Why we hate some teams and sportsman

I read a friends status update on Facebook that said that he doesn't follow football but still hates Manchester United, and he didn't know why. Where does that hatred come from? Why do certain teams or sportsman create that level of hatred among sports fans even when they don't follow that particular sport? There is no clear cut explanation but I am going to try to offer my view on it, please comment and offer your own.

The first point that I can think of is the Dynasty Factor. Sports fans either hate dynasties or love them. Teams that have historically won, been champions repeatedly, and basically always dominated manage to build a brand of hatred. Take the New York Yankees or the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, people love to hate these teams. Why? Because irrespective of how these teams seasons are going, they will be more in the news than your own team. Fans of other teams whine, "Who cares about Notre Dame, they suck this year." It doesn't matter guys, they will always and I mean always get attention. If they are winning, they will be hailed as great, if they are losing people will only be concerned with why they are losing. Not many people want to read about why Bangladesh won a cricket match, but most of us do want to read why Australia lost a match. All this dynasty love leads to nothing but hate for fans that support other teams that aren't in the news.

The arrogance factor is another one that creates animosity. The swagger of teams that are winners is something that is clearly visible. I mean if you see the way certain teams and individuals carry themselves it can leave you with a horrible taste in your mouth. The attitude of the Florida State American Football teams of the 1990's, the USC American Football teams of this decade, or the Australian cricket team these past 10-15 years is amazing. I know so many people that hate every Australian Cricket team. All the teams mentioned above gave out a "I am better than you" vibe. It just flowed from their mannerisms, press conferences, style of play and overall persona. That is when sports fans make the statement, "I just hope those pieces of s**t lose so badly that they get put in their place." And as soon as that statement is made, the hatred begins. When I say sports fans you don't even have to be a fan of that particular sport, but more of a fan of sports in general. We just cant accept the arrogance.

The media love madness factor. This is different from the dynasty factor and more on the excessive love and praise from the media. This is the one that starts to get me going. The British and to an extent Indian media are the most guilty of this. Tim Henman for example was hailed as the tennis sensation of the century. Let us be honest here, with Sampras, Agassi and a whole host of others playing at the time, Henman did not have a shot to win Wimbledon. But every single match that he played was made out to be a display of tennis greatness. The interviews, rubbish analysis and overly biased commentary was unbearable. So I started hating Henman, couldn't bare the bugger and could not understand the love and attention a player who was nothing more than average would get. The Indian media did that with Sania Mirza and continue to do so. While the initial attention for her was fine and well deserved, the continued media love madness for three years is excessive. However, if I talk about Sania and the ratio of her performance level to the level of media coverage she gets I might get nasty, so I will stop myself. But you get my point, too much media love can create a lot of hate.

The country factor. I for one will never cheer for a national team from England. This has nothing to do with the British Raj and all that but its just something that I have never done. I have a feeling that it may be because of the media love madness of the british media which hails every one of their teams as the best in the world. Or it may be something else all together. Whatever it is, I can never cheer for a national side from England in any sport. I do like Manchester United though so maybe I am a semi traitor of sorts. Anyway, I am guessing that there are others out there who would never cheer for example for a team from Australia or America or France (I prob wouldn't cheer for a team from France either come to think of it).

Finally, there is the face and personality factor. And while this may sound silly I have seen it with so many sports fans its unbelievable. "I hate that player. Why? Because I hate his face and I sure as hell hate his personality" This sounds so dumb and stupid, but I continue to see it all the time. I feel silly including it in this post but I fear that something so superficial and dumb does create hatred among sports fans. People that I have heard to be on the face hating list have included Football- John Terry, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ronaldo, Cricket- Yuvraj Singh, Sreesanth, Michael Clark,- Basketball- Kobe Bryant, Kobe Bryant and Kobe Bryant. And this is not even the complete list of people that are hated because of their face or personality. Sad as it is, people actually hate sportsman because of their looks and personality....

I did not mention the rivalry factor in this post simply because hating your rival team or individual is not a big deal. As far as my friend goes, I think his hatred for Manchester United either stemmed from the arrogance factor or the media love madness factor. At least that is my theory, would love to hear yours.

Photo Credit- John Terry http://4.bp.blogspot.com

Photo Credit- Tim Henman http://www.bbc.co.uk

Photo Credit- Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig http://henrystrongingoldberg.blogspot.com