We love sports cliches. Those wonderful little pearls of wit and brilliance that seem to be relied upon more and more these days by commentators and on-air personalities who couldn't complete a grammatically-correct sentence without the assistance of a teleprompter.
One of my personal favorites? "He's one of those guys...you hate him if you're playing against him...you love him if he's on your team." And while the frequency with which this one is uttered pains is, we do actually kinda-sort-of get the sentiment.
For instance, take Jeremy Shockey, the somewhat divisive tight end recently shipped to New Orleans by the G-Men. He is one of those guys. Personally (even as a Jets fan), I always liked the way Shockey played. Sure, he was a bit out-of-control at times. Yes, he cost his team more than once with mind-numbingly dumb penalties. But the guy was a "football player" (/cliche bell rings again, another two points form me!). He hated losing (/ding). Played hard (/ding). Left it all on the field (the trifecta!). Those visions of he of tattooed arms and flowing blond locks, battling for extra yards sans helmet? You gotta love that if the dude's on your team. Right? Have to.
I could also see how fans of opposing teams could pointedly target their hatred squarely at #80 -- strangely for what were likely similar reasons with just a different spin. Cocky. Loud-mouthed. Whiny. SO, where are we going with all of this? Love-hate players. Who are they? Not those guys who we just hate-hate. Not Clemens or Bonds or Chris Simon or Kobe Bryant. Not the players who are just universally abhorred (with our wholehearted support, mind you).
No, these are the ones you "love if they're on your team, but hate them if they're not." Give 'em to us. We know you have some thoughts, people. Alright, alright. A few thought-starters.
David Eckstein, Jon Runyan, Kyle Turley, Jeremy Shockey, Rodney Harrison, Bruce Bowen, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, oh wait, the entire San Antonio Spurs roster... Sean Avery, Julian Tavarez (in his better days), Bobby Hurley, Wojo, every scrappy white Dook point guard who you wanted to punch in the face if you weren't a Dookie fan and likely wanted to give a hug if you were, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek, Jonathan Papelbon...and a good chunk of the ole Boston Red Sox roster, Reggie Miller, Philip Rivers, Joba Chamberlain...
Who else? And don't take the easy way out and just pick the most hated. We want the guys for whom the cliche really rings true. Hit us with them in the comments.
One of my personal favorites? "He's one of those guys...you hate him if you're playing against him...you love him if he's on your team." And while the frequency with which this one is uttered pains is, we do actually kinda-sort-of get the sentiment.
For instance, take Jeremy Shockey, the somewhat divisive tight end recently shipped to New Orleans by the G-Men. He is one of those guys. Personally (even as a Jets fan), I always liked the way Shockey played. Sure, he was a bit out-of-control at times. Yes, he cost his team more than once with mind-numbingly dumb penalties. But the guy was a "football player" (/cliche bell rings again, another two points form me!). He hated losing (/ding). Played hard (/ding). Left it all on the field (the trifecta!). Those visions of he of tattooed arms and flowing blond locks, battling for extra yards sans helmet? You gotta love that if the dude's on your team. Right? Have to.
I could also see how fans of opposing teams could pointedly target their hatred squarely at #80 -- strangely for what were likely similar reasons with just a different spin. Cocky. Loud-mouthed. Whiny. SO, where are we going with all of this? Love-hate players. Who are they? Not those guys who we just hate-hate. Not Clemens or Bonds or Chris Simon or Kobe Bryant. Not the players who are just universally abhorred (with our wholehearted support, mind you).
No, these are the ones you "love if they're on your team, but hate them if they're not." Give 'em to us. We know you have some thoughts, people. Alright, alright. A few thought-starters.
David Eckstein, Jon Runyan, Kyle Turley, Jeremy Shockey, Rodney Harrison, Bruce Bowen, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, oh wait, the entire San Antonio Spurs roster... Sean Avery, Julian Tavarez (in his better days), Bobby Hurley, Wojo, every scrappy white Dook point guard who you wanted to punch in the face if you weren't a Dookie fan and likely wanted to give a hug if you were, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Varitek, Jonathan Papelbon...and a good chunk of the ole Boston Red Sox roster, Reggie Miller, Philip Rivers, Joba Chamberlain...
Who else? And don't take the easy way out and just pick the most hated. We want the guys for whom the cliche really rings true. Hit us with them in the comments.
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