It's almost the best way to judge success in sports these days, by gauging the level of loathing directed at any particular player, team, program or organization.
It's no surprise, then, that Sports Illustrated's list of the 25 Most Hated Teams of All Time reads mostly like a who's who of team sports success.
If that same line of reasoning applies to sports-related lists, then this must be a wildly successful one. Because I hate it.
Not the list itself, actually, just certain elements of it. There's no way to truly measure something as subjective as dislike, so you can just as easily say there's absolutely nothing wrong with this list.
But if you're going to criticize it -- and isn't that what makes lists like these entertaining at all is providing your own perspective -- it essentially breaks down into three categories: 1) Problems with the order of the list.
2) Problems with a team that's included in the list at all.
3) Obvious omissions from the list.
It's fair to say Miami took something of a beating on this list, with the Hurricanes included not just at the top of the list but a second time, the current Heat showing up to round out the list, the eminently likable Dwyane Wade showing up a second time with the 2004 U.S. Olympic squad at No. 20 and a couple more Miami sports fixtures, Jimmy Johnson and Michael Irvin, showing up with the Cowboys at No. 3 on the list.
KID STUFF
So it's probably a natural reaction to be defensive about it as a South Floridian. But even taking that instinct out of the equation, the 1986 Hurricanes are hardly worthy of being the most despised team in the history of games.
No, sportsmanship was not their thing, to put it mildly, and rocking military fatigues before a national championship game against Penn State was not only an affront to niceness but it also inappropriately muddled the line between sports and actual combat.
But these were also kids. Kids with lenient coaches in this respect, sure, but kids nonetheless who aren't supposed to know how to act when they're thrust in the middle of the sports limelight for no other reason than they are great at their game of choice.
Bragging came naturally, and no one was there to stop them.
And yes, there may have been some legal issues with that team, but no more than any of the issues that most major college programs face when they're experiencing a similar level of success.
It's bad enough that a group of amateur college students tops the list of most hated, but to separate them as, by far, the most hated group of amateurs ever is a tad over the top. How different was the 1989-90 UNLV basketball team, a group that dominated the sport while essentially laughing at rules and even being photographed living it up with a convict known as ``Richie the Fixer'' Perry?
Apparently quite different because there were seven teams between them. No, the Hurricanes don't deserve the top ranking (they didn't even win the championship, for crying out loud!), and the Bad Boy Pistons don't deserve to be No. 2. Their worst crimes were playing physical basketball in an era when it was allowed, playing up to a cool nickname and delaying Michael Jordan's trip to the top of the basketball world.
There were any number of teams that could have topped that list other than those two, like the 2007 Patriots, arguably the most aggravating, pompous, disappointing band of cheaters football has ever seen.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment