Finally, we have arrived to Super Bowl Sunday. With this Super Sunday edition of the AA post I wanted to point out one thing I noticed as we approached this day. Throughout the playoffs when I talked to people about the games I heard many things like, "As long as (insert team here) doesn't win I am happy" or "I can't stand (insert player here)." I never really thought about it much before, but in the world of sports, as fans, we absolutely, completely, whole heartedly HATE people and groups of people that we have never met before. And the scary part is...we love it. In a lot of aspects of our lives I believe that most people try to be rational and understanding about things, but when it comes to sports all that is thrown out the window. As a sports fan myself, there are a lot of teams and players I love to hate, and it brings me great joy to see those teams/players fail miserably. I wouldn't expect any different from any other "true" fan. If someone told me they love sports, but they don't have a favorite team (or have like 9 favorite teams) and just root for everyone to play well and succeed, I would have no respect for them as a fan of sports. I mean, in how many other areas of life can you think of that we openly root for people to fail, and feel good about ourselves when we do? That my friends is what being a fan of sports is all about.
However, no hate we feel from player to player or team to team is quite equal. There are levels of hate that each of us feel towards certain teams and players that trumps the hate for some other player of team. That is why here on the AA Staff (of one) we put in the hundreds of man hours of research and development to bring together the official "Pyramid of Hate!" The pyramid is an easy go-to guide on the different levels of hatred that we as sports fans feel.
The "I don't know why, but I don't really like him/them" division:
This is probably the lowest form of sports hatred. It is basically when you don't like a player because of the way he plays or a team because you don't like their jersey colors or logo. These are the people you root against when you have no "real" vested interest in a sporting event that you happen to be watching. This is also easily the most volatile division of the pyramid because most of us are one heart felt segment on SportsCenter about Athlete X's troubled childhood away from someone in this divison becoming one of our favorite athletes.
The "Why won't we trade/cut/hire a hitman to get rid of him division" Division:
Not that anyone hates Nicolas Cage, but can you remember the last good movie he has made in over a decade? None come to mind, and I have a theory for this called the "Nicolas Cage Effect". He is such a bad actor that no matter how great of a cast, script, or director you give him he will produce a bad movie. He single handedly is a cancer to any movie he makes. For any "true"sports fan we all know at least one player (often times more) on one of our teams that consistently makes bonehead plays and cost the team. Essentially he is your teams Nick Cage. You hate him for the simple fact they area cancer to your team and you want them off. Ask any Cowboys fan how they feel about a one Mr. Tony Romo? Granted you could make a whole entire sub pyramid of hate within this division, but for the sake of time let's move on.
The "They beat us so I hate them" division:
As a fan, you come to like other athletes and teams around the different leagues. That is until your team gets beat by them. Personal Story: I used to like the Milwaukee Brewers and would root for them as long as they weren't playing my D-backs. When the NLDS came around and we were playing the Brewers, I thought, well if we lose I won't mind that bad because I don't really hate Milwaukee. After the events that unfolded during the series with the whole "Beast Mode" thing they did after EVERY hit and Nyjer "I'm a career role player but I will still talk sh*t" Morgan acting like he won the world series every time he got on base got annoying quick. That coupled with them winning the series, needless to say I will no longer ever be rooting for the Brewers ever again. Miller Lite Sucks!!
The "Rivalry" Division:
Formerly the top of the pyramid, this is the most traditional form of hate. Its the most organic and pure. For most people they are born into it. In Boston they know to hate the Yankees, Lakers, Jets, etc. The same is true for many other cities. Kids grow up watching their favorite team and often times experience their soul getting ripped out after suffering heart breaking losses to rivals. It happened (way more times than not) to me, and that is what sticks with us. It becomes part of our identity as sports fans to hate these teams. When you see the colors of that team, anger builds up and a dark sickness creeps into our stomach. On the flip side, when they lose, our hearts are filled with happiness. When your team plays a rival there is a different air to them game and it's practically palpable. There is a "we don't like you and you don't like us" feeling. That is what makes sports so great. I once thought this level of hate to be unbreakable until...
The "I hate you because it's the right thing to do" division:
Not too long ago, I would've told you under no circumstances do you ever root for a rival of your team. That is until this happened. When three of the sports best athletes conspire to come together to try and dominate the league, as a sports fan there is no level of hate greater than that you must feel for the team that does this. The Heat are exactly what's wrong with sports and for that rooting against them trumps rooting against any other team, even if they are your teams rival. Yes I said it. There is just a certain integrity about it. A "true" sports fan knows this and that is why the Heat were almost unanimously hated by the entire country last summer when they were making their title run. I even talked to a die hard Laker fan who admitted to rooting for the Celtics (which, if you know anything about Laker fans is completely taboo) against the Heat . When they did in fact lose you could almost feel the collective sigh of relief let out by millions of Americans. To me, this is the greatest form of sports hatred and the closest comparison I could give to someone that is not a sports fan is rooting for the heat would be like rooting for the Nazis in World War II. You hate them because it is the right thing to do.
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