This topic has really made me think lately. Does what an athlete does off the court matter to you? If he fathers multiple children by different women, racks up DUIs, cheats on his wife, gets involved in drugs, etc. ...how does that make you feel? Speaking for myself, it is very important and always has been. It feels better to root for "good guys", even if they aren't "winners". I felt this way even before my son came along. Since then, it is even more important. I realize this is not a black and white issue and that there is a lot of "gray area". Would love to here those opinions.
No Mike Vick is still my boy. If I hear a sad story about a player I will pull for them more, but you could probably make a sad story out of any players life if you wanted.
The above things generally make me lose respect for a person, which makes it difficult to cheer for them or their team. However....I feel that cheating in a relationship is a personal affair, and really none of my business, which kind of negates me losing respect for them. Shawn Kemp, however, is really an example of irresponsibility re: raising children that transcended into his playing career (i.e. getting fat and lazy) and is, therefore, a negative example. Racking up DUI's makes a person a public menace, and is a bad example as well. As for drugs, I think drugs should be legal, so I'm not gonna hate on Ricky Williams for liking his Weedies. So while is pot smoking hurt his team, and I would be disappointed as a fan, I wouldn't hate him or not cheer for him because of it. Steroids equate to cheating in my book, and therefore has a negative impact on a player for me. I have no problem with an athlete going to titty bars or something like that. The Charles Barkley's of the world don't bother me one bit. Edit: To me, what Vick did makes him something short of a monster. He did his time like a man, though, so I give him props for that. While he paid his debt to society and I will wish and hope for the best for him, I would never, ever cheer for him as a fan.
For my professional teams: Criminal behavior matters to me, to a certain extent. Nobody likes to be cheering on a criminal to make million of dollars when he should rightfully be in jail. However, I don't care about their personal lives and off-field issues. If a player cheats on his wife or whatever, that's his own business. I want the team to entertain me and win. If my team can sign a group of players that can do that, I really couldn't care less what the players do in their personal lives. I cheer for them as sports players, not as good samaritans. For my college teams: It all matters to me because it reflects badly on my alma mater when any negative incidents arise.
The only thing that throws me off is when a good guy (Let's say Battier) gets arrested for domestic violence or something.
So basically you need to identify with an athlete to cheer for him? And this is why you can't cheer for Kobe, even though he consistently shows greatness on the basketball court? What matters to me is what an athlete brings on the court, how he converts his personality into his game. I couldn't care less what they do off the court, mainly because I watch sports for the actual love of the sport, and not because I want to relate to metaphors to make myself feel more important.
Unless you live next to Kirk Snyder. In all honesty while I wouldnt want some straightedge players or religious Dwight Howards, I am proud of the fact that cheering for Houston teams also means cheering for the good guys. I couldn't imagine myself defending Kobe possibly being a rapist and Shaq getting quickies from random chicks, or Stallworth killing a pedestrian. I'd cheer for a Pacquiao over Tyson just based on what their off-the-ring behavior was like. Someone mentioned nudie bars, I'll agree taht titty bars are different. I heard Yao liked Men's Club (or maybe Treasures), which has a very fine breakfast buffet.
It really depends on what a player has done. Some stuff is just stupid, and if a player gets done for stupid things time after time, you cant forget that. I hate players that have commited violence against women mostly.
I do not care for of court behaviour as long as it is not something like rape, or violance (towards humans or animals). On court behaviour does matter to me. I prefer the people who do not act like idiot, that is why i like players like Federer, Sampras, Messi, Battier, Scola etc.
How could you possibly still pull for Michael Vick? What the hell was he thinking? 18 months was hardly enough.
It all depends. I would allow someone with one offense, and root for him to turn it around. Players like Pacman I don't want on my team. If you are goiing to habitually embarass the organization, I want them gone. I certainly don't want to root form multi-millionaires that decide breaking the law is ok, and refuse to learn from their past behaviors.
I'm with you here except I do care about some drugs like PEDs and hard drugs. I also don't like d!ck heads. I want the players to be somewhat likeable.
