hated is because he is good. Not that it’s rational, but there are things that can lead to fan resentment that is in the control of the player, like a perceived cocky attitude.
Cal Ripken’s image was all over the place 10 years ago, and Derek Jeter’s is now, but they carry themselves so humbly that it’s hard to hate them. But imagine that you are an opposing fan watching LeBron dance in a blow out, or throw his messianic powder in your own arena, or watch as his fans chant “MVP” while he’s at the foul line at the end of the game and you see him nodding along with the chant (yes, he did, just a few weeks ago). There is a natural inclination in this country to try to knock someone perceived as less than humble down a peg. (But I don’t get it w/Roethlisberger just because he’s a Steeler, he didn’t choose himself in the draft). We love LeBron not only because of the skill but also the unselfish qualities, etc. I’m just saying, cockiness can grate, even if it’s warranted.
@DCBucks…I waited on Lavar when I was in college in the DC area…fine dining restaurant, he ordered a corona with grenadine in it! Then tipped me almost $5 on a $120 tab.
I hate Latard!
And DC sportstalk is awful…John Thompson is unbearable to listen to, the sports junkies were solid back in when they were evenings on JFK.
jack made the mistake of talking sports with a lady.
I know 3 guys who hate LeBron just because of his style of play–the perimeter Shaq. Because his game isn’t as aesthetically pleasing as other stars, which it isn’t.
He also whines like a ’72 Bordeaux.
The “WAAAAOOOHHH!” shout with hands turned up accompanied by the petulant child strut is reason enough to hate as well.
Harv CLEARLY YOU DO NOT LIVE IN CLEVELAND NOBODY THAT LIVES THERE WOULD THINK LIKE THAT ONLY JERKS FROM DC LIKE… ME!
Doc Walker on DC radio is great though. He does a good job telling it like it is, not just taking sides to take sides all those other guys the other guys on DC ESPN 980 suck. They blame LeBron for their own horrendous team play.
DEATH TO THE WOMAN HOLDING THE T-SHIRT. OFF WITH HER HEAD!
DC sports talk radio discussion on a Cleveland sports blog site is unpossible.
I understand the LBJ hate, I still hate Jordan for the fact he was on the bulls and beat the Cavs all the time. However, him and LBJ are pretty arrogant people, with reason, but i dont think either have ever had any humble pie (bill belly ref.)
How can ppl hate on Peyton?? Goofy hillbilly that makes funny commercials and says even funnier things while playing, when it gets picked up.
Maybe im too much of a browns fans, but what about trading Lebron for danny granger and peyton from indy? It would be nice for the Cavs to win one, but it would life-changing religious experience if the Browns ever GOT to the superbowl.
I want to have a cage match with Smokin Al Koken!
jack: Sports hate for Tebow is on an entirely different plane of hatred than for LBJ or any other athlete that’s “just really good” or “is constantly slurped by announcers” in my opinion. The kid has been made out to be otherworldly, and I don’t just mean in the “Wow, what an athlete” sense. I’m talking about the fact that he is practically a religious icon, that his fans border on worshippers, and that the accolades are SO bombastic and yet SO persistent–Exhibit “A”: http://tinyurl.com/9z3h9o –that it completely overshadows any true talent the kid might have. Throw in the fact that he now wants to preach to us all on Super Bowl Sunday, and I am not simply tired of Tim Tebow, the overrated athlete on the field, but disgusted with St. Timothy of Gainesville—the Second Coming himself–as a person. And people can argue he’s just riding the media wave created around him, but I disagree: if he wasn’t loving every overblown second of it all, he could come out and say so. There’s pretending to be humble and actually being humble. LBJ may get lots of hype, but not to the point that people are acting like simply meeting the guy will alter your life’s path forever.
Kunal: I’m with you on being a reformed Ben Wallace hater
And at least we can all agree Belichick is a jackhole, and that true venom should be reserved for Art Modell.
whats that logo right above the crybaby on the t-shirt? is that papa johns? sure looks like it. well i guess i need a new place to get pizza once a week
I’ve decided to just start hating myself since I keep coming back for more punishment, sport after sport, year after year. That being said, the Cavs Rulz! 2010 NBA Champions!
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/05/papa_johns_crybaby_tshirts_aim.html
yep forgot about this
@ Anthony – to borrow from Kevin Garnett – “NOTHING IS UNPOSSIBBBBLLLLLEEE!!!!” #KGIsNotAnArmGecko
Hate is such a strong word! Anyways I’m not big on the whole hate thing especially when it comes to sports because lets face it a majority of fans are fairweather and even worse uneducated when it comes to what they are watching it’s more about the group/pack mentality more then anything. When I was younger I was into all of this being a complete homer now I just appreciate sports for what they are and that is a distraction from the real world. Unfortunately reality has put sports in it’s place for me so I have a different perspective. I know one thing sports and especially it’s coverage has deteriorated and much of it can be traced back to the development of the Internet. This has allowed those same fairweather and uneducated fans to portray themselves as sports journalists and spout off saying whatever they desire.
@26 Adam yep they sponsored that t-shirt giveway back during that series. Isn’t KARMA great? All those Wizards fans I really feel sorry for you – not!
@30. So what you’re saying is we should all blame Al Gore for bloggers that hate sports.
@Alex: You’re too much of a Browns fan if that’s really how you feel about it. If you’d really rather the Browns just GET to a Super Bowl than another Cleveland team winning a championship, I’m going to start hating you.
@Denny: I know not of this #KGIsNotAnArmGecko business, but BOS better hope that he can regenerate his knees.
And on that topic, I hate Kevin Garnett as much as he loves headbutting the b-ball hoop. Hint: That’s a lot.
I hate Kobe 10% because of Kobe and 90% because I can’t stand Kobe fans and their complete and utter disdain for reality, facts, and civility.
So, yeah, i have sports hate, but not because of anything Kobe has ever done on the court. I guess I have reactionary fan hate?
i’m too lazy to click on the link, but didn’t papa johns end up giving away $1 pizzas in Cleveland after that?
When Lebron leaves Cleveland, this article needs to be posted and referenced.
@Anthony – read this. I think it will explain a lot. Or nothing. This is what happens when people use twitter.
I HATE JPS3!!
“I can’t stand Braylon Edwards, but if he was trapped under a wrecked car, I would certainly do everything I could to try and help him.”
If Jose Mesa was trapped under a wrecked car, I might just open the trunk and start adding rocks, just to make sure he never got out from under there.
/not really
//yeah, really
The reasons I hear most for why someone hates Lebron is because “he whines over every call he doesn’t get” (okay, yeah, he’s been way more vocal lately, annoys me too), and for his slightly cocky-esque statements, like last year’s “They tryin’ to Hack Lebron”, which made him sound like he was speaking of himself in 3rd person. I think that was taken out of context tho.. I think he was trying to quote the other team.. but I could be wrong. Or maybe sporting that MVP shirt? Uh yeah, dude, we get it. I can kinda see these reasons, but compared to others, Lebron is a class act.
The #1 reason, IMO, is people are SICK AND TIRED of him. Like Jack said, sports fans (outside of CLE) are sick of hearing announcers kiss his behind. Reporters and sports writers make up entire articles about lame questions they make him answer… like, oh, “would you play for the Browns?”… then, to the outsider, it sounds like Lebron made this pretentious statement that he wants to play for the browns now. When all he did was answer a question in a PC way. Like he’s gonna say “no”, we all know he used to play football too.
That said, I tend to try to give credit where it’s due. I respect talent, and will attempt to separate talent from personality. If I “hate” an athlete, it’s because I have seen/heard/read him do something totally asinine. T.O. was/is an amazing athlete, but the dude is CRAZY. Sheed pisses me off, but he’s pretty decent (or was, in his prime). Kobe, too. Manny is a moron, but yeah.. I liked him as an Indian, sure! (of course, that was before Manny became “Manny”). Modell, Bill, Boozer, now these guys are different.. they left a personal scar on the franchise, the city. They are deserving of “sports hate”.
Oderint dum metuant: Latin, which translates to: “Let them hate, provided they fear.” Pretty much the same concept here. I’m awesome, so say what you want, but in the end I still crush you. It’s kind of flattering, really.
@Denny: Mind=blown. Day=made. And I’d fully support KG and his headbutting if that was the result. No sports hate for Armless Kevin Garnett in a soccer jersey from me. #KGIsNotAnArmGecko for #2010ESPYsBestComebackAthlete.
/sorry for thread derailment, guys
I hope Art Model never gets trapped under a car in Ohio, he might be there a while!
i usually don’t hate teams or players, but rather team’s fanbases.
bandwagon yankee fan, pompous boston sports fan, laker fan who has an excuse every time they lose, sec fan who thinks vanderbilt could win the big ten every year
but i hate the wizards, i hate everything about them. jamison and butler seem to be the only 2 who can play basketball and keep their mouths shut for the most part. no coincidence those are 2 guys who could end up in a cavs uni.
the whining and crying, the cheap shots, the fact that they think what we have with them is a rivalry.
Art modell officially qualifies for all natural, real hate.
if he were in a life threatening situation and I were nearby I will make the judgment call that my life is always more important than is 100% of the time.
in other words I might pour fresh concrete on the car he is trapped under
Ok, I wouldnt trade Lebron for a Browns Superbowl appearance, but i would for sure trade a cavs/tribe title for a browns title, no question.
@32 DCBucks only if you believe Gore invented the Internet!
FOOBAWW TOWN
I agree that sports hate is a bite different. The number 1 reason that i would never complaine about somebody like Lebron james is the way he acts on an off the court. While i will always say the reason i hate kobey is he is a ball hog, and sure he alwas has more points then lebron but not by much plus lebron always has more assist and rebons than kobey. Lebron a crybaby??? Have you ever saw lebron breack a finger or get “fouled real hard.”Just sayin.