04/25/24
April 24, 2003
Sports biggest villians.: How in the hell did they narrow the list to ten? (More inside)
Billy Packer
posted by corpse at 08:26 AM on April 24, 2003
Regarding #10 (Robert Isray and his moving of the Colts franchise) couldn't the owner that moved the Browns to Baltimore be listed alongside? And what was his name? I want to say Art something or other but I don't know if that's correct. Nice find, though, vito.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:09 AM on April 24, 2003
Art Modell! Thanks Ufez. I think part of the reason Modell was left off is that he gave Cleveland several years notice of his intent to move. He wanted to build a new stadium and tried to for quite some time. Irsay on the other hand literally slipped the team out overnight so he achieved some extra villain points for that. I failed to mention that I found the link through The Sports Frog
posted by vito90 at 09:36 AM on April 24, 2003
Modell! Thanks. And in the name of parity, I suppose someone should link to the 10 greatest Sports Heroes of all time, according to the same folks. Hard to argue with number 1 there.
posted by Ufez Jones at 09:49 AM on April 24, 2003
Donald Sterling might qualify for a longer villains list. His treatment of the Clippers is pretty deplorable.
posted by pfuller at 09:58 AM on April 24, 2003
Bobby Knight might qualify. For some, Jerry Tarkanian. The list is somewhat city-dependent. Few in Boston would argue against Roger Clemens.
posted by Bryant at 10:07 AM on April 24, 2003
John Rocker beats out #7 and #8? I can't see him making the same list twenty years from now. If he's that bad, where's Al Campanis?
posted by yerfatma at 10:48 AM on April 24, 2003
pfuller - Sterling is definitely a good call. Ufez - that's a good list...it's hard to quibble with Jackie at #1, but personally I would have put Ali there. On preview, Campanis would make any top 20, that's for sure.
posted by vito90 at 10:59 AM on April 24, 2003
Campanis would make any top 20, that's for sure. Would he really? Every once in a while I break out Ken Burns' Baseball and when I see the Campanis segment on "Nightline," I have to say he looks like a senile old man who says something ignorant (but not out of character for his generation-- if he's a "villain," so are 50% of peoples' grandparents by my estimation) and Ted Koppel gets this wild "Did he just say that? He did? Ohmanohmanohman, Emmy here I come" look in his eye. We all remember Campanis spewing horrible racist hatred all over our TVs, but the truth is he was an ignorant old man mumbling idiotic prejudices that hold no water. He's not the boogeyman memory makes him out to be. Here endeth my defense of bigots for the day.
posted by yerfatma at 11:47 AM on April 24, 2003
I am glad Walter O'Malley made the list. That bastard took the Dodgers out of New York.
posted by jasonspaceman at 12:21 PM on April 24, 2003
Yerfatma: Thank you. Campanis was the first to hire black scouts in the major leagues, offered, offered, to be Robinson's roommate when Jackie was brought up to the Majors and was one of the few white players that would actually eat with Robinson. He was generally considered one of the 'good guys' until his ill-formed comments came out on Nightline. He later tried to explain, "When I said blacks lack the 'necessities' to be managers or general managers, what I meant was the lack of necessary experience, not things like inherent intelligence or ability. I was dead-tired after traveling when I went on the show. I got confused. It was like a telegram—you try to say it in a few words, and it's implied differently." Maybe Campanis' comments revealed some long-hidden prejudice but it was a prejudice never shown in a lifetime of actions. He shouldn't show up on anybody's villain list. Now Marge Schott...
posted by kloeprich at 12:31 PM on April 24, 2003
(from the sports heroes list Ufez linked, in a section about Magic Johnson) Magic's infectious good humor Am I a bad man for laughing at (un)intentional choice of words? Villians? Bud Selig would get a vote from me. He's single-handedly tried to kill baseball for the past 5 years. So would Alan Eagleson for ripping off all the players he represented. Especially for what he did to Bobby Orr. I'd also throw a personal vote in there for Harold Ballard because he was the reason my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs sufferred for almost 15 years. Plus there is suspicion he knew of (and covered up) the pedophile ring that was being run by some Maple Leaf Garden employees in the 70s/80s.
posted by grum@work at 12:36 PM on April 24, 2003
well if you're gonna include ballard don't forget Sinden and what's his name, I'm sure Samsonov14 will agree. I'd argue against Steinbrenner, because we need more owners like him, well, maybe not as meddling, but he's the guy you have to bat and love to hate, and that's what a villain is, so nevermind. I still don't get why Sox fans hate Clemens so much. It was Duquette (another good villian) who screwed that one up. Plus he made a stop in Toronto. Wouldn't Wade Boggs, who is generally still accepted, be a much bigger traitor?
posted by Bernreuther at 03:33 PM on April 24, 2003
The thing about Clemens is that his last three seasons in Boston were utter crap. He got out of shape and dogged it once he got his big contract... and then the second he left the Sox, he worked himself back into shape. Really an epic act of disdain.
posted by Bryant at 04:14 PM on April 24, 2003
speaking of epic, if he manages to lose or ND 2 of his next 4 starts, he can possibly win #300 in Fenway. I think that would be perfect :)
posted by Bernreuther at 05:36 PM on April 24, 2003
speaking of epic, if he manages to lose or ND 2 Yankee starters are 15 and ZERO this year, so will have to be ND. I wonder if they will go through the whole season without a starter losing. The joys of $$$M!!!
posted by billsaysthis at 05:41 PM on April 24, 2003
Bernreuther - I didn't wan't to sound like a broken record. Now that you bring it up though, The guy you're thinking of is Jeremy Jacobs, and he's evil though and through.
posted by Samsonov14 at 06:05 PM on April 24, 2003
O.J. Simpson, assuming he is guilty, is a villain. But is he a sports specific villain? I would propose that for somebody to be a sports villain their crimes need to be related to the sport. One could argue that O.J.'s forever tarnished his football career, but by this argument, aren't all of the other professional atheletes that have murdered, particularly those that were actually convicted, at least equally guilty and equally worthy of a place on this list? Now, Pete Rose on the other hand tarnished his name and his team in a sport related crime. As much as I think he should be in the Hall of Fame for his accomplishments on the field, I think he should be on this list for his crimes against baseball. And, finally, who are some international sports villains?
posted by Joey Michaels at 08:41 PM on April 24, 2003
Bud Selig . . . Alan Eagleson Good calls. Right there you've done better than the column's author. As for Sinden, he's kinda Darth Vader: he's scary and you'd rather he wasn't around, but he used to work on the right side of the Force and the truth of the matter is that The Emperor is the true evil behind the Bruins performance. They're the Cubs East: put out a mediocre product and the fans still show up. Thankfully Broonz fans are starting to stay away in droves.
posted by yerfatma at 09:57 PM on April 24, 2003
And, finally, who are some international sports villains? Maradonna, I would guess. Unless you think it was the Hand of God.
posted by yerfatma at 09:58 PM on April 24, 2003
International villains? Hmm: Maradona, of course; Ken Bates, just because; Kerry Packer; Ben Johnson; Don King...
posted by etagloh at 02:32 AM on April 25, 2003
Maradona. Jeez, I hadn't even thought of him. One of the saddest events in football/soccer in the 90's. Wasn't that also the year that the Columbian player was murdered by fans? I would say those fans might rank up with worst sports villains also... Which reminds me, fans that have, drunk or otherwise, disrupted games should be added to the list somewhere.
posted by Joey Michaels at 05:31 AM on April 25, 2003
Except for the "Disco Demolition Night" thing. Hard to blame them for getting riled up. Though, thinking about it, what's wrong with White Sox fans?
posted by yerfatma at 07:07 AM on April 25, 2003
Don King... We have a winner! He should be on the list, top 5 with a bullet.
posted by vito90 at 07:52 AM on April 25, 2003
Big Fat Ron Atkinson. A man immensely proud of having achieved mediocrity. (I'm not bitter. I'm not.)
posted by BigCalm at 07:53 AM on April 25, 2003
I got quite a lotta time for Big Fat Ron meself. He seems like a harmless buffoon to me. I can imagine I might feel differently if he'd ever managed my club though. Maradona, most definitely on my list. Along with Lee "Ratboy" Bowyer and Jonathan Woodgate, for obvious reasons. Also Roy Keane, just because.
posted by squealy at 08:15 AM on April 25, 2003
Well, in the 50s and 60s Don King was arrested for murder, arson, suspicion of drug dealing, carrying a concealed weapon, and manslaughter, but then those don't appear to be sports-related crimes. And OJ was found not guilty in the criminal case, but found responsible for two people's deaths in the civil case (which could be seen as a make-up call in a way).
posted by kirkaracha at 08:37 AM on April 25, 2003
Of course, the first game after I post that stupid comment Pettite goes out and loses. Stupid git!
posted by billsaysthis at 09:55 AM on April 25, 2003
I guess I don't have too much issue with the top 10...but if the list went to 20, or even 15, then I might include: George Steinbrenner Marge Schott Bill Romanowski Al Davis (?) Dennis Rodman Who else?