| Villains By Patryk Fournier September 11th, 2006 |
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Sometimes I feel that we underestimate the presence of a good villain. A cartoon isn’t complete without someone like a Cobra Commander, Skeletor, Gargomel, Megatron or Montgomery Burns disrupting the storylines and injecting a level of interest and intrigue into what would normally be a boring plot. The same rule applies to sports. For every feel good story, cliché athlete interview and underdog small-budget franchise, we need that certain mix of controversial quotes, outrageous athlete selfishness and outlandish overspending by a team to offset the overt goodness. I’m the first to admit that professional sports have been besieged by too many athletes behaving badly as of late. From DUI arrests, contract hold-outs, steroid abuse, and flat-out arrogance, athletes have made it very easy for the public to dislike them. Although I would argue that the quantity of villainous athletes has saturated the marketplace so much that they have counter-acted the interest factor that comes from their behavior. To me the real interest from sports villains comes from the franchises themselves. Due to a combination of several variables certain franchises have established themselves as the teams that everyone loves to hate. Hockey has the Toronto Maple Leafs, baseball has the New York Yankees, soccer has Manchester United, basketball has the LA Lakers and NY Knicks, college basketball has the Duke Blue Devils and football has the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots. The criteria for what makes these franchises ‘villainous’ seems to follow the same kind of pattern in almost each case and holds true across all sports. Overexposure and media bias – There’s always some level of media favourtism that shines through in regards to the type and quantity of coverage. Like TSN being referred to as the Toronto Sports Network in their coverage of the Maple Leafs. Storied history of championships – Jealousy breeds contempt and that certainly applies to sports. The Patriots went from lovable underdog to hated franchise in a few short years after numerous Super Bowl wins. Big free agent spender/recruiter – Exhibit A: The Yankees. No franchise in recent memory has blatantly ignored league-imposed salary restrictions. While other teams build through the draft and put their fans through a patient wait for improvement the Yanks go out and buy the most attractive player. Needless to say their arrogance makes the Yankees the world’s most despised franchise. Big metropolitan base – Routing against a franchise is sometimes a microcosm of a bigger statement against the city. The city of Toronto refers to itself as the centre of the universe, which makes its nickname of T.O. perfectly appropriate. East coast bias – Whether it’s the Knicks, Yankees, Duke Blue Devils, Patriots, Manchester United, etc. the East Coast is a common theme. Teams that operate outside of these markets always have their teams slighted when it comes to projections, MVP awards and general coverage. Annoying fan base – The fans are the foot soldiers for a villainous franchise. They annoy to no end, travel with the team, are unabashedly loyal and thus they’re usually completely delusional about their team’s chances. Rich franchise value – Almost all of the villainous franchises stand atop the most valued franchise list in their respective sport, which isn’t a surprise when you add up the success, big markets and big budgets. In spite of how unlikable these villainous franchises are deep down I rout for them to be in contention. I like when these teams are competitive; it makes for a much better sports landscape. When these teams are in contention the satisfaction of seeing them lose in the playoffs grows exponentially. As enjoyable, entertaining and hilarious as the Isiah Thomas led N.Y. Knicks disaster are it would be so much more enjoyable if the team would make the playoffs and raise media and fan expectations only to be derailed on a national stage. During a championship final the role of a villainous franchise cannot be understated. The excitement of watching a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup final was muted by the lack of chemistry and animosity between the Oilers and Hurricanes. On paper the match-up was very boring. You’ve got two ‘good’ teams pitted against each other without any clear distinction of who neutral fans should cheer for. Both teams play fast energetic styles, both are underdogs that play under a small-budget. Throwing the Rangers or Leafs into the mix would have been like adding a Vince McMahon character into the storyline. It would have given fans two polarizing options to cheer for. It’s not a good period right now for villainous teams. The Leafs missed the playoffs last year, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers are far removed from their most recent glory days, Manchester United have been shut out in English soccer over the last few years and the Yankees, despite their increase in spending, haven’t won a World Series in six years – a drought which is the equivalent of the time lapse between Nicole Richie feedings. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I hope these franchises can turn it around sound…at least for the betterment of sports. |
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