The Sports Headquarters

Hating is not something you are born with. It’s not something that comes naturally. Much like Tom Brady’s kids will likely never be the NFL star their father is/was, this was something I had to accomplish on my own. My father is a rather neutral sports fan. Loves his Boston teams, and well, hates our natural rivals but he’s nowhere near the hater I am. No you see, this is something I developed over YEARS of practice and effort. Maybe it wasn’t crunches or weightlifting, but don’t undersell the effort I put in to get to this level. Some of these guys just come automatically, meaning if someone out there likes them, they’re vastly in the minority. Some I went the extra mile on and you’ll say “Really?”. Is it enjoyable? Sometimes. Watching these guys fail is almost like a 2nd Christmas, or a championship for your own team. Watching them succeed? It can be painful and leave a bitter taste in your mouth. But it’s the life I live as a “Hater” and I embrace the good that comes with the bad. So, much like not everybody can be a professional athlete, not everyone has the ability to work to this point. I’ve been able to compile a list of players/coaches/specific teams, etc. that over the years have worked their way onto my list.

Now how will I separate them? Well, I’ve come up with 4 categories that I think will do a good job of classifying my hate. You see there really is no 1., 2., 3., etc. to this list. Ranking them individually would be far too difficult. This list is constantly moving. Some people in and out, others up and down. But I think I’ve been able to pin-down exactly which guys belong where. I’ll do my best to classify guys in the group that they won’t move from.

Here’s the 4 groups that will be used:

“The In-and-Outs”: These are the people in sports who I’m off and on about my hate with. “How does that make sense?” Great question. Well, sometimes over time I begin to realize I don’t hate you like I thought I did. Maybe I jumped the gun to quick. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention to some of your flaws. Past examples include Brett Favre and Tim TeBow. I HATED Favre in his early years in GB when he was in his prime. Why? I don’t know. I was like 10 and just couldn’t stand him. As he entered the last few years of his career, I loosened up to him. In his last few years in GB, I enjoyed his on-again, off-again retirements. Then he went to the Jets and naturally I disliked him on any NY team. Arrives in Minnesota and I found myself as a huge supporter of him. Tim TeBow as a freshman playing 5-10 plays a game and jumping around doing the Gator chomp made me hate him. But by his Junior season as I got to see him more, and hear him in interviews, I realized I jumped the gun. So guys in this group are constantly changing.

“The Flies”: These are the people in sports who just annoy me. You’ll never be an “In-and-Out” because you’ll almost always irritate me. Much like a fly that is buzzing and you can’t get it to go away, these athletes may not even be that relevant, yet something about them will always annoy me. End of the day though, I’m not thinking about them. If my team isn’t playing them, or I’m not watching them, then I don’t bother with them. But as soon as they pop up on the TV, I’m reminded why I hate them.

“The Historical Hates”: These are the people who are a flash in history. Like the In-and-Outs, these people aren’t constantly on my mind, but history has cemented their place in this group. They’ll never be hated any less. They’re basically frozen here. This group is most reserved for individual teams, or people who screwed up. It’s VERY RARE for you to get out of this group. Only chance you could is if you are an active athlete still playing and have the chance to redeem yourself somehow. Otherwise, enjoy your seat.

“The Hall of Hate”: The class of all hate. The elite. I wouldn’t give them the decency of peeing on them if they were on fire. My hate for these people is so strong, so passionate, I enjoy their failures maybe more than my own team’s successes. Their success, its pretty tough to take. Until they retire and even after, they’ll never free themselves of my hate. I love debating their overrated-ness, and more often than not, that is what spurs my hate. People overpraising them. They are the very good players pushed to elite status. They are the elite falsely called the best ever. Given the choice of them or Bid Laden….it’s a coin-flip.

My Hated Athletes: (As more come to mind, they will be added in).

The Ins-and-Outs:

James Harrison, LB Steelers- Just a thug. His clean to dirty hits ratio is lopsided. I love it when Goodell fines his cheap-hitting self. Frankly, I don’t even think he’s that great of a LB, but on the Steelers defense, it’s easy to stand out. When the Steelers aren’t successful though, he doesn’t bother me as much. I wouldn’t put him in the Flies group because he’s more just dirty than annoying. So as long as his team is losing games and not benefiting from his cheapness, then I don’t waste my time with him.

Justine Henin, women’s tennis player- She’s not consistent enough to be a fly, but that’s more the type of reason I dislike her. She also has beaten my girls quite a bit. I’m Pro-Williams sisters. I’ve never minded Clijsters. Have pulled for Sharapova at times. My new girl I pull for is Wozniacki or however you spell her name. Yet, Henin had her runs where she just regularly beat these players. She looks like a dude, and frankly, plays like one too. Constantly pulling shots out of her rear that had me gritting my teeth.

Mariano Rivera, closer Yankees- He certainly could be in the historical section for his history of dominance closing games for the hated Yankees. But in a strange way I respect him. When he tipped his cap and saluted the Red Sox faithful when they mockingly cheered him on introductions in 05′ after the 04′ WS when we rallied twice off him, that significantly raised my respect of him. Not many guys could take that in stride. Still, his history of closing WS titles for NY and the endless times I’ve had to watch him beat the Sox, there’s no way I can’t include him on my in-and-out list.

Phil Helmuth, pro poker player- Damn right Poker Players are athletes in my book. Listen anyone who has to focus on winning for that long of a period, put that much practice in, and overcome the large field sizes (opponents) that they do, is an athlete in my mind. Helmuth really is just a douche. All there is to it. I’m not sure he’s ever been outplayed. He just berates opponents which admittedly are great to listen to, but dude, shutup. If I remember correctly, unless it’s changed since, he only has WSOP bracelets in Hold’Em. While all these other guys win multiple games, he only succeeds at one. Step up your game son.

Tony Dungy, former NFL HC for TB and IND- I feel like I’m going to go to hell for this one. Like really, how do you hate Dungy? It’s almost unreasonable. But him in Indy just always annoyed me. Always came off as whiny to me whether it was “Pats DB’s are too physical”, or one year when he and Polian cried about having a road game on a Sunday, a week after playing a road game on MNF, saying it was “a lot harder”, going so far as to research it. Their opponent in that 2nd road game, the Carolina Panthers. Dungy, just suck it up and play it. I will say though in 2005, when the Colts lost their first game to the Steelers (when Ben made saving tackle) only a month or something after his son committed suicide, I actually was pulling for them to win that game and the look on Dungy’s face when Vanderjagt missed even hit home for me. Felt real bad for the guy. And that’s as you’ll learn later, that feeling is amazing in hindsight.

A-Rod, 3B Yankees- I know. Most people are probably thinking how can a Red Sox fan have him this low? And how can I possibly NOT HATE him at times. Honestly, what has he done? Why should I really hate him? He’s almost never been clutch in the playoffs. He constantly is doing stupid things that make him look like a fool in the public eye. And prior to being a Yankee, he was never a player I had to root against. Don’t get me wrong, I UNDERSTAND why people hate him, but until he does something against Boston to get my blood flowing, then he’s just another overhyped athlete who leaves his clutch genes in the locker room after September. O yea, and Varitek gave him the business.

Mercury Morris, former Miami Dolphin- He basically just pops up when the last undefeated team loses. In 2007, he would have been at least a fly, if not in the Hall of Hate. Dude just wouldn’t shut up. But mostly he’s just your typical old athlete always wanting to remind people about how great his teams, era, etc. were. So it’s usually a one week thing with him each year where I hate him. Overall, he’s not in the news enough for me to have a permanent hate for him, which the rest of these teams/players/coaches, etc. all have going for them.

Tony Stewart, NASCAR driver- Honestly, I’m not even sure I know why I hate this guy. I dont follow NASCAR at all (which is my challenge to Rick, make me want to), but I don’t like this guy. He’s a beer-bellied, stereotypical tough-guy who seems to want to fight anyone who blocks his sunlight. How many wins does this chump even have on tour? I don’t even know. Probably a lot more than I think. But it seems like only time I hear about this guy is when he’s trying to throw down. End of the day, I don’t pay enough attention to NASCAR to have a constant hate for this guy. If I ever did, I’m confident he’d be higher up.

Derrick Rose, PG Bulls: I’m positive he’s a flavor of the year hate. It’s not really his fault. I mean I hate EVERY John Calipari product. Just the way it is. Only reason Wall, Evans, and Cousins won’t make this list is because I don’t have them fed to me as much. In college, my hate for them was a lot more than it is now. Don’t get me wrong, I hope they all fail, but I’m not consistently hating them. Rose is over-rated. Big-time. But this is what happens in the NBA. One player has a good season and people overhype him. He scores a lot of points on a lot of shots. Not very impressive. And because the Bulls are playing well at home, they appear much more of a threat than they are which only fuels his overrated-ness. Let’s see if he pops his playoff series win cherry this year before we call him the best PG in basketball. Fair?

The Flies:

Troy Polamalu, safety Steelers- First off, I can admit he’s a terrific player. Steelers just suck when he’s not on the field. But he is one of the best examples of people in this group. His commercials with the shampoo are horrible, his voice sounds like that of a MS girl, and he’s a Steeler which makes it that much harder for me to like you. Admittedly, there’s not many reasons I can give to hate him, but that’s what being a fly is all about. I don’t like you, I’m not sure what it is, but you just annoy me. Troy Polamalu in a nutshell.

John Calipari, CBB coach Kentucky- Man, does anyone like this guy? Seriously, what a joke. The KING of violations. This man can’t use the restroom without violating an NCAA rule. Lost a Final Four banner at Coley’s alma mater, “The Zoo”, Umass. Lost a Final Four banner at Memphis. Will probably be found in violation of something at Kentucky before he goes. Loves his freshman. Always has a great class and doesn’t deliver. Favorite memory of his is somewhat of a double-whammy for this list. Rose and Memphis going all Nick Anderson on the FT line in the national championship game, costing them a title. Plus, as a proud Irishman, you know us and the Italians aren’t exactly two peas in a pod.

Sean Avery, NHL winger- Someone needs to just knock this clown on his rear. It’s amazing he’s never been Steve Moore’d (ok, that was low). I remember when he was in Dallas and his own teammates wouldn’t stand up for him. His whole “stick waving” in front of Brodeur a few years back was just retarded. I mean when the NHL makes a rule basically against your idea of strategy, it just shows how big of a turd you are. Here’s a toast to the next guy who lays this clown out.

Claude Lemieux, former winger for COL- Though he had multiple stops in his playing career, Colorado was where my hate for him grew. Always a cheap shot artist but at the same time always seemed to come up with a big goal or assist whenever it was needed. He was such an ugly S.O.B. too and his mug just annoyed the hell out of me. It’s quite possible that he single-handedly made me hate the Avalanche for many years, and made me hate guys like Peter Forsberg and Joe Sakic that on other teams, perhaps my hate wouldn’t have been as strong. Well done Mr. Lemieux, you raised my anger like few pro athletes this low on the totem pole.

Boise St. Broncos Football- This team epitomizes the “You’re with us or against us” mentality to me. Unlike TCU who plenty people are impartial to, I think most people either like Boise and root for them or root like hell against them. Well, I think this topic makes it clear which side I’m on. They’re like the JV team who goes unbeaten and wants to talk garbage to the .500% varsity team. Listen, you played in the WAC and never were challenged. I’ll give you some respect for a couple BCS Bowl wins, but spare me the “We belong in the championship game” or “Big-Time teams are afraid to play us” crap. You’ve never been more than a side discussion in a much larger CFB discussion. Enjoy your tacky Blue Field, enjoy your inflated record, and stay out of the “Best teams in CFB” talks. You don’t belong.

Joakim Noah, C Bulls- This actually goes back to Florida where I really started to get annoyed with this kid. His goofy gomer face always yelling and pounding his chest. And then of course they win a couple national titles and people falsely want to include them in the greatest teams ever talks. Please…I forgot about him for a while when he got to Chicago, just shaking my head when he played. But as he progressed, so did his mouth. Next thing you know he’s calling out Kevin Garnett. Listen bro, word of advice, before you call out a First-Ballot HOF’er, how about you doing something meaningful in your career. An All-D team? Lead the league in rebounding? Hell, WIN A DAMN PLAYOFF SERIES! Between him and Rose this year, my head could explode. Will be all that more sweet though when they’re watching KG and Rondo from home after they’re eliminated.

Eric Crouch, QB Nebraska- I really don’t even know how to explain this. See there are some college programs that I’ll always hate: Duke basketball, Boise Football, Arizona St. sports, Miami baseball, USC football, and then there are some programs I’m up and down on. I used to HATE Nebraska football, specifically around the time Crouch was their QB. Now? I don’t even mind Nebraska. But when he was running all over teams back in the early 2000′s, I just couldn’t stand seeing them have success. Needless to say, that Miami TROUNCING of Nebraska in the BCS NCG was priceless (ironically I hated Miami in the early 2000′s too). Crouch never made it in the pro’s as a WR and who knows, there’s no telling whether my hate would have carried over for him into the NFL. But at Nebraska? Man, I loved watching him lose.

Pete Carroll, former USC coach, Seahawks coach- This guy is the complete package of things I hate. Coach a NY team: check. Fail as the coach of one of my teams: check. Coach a college program I hate: check. Well done Pete Carroll. You left me no choice. Hell, I’m not sure Jesus Christ could overcome that resume’ you’ve built up on my hate meter. Talk about a complete scumbag too. He smelt the sanctions coming down at USC and bolted for Seattle. Right Pete, after all those years of passing on the NFL, I’m sure you were just waiting for rainy Seattle to call. He built a dirty program (which is pretty standard at USC) and then bolted before he faced the punishments. Also, how many times did this guy just lose games they shouldn’t have? Oregon St., Washington, etc. He’s not even that good of a coach yet many think he’s so elite. Unreal..

Historical Hates:

J.J Reddick, former Duke SG-This is one that kind of fits multiple categories. See, now that he’s on the Magic, I have no hate for him at all. But when he was on Duke, MAN I HATED HIM. Now, I’m an avid Duke hater as you will see as this list goes on, but Reddick was in a league of his own with my hate. Perhaps it was because they were always elite and he was being shoved down our throats, but I always wished for his failure. One of my favorite memories of him was LSU with Big Baby knocking them out in the Sweet Sixteen. The helpless look on Duke’s faces, specifically Reddick’s was a great sight.

Early 1990 Duke title teams- How can you not hate this group? From the slimebag Laettner to Bobby Hurley who was a little maggot I couldn’t stand, to the head coach of them all who I’ll get to later. Laettner somehow wasn’t kicked out of the Elite Eight game vs. Kentucky for stomping on a player’s chest, then hits the game-winner and you had to watch him run around in celebration. Worst part was it’s obviously relived EVERY YEAR during March Madness so that memory will never die. On top of that, they ended up beating that loaded UNLV team in the title game who though I wasn’t old enough to watch then, everytime I see clips of them was just such a fun team to watch. Plus, that SI cover or whatever it was with them in the hottub with an agent or something, brilliant. So yes, needless to say my hatred for Duke started with this bunch and has progressively gotten worse.

2004 USC Football- What frauds. Wouldn’t expect anything less from Southern Convicts. The most fraudulent team in years. Bush is collecting improper gifts. Carroll I’m sure is “oblivious” to it all. Leinert’s overrated self under center. Loved watching them choke away the National Championship game the next year against Texas, though as we learned eventually, this team was cheating the whole time leading up to this anways. They became the first team to ever be stripped of a BCS championship. A fitting punishment for the little brothers of Southern California institutions. Things haven’t been so rosy since they took the presents away from their players. Now walking violation Lane Kiffin is there. O the mercy…

Robert Horry, former NBA assassin for SA, LA- Big 3-pointer vs. the Kings. Big 3-pointer vs. the Pistons on SA. And of course, the hip-check on Nash that changed a series that was tilted in my Suns’ favor. This guy just had a knack for screwing me over and over again. And the amazing thing was he was never that great of a player. I mean, there’s plenty of role players who were better than this guy, but whenever the game was on the line, he’d burn you. I had to deal with it over and over again. Still wish if I knew what the suspensions in that series would ultimately mean, that STAT or Diaw would have popped him in the face. So go to hell Robert Horry. You’re a dream-killer.

Tim Duncan, PF Spurs- His Spurs teams have always ripped the hearts out of my Suns, eliminating us about 4 times in recent memory. Fact is, its REALLY HARD to hate this guy. He’s not cocky. He’s humble. He’s a good teammate, and he’s old-school. Plays the game the right way. But, hell, you beat my teams enough, and well I don’t care if your Mahatma Ghandi. Can’t like you. The climax of this came in 2008. After that 2007 series with the Horry incident and us losing a series I still think we would have won, 2008 was suppose to be peaceful. The Suns had traded for Shaq and well, I knew San Antonio was better than us and would likely win. But THE WAY it happened, just sucked. Game 1, we’re up 3 late in OT, and this fricking guy drills a 3-pointer, gives this huge Tiger fistpump almost as if to say “Suck it Bryan Doherty” and I had to watch in horror as my beloved Suns choked away another playoff game to SA, which was the beginning of a quick exit for us.

David Tyree, former NYG WR- 18-1. That’s really all that needs to be said. Patriots go 16-0, but we struggle all Super Bowl to do anything. But Tom Brady hits Randy Moss for a TD with about 2:30 left that is suppose to give us a 19-0 season, best team of all-time, Brady and Belichick their 4th ring. After hours of sweating and nail-biting, we’re going to do it. Then Asante’ Samuel drops an easy pick and I’m trying to convince myself its not a big deal. Eli avoids a sack and heaves this piece of crap downfield. I’m actually celebrating as the ball is in flight. This thing is up there with 5 Pats players and 1 Giants guy in the area. AT BEST, it’s going to be incomplete and the Giants are going to be in a 4th down situation. But this scrub, who I don’t think even is in the league anymore, pulls off the greatest catch in NFL history. Who knows how many plays later, I think I blacked out in despair, the Giants score and the undefeated season is gone. Easily the single-most painful sports moment of my life. That was something we’ll probably never have a chance to redeem. 18-0 and an unbeaten season was there for the taking. I heavily criticize Samuels just as much. That was an INT that needed to be made.

2005 Illinois Basketball Team- Elite Eight, my beloved Arizona Wildcats are in Chicago against D-Will, Luther Head, and Dee Brown. Illinois had almost run the table during the season. They were loaded and it was unanimous they were going to the National Title game (which they did). Yet, here are my Wildcats up 15 points with 3:30 left in the game. And then disaster ensued. Illinois makes a huge run. Just going crazy from 3-point land and we keep turning the ball over. Ironically I had a hockey game this night and had to miss the 2nd half. So I come home and see we lost and I’m pissed but “What the hell, we were basically playing a road game, and Illinois is better”. Then, I watched the highlights in horror. Even after the complete collapse, we have the ball, up 3, about 30-seconds left. Illinois will have to foul, and we have plenty of good FT shooters. Lob comes into Channing Frye and he drops it, D-Will hits a 3 and we’re tied. We miss our final shot and lose in OT. Even in OT, we had the ball down 1 for the win and all we could get was an ugly long contested jumper from Hassan Adams. Final Four was in our hands and we just were screwed by refs who swallowed their whistles and turnovers. Devastating loss for me personally.

2001 Duke Basketball- Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Shane Battier, ugh, I remember this team like it was yesterday. Again, Arizona has a great year, one of our best teams in recent memory. Get to the national championship game and this Duke team beats us. Saddest part is there’s not many champs the rest of the decade I’m sure beat us. That Arizona team was that good. We just happened to run into possibly the best championship team of the 2000′s. Don’t have any dramatic story to accompany this loss. Duke just flat out beat us. Been wanting payback for this game for years but we’ve never gotten them in the tourney. Another game in the long list of painful Arizona basketball losses.

Eric Mangini, NFL coach- This guy starting the frenzy over “Spygate” because we whooped his team in their building to start the 2007 season where we’d end up 16-0. Really don’t need to explain a lot with this one. He probably only is employed in the NFL because of Bill Belichick teaching him and yet he turns into a rat the second he leaves the organization. Now he’s unemployed, couldn’t get the job done in either NY or Cleveland. Well done Mangenius. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.

Steve Kerr/Robert Sarvar- These two, almost in a contest to see who can screw the Suns more. Kerr with his dumb personnel decisions, Sarvar with his cheapness. Ironically I was a fan of the Shaq trade so I’m one of the few Kerr critics who won’t hold that against him. I hated letting D’Antoni go. You can argue against his system, but they likely make the 07′ Finals if not for the suspensions, in which case it just comes down to whether they could have beat Miami. Sarvar just sucks. Plain and simple. Won’t pay anyone worth keeping and always has his personal interests before the team. It’s no wonder we can’t stay relevant for years at a time, always up and down. And now most recently, he drops Amar’e, unwilling to pay him the max, which although many agree with, I was strongly against letting Amar’e go, and now we’re seeing why.

The Hall of Hate:

Patrick Roy, former NHL goalie for COL and MTL- He couldn’t have played for two worse teams. I can’t stand the Canadiens, and I HATED those Avs teams of the 90′s-early 00′s as I covered earlier. A loud mouth who I have to admit backed it up, he was just always such a tool to me. Fought a couple of Red Wings goalies, made some butchered-English comment to Jeremy Roenick saying “I can’t hear you because my two Stanley Cup rings are in my ears”, though not nearly as grammatically accurate. In recent years his son followed suit by fighting an opposing goalie who made it clear he didn’t want to fight. Basically this whole family is a bunch of thugs and I would have paid someone to run him in a game.

UConn Women’s Basketball- As I mentioned earlier, Italians and the Irish aren’t exactly best friends and so Geno Auriemma is admittedly a big part of this. Can’t stand his smug attitude and well I’m much more of a Tennessee fan, and anyone who knows anything about Women’s CBB knows your either pro-Uconn or pro-Tennessee. They regularly dominate the women’s game, specifically in the last 10-15 years and everytime I think “Well ______ is leaving after this year so at least they’ll be a drop”, BOOM, instant All-American walks in who takes over. Taurasi, Bird, Cash, Moore, Lobo, Sales, list goes on and one, never ends. I can’t stand that people think they should be talked about in the same breath as Wooden’s UCLA team who did it in a DRASTICALLY more difficult field. Lets be honest. Most years there’s about 3-4 teams that can even stay within 20 points of Uconn. So you want me to be impressed? Hell no. Give me the best HS boys team in the country to drop these women by 25+. They’ll probably win their 1000th national title this year and I’ll be miserable for that week yet again.

Derek Fisher, PG Lakers- This really could go under Historical Hates very easy. Most of the reasons I hate him are because of the shots he’s hit. I think he’s somewhat of a dirty player, and well, its going to sound harsh, but I don’t think he was devastated to leave Utah for “his daughter’s treatement” to go back to LA. There should have been a clause written in saying you can play for the Clippers but not the Lakers. Over the years I’ve lost more and more respect for him. I think he’s a whiner. He’s definitely a flopper. That goes without saying. Not much else I have to say. He’s nowhere near as high as some of the others in this category, but, I just couldn’t give him the respect of putting him anywhere but this category.

Pete Sampras, former Male Tennis player- Kind of like Tennessee-Uconn in Women’s CBB, in 90′s Tennis, you were Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi, at least 99% of the time. I was Agassi all the way. Loved his persona. Loved his game. Sampras was an arrogant prick. He won a lot. But fortunately Roger Federer passed him. This rivalry was great because him and Agassi legitimately did not like each other and even in recent years in charity matches you can still feel the distaste from one to another. He more often than not beat my guy from what I remember, and as I’ve stated 100 times before, if you beat my team, or guy too many times, well your just not going to get a positive judgment from me.

O.J. Simpson, former NFL player, current jailmate- The only person on this list whose not hated for his sports career. Frankly I wasn’t even alive when he was torching defenses. But in general, I don’t like murderer’s. And well, thats what he is. “But the court found him innocent!”. This just in: I’m a one-man legal system. I don’t give a damn what the U.S Court tells me. Now I’m no expert on the case and though I play a lawyer on this blog from time to time, such as here, I’m still not going to present you a case. But to cover some basics, he supposedly had hit his wife before, everyone knows he had a temper, he basically admitted it on his cell phone convo with his friend when he was in his now infamous white Bronco, what else do you want? He practically dismembered the women and her friend. There’s some theory he wasn’t around to kill her, but even if he wasn’t the one to do it, he certainly played a part (though I assume he did it). It was music to my ears when I heard this moron screwed up again and committed armed robbery. Seriously, you got a gift from god on not being convicted of murder, and your DUMB ENOUGH to commit another major crime? Idiot.

Floyd Mayweather, professional boxer- Yap, yap, yap, yap, yap. This is all he does. As someone who can certainly be boastful, one would think I would love this guy, as there are some outspoken people I love. But Mayweather is not one of them. This is a fairly new hate. I barely follow boxing at all, nowhere near enough to say who I like and dislike, but Mayweather makes it easy. He calls out Pacquiao and says he’ll basically whoop his ass. He goes on a racist tirade against him saying he’ll “make Pacquiao make me rice”, calls out the methods of testing Pacquiao wants. He states if Pacquiao has nothing to hide, he’ll agree to Olympic style blood testing. Basically has this entire list of prerequisites that he wants for the fight. And once they are all met, he changes them again. Even after Pacquiao stated he would blood test up to 14 days before the fight (Mayweather’s initial request), Mayweather’s camp wouldn’t agree to it, saying it wasn’t enough. He flaps his gums and won’t back them up against Pacquiao now. Frankly I just think Mayweather doesn’t want to lose his unbeaten record and knows he would.

Phil Jackson, Lakers coach, former Bulls coach- Man this guy annoys the hell out of me. See its one thing to be considered a great coach, its another to be falsely called “the best coach in professional sports”. Phil Jackson didn’t win squat when he had to actually do some real coaching. His Lakers teams went one-and-done twice in the first round. Its not as if he is a great adjustment coach or you can see he dominates X’s and O’s. He basically sits there and more often than not, he watches his superior team beat an inferior one. He’s poked at Red Auerbach in recent years too which rubbed me the wrong way, but hey, when you have to jump from one power to another, abandoning when the ship is sinking like he did in LA, then really what more can you expect from the man? If you have a loaded team with a Top 2-3 player in the league and either another superstar or great team, sure Phil Jackson is a great coach. After all he’s shown time and time again, he can sit and watch a team with the best of them. Actually coach them up and overachieve? Well, he’s probably not your guy.

Hines Ward, WR Steelers- He is everything about the Steelers I hate rolled up into one. Chirpy, dirty, overrated, you name it. He’s a terrific blocker, but some are just cheap shots. Yet, he’s the first to whine when someone hits him high over the middle. I LOVED watching him on the sidelines this year when the Pats knocked him out of the game with a big hit. His crying press conference a few years back after losing to the Pats is also something I’ll never forget. And then this year, after beating Baltimore his comment was “They keep asking for us, and we keep sending them home”. Then he follows that up with a mediocre SB performance. The Pats OWN his team, yet you would think its the Steelers who are the dominant franchise this decade listening to him talk enough. Yes, as you’ll see I’m bringing the Pats-Steelers into this quite a bit, but really that’s where this hatred was bred from. The fact some people think this guy is a HOF’er is amazing. Is he even a Top 5 WR of his era? Well, he’s on my hated list, so I guess I’m not the best one to answer that question….

Coach K, Duke head coach- Listen, I despise Duke. If you haven’t picked up on that from reading this list, then you either skipped to the bottom or I bored you. In either case, you missed a lot of hating. Coach K is the type of hate where YOU make me hate him. Now, no, not all of you, but I mean the public. You see all I ever read, hear, watch, is Coach K being praised like a modern day saint. Yes, he runs a good program, at a good school, and he does so with minimal violations or instances of crime from players, but I think Jalen Rose said it best the other day. Duke has a “superiority” complex to it as a basketball program that makes me cringe with disgust. Certain players Coach K will never recruit because they aren’t “his type” of players. They feel entitled in every game they play, and he’s often whining about some non-call when they are the kings of gift calls. Hell, you could argue one of his NC’s was because Laettner wasn’t kicked out of the game vs. Kentucky when he hit that buzzer-beater. He has a good chance to pass Bob Knight as the winningest coach which would suck, but at this point I’ve come to just accept it’s going to happen.

Michael Jordan, former NBA player- This is the climax. Really the top 3 and its not that close. In no order for top 3, lets start with Michael Jordan. “The greatest ever!,” My ass. He spent the beginning of his career getting slapped around by the Eastern Conference powers, mainly the Pistons. Once the powers of the 80′s faded, Jordan started to win. And he won a lot. Mainly because there was no competition. Listen, I’ve said it 100 times, when the best TEAM (not players, but team) in your era besides yours is the Karl Malone/John Stockton Jazz teams, you know your era is weak. Seriously look at the other eras and take who you think is the 2nd-best team. ALL OF THEM are drastically better than those Jazz teams. The 90′s had a bunch of great individual players, but all of them basically played alone. Jordan leaves the Bulls for 2 years and the first year he isn’t there, they only drop 2 wins from the season before. If not for a phantom call against the Magic, they might even make the Eastern Conference Finals. Any time you go from champs to 2nd round exit, its a drop, but the drop wasn’t as drastic for a guy who supposedly meant everything to his team. Secondly, he’s not the best at anything. So I’ve never understood the argument for him as best ever. “Well he won 6 rings, two 3-peats.” That’s nice, Bill Russell won 11 rings, 8 straight. “Yea, well Jordan was a crazy good scorer.” So was Kareem. In fact, Jordan didn’t even score the most points of players IN HIS ERA. Karl Malone scored more. “O well, he was a terrific defender.” Yet, most say he wasn’t even the best defender on his teams, with Pippen getting that honor. Then, my favorite, “Well, he changed the game worldwide.” Wait, so your telling me the era he played in with drastically more TV coverage and news reports comparable to the 60′s and such had more success worldwide? GET OUTTA HERE! NO WAY! Listen, he was a great player. For my money a Top-5 player ever. But he is severely overrated. He is not even close to the GOAT. O……….and he’s a crappy GM.

Kobe Bryant, Lakers SG- This generation’s version of Jordan. People love overhyping Kobe too. For a guy who is “one of the best ever”, he surely has had more than his share of help. He was a sidekick for his first 3 rings. Wasn’t the best player on any of those teams. I love when Lakers fans get upset that I call him Scottie Pippen on those teams. “But, Scottie Pippen didn’t average the numbers Kobe did.” Awesome, so Kobe is a better Pippen than even Pippen himself. Whats your point? You’ll sometimes get the Kobe lovers who try and argue Kobe meant more to those Lakers teams than Shaq, but the realistic ones know that isn’t the case and so they grit their teeth and say he was “1B.” 1B is just a nicer way of saying #2. We all know this, so if we want to call him “1B”, go ahead. Its just showing me you agree with me and don’t want to say it the same way. In either case, for 60% of his championships, he wasn’t even the best player and when the Finals arrived, it was Shaq bringing home the Finals MVP hardware. Then Shaq leaves, and what does Kobe do. In short, rips his teammates, says he would consider being traded, goes one-and-done twice, o yea, and quit on his team in Game 7 vs. Phoenix after choking away the series. Much like Phil Jackson, when Kobe was called upon to carry a team and show the superstar leadership given to him, he collapsed. He couldn’t even win a playoff series. So Kobe did what Kobe always has to do. He relied on someone else to bail him out. The Lakers land Pau Gasol for a bag of chips and a Umass sweatshirt, and boom, 3 Finals, 2 rings in 3 years. But lets not skip so much. In the Finals loss, the Lakers blow the biggest lead in NBA Finals history, and then lose by a billion in Game 6 at Boston, two epically embarrassing moments for Kobe. His 4th ring he finally leads his team, but in true Kobe form, reverts back to regular Kobe for his 5th. His air-ball against the Suns that ends up being a GW putback from Artest was the biggest moment of the series, and ironically, once again, Kobe wasn’t the one doing it. Then in the biggest game of his career, he goes out and shoots 6-24 against the Celtics. “But he had 15 rebounds” Lakers fans will chime in. Congrats, in a game with a ton of missed shots he managed to do SOMETHING productive for his team. While Artest and Gasol were the ones making the big shots to bring the title back to LA. Michael Jordan was overrated but I have to agree with him, when it comes to Kobe Bryant, “He’s definitely a Top 10 guard all-time.”

Peyton Manning, Colts QB- He might be #1. I know I said Top 3 aren’t ordered, and they aren’t but the more and more I think about it, this guy might be #1. I’ve never seen someone earn more praise for doing less than this guy. Listen, Kobe and Jordan are both overrated, but they have the hardware to at least ARGUE their overratedness. Peyton has nothing. One lousy SB ring he won during a playoffs when he threw 3 TD’s and 7 INT’s. He has a LOSING record in the playoffs. One of only two QB’s all-time with a losing record who played in 19 or more playoff games. The other? Dan Marino. And what is Dan Marino the punchline for? Star QB’s who don’t win. He has 7, count it, SEVEN one-and-dones. He has lost as the higher seed multiple times and has lost on his home field numerous times. Yet some people think this guy is the greatest of all-time? Laughable. From September-Decmeber, this guy is fantastic. A Fantasy Football god. But when the weather gets cold, scratch that, sometimes he’s indoors, WHEN THE PRESSURE TURNS UP, this guy crumbles. As big of a choker as there is in sports. I can’t comprehend how any fan of the Colts could ever be confident in this guy to win a big game. He’s shown time and time again, he’s almost allergic to it. And I shouldn’t be so short-sighted. This started back in college when he couldn’t beat Florida. He’s been choking for decades.