Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?
Recently I listended to some blowhard on sports radio pontificate about prefering to 'lose with guys you like versus winning with guys you loathe' and it got me thinking about our Minnesota sports scene and all that has transpired over the last few years. We've seen stand-up, 'sports citizen's' like KG and Torii be shipped off to other teams leaving much more than empty roster spots. Then, on the same sports page that detail the seemingly mass exodus of 'good guys' we read police blotters about Love Boat trips and dudes toking joints in front of Minneapolis strip clubs the night before games. For me, I guess it is true, I'd rather root for a team of 'good guys' who work and play hard but may not take me to the promise land than cheer for the Fred Smoot's who flash some skills on the field only to become the 'wack-a-mole' of sports scandals off the field.
Of course, this isn't just a Minnesota thing. The list of 'guys you loathe' is long and they appear in every sport from Randy Moss to Albert Belle to Barry and Kobe and Clemens and Manny. These are guys who lack the high moral character we wish our sports stars had but possess the skills to deliver a championship to a hungy fan base. These are the guys who, when on another team, you would use 'fucking' as descriptive adjective as in: 'fucking Clemens, I hate that guy.' However, when your favorite team's roster includes one of these nuckleheads you find yourself quietly making a deal with the 'sports Devil' - rationalizing their trangressions against society in return for a chance to win it all. When Moss was in purple and gold, we turned a blind eye to his running over a traffic cop, his telling us 'he plays when he wants to play,' and his 'straight cash homey' way he goes through life because he torched the Packer's for 3 tuddies on Monday night in Lambeau. When he was shipped off to Oakland, I actually thought it was a good move not because of the player's we got in return (which we didn't) but because I didn't have to deal with his crap all year long praying he would all of a sudden turn into a man on and off the field that I could respect. All the success he has had in New England has made part of me wish he was still playing for us but after watching his press conference when he discussed breaking Jerry Rice's record I was relieved I didn't feel I had to apologize to Jerry Rice.
As our Vikings line up today, we are in store for a mediocre football team trying to back their way into the playoffs they don't deserve to be a part of. However, out of 53 players on the roster, there isn't a Randy Moss. Sure, a couple dolts have done some stupid things (usually regarding getting high) but I know that when EJ Henderson or Pat Williams or AP makes a big play I won't feel guilty for rooting for them.
2 Comments:
I don't know, losing with "Good Guys" didn't feel very good. Actually, I am good with it, I would rather have upstanding people than guys you can't like. I am a huge college fan as you all know, keeping the programs clean to me is much more important than winning. Although, that Final Four run was fun.
January 2, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Couple thoughts:
1. I don't know that it's that much of an either/or situation, is it? The Pats and Colts have won 4 of the last 5 Super Bowls without the likes of Randy Moss and Ray Lewis defining their public personae.
2. It's a tough balancing act, this cleaning house and then setting appropriate expectations game. I didn't do a very good job of it mentally with Monson, and cut him way too much slack on the W-L thing based on his apparent success in getting us off the scandal sheet.
3. For the most part, I don't worry about the smoking pot in front of a strip club variety transgressions. I just take it for granted that a certain percentage of professional athletes are going to be mild reprobates. That sort of small time run-in is so rampant it doesn't even get noticed outside the home market. Read the papers from other cities - there's just as much crap going on everywhere else that you never hear about. Because there's plenty of Stephon Marbury/Tank Harris/Pacman Jones level things to keep the national media consumed. I think overall, other than the Vikes, Minne's sports teams have average to excellent reputations in the Good Citizen categories. The T-Wolves may seem to generate a lot of issues, but remember (how to put this delicately, because the issue is fraught with racial implications?): this is the NBA. They probably appear exceptional only because you're reading the Strib. The good will created nationally by KG probably outweighed the negative vibes from a year or two of Sprewell, et al. The other stuff doesn't even get noticed.
January 2, 2008 at 3:13 PM
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