Your *HATE* goes in here

[Wideleft]

Penguins:  95 points. Flyers fan since '74. 'Nuff said.

Yankees:  1 point.  Cheered for them in the Reggie Jackson days, but they're the worst example of what's wrong with MLB now.

Patriots:  2 points.   I'll cheer for the underdog almost every time.  I'm so sick of these guys winning.

Oilers:  1 point.  Long term grudge for what they've done to the Flyers and Jets in the playoffs over the years.

Flyers:  1 point.  Try being a Bomber fan AND a Flyers fan for 45 years (a combined 72 years of futility).  I've also my reasons for hating Ed Snider (God rest his soul).  

Honourable mention - Any U.S. men's track & field sprint team.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Wideleft

[bluto]

5 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Bluto, how do I get bonus points?

It was more of an idea for ancillary lists which contained sports related personages like players/coaches/managers/broadcasters/officials...

 (not teams/clubs/fanbases/leagues)

[TrueBlue4ever]

On ‎07‎/‎04‎/‎2019 at 4:23 PM, TrueBlue4ever said:

First of all, I may have to award 20 hate points out of pure petty spite and jealousy to Bluto for coming up with this glorious topic before I did  (says the old man shaking his fist at a cloud)! Damn you anyway. (Love you, man!)

Second, this may cost me an entire week of productivity at work thinking about this.

Third, I simply have to put out a multilayered list (because, well, does anyone who has seen my novel-esque posting history seriously need to ask why) covering teams, players, coaches, fan bases, sports parents, and broadcasters since they all contribute to my hate in different ways.

This will take some serious trigonometry to get the points balance right. I'll get back to you later on this, but rest assured Boston will feature prominently across many areas.

Well, here we go, and there's a lot of hate to go around. As a wise man once said:

Don't know if the following rant will be of any entertainment value to any of you, but my therapist says it should do me a world of good.

For starters:

People/things I should hate but don't

Darian Durant - jerk move, but him leaving freed up cash and landed us Bighill, so the love points balance out the hate. I'm good with it.

Gary Bettman - Phoenix and Florida are flops and Carolina is pretty poor (chalk a lot of that up to lousy arena locations as much as anything), but hockey is big in the non-traditional markets of Dallas, San Jose, Nashville, and Tampa Bay, and he had the foresight to beat the NFL into Vegas, which has become a hockey mad town. And he let the Jets back in the sandbox, so hard to hate on that.

PK Subban - rival we boo because he's a bit of a diva, a diver, a bit chippy, and a self-promoter. But mostly because he is really good. Plus he donated $10 million of his salary to a children's hospital, and his self-promotion is as much about growing the game as his own brand. Actually a pretty classy guy with the fans - grudging respect for a guy we'd adore if he was a Jet.

Rod Black - He's a hyper broadcaster with a penchant for goofy nicknames, which rubs many the wrong way. And his interview skills can be downright embarrassing. But it's all in service of selling the CFL. He is an ardent booster, and does not play favorites. He likes to sell the players as stars as well as promote the teams, which is how the NFL broadcasts have always done it. Can appreciate what he is trying to do if not a fan of how it comes across on the TV. I have no issue with him. Flame away.

Saskatchewan Roughriders fans - Hey, stop throwing things at me! I know I am in the severe minority, but simply put, I don't waste any time going to their message board to listen to their chatter about how they get screwed over, that they are owed respect, that they are the greatest team ever, or whatever else most on this board tell me they are up to. I can't be bothered to care. They are die-hard fans who are one of the strongest franchise models in the CFL and support their team through thick and thin in a community model that encompasses the whole province. And I personally have never had an issue with any of them at a Banjo Bowl, Labour Day game of otherwise. hey have always been courteous and welcoming to me when I have been the same to them. Bitter rivals for sure, but no personal animosity.

 

My list (subject to change over time):

The mild annoyances -

0.25 - Paul Edmonds as a hockey play-by-play guy - too wordy for a fast sport like hockey. Was perfect for baseball and the storytelling it requires. Would be better as an analyst.

0.25 - Dallas Cowboys - no real hate, but as a Niners fan this is kind of a lifetime achievement award. Makes for fun dinner conversation with my Texan wife.

0.5 - Miami Heat - for ruining basketball with the "buy a superteam" model which is now what all teams want to do. Fortunately, I have pretty much zero interest in basketball, so it scores low

0.5 - Buffalo Bills - for making me sit through 3 more lousy Super Bowls after they choked in the first one, and taunted America when they kept getting back there despite everyone praying for new blood. "We're Back. Deal with it, America" Best comeback to that was this sign at the Super Bowl "0-4. Deal with it, Buffalo"

0.5- Seattle Seahawks - for the L.O.B. arrogance and Richard Sherman's trash talk after knocking out my beloved Niners. For Marshawn Lynch and his "I'm here just so I won't get fined" media scrum nonsense. For Pete Carroll not running the ball and handing those stinking Patriots a Super Bowl. For thinking that neon lime green looks good in a uniform. One hate point for each, but 2 love points back for their loud fans and the ORIGINAL 12th fan claim, and retiring that jersey #12 for them, and 1.5 love points for drafting a one-armed defensive back who is a great player and a greater human being and role model.

0.5 - soccer players who dive, and the soccer refs who refuse to card them for unsportsmanlike conduct. I only care every 4 years at a World Cup.

0.5 - anthem singers who can't be bothered to learn the melody or words of the anthem they are going to sing. This is not about nervousness, You have one job!

0.5  - anthem singers who turn the song into a lounge act. Aretha Franklin once took 4 minutes, 53 seconds to sing the Star Spangled Banner. Queen of Soul, King of the World, I don't care. That is nonsense.

0.5 - The entire Sportsnet hockey panel. well, maybe just Nick Kypreos mainly. But I have a mute button on my remote, so hate is fleeting.

0.5 - Darren Dutchyshyn - I dunno, he just has that kind of punchable face, you know? And WTF is "Roof daddy????" Hear he's a bit of a hothead too, possibly because of pharmaceutical enhancements to his physique?

Homer broadcasters

0.5 - Rick Jannearet (Sabres) - there's homers, there's annoying catchphrases, and there is over the top hyperactivity. He covers all the bases with a nasally high-pitched tone. But he is honest about his boosterism. Fairly innocuous.

1.0 - Johnny Most (Celtics) - this guy truly BELIEVES the world is out to get the greatest team ever, the Celtics, and worships at the altar of Larry Bird. Take it down about 5 notches, Johnny.

1.5 - Rod Peterson - a blatant homer and provocateur, the worst thing is he deep down knows this is just an act to provoke a response from haters, but he still unapologetically buys his own hype and goads those who don't get on board. More unprofessional than the blind homer.

Sports parents

0.5 Bonnie Lindros - If I lived in Quebec City, would have a much higher score. Once told the Team Canada head coach "Eric has the flu, I'm sending Brett to practice instead". Since the Big E is a distant memory, most of my hate is symbolic for the "ugly generic hockey mom"

0.5 - Richard Williams - Couldn't stand his mouth or his "match-fixing" between his daughters in tennis finals, but with Venus gone and Serena alone on top, he has largely disappeared.

1.0 - Earl Woods - raised a phenom, but sad he couldn't have devoted the same time and attention to his other 4 kids or his first 3 wives. And Earl , your son's a golfer, not Jesus. Hated the branding of Tiger as the latter. Hated the media even more for lapping it up (see further down on my list).

1.5 LaVar Ball - If you run your mouth, flout college rules, say you could beat Jordan one-on-one, and boast that your kids are the next superstars of the league, then you'd better deliver. Or at least keep them from getting arrested in Asia for shoplifting and using the President to bail them out. Again, media, why do you give this clown air time?

 

Part 2 in a bit, when I get into some more serious hatred.

 

[TrueBlue4ever]

And now, part 2:

 

Things that may tick me off, depending on the day -

Teams and Fan bases

1.0 - NY Yankees - the original mercenary team that tried to destroy a sport by outbidding everyone else and buying championships. They rate higher than the Miami Heat for doing the same things simply because their shenanigans were part of the reason the Expos are no more. 

1.0 - Buffalo fans - I get it, 4 Super Bowl losses and the Brett Hull crease violation goal all suck. That misery doesn't make you special or anything. We all get our hearts torn out by sports. It's been 20 years, time to let it go (and the Hull goal was actually legit according to the rule, since he was the puck carrier).

1.0 - Winnipeg Jets/fans - Yes I love the Jets. But it's like family. You love them more than anything, but they drive you nuts at times and you want to kill them. Right now, the love-in is still super strong, with us still basking in the simple joy of having them back. There team is young, exciting, and on the rise. And for the most part, we have a great, loud, knowledgeable fan base. This hate score is pretty much based on the last 2 months. Yes, Troy Westwood, we get it, you think the team is in serious trouble, and all of us are just in denial. And for all those chicken littles, yes I get your take - you are no coach but you can tell that Maurice sucks, with his 99 point all star coach season and all, and he won't break up his two best players who only had 175 points playing together this year. But hey, I haven't heard that take in over 3 hours, please post or call in and tell me again the 89th variation of your opinion. I go back to Blake Wheeler last year when he tried to inject some reality into an overexcited fan base, I will paraphrase his quote for this year's angst-ridden mob: "We all need to pump the f***ing brakes, we haven't won lost anything yet"

Coaches

1.0 - John Tortarella - better than he used to be, but even if you hate the media that much (even when you were one of them), could you at least fake it, given all the money you are being paid? Grumpy old man at 40 years old. Imagine if you had real problems.

1.0 - Bobby Knight - an über-jerk who was beyond dismissive of the media. the original "I'm the smartest guy in the room, just ask me". I imagine an alternate universe where the kid at the free throw line who had to deal with Knight throwing a chair at him walks over and decks Knight, knocking him on his stupid rear end. and dropping his ego a few thousand points in the process.

1.0 - Bill Belichick - Again, for a guy with no real problems, you sure are sour. If you are such a genius, why can't you at least pretend to be interested in attending a press conference, or at least being respectful and civil to the journalists?

Speaking of the media...

1.0 - beat reporters who ask inane questions, or recite a one minute agenda-driven narrative in the guise of a question just to get an agreement from the coach or player as a "quote" from said person for their next article. Don't tell them how they feel, just ask and let them tell you themselves

2.0 (anger rising!) - athletes who don't answer questions and get into a p*ssing match with the reporter. If you don't like the public side of being a pro, then go play in beer league. But if you want your $30 million contract, then answering questions for the media and fans is part of the job. Don' t be a whiny baby. Martina Navratilova was once asked by a male reporter if she was still a lesbian. She responded by asking him back "Are you still the alternative?" If she can handle the most insensitive question ever asked with that kind of grace, then you all can do at least half as well as her and just politely answer as best you can when the reporter asks how you feel after a tough loss.

The "I don't think much about this, but whenever I'm reminded of this I get mad" category

1.5 John McEnroe - I thought his superbrat phase was just limited to his playing days, but he's still a major jerk as a commentator and as a guy in general. It's like he is permanently sucking on a lemon while undergoing a root canal. If you hate people that much, get off TV, stop dragging me down into your misery ,and go be a hermit like Yoda.

1.5 - Kobe Bryant - For wrecking a team with his "me first" attitude, and for getting away with it for so long. And for paying off a sex assault victim to keep himself out of jail.

1.5 - sports agents who negotiate (and self-promote) in front of the camera more than in private. They typically are looking out for their own interests more than their clients, and annoy GMs and fan bases to no end in the process.

1.5 - Steve Fehr - Ok, he's just doing his job as a player rep, but he has left a lot of scorched earth behind during his time as head of the MLBPA. Now he's brought his act to hockey. Prepare for a two-season lockout.

1.5 - Marc Crawford - already disliked him as the Avs head coach when I cheered for the Red Wings. Then.....Nagano.  Czech Republic. Shootout. Gretzky stapled to the bench. Dude should be banned from coaching at any level in this or any other lifetime for that level of idiocy.

2.0 - Leafs fans - for being corporate suits and not regular Joes at the games. For being irrelevant for 50 years yet still droning on about how great the team and your "nation" is. For your incessant whining about "93 and your faux God Gilmour and the missed high stick. 

2.0 - Boston Bruins - for Tim Thomas and his smug, ultra conservative smirk and politics, for dirty rat Brad Marchand, for being from Boston

2.0 - Serena Williams - for winning more than anyone else, and still being a sore loser, then playing the race and gender cards instead of owning her temper

2.0 Roger Clemens - in the same alternate universe where the kid charges Bobby Knight, Mike Piazza charges the mound when Clemens throws a bat at him and lays waste to him like Rocky on a side of beef.

2.0 - "U.S.A., U.S.A." - it takes a special kind of arrogance to turn your country's name into a sports chant. It says something that the phrase "Ugly American" is commonplace but "ugly Spaniard" or "Ugly Norwegian" or "Ugly [insert any other country in the world]" doesn't exist, no?

2.0 - Don King - behind the smirking face and used car salesman buffoonery of this human troll doll lies a man who actually killed another guy, and should be doing multiple life sentences for all sorts of crimes. Hate lowered since he (like boxing) has fallen off the map

The "Hope I don't have sharp objects on me if you want to debate the following" group

3.0 - Boston Red Sox - for trading Babe Ruth, for employing Ty Cobb - the all-time dirtiest player ever, for decrying the Yankees and their mercenary style of buying championships, and then becoming exactly that themselves, for Pedro Martinez throwing a 72 year old man to the ground, and beaking of about it afterwards (in my alternate universe the basketball kid jumps out of the stands to hold him down while Piazza lays waste to him with a broken baseball bat like DeNiro in "The Untouchables")

3.0 - O.J. Simpson - if I really need to say why, then welcome back to earth after your alien abduction 25 years ago. Only the karmic payback of his overly long robbery sentence keeps this number down.

4.0 - Edmonton Oilers - for breaking the Jets hearts forever in the '80's. For their bandwagon fans today who wear orange and blue to Jets' games and declare their fandom, but couldn't identify anyone on the team between the end of the Messier and the start of the McDavid years (not even Captain Canada Ryan Smyth) if asked, or who will proclaim that if McDavid isn't the best player in hockey history, he for sure is the best Oiler ever. For being gifted the top draft choice year after year and still being incapable of building a competitive AHL team, and then trading away all that talent to ensure they get another first overall draft pick.

4.0 - MLB players and owners - "Sports is heartbreak, and you are owed nothing". So was the argument someone had with me once when I said I was owed a championship season. Normally, I could agree with this sentiment, but in this case the championship I was owed was the 1994 Expos. It's one thing to lose a game 7, or blow a 4th quarter lead, or make a crucial error in the 9th inning. That is the normal heartbreak of sports. But to lose a championship because millionaires and multi-millionaires couldn't figure out how to split a billion dollar pie and quit on the fans paying the freight in the one year your favourite team finally is poised to win it all? That sucks. That the same team then gets dismantled and sold off to the highest bidders sucks more. That those same players go on to win with those other big market teams is just painful. That your team then folds due to the money grubbing politics of the sport is soul-crushing. To then wipe that season and any memory of that team from the collective memory banks of the league is just plain cruel. It took me 22 years and the Blue Jays recent run for me to actually watch a complete baseball game from start to finish again, so deep did this one cut.

4.0 - Matt Cooke - a half point of hate for every player's career he ended and every suspension he never got that he should have for his flying elbows and head shots. You don't want to know what level of payback occurs in my alternate universe.

4.5 - Lance Armstrong - not that he cheated (so many others did), not that he lied about it to cover his tracks (human nature when you want to keep everything you got as a result of your cheating - anyone would lie), but he used his money, power and influence to slander, sue and destroy the lives of so many who questioned him in an effort to cover it up. Way beyond what anyone else ever did to hide a lie. And then to go on the Oprah forgiveness tour and say "yup, I was lying all these years. Hey, sorry about that." You know, a simple "F*** you, Lance" in response just doesn't quite cut it. 

5.0 - New England Patriots - Victor Kiam's "Classic b*tch" misogyny over a locker room incident. The "tuck rule" and the fraudulent Super Bowl appearance because of it. Spygate and the fraudulent Super Bowl win (maybe 3 wins) because of it. Belicheat and his sour looks. Brady's phony all-American charm (just ask his pregnant girlfriend who he stepped out on with Gisele). Being handed a Super Bowl when Atlanta forgot how to run out the clock up by 25. Being handed a Super Bowl when Seattle forgot how to run, period. Aaron Hernandez. Caveman Gronk. For being so damn good and giving an insufferable fan base a reason to be even more insufferable. Robert Kraft and his massage parlour. Deflategate. But most of all, getting caught cheating time and again and playing the victim card each time. Woe is you indeed. Jackasses.

5.0 - Ray Lewis - May have committed a murder. Probably aided and abetted a murder. Definitely helped cover up a murder, but his conviction for obstruction seems hollow. And yet he still got to play in 2 Super Bowls after that, and is still employed as a TV talking head, talking about his faith and preaching tolerance and goodness and belief in the Lord. Let's hope the Lord has a few things to say in response come Judgement Day when Ray goes to meet his maker.

5.0 - NFL owners - for turning a blind eye to concussions that are killing players. For turning a blind eye to social justice and siding with Donald Trump in colluding and blackballing Coilin Kaepernick.

5.0 - Boston fans - ESPN writer and Boston native Bill Siimons once wrote about tortured fan bases and how irritating it was when those fans thought it made them special. So take what I said about Buffalo fans and multiply by about 1 million for Boston fans. You’d think the Curse of the Bambino was the Holocaust the way Red Sox fans carried on.  “No team ever suffered heartbreak like the  Bosox.  Losing game 7 in ‘75 after the greatest game ever ending with Carlton Fisk’s homer. Bucky f***ing Dent and those stupid Yankees. Aaron Boone. Bill Buckner and the most devastating loss a team has ever suffered. That game was ours!!!!”. Now add the groaning of Celtic fans and their conspiracies about the refs handing bad calls to the Lakers or those cheap shot artists the Pistons in the’80’s and 90’s. Bruins fans and the phantom “too many men - last call in the Forum always goes to the Habs” B. S. Patriots fans and their self-righteous “We’ve persevered in spite of Goodell trying to take us down”  And how have these poor, hard-done by fans survived such atrocities? With 6 Bruins titles, 3 since 1970. 4 Red Sox titles since 2004. 6 Patriots rings since 2002. 17 Celtic banners including 8 in a row and 6 since 1974. 12 championships for the city since the turn of the century. And as insufferable as they were as sore losers, they are twice as nauseating as sore winners. I don’t like them.

5.0 - Blue Bombers/fans - The opposite of love is not hate. They are simply opposite ends of the spectrum of the same emotion (passion). No, the opposite of love (or hate) is indifference. And I am far from indifferent about the Bombers. So along with a lot of love comes a big dose of hate for the things about this team and it’s fans that irk me.   Earl Lunsford’s failures. Brock dissing everything in the city, save for the zoo. Laying an egg against the Argos in 1987. 68-7 loss to Edmonton because they forgot to pack good shoes. Reinbold and his exorcisms.  West-wide and the mail-it-in job in 2001. Unfinished Business x 18. Joe Mack. Joe Mack. Joe Mack. 52-0. Mike Kelly and your mom’s basement. Being asked in 2014 if I was going to renew my season tickets for the 33rd straight year and saying yes, “but I’m starting to feel like a sucker”. The shrug from the Bomber rep that followed that comment. 22 year drought. 29 year drought. This is not an exhaustive list. But even more hate for those fans who throw out the constant negativity, even during (especially during) the high points. Who always love the back-up QB more. Who want every coach fired after year one. Heck, after every loss (I have a self-imposed 48 hour ban after a home loss on visiting this board so I can tune out the “sky-is-falling” crowd). For bashing other fan bases and the blindly displaying the  exact same behaviour here. For the buffoonery of snowball fights, tent tear downs, beer can throwing, scraps with police in the stands, and attacking players on the field, all of which gives a black eye to the entire fan base. But most of all, I hate that I care so much, and that I keep coming back for more. But hate and love are the same emotion, so I look forward to loving again.

6.0 - Barry Bonds - SI writer Rick Reilly once made a list of the 5 biggest jerks in sports he ever met. Bonds was in 3 of his top 4 positions. Bob Costas said before his first encounter “I’d heard the stories, and wanted to give him a fair shake. So I was prepared to try and like him more than most said I would. I left that first encounter disliking him even more than the worst anyone had ever told me about.” The most arrogant, selfish, fat-headed (literally), me-first cheater punk to ever play the game. I am convinced he is now being kept out of the Hall of Fame as much for being a total d*ck to the media, whose votes he now needs, as for any steroid usage, and the schaudenfraude in me smiles at that thought. Watch how little his own teammates celebrated with him when he broke the home run records. They hated him. And he preferred the spotlight to himself anyway, so he was happy not to share the stage. And he let a friend rot in prison rather than own up to his obvious cheating.

7.0 - The myth of Tiger Woods - I don’t have a problem with Woods himself (his affairs are probably to closest to being a human as Mr. Robot has ever gotten) as much as I do with the fawning media coverage of him. If I had been taken away from a real life at age 2 and taught nothing other than how to golf, I bet I’d be world class too. And this is not hubris. Unlike basketball, where being 5’10” and white is a genetic disadvantage no matter how hard I practice, golf is an Everyman sport. Don’t believe me? Look at a photo of that physical specimen John Daly and remind yourself he had 2 major titles. But the media wanted a messiah and turned Woods into their God, lapping up his phony humility and making him bigger than he was (not just the best in the game, not just the best ever, but the greatest, most focussed, mentally tough, MOST everything guy on the planet), and shoved it down our throats. Then the PGA got in on the act, “Tiger-proofing” courses by making them longer and actually making things easier for him by eliminating half the field who couldn’t hit as far as him but could keep up on the greens. Then they tore him down - hard. And revelled in his collapse without once acknowledging their own hypocrisy in creating the false idol. Now they are desperate to have him climb the mountain again, and proclaim that he’s back every week when it is just wishful thinking. Here’s a fun game. Get a stopwatch on a golf tournament and see what percentage of air time goes to Tiger vs. The Field. Bet it’s close to 50% for the week. Then see if he’s better than a 42nd place finish, which we’ll hear more about than the guy who finished 2nd. There’s a world of great golfers out there, maybe cover them too.

 

I feel better. I’m going to go take my Xanax now. 

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by TrueBlue4ever

[blue_gold_84]

Is there a prize for best post in this thread? I think @TrueBlue4ever is running away with top spot. Bravo!

[TrueBlue4ever]

4 minutes ago, blue_gold_84 said:

Is there a prize for best post in this thread? I think @TrueBlue4ever is running away with top spot. Bravo!

Very kind of you. I tend to run on a bit. Thanks for your patient reading.

[bluto]

4 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

2.0 - Leafs fans - for being corporate suits and not regular Joes at the games. For being irrelevant for 50 years yet still droning on about how great the team and your "nation" is. For your incessant whining about "93 and your faux God Gilmour and the missed high stick. 

Duuuuuude... do you even know how desperately "Regular Joe" Leafs fans would love to be at a game...? Hate the suits all you want, but the rank and file, working class Leafs fans would give their left nut for a chance at a game...

[bluto]

@TrueBlue4ever this was epic. Exactly what I was hoping to see examples of in this thread!  ✨🏆✨

[TrueBlue4ever]

4 minutes ago, bluto said:

Duuuuuude... do you even know how desperately "Regular Joe" Leafs fans would love to be at a game...? Hate the suits all you want, but the rank and file, working class Leafs fans would give their left nut for a chance at a game...

I know it. I would be content to see Toronto get a second NHL franchise so that "average" fans could actually cheer on a home team in person, rather than watching on TV while corporate meetings go on in the 200 level. The only problem is we'd have to hear how much better T.O. is than everyone else because we can support 2 teams, and my hate would rise even more. It's a vicious cycle. This is why you can't have nice things to play with, Hogtown!

[TrueBlue4ever]

5 minutes ago, bluto said:

@TrueBlue4ever this was epic. Exactly what I was hoping to see examples of in this thread!  ✨🏆✨

Merci beaucoup! Gave my blood pressure a workout for sure coming up with some of these. Great fun venting my spleen.

[SpeedFlex27]

19 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Well, here we go, and there's a lot of hate to go around. As a wise man once said:

Don't know if the following rant will be of any entertainment value to any of you, but my therapist says it should do me a world of good.

For starters:

People/things I should hate but don't

Darian Durant - jerk move, but him leaving freed up cash and landed us Bighill, so the love points balance out the hate. I'm good with it.

Gary Bettman - Phoenix and Florida are flops and Carolina is pretty poor (chalk a lot of that up to lousy arena locations as much as anything), but hockey is big in the non-traditional markets of Dallas, San Jose, Nashville, and Tampa Bay, and he had the foresight to beat the NFL into Vegas, which has become a hockey mad town. And he let the Jets back in the sandbox, so hard to hate on that.

PK Subban - rival we boo because he's a bit of a diva, a diver, a bit chippy, and a self-promoter. But mostly because he is really good. Plus he donated $10 million of his salary to a children's hospital, and his self-promotion is as much about growing the game as his own brand. Actually a pretty classy guy with the fans - grudging respect for a guy we'd adore if he was a Jet.

Rod Black - He's a hyper broadcaster with a penchant for goofy nicknames, which rubs many the wrong way. And his interview skills can be downright embarrassing. But it's all in service of selling the CFL. He is an ardent booster, and does not play favorites. He likes to sell the players as stars as well as promote the teams, which is how the NFL broadcasts have always done it. Can appreciate what he is trying to do if not a fan of how it comes across on the TV. I have no issue with him. Flame away.

Saskatchewan Roughriders fans - Hey, stop throwing things at me! I know I am in the severe minority, but simply put, I don't waste any time going to their message board to listen to their chatter about how they get screwed over, that they are owed respect, that they are the greatest team ever, or whatever else most on this board tell me they are up to. I can't be bothered to care. They are die-hard fans who are one of the strongest franchise models in the CFL and support their team through thick and thin in a community model that encompasses the whole province. And I personally have never had an issue with any of them at a Banjo Bowl, Labour Day game of otherwise. hey have always been courteous and welcoming to me when I have been the same to them. Bitter rivals for sure, but no personal animosity.

 

My list (subject to change over time):

The mild annoyances -

0.25 - Paul Edmonds as a hockey play-by-play guy - too wordy for a fast sport like hockey. Was perfect for baseball and the storytelling it requires. Would be better as an analyst.

0.25 - Dallas Cowboys - no real hate, but as a Niners fan this is kind of a lifetime achievement award. Makes for fun dinner conversation with my Texan wife.

0.5 - Miami Heat - for ruining basketball with the "buy a superteam" model which is now what all teams want to do. Fortunately, I have pretty much zero interest in basketball, so it scores low

0.5 - Buffalo Bills - for making me sit through 3 more lousy Super Bowls after they choked in the first one, and taunted America when they kept getting back there despite everyone praying for new blood. "We're Back. Deal with it, America" Best comeback to that was this sign at the Super Bowl "0-4. Deal with it, Buffalo"

0.5- Seattle Seahawks - for the L.O.B. arrogance and Richard Sherman's trash talk after knocking out my beloved Niners. For Marshawn Lynch and his "I'm here just so I won't get fined" media scrum nonsense. For Pete Carroll not running the ball and handing those stinking Patriots a Super Bowl. For thinking that neon lime green looks good in a uniform. One hate point for each, but 2 love points back for their loud fans and the ORIGINAL 12th fan claim, and retiring that jersey #12 for them, and 1.5 love points for drafting a one-armed defensive back who is a great player and a greater human being and role model.

0.5 - soccer players who dive, and the soccer refs who refuse to card them for unsportsmanlike conduct. I only care every 4 years at a World Cup.

0.5 - anthem singers who can't be bothered to learn the melody or words of the anthem they are going to sing. This is not about nervousness, You have one job!

0.5  - anthem singers who turn the song into a lounge act. Aretha Franklin once took 4 minutes, 53 seconds to sing the Star Spangled Banner. Queen of Soul, King of the World, I don't care. That is nonsense.

0.5 - The entire Sportsnet hockey panel. well, maybe just Nick Kypreos mainly. But I have a mute button on my remote, so hate is fleeting.

0.5 - Darren Dutchyshyn - I dunno, he just has that kind of punchable face, you know? And WTF is "Roof daddy????" Hear he's a bit of a hothead too, possibly because of pharmaceutical enhancements to his physique?

Homer broadcasters

0.5 - Rick Jannearet (Sabres) - there's homers, there's annoying catchphrases, and there is over the top hyperactivity. He covers all the bases with a nasally high-pitched tone. But he is honest about his boosterism. Fairly innocuous.

1.0 - Johnny Most (Celtics) - this guy truly BELIEVES the world is out to get the greatest team ever, the Celtics, and worships at the altar of Larry Bird. Take it down about 5 notches, Johnny.

1.5 - Rod Peterson - a blatant homer and provocateur, the worst thing is he deep down knows this is just an act to provoke a response from haters, but he still unapologetically buys his own hype and goads those who don't get on board. More unprofessional than the blind homer.

Sports parents

0.5 Bonnie Lindros - If I lived in Quebec City, would have a much higher score. Once told the Team Canada head coach "Eric has the flu, I'm sending Brett to practice instead". Since the Big E is a distant memory, most of my hate is symbolic for the "ugly generic hockey mom"

0.5 - Richard Williams - Couldn't stand his mouth or his "match-fixing" between his daughters in tennis finals, but with Venus gone and Serena alone on top, he has largely disappeared.

1.0 - Earl Woods - raised a phenom, but sad he couldn't have devoted the same time and attention to his other 4 kids or his first 3 wives. And Earl , your son's a golfer, not Jesus. Hated the branding of Tiger as the latter. Hated the media even more for lapping it up (see further down on my list).

1.5 LaVar Ball - If you run your mouth, flout college rules, say you could beat Jordan one-on-one, and boast that your kids are the next superstars of the league, then you'd better deliver. Or at least keep them from getting arrested in Asia for shoplifting and using the President to bail them out. Again, media, why do you give this clown air time?

 

Part 2 in a bit, when I get into some more serious hatred.

 

This wasn't a homework assignment. 

[TrueBlue4ever]

5 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

This wasn't a homework assignment. 

 

[Noeller]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

This wasn't a homework assignment. 

this was my first thought....yikes....needed a TLDR...

[do or die]

Something like this topic needs to be sensitively handled in a measured and mature fashion.  But what is needed and what one gets.....

So I will just start with hockey teams......in this episode

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Long, long time ago....,I may of been the biggest Leaf fan on the planet.  Watched that game, when Armstrong's empty netter clinched the cup for Toronto.  Life was good.  Then that felonious, loud mouth Harold Ballard came into my life.  Stripped the C from Sittler, got rid of MacDonald....and turned the Leafs into a pure joke.  I simply could not support that clown show....or continue to suffer with it. 

Even today..... I hate the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Funny thing is that most of their players, would get a pass from me.   It's simply the Toronto media, and the fan base.   Have listened to one, and had many interactions with the other. 
Out here in the hinterlands (West of the Golden Triangle), for decades, we have gotten Leafs news shoved down our throats 24/7 - what their 4th liner wears on Thursdays, what another guy eats for breakfast, what still another guy has coming out the other end.   As if we could really give a crap.  
The fan base?   Passionate....which is a good thing - but just too many folks indoctrinated with the idea that "world class"  Toronto, and their team, that hasn't won anything in 50 years....is somehow a cut above everything and everybody and the ultimate flagship franchise.  Reinforced by TSN and Sportsnet, at all times. 

The football snobbery by the same fans and especially the media in TO, worshiping the NFL and crapping on the CFL....is also to their discredit. 

Montreal Canadians:

Hated them for decades, but always with a twinge of guilt.   Not because of the French thing, but simply because they were real, real good - those suckers always won.....like always.   Always rooted against them, but it was always like tilting at windmills.  Hell, I watched one team that had Lemaire and Cournoyer  playing on the 4th line!  Even after expansion, GM Pollack fleeced teams for years.....fobbing off spare or aged parts, for prospects and draft picks.  I just thought it would never end.

More incoming.....
 

 

[TrueBlue4ever]

Hate meter is on high today - 

https://www.tsn.ca/tiger-wins-the-masters-for-15th-major-title-1.1290580

https://www.tsn.ca/americans-survive-finland-in-shootout-to-win-gold-after-controversial-ot-1.1290626

 

A Blues win tonight and I just may break every radio and TV in my house just to tune out the annoying analysis of it all.

Edited April 15, 2019 by TrueBlue4ever

[Mike]

Normally, I'd call it a day and say something like "100 to Saskatchewan" or "50 to the Leafs, 50 to the Riders" but then I remember their insufferable fanbases combined with their awesome ability to have glorious self-implosions that result in me laughing at them makes me realize maybe I don't hate them so much after all.

100 to the Blues, especially Alex Steen because I really just don't like his face.

[blue_gold_84]

10 hours ago, Mike said:

100 to the Blues, especially Alex Steen because I really just don't like his face.

This is exactly where I'm at right now, too. But I think I'd allot at least 40 points to Berube personally, who's taught his team to play greasy when they're losing. Brayden Schenn in particular is a real pile of turds.

[TrueBlue4ever]

On 2019-04-11 at 6:13 AM, TrueBlue4ever said:

1.0 - Winnipeg Jets/fans - Yes I love the Jets. But it's like family. You love them more than anything, but they drive you nuts at times and you want to kill them. Right now, the love-in is still super strong, with us still basking in the simple joy of having them back. There team is young, exciting, and on the rise. And for the most part, we have a great, loud, knowledgeable fan base. This hate score is pretty much based on the last 2 months. Yes, Troy Westwood, we get it, you think the team is in serious trouble, and all of us are just in denial. And for all those chicken littles, yes I get your take - you are no coach but you can tell that Maurice sucks, with his 99 point all star coach season and all, and he won't break up his two best players who only had 175 points playing together this year. But hey, I haven't heard that take in over 3 hours, please post or call in and tell me again the 89th variation of your opinion. I go back to Blake Wheeler last year when he tried to inject some reality into an overexcited fan base, I will paraphrase his quote for this year's angst-ridden mob: "We all need to pump the f***ing brakes, we haven't won lost anything yet"

 

1.0 - John Tortarella - better than he used to be, but even if you hate the media that much (even when you were one of them), could you at least fake it, given all the money you are being paid? Grumpy old man at 40 years old. Imagine if you had real problems.

Have to revise my hate meter (told you it was a constantly shifting scale). Removing my Tortarella hate for now. Dude has been very entertaining in these playoffs, even smiled after he got beer dumped on him during a game. Now, we’ll see if Oscar the grouch returns if they start losing, but I also saw that he took in an abused and neglected horse and nursed it back to health on his farm, and also has 3 rescue dogs he took in. Can’t hate on him anymore.

That leaves me an extra hate point, which I will add to the Winnipeg Jets fans, specifically he “Fire Maurice” brigade who disappear after a win but come roaring back after a loss, no matter the circumstances. This kind of blind idiocy is why I avoid message boards for 24 hours after a loss. 

[FrostyWinnipeg]

Almost forgot about this thread.

Todays hate goes to Walmart who raised their price for a small coleslaw to 2.97 from 1.97

 

[TrueBlue4ever]

So it has taken only 40 games with them as a new division rival, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are fast climbing my hate rankings. Again not really the players themselves, but the incessant media flogging. And beyond the adulation of their all-star team and every new addition as the next MVP (Jack Campbell apparently is a lock for the Vezina with 11 games under his belt this year, and Nick Foligno is THE move of deadline day), the worst thing that I have encountered is that they STILL can’t let go of the 1993 loss to LA. Not a week goes by without some reference to how they got screwed by Kerry Fraser, how Wendel Clark was guaranteed to win that series in 6, how Gretzky got special treatment and should have been suspended, how they were robbed of their divine right to play against the Habs in the Cup that year. I have heard whiny fans in every market lament that one soul crushing loss, but this is about losing a game 6 in a non-finals scenario when they still had another chance to advance even after the loss 28 YEARS AGO. I haven’t heard this much bellyaching from the combined fandoms of Buffalo, who have a much more legit complaint about being screwed of of a Cup by a referee, and Hartford, Quebec City, and Winnipeg, who all lost their actual franchises, much less a game 6. Losing doesn’t make you special, Leaf Nation, it makes you losers. 

Edited April 12, 2021 by TrueBlue4ever

[blue_gold_84]

17 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

So it has taken only 40 games with them as a new division rival, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are fast climbing my hate rankings. Again not really the players themselves, but the incessant media flogging. And beyond the adulation of their all-star team and every new addition and the next MVP (Jack Campbell apparently is a lock for the Vezina with 11 games u set his belt this year, and Nick Foligno is THE move of deadline day), the worst thing that I have encountered is that they STILL can’t let go of the 1993 loss to LA. Not a week goes by without some reference to how they got screwed by Kerry Fraser, how Wendel Clark was guaranteed to win that series in 6, how Gretzky got special treatment and should have been suspended, how they were robbed of their divine right to play against the Habs in the Cup that year. I have heard whiny fans in every market lament that one soul crushing loss, but this is about losing a game 6 in a non-finals scenario when they still had another chance to advance even after the loss 28 YEARS AGO. I haven’t heard this much bellyaching from the combined fandoms of Buffalo, who have a much more legit complaint about being screwed of of a Cup by a referee, and Hartford, Quebec City, and Winnipeg, who all lost their actual franchises, much less a game 6. Losing doesn’t make you special, Leaf Nation, it makes you losers. 

This is the way.

Leafs are a fun team to watch lately (unless it's against the Jets). But that's where the praise ends. Their fans and the media (by and large TSN and SN) are the epitome of insufferable.

[TrueBlue4ever]

1 minute ago, blue_gold_84 said:

This is the way.

Leafs are a fun team to watch lately (unless it's against the Jets). But that's where the praise ends. Their fans and the media (by and large TSN and SN) are the epitome of insufferable.

I can give their blue collar fans (not the suits who actually go and sit on their hands at a game in the high priced seats) a pass for the most part. But the media does get them riled up more than they have a right to be. 

Meanwhile, I’ll just leave this guilty pleasure right here:

 

[Bigblue204]

99 riders

1 everyone else.

[MOBomberFan]

22 hours ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

I can give their blue collar fans (not the suits who actually go and sit on their hands at a game in the high priced seats) a pass for the most part. But the media does get them riled up more than they have a right to be. 

Meanwhile, I’ll just leave this guilty pleasure right here:

 

LOL at the girls barely containing their laughter as the air got sucked out of the room.

[SpeedFlex27]

The 2009 Riders losing the Grey Cup to the Als with 13 men on the field will always, always. ALWAYS be the absolute best. 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by SpeedFlex27