Pivot Points: The Anatomy of A Hater

This for all of the haters of the sports world, you know who you are.

You mask your disdain for a player by using numbers that paint a picture, but never tell the whole story.

If a player scores 81 points for example, you lessen the accomplishment by mentioning that he only shot in the mid 40 percent range to get it. Nevermind that it's so monumental that you will probably never in your lifetime see it happen again, it remains a feat that holds no interest for you.

Haters are usually very intelligent, so they expend enormous amounts of time researching their subjects, so that they can make compelling arguments.

They can be very persuasive in their debates, and for a time, can almost even seem reasonable.

Make no mistake though, there is no reasoning with them because things like championships, MVP's, and other awards hold little interest for them.

Besides past accomplishments are the past, and we reside in the present, but it's funny how the hypocrisy shines through when they use the past to qualify a point.

Another tell-tale sign is the destruction of a player's character, and how it pertains to their athletic performances.

This one is a dead giveaway because an athlete's personal life should have nothing to do with how they play the game.

In some instances the haters become judge, jury, and executioner by convicting an athlete in the court of public opinion. Who cares that we have courts that exist for that very reason? Who cares about the other side of the story? It's probably filled with lies anyway.

What the truly objective person sometimes fails to realize is that we need haters and they perform a vital function for the rest of us.

First of all, they look up the statistics that none of us really want to, and during the course of their spewed hatred, they usually prove the point that we're trying to make.

So long live the haters, your opinions, and unabashedly biased views that make the rest of us who we are. You complete us.