04/26/24
August 24, 2006
The psychopathology of athlete worship.:
posted by Ufez Jones to culture at 03:06 PM - 13 comments
While it doesn't explain the extremity of the hatred and the name calling, I think one thing that makes us deride people in these situations is a form of jealousy. We think this person had what very very few people have, a natural God given athletic ability. An ability so far above most of us, to where we could only dream of. And they threw it away. So because we have this jealousy of that ability we then become angry at someone throwing something so rare away. We become angry because we "know" had we had that shot we'd have never made bad choices. My 2 cents anyway
posted by scottypup at 04:40 PM on August 24, 2006
Why are Americans so interested in an event that, with a different culprit, would have spread no further than the local crime blotter? I wonder the same thing. The Clarett thing is puzzling because he was good for only a year. His implosion began immediately after. Outside of a few rabid Ohio (and Ohio State) football fans, the guy should have been allowed to sink into obscurity. Does one (or part of one) good college season qualify for someone to be worshiped?
posted by dyams at 05:15 PM on August 24, 2006
I think one thing that makes us deride people in these situations is a form of jealousy. I think that's absolutely a part of it. I've been trying to think of a way to put this thought in some semblance of a coherent manner but my mind keeps speaking in tongues about it, but I think part of it is some weird reaction that's a mix of jealousy and a sense of smug superiority. I think there's a hint of Merle Haggard syndrome coming from some of the columnists quoted in there too, a bit of waxing golden on the way things used to be in the good old days (which I'm not old enough to call 'bullshit' on, but as I age, my sneaking suspicion is such). I wish this had been an expanded article instead of an Op/Ed piece that they had to keep concise. There are a lot of avenues that could be explored with this phenomenon - is it uniquely USian, for instance - but I found it pretty interesting and thought it could bring about some decent discussion. Does one (or part of one) good college season qualify for someone to be worshiped? Certainly not, but if it wasn't Clarett discussed here there would be another athlete or actor or politican that would appropriately fit in.
posted by Ufez Jones at 06:02 PM on August 24, 2006
Why are Americans so interested in an event that, with a different culprit, would have spread no further than the local crime blotter? And why are so many sports writers preoccupied with a man who never played a down in the National Football League and who hasn't played college football in over three years? Most perplexing, why the vitriol? Why do we pile insults on a young man who is already a has-been? Those are all questions I have every time we have these discussions on sportsfilter, and why I try to stay out of them. What can you say? "He made a bad choice." I'm ok with that. But the hate coming from some people is almost incomprehensible to me. It's much easier for me to hate those kind of people than an athlete who's making dumb choices. I make dumb choices all the time, but I don't think I've ever had as much vitriol as those who criticize. The article is interesting, but I don't think it answers those questions. Perhaps if they had expanded on their initital thoughts, as ufez said.
posted by justgary at 02:16 AM on August 25, 2006
I think what many individuals fail to give attention to, mainly due to being blinded by "fandom" and the desire to heap praise on good athletes is the type of person many of these "stars" were before becoming big names. Many were questionable with regards to character, lifestyle, and the decisions they made when young, growing up, and in high school, but these things are often blown off as being part of youth. However, when they enter college and turn into household names around the country, their every move becomes more and more scrutinized. Eventually, as in Clarett's case, when many of his decisions wind up meaning he'll never be a professional athlete, what is he going to do with his time? Find a productive, appropriate career? Of course not. He's going to gravitate back to the undesireables and criminal-type lifestyle. Fans who worship him as an athlete just can't believe a person who was so talented at running with a ball in their arms would ever do such things, when in reality, it's probably much closer to who he really is, and was, in the first place. Major fans like to view athletes through rose-colored glasses, because the truth is often disturbing.
posted by dyams at 07:05 AM on August 25, 2006
The vitriol makes sense to me - it's just the inverse of the adulation. Both are a disproportionate reaction to what has actually happened. I don't think there are two core groups of fans, one of which supports the team and its players no matter what and the other of which sits waiting for someone to slip up before heaping scorn on them. It's the same guy shouting, screaming and worshiping the brilliance that later feels moved to shout, scream and lambast the mistake (in life or in the game). Add to that the blurring of the line between sport and real life in the media these days (and within sport itself - very few modern athletes have what any of us could recognise as a real life outside their sport), and it's inevitable. People feel let down, jealous, and probably a bit embarrassed when someone they held aloft falls so far.
posted by JJ at 10:07 AM on August 25, 2006
I don't think there are two core groups of fans, one of which supports the team and its players no matter what and the other of which sits waiting for someone to slip up before heaping scorn on them. Allow we to suggest (not recommend) a viewing of Still We Believe. Some Red Sox "fans" are just there for the failures, self-flagellation that quickly turns into player castigation. Based on a biased survey of Boston's sports radio callers to WEEI, I would say the majority of sports talk callers are not fans of players and their anger does not stem from disappointment; the inverse of their adulation would be zero. I agree that sport fan anger often comes from disappointment: you make a season-long investment in watching the team, they get into the playoffs and foul up so close to the summit, it hurts. But at least locally we have a large number of adults, typically older, who are just along to say, "I told you so." Unrelated to sports, I have an aquaintance who collects and delights in retelling stories about other people's drunken fuckups. It took me a long time to realize this stems from a poor self-image. Rather than trying to improve himself (which he thinks impossible because he'll just fail), he consoles himself with the failures of others. I think some "fans" are just like that.
posted by yerfatma at 10:17 AM on August 25, 2006
The only folks who were Maurice Clarett fans were Ohio State fans. The guy helped them win a championship before his implosion. So, he didn't foul up the team or anything, just his life. Yet, still folks hate him. People who are not Ohio State or Clarett fans still spout hatred for him. I completely understand Eagles fans hating TO. He arguably destroyed their season. But, you probably hear Giants fans hating on TO as well. They are one of the prime beneficiaries of the mess that was the Eagles last season. None of this makes sense to me.
posted by bperk at 11:21 AM on August 25, 2006
So, he didn't foul up the team or anything, I think they hate him because he tried to.
posted by tselson at 11:37 AM on August 25, 2006
I think it depends on the degree of the fuck-up, I was willing to give Clarett the benefit of the doubt after his first "mistake", but holy crap, driving around with 4 loaded weapons and body armor imply to me that he is no longer a decent member of society, and needs to be locked up. I don't hate him, he has made his own bed, and will lie in it a long while I hope, unless there is a reasonable explanation (yeah, right) for his latest escapade. Quite a different deal than a DWI.
posted by mjkredliner at 02:01 PM on August 25, 2006
Dude, if you had the Jerusalem Group on your ass, you'd be covered in hatchets. "I'm gonna give him a bris he'll never forget." - Gus "The Maniac Mohel" Lipshitz.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:38 PM on August 25, 2006
"Being a fan shouldn't be about who's to blame."
posted by yerfatma at 03:02 PM on August 25, 2006
Very interesting. I don't know that he adequately explained the vitriol. Why wouldn't you just feel sorry for someone like Maurice Clarett who pissed away his opportunities? If it was a high school classmate, we would just feel sorry for him. But, all the name calling and hatred, I just don't see where that comes from.