sitting in a sports bar in santa monica last week brought me some interesting perspective on the current state of north american culture and its views on its heroes - more specifically the sports kind.
dubbed simply as "the return", the featured NBA game of last week brought lebron james back to cleveland as a member of the miami heat. after an off season that seemed to question lebron's ability to manipulate media for his own selfish purposes, his first visit back to cleveland was supposed to bring a venomous reception, it was supposed to be mean and it was supposed to bring heat on the visiting heat. it didn't disappoint. the boos were audible not only from the available audio from the quicken loans arena in cleveland, but also in the well lit sports bar where i enjoyed a chicken quesadilla and a pint of beer.
the other featured game on the big screen was NFL network's mid week morsel as the eagles vs. the texans was broadcast live from philadelphia in an important regular season tilt that would help define each team's playoff status. michael vick continued his MVP worthy season by again putting up strong numbers both in the air and on the ground in a definitive victory over the slumping texans. stadium fans cheered michael vick with every first down pass and even the fans i shared the big screens with applauded and high fived their way through the numerous highlight plays that vick treated the fans to.
earlier in the day, i spent a few hours watching the first round of the 2010 chevron world challenge highlighted by a stellar sub 70 round by tiger woods. security was tight around the world's number 2 player and the added protection was largely due to a fear of over anxious fans ready to blast and throw proverbial tomatoes at woods over the marital "indiscretions" that plagued his life over the past year. organizers of the tournament actually believed that spectators would show hostility towards woods at his own event, again to bring to light the admitted moral mistakes by the most recognizable athlete in the world. but it didn't happen - instead of protection from hate, the added security on hand was conveniently on hand to protect woods from the mob of adoring fans that followed him throughout the day.
let's take a look at these three individuals and what has made them the polarizing sports figures they were in 2010:
1) lebron james - an off-season of free agency culminated in a made-for-tv special aptly titled "the decision" in which viewers were strung along for an hour only to hear king james utter the now famous phrase "i'm taking my talents to south beach." (by the way, try searching that phrase in urban dictionary for a good laugh). in doing so, lebron was made out to be a villain not only in the city he left, but in all of america for showing what is perceived to be a lack of heroism by abandoning the only team he's played for and instead chasing championships with a mega team that was billed to be the most dominant NBA team of all time (it didn't start out that way - which only incited excitement with all the haters).
2) michael vick - after kevin kolb went down with an injury in week 1 of this year's NFL campaign, the most electrifying QB in the pro league was finally given an opportunity to play...something he's been waiting for since being released from prison in the spring of 2009. quick reminder: vick was sentenced to prison in 2007 after being charged with his involvement in an illegal dogfighting ring.
3) tiger woods - thanksgiving 2009 was the start of a wild year for the world's best golfer. as it revealed itself a bit more, you could also view that day as the end of the crazy ride that woods partook in for so long. mistresses came out of the woodwork, making claims of woods' wild rendezvous in the bedroom which ultimately led to a divorce from his wife, a damaged image with corporate sponsors and a less than stellar year on the golf course which saw him finally lose his number one ranking after 281 consecutive weeks at the top of the leaderboard.
so what is the point i'm trying to make? well, it's simple really: tiger woods admittedly cheated on his wife with several women. michael vick is an ex-convict who plead guilty on his own accord. lebron james used free agency to find himself a better team. yet on this day, only one of these three mega sports superstars could claim that they were being booed heavily by fans in the flesh and by fans watching on TV's around the country. lebron james was the most hated athlete on this day and it made absolutely no sense to me. but one thing i did notice is that at this moment in time, vick was playing well, woods was finally playing to form but the heat have been underachieving since the start of the season. maybe winning fixes everything.
there's a lot of commentary that could dignify the reaction of the fans, but the point of today's blog is only to highlight and mention the interesting approach of sports fans on how they direct their hate and love for their particular hero. commit crimes, be a questionable example of morality, but as an athlete....just win baby. people seem to forget your personal indiscretions when you succeed on the field of expertise...the reason why you're a fan of the athlete in the first place. i'm not saying i completely agree with it, but let me be fair. i was there to see tiger woods. he's awesome.
