Sports aren't fun unless someone is either winning or losing. It's why I don't like soccer, and why I can almost tolerate the shootout rule in hockey. I especially like it when specific teams are on the losing end, and am equally infuriated when those same teams win. Most of those teams are division rivals (Packers, Red Wings, Cardinals, etc.), but there are a couple of exceptions. I don't like the Canucks because, quite frankly, no one likes the Canucks.1 I don't like the Atlanta Hawks because they employ Josh Smith and used to employ Joe Johnson, two of my least favorite basketball players. Other than that? I'm a pretty peaceful fan. You like your teams and I'll like my teams and as long as we can agree that the Canucks are jerks, we'll get along.
The point is, nowhere in the above paragraph did I mention anything about the Yankees. Nor did I mention the Heat, the Lakers, the Angels, the Dodgers, (both trying to be Yankees-west and currently failing) or any other team that has been accused of buying players and championships. I used to hate the Yankees, but only because my family hates the Yankees. But I'm a Cubs fan. The Cubs are in the National League, the Yankees are in the American league. They might play each other in one series during the entire season.
"But Benjamin, the Yankees always spend so much money and are currently paying A-Rod to not play more than the Astros entire organization combined! Clearly that makes them evil!"
This is a popular sentiment. When you dig a little more deeply though, you realize that payroll doesn't tell the entire story. The Astros are really, really bad, decreasing their motivation to pay anyone any amount of money. The Yankees, on the other hand, needed A-Rod to win their only championship of the last 12 years in 2009. The baseball Giants, on the other hand, have won two World Series in three years, ranking 8th and 10th in payroll. Everyone in baseball has money, it's just a matter of spending money on the right people. The Yankees signed Sabathia, Texiera and Rodriguez. The Cubs signed Alphonso Soriano. Which of those are going to help you win a championship?
The Heat are a different story. I don't think people hate The Heat. I think they hate LeBron for doing what so many people would've done in his place. Only the Spurs have been able to stay consistently good at adding pieces with late-round draft picks. The best way to get to be good in the NBA is by being really, really bad and hoping for a transcendent draft pick opportunity. Just ask the Bulls and Derrick Rose. Or the Cavs with LeBron or now with Kyrie Irving. Look at the 2009-10 Cavs roster though and tell me they would ever win a championship.2 LeBron looked at that crap-sandwich, looked at teaming up with one top-5 talent and another top-10 talent in a beautiful area with not a lot of taxes. LeBron bolted Cleveland because they couldn't get him any better help that Antawn Jamison. I could never blame a guy for that.
Unless you root for a division rival or have considerable playoff history with one of these teams, I don't understand the hatred. It's not-so-thinly veiled jealousy. The Cubs haven't won since 1908, the Yankees have 27 rings. You're darned right I'm jealous. I don't care if they get another one though. Kudos to them for doing what the Cubs can't. Good job by the Heat/Wade in getting LeBron (and Bosh) to come to them. The Bulls tried, and failed.3 Hating the way either of these teams goes about their business is naive and petty. Don't hate the Yankees. Don't hate LeBron. Don't hate the Heat. Hate the fact that your team isn't smart enough to work a greedy, money-grubbing system as well as they have.
1.Not even Vancouver likes the Canucks. Try to name me another team in any league that everyone, even its own fans, hates. I'll make it easier for you. You can't.
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2. After LeBron, their top-4 in total minutes played were Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, Anderson Varejao and JJ Hickson. They won 61 games.
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3. I don't think you would've seen the same animosity had LeBron signed in Chicago and teamed up with Rose. The Bulls wanted both James and Bosh, but couldn't get either.↩
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