The WaPo drew up one of those 'Top 5' lists today...this one listed: " Who is, or was, the most hateable successful athlete?" Numero Uno on the list, went to two athletes: a tie between Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.
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Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens (tie) |
It's a tie! What can we say, maybe we just didn't want to see either of
these schmucks come in first in anything. But really, the two just have
so much in common, principally being on most people's
never-send-a-Christmas-card list. Both men enjoyed late-career
renaissances that seemed remarkably impressive at first, until a pile
of evidence made us all feel remarkably naive. Thanks to the Balco scandal, Bonds became the suspiciously bulbous face of baseball's
problem with performance-enhancing drug use, while Clemens, displaying
his trademark competitive fire, caught up in a hurry after being named
in the Mitchell Report and subsequently appearing, unconvincingly,
before Congress. But the beauty of both men is that they were hateable
long before anyone began to contemplate what they were jabbing into
themselves. Bonds became widely known as surly, arrogant and
indifferent to fans back when he still played in Pittsburgh.
He hardly endeared himself to the Pirates faithful by repeatedly
referring to then-teammate Andy Van Slyke, a fan favorite and a very
good player in his own right, as "The Great White Hope." When Bonds
returned to Pittsburgh for the first time as a Giant, he was booed with
the cathartic venom of thousands of people finally telling the guy how
they really felt about him. But Barry has
nothing on Rog when it come to charming remarks. After winning the 1986 AL MVP, Clemens was informed of Hank Aaron's
opinion that once-every-five-days players shouldn't be eligible for the
award. Clemens's take? "I wish he were still playing. I'd probably
crack his head open to show him how valuable I was." Nice. Then there
was the time during the 1990 ALCS when he told Oakland
pitcher Bob Welch, a recovering alcoholic, "Have another beer, be a
man." And who can forget Clemens throwing a bat shard at nemesis Mike Piazza during the World Series? Yup, both Bonds and Clemens a a lot alike. Mostly in not being liked.
Number 4 was another juicer: Bill Romanowski.
Bill Romanowski
Many think that, with his nonstop antics, Terrell Owens
is spitting in the face of the game. 
Well, here's a guy who really did
hock one, right into the face of an opponent. That's just one of
Romanowski's heinous acts; he also kicked a player in the head, broke a
teammate's eye socket with a punch and snapped an opponent's
finger. Oh yeah, and he later admitted to loading up on steroids, so he
was a dirty player and a cheat.
2,3, and 5 were Kobe Bryant, Christian Laettner, and Curt Schilling.
We would venture that #4 Romo was far worse than the others. Not only was Romo a 'roid abuser, but he viscously hurt people. Clemens missed Piazza with the bat piece. Bonds never hurt anyone physically with his brand of arrogance.
Move Romo up.
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