(images courtesy of http://www.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/)
Major League Baseball has been over for over a month and the major awards have now been given out. Last week, AL and NL MVPs were announced and Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins and Albert Pujols of THE St. Louis Cardinals were the proud recipients.As a Cardinal fan, I am excited to see Pujols get the recognition I feel he deserves, but would trade it for another World Series title in a heartbeat; I’m sure Twins fans feel the same way. Both players had great years and, to this point, have had great careers. However, I do know that not everyone is a fan and everyone has their own opinion. I know there are some great players out there that I absolutely hate and hate with a passion. Some of them I cannot explain, I just get this vibe from them that drives me crazy (Tim Tebow). Others play on teams I’ve been bred to hate (Sammy Sosa circa 1998 – note: now that Sam Sosa is officially white, I am a fan). I understand that the flip side to that is that many people out there (hell many of you on here) were bred the opposite way, hating my beloved Cardinals and everyone's favorite Hawkeyes. So this got me to wondering: would I want Albert Pujols on my team if I were a Cub fan? If I were born and raised to hate Cardinal red and had to put up with this guy killing me every year, taking his team to its 10th World Series title, and getting so much praise, would I want him on my team? If so, what would I give up for him? I remember thinking when Sosa and McGwire were in the midst of their chase for 61 how much I hated Sammy Sosa and how much it would drive me nuts if he got the record. I thought to myself, “I wouldn’t trade a single one of our players for that guy.” I’m sure Cubs fans felt the same way (although we’re not here to talk about the past). So is Albert any different? As a die-hard Cards fan, I want to believe that he is the type of player that can unite baseball fans and spread interest in the game. I would like to think he is a guy that everyone (even the north-siders with new haircuts) can put their faith in and root for. I’m just not sure there’s anyone in today’s game that can do that. Despite putting up arguably the best numbers in history and doing his part off the field, there must be plenty of baseball fans out there that just don’t like the guy, that wouldn’t take him if they had the chance. So what do you think? I know some of you have to be Cubs fans, or Sox fans, or whatever. Would you want the guy on your team? What about Mauer? Who would you prefer? Why? Give us a piece of your mind!
2 comments:
Anyone that says they wouldn't want Mauer or Pujols on their favorite team is lying to themselves or extremely stupid. First off, there is really not even that much reason for people to hate Pujols and Mauer. They have done nothing off the field besides be class acts and model athletes. I could understand not wanting someone like Manny Ramirez (great numbers, questionable personality/decisions/actions) on your team for reasons other than baseball, but Mauer and Pujols unquestionably improve your team on the field AND in the locker room.
Second, let's look at similar situations in the past. The two most recent ones that I can think of are Johnny Damon's move from the BoSox to Yanks, and Ron Artest's move from H-Town to LA. Before Damon had pinstripes on, Yankee fans hated him with a passion. Those same fans were jumping up and down, straight giddy with excitement, when Johnny was hitting doubles and making plays in the outfield in a white and blue jersey during their title run this postseason. LA fans went from despising and ridiculing Ronny Artest after his spout with Kobe in the playoffs last season to loving him (and his "fun" antics--See his Quote of the Day for 12/2: "I used to drink Hennessy at halftime") this season. These things are easy to say, but hard to actually follow through with once the dude is wearing your team's colors. (Example: I'm a Cowboys fan and HATE the Eagles. DeSean Jackson pisses me off... his cocky attitude, great performances against my Boys, and ability to break off the big play. I "wouldn't want him on my team in a million years." But throw a star on DJ's helmet and I'm going to immediately transform into his biggest fan... hell, I'd probably even buy his jersey.) We hate these people because they're good... and we want good players on our favorite teams.
My third and last point is that some people could have well developed and plausible reasons for not wanting players on their team. Examples of this include salary cap issues (or for the MLB we can say it's called "A cheap team owner" AKA "Florida Marlins Syndrome"), player chemistry issues, and having a player in the same position that you'd rather have or allow to improve if he's younger (ex. - I wouldn't want Favre to come over for Romo. Duh, he's better, but Romo has a longer future in the league and needs more experience to get better).
That's all for now. Go Frogs!
I think it all has to do with who are you rooting for. I think most of the NFL likes having Favre back, except the Packers. Everyone says how they've been betrayed and how they can't see how Favre would ever do that to them. I know it's a little different because the longevity isn't there but I can't imagine a Packer fan saying no to the Vikings RB Peterson. I think people would like to say they're the ultimate fan and not root for the rival teams start if they got traded to your team. But when it comes down to it everyone wants to see them team win, and I'd rather see the hawkeyes win with Tebow (who I also hate) than loose without him. I just wont admit that to anyone out loud.
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