Comments on: The Intrigue of Sports Villainy

By: BGleas

BGleas — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:47:28 +0000

Good point, American's love a good comeback or bad turned good story!

By: beccameyers

beccameyers — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:53:41 +0000

Perhaps we are intrigued/jealous of people being “bad” yet still living the dream?

By: mikeschaffer

mikeschaffer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:46:26 +0000

My stream of consciousness while reading your comment:

Alan Rickman…love him…he was great in Dogma…villains more interesting…yes..yes…complication=intrigue…yes…yes…HOLY LEFT TURN!!! Batman is NOT better than Superman!!!!!! Yes…yes…Joker is awesome…he'll kill you for a laugh…not just sports…works for me.

By: mikeschaffer

mikeschaffer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:43:02 +0000

So the unpredictability draws the intrigue? I LIKE that a lot. We know what the heroes will say and do – the villains are wild cards. Awesome, awesome, awesome!

By: mikeschaffer

mikeschaffer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:41:48 +0000

Ah, someone who understands the pro wrestling connection in all this!

Honestly, WWE superstars Randy Orton and Edge were big inspirations for this post. As the top villains for the past several years, fans didn't care who was facing them - they just wanted them to lose. Instead of rooting for the good guy, they were rooting against the bad guy, which made for an excellent dynamic. Even against someone like The Undertaker, Edge was the more intriguing character.

The Pats definitely did a major heel turn there! GREAT analogy!!!

Can we say Brett Favre turned heel on Green Bay by joining the Vikings?

By: mikeschaffer

mikeschaffer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:37:55 +0000

Take heed, 'cause I'm a lyrical poet, my friend!

I think when we talk concepts, it's important to put them into context, hence the pop culture references

What about the bad guys we build up and wait for them to see the light? I think it works both ways.

By: mikeschaffer

mikeschaffer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:36:43 +0000

Appreciate you stopping by, Alexia!

I've always been very uncomfortable with the "human" excuse for people doing bad things. It brings down humanity to a bad level, where it just doesn't belong.

You are absolutely right, this scandal added a new dimension to Tiger, one completely different from anything we've seen from him before.

Can we still wear red on Sundays, though?

By: mikeschaffer

mikeschaffer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:34:36 +0000

Thanks for commenting, Jason!

Darryl and Dwight are two great examples of athletes who struggled with "demons" for years (decades?) before finally (hopefully) conquering them.

Do we want to see the bad guys become the good guys at the end? Seems like a good theory to me!

By: TJ Dietderich

TJ Dietderich — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:54:48 +0000

Alan Rickman, who is famous for playing villains in American movies, was once asked why he always played them. And he said, "I don't play villains. I play very interesting people."

The fact is that complicated characters and people are more exciting to watch then heroes. That's why Batman is just better than Superman. He's darker. And the Joker is the best to watch out of them all, because he's dark AND crazy.

So it's not just sports. We are just naturally drawn to the most bizarre spectacle.

By: Tracey Shepard

Tracey Shepard — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:47:05 +0000

Excellent post Mike. In the case of athletes and celebrities, failures remind us that although they may be the best at what they do, they’re no different than you and me. The bad guys are more intriguing because you never know what they might do next and any chance to bring them down to earth provides some sort of sick gratification. Everyone loves a good controversy and bad news naturally gathers more media attention.