kurtinsc said:You are confusing "interesting" with "excellence".
I would never call TO a "great sportsman". But I'd be more likely to listen to a TO interview then a Jerry Rice interview. Rice was 10 times the reciever TO was/is... but he probably had less of a fan following in his prime then Owens has now.
I'll never say anything bad about Contador's cycling. He's the best in the game when it comes to stage races right now. He seems like a very nice guy too. But he's not interesting. I can't see myself ever trying to follow him as a fan.
But I AM a fan of guys like Dave Zabriskie and Brad Wiggins who are interesting people... even if they're not nearly as good in terms of their cycling ability.
I was always more of a fan of Cipollini then Abdoujaparov or Zabel when it came to sprinters for the same reason (though Super Mario had equal or greater talent too).
People in general seem to like to be fans of people who are "a character" as well as "a talent". Contador has the same persona as guys like Menchov or Sastre. Consumate professionals... very talented... but very dull. I'll take someone like Evans who's a bit... odd... off the bike over someone who seems like a robot giving interviews.
Well I disagree with you but you're entitled to your opinion but there's a difference between liking an athlete for being a character(Cipo) and liking an athlete for being an *** aka lance. Anyway I don't get all the hate about Contador hell I even remember in 2008 when a lot of Americans liked Contador because he was associated with Bruyneel but then Armstrong comes back and people started hating him and now I here excuses about his victory salute really that's why you hate a guy who might be dirty but still a guy who tries to win every time he starts a race and I could understand if he's an *** but I've met him twice and he's a nice guy what else except the Armstrong effect could it be.