Love Me, Hate Me: The 20 Most Polarizing Athletes of All Time

Polarize: \ˈpō-lə-ˌrīz\ : to break up into opposing factions or groupings.

Any "All-Time" list will hopefully lead to discussions, as well as reader feedback.

But with this list, hopefully, we can get to some of the reasons why some people blindly love their sports heroes, while the same person could cause so many other people to hate them.

Researching and whittling this list down to twenty was very difficult, so I am open to arguments for others who I didn't include.

The criteria was to look for people who were very good at their given sport, well known by the public, and controversial in one way or another.

Most of the list is from the last 20 years or so.

This is because before the 24-hour cable news and sports stations and before the internet, we didn't know as much about superstar athletes.

And also, in the eras of the past, beat writers covered up indiscretions of the stars as much as their political counterparts did for politicians.

Would Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Martin Luther King, and John F. Kennedy be as idolized in this era?

Probably not, because we would know and see all of their warts and foibles.

With all that said, let's get to it...

Honorable Mention: Jose - Romo - Curt Flood

These are the guys that we didn't love and hate as passionately.

Jose Canseco - He was a six-time all-star and has two World Series rings. He was Rookie of the Year, MVP in 1989, and the first player ever with 40 home runs and 40 stolen bases in the same year.

But, none of that will be his legacy. Instead, he'll always be known as the whistle blower for the steroid era.

Is he a rat or the only guy from the era who told the truth?

Bill Romanowski - Two time pro-bowler, four time Super Bowl champion, and a team leader.

But, there was the kick to the head of Larry Centers, the ball he threw at Bryan Cox's junk, and the loogie he spit in JJ Stokes's face.

And of course, his admission to using steroids and human growth hormone with Victor Conte, the BALCO owner.

Curt Flood - Three time All-Star, two time World Series champion, and seven time Gold Glove Award winner.

But, just like the other two, Flood is known for what happened when he wasn't playing.

He took MLB and Commissioner Kuhn to court over the issue of having to stay with the team that originally signed you for your whole career.

In essence, he sued for free agency. The case went to the Supreme Court and he lost, but he is pretty much known as the father of free agency.

Or the reason athletes make so much money.

No. 20 - Anna Kournikova

She started off with a bang, making the fourth round of the US Open in 1996 at only 15 years old.

She then won WTA Newcomer of the Year that same season. She won two Grand Slam titles in doubles with Martina Hingis as her partner, and reached the No. 1 ranking as a doubles partnership in 1999.

As a singles player, she reached all the way to No. 16, with impressive victories over a slew of top five players including her doubles partner, Hingis, in 1999.

But something else happened in 1999. She turned 18.

Which meant the paparazzi was free to take pictures and look into her personal life.

So then came the rumors... Engaged to Pavel Bure? Married to Sergei Fedorov? Married to Enrique Iglesias?

Couple all that with her becoming one of the most googled women on the planet while, at the same time, not winning and rarely playing well, and you have the Kournikova situation.

She soon became the butt of jokes to her critics who were always jealous of her popularity, and her looks became a curse.

So now, if you look good but don't immediately win, you are the "Kournikova" of your sport.

Danica Patrick and Maria Sharapova have both fought the label.

In fact, if you play Hold 'em poker and you get an ACE and KING as your pocket cards, you now hold Anna Kournikovas..."they look great, but they don't win much".

No. 19 - Terrell Owens

You know his resume...

Five times All-Pro first team selection. Six-time Pro Bowl selection.

One thousand catches and over 140 touchdowns.

He was named to the All Decade team for the decade of the 2000s.

The man played in a Super Bowl with a broken leg and caught nine passes for over 120 yards.

He also cried for his quarterback.

And yet, more than any other Hall of Fame wide receiver who has ever played, Owens is hated by the majority of the public.

Except when he was on your team.

No. 18 - John McEnroe

According to his ESPN SportsCentury BIO:

"John McEnroe was a winner and a whiner, a super talent nicknamed Superbrat".

The French called him "Enfant Terrible" which translates to a terrible baby.

The Brits refused to give him membership at the All-England Club even after winning Wimbledon.

He was famous for screaming at the line judges and anyone else he thought was conspiring to stop him from winning.

But his passion and skill were unmatched during the early eighties. He won seven Grand Slam singles titles.

Was it passion or just rudeness? You decide.

No. 17 - Allen Iverson

In his prime, AI moved the cultural needle almost as much as Jordan and more than any current player, including Kobe and LeBron.

No NBA player had braids before Iverson, none wore baggy clothes or throwback jerseys before him. Very few had tattoos.

And even though he was averse to practice, no player gave more of himself on the court during his prime.

At a reported 5'10" and barely 160 pounds, he led an undermanned Philadelphia Sixers team all the way to the Championship round against a Shaq and Kobe led Lakers powerhouse.

But then, there were the negatives.

Rumors of him carrying guns, hanging out at strip clubs, and problems with drinking and gambling.

Trouble with the law. Domestic disputes. Trouble with coaches. Trouble with front offices.

Because of him, the NBA instituted a dress code. Because of him, Madison Avenue questioned whether NBA players were connecting to "mainstream" audiences.

Iverson was one of a kind. And never apologized for it.

No. 16 - Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez was one of the best pitchers of his generation. Period.

And when taking into consideration, the performance enhancing drugs used by the batters he was facing as well as some of the Cy Young winning pitchers he was competing against, his numbers are even more impressive.

Eight-time All-Star and winner of three Cy Young Awards. Winner of the pitching triple crown in 1999. Punctuating that season by striking out all six batters he faced in the All-Star Game.

Some say his 1999 season was one of the greatest pitching seasons in the history of the sport.

That year, he came within two voters of also winning the AL MVP. One of the voters kept him off the ballot because he didn't think pitchers should win the MVP, even though he voted for a pitcher the year before.

So was it personal? Hard to know, because Martinez constantly rubbed people the wrong way by doing things his way.

The Yankees hated him. Don Zimmer tried to fight him. He threatened to plunk Babe Ruth in the ass.

And without any explanation, he started hanging out with the smallest human alive during the 2004 World series run, even carrying him around the locker room.

Fans in every town where he has pitched have mixed feelings about the brash, 5'11" power pitcher.

But none can deny his greatness.

No. 15 - "Shoeless" Joe Jackson

In 1911, Jackson set the rookie batting average at .408, a record that still stands today.

In 1917, Jackson won the World Series with the Chicago White Sox by batting .351 during the regular season and .375 in the World Series to go along with a perfect 1.000 fielding average.

He ranks third in all-time batting average with .356. Numbers like that should make you an All-Time great.

But he threw the 1919 World Series with the rest of the "Black Sox", right?

Or did he?

Jackson had 12 hits and a .375 batting average with no errors during the series. Numbers that led both teams.

After initially copping to taking money for the fix, he spent the last years of his life pleading his innocence.

Most old time fans and stat geeks will tell you that he belongs in the Hall of Fame with the other greats.

Movies such as Eight Men Out and Field of Dreams have kept Jackson's tragic story alive for generations since he passed.

Will he ever get in to the Hall? No one knows but several parks, monuments, and memorials have been built in his honor.

Did he take part in fixing the series?

"Say it ain't so, Joe. Say it ain't so."

No. 14 - Danica Patrick

I know what you're thinking, she can't be one of the all-time most polarizing already.

But again, I urge you to think about today's athletes and how the media covers celebrity in 2010.

Combine that with the fact that she is, whether people like it or not, a pioneer and trailblazer in historical terms.

Add the fact that she is very attractive and marketable. With all that, she has to be included.

Traditional car racing fans want to label her as all sizzle, no steak. But she has won races and placed higher than a lot of her big name male counterparts.

She has been caught on microphones complaining and has been labeled as a spoiled little girl, and yet she continues doing her job.

She has an more TV ads than others who have won more than her, but because of the attention she brings to the sport, everyone's pockets are fatter.

She is as polarizing as anyone on this list if the pros and cons are tallied up.

No. 13 - Ty Cobb

The Georgia Peach.

Cobb won 12 batting titles and played 23 seasons in a row where he batted over .300.

He also stole over 800 bases. He held the all-time hits record for 57 years before Pete Rose claimed it.

In the first ever balloting for the Hall of Fame, Cobb received more votes than Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson.

He was as good as he was nasty, most said. According to ESPN, he openly admitted to hating Northerners, Catholics, and Blacks.

One time in a game in New York, he went into the stands and stomped and kicked a fan who had no hands.

He out Artest'd Artest!

There are even rumors that he killed a man.

All that being said, considering who he out polled to get into the Hall of Fame, some can argue he is the best, if not most beloved, ball player of all time.

No. 12 - Jim Brown

He is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as well as the College Football Hall of Fame and the College Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

According to the Hall of Fame Network, he is one of the top three greatest multi-sport athletes of all time.

Sporting news named him the greatest football player of all-time.

Since his retirement, he has starred in movies and done charity work, most notably as a mentor for kids involved in the Bloods and Crips gangs who are trying to get out.

He also founded the Amer-I-Can program, to help those coming out of prison and those struggling in the inner cities.

But he is said to have a dark side.

He has repeatedly been accused of violent crimes, primarily towards women.

He was alleged to have thrown a woman from a balcony, as well as beating up a golfing partner.

A half dozen more accusations come up without much research.

Does the good outweigh the bad?

No. 11 - Isiah Thomas

According to Wikipedia, his whole name is Isiah Lord Thomas III. To his critics, that is all you need to know about him.

Most people see Thomas as two different people: the fearless point guard with the great smile that led the Pistons to two titles, or as the much maligned GM of the out of control Knicks teams from a few years ago. A reign that New York is still suffering from.

As a player, he was one of a handful of the best point guards ever. He was a 12-time All-Star and named one of the 50 greatest players of all-time in 1996.

He was a NBA Finals MVP and a Citizenship award winner. His Pistons jersey is retired.

But with most of this list, something about him rubs some people the wrong way.

It's alleged that Michael Jordan has loathed him for decades. His best friend for years, Magic Johnson, won't speak to him (Magic doesn't hate anyone!).

Even Bill Simmons can't stand him.

He's been sued for sexual harassment, and the Knicks had to fork over 11 million dollars because of it.

He's even alleged to have overdosed on pills and forced his daughter to take the rap.

Did I mention he was a great point guard and folks in Detroit love him?

No. 10 - Manny Ramirez

No one really knows what "Manny being Manny" means.

Does it mean you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, with impunity?

Skipping spring training to go to car shows?

Does it mean if you get caught using PEDs and get suspended for 50 games, you can just shrug it off and say you just want to play ball?

Maybe.

Ramirez is a 12 time all-star and a first ballot HOF'er, but he also has been a controversial figure everywhere he's been.

Sometimes he didn't run as hard, didn't show up when he didn't want to, and wasn't a good teammate.

But he could hit. And he was just being Manny.

No. 9 - Jack Johnson

He was the most controversial boxer of the 20th century.

He fought the fight of the century against James J. Jeffries, aka "the great white hope," and won.

The win caused race riots in 25 states.

He was the first celebrity endorser and wore tailored suits.

He loved the opera and was the first owner of the famous Cotton Club.

He was the main reason that Congress passed the MANN ACT, aka the White Slave Act of 1910.

He was known to race his luxury cars at over 100 miles an hour and eventually died in a car crash.

Both Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier consider him one of the two greatest heavyweights of all-time.

No. 8 - Diego Maradona

The debate rages on and will probably continue for as long as people play soccer.

Is Maradona the greatest player ever?

You will find just as many people to say yes as you will that mention a handful of other players.

But perhaps no one will disagree that he has probably been the sport's most controversial figures both on and off the pitch.

He was addicted to cocaine for over 20 years. He had much publicized marital problems.

His weight ballooned to 100 pounds more than his playing weight before getting his stomach stapled.

In a World Cup victory over England, he scored one goal with an illegal handball known infamously as the "Hand of God" goal.

He owes the Italian government over 30 million Euros in taxes. He has tattoos of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro on his body.

He has been suspended from the sport he loves several times because of drugs.

And yet, he has always been welcomed back.

With open arms.

No. 7 - Alex Rodriguez.

The numbers are obscene.

He is the youngest to do all sorts of things on the field. And now he has a championship ring.

Will he ever be as loved as Jeter? Absolutely not.

But Jeter will never put up A-Rod numbers either. And never has.

Three MVP trophies, 12 All-Star appearances. The list goes on and on.

But there's the other side of him.

The admitted steroid use. The dalliances with strippers. One who was quoted as saying he liked his women kind of "muscular".

The prostitutes, the call-girls.

There was the strange photo shoot. And the frosted tips.

Then the bush league stuff on the field.

There was the slap at the ball during the Red Sox game.

The screaming distraction while running out a fly ball.

The crossing of the pitcher's mound...

All these things add up to make him one of the most controversial and polarizing athletes of all time.

No. 6 - Pete Rose

He is the "Hit King". He is Charlie Hustle.

No one has come close to passing his all-time Major League record of 4,256 hits.

But a little known fact is that he is the only man to make the all-star game at five different positions (2B, LF, RF, 3B, and 1B).

Seventeen All-Star appearances in total. Three World Series rings and two gold gloves.

He was beloved by his teammates on those great Cincinnati teams and has won pretty much every accolade, except Hall of Famer.

As we all know, Pete Rose bet on baseball while he was still playing. And then he lied about it for decades.

And then he told the truth about lying to sell a book that he wrote about it.

And yet, those who saw him play still love him.

No. 5 - Kobe Bryant

I did an unscientific, unofficial poll about a week ago.

I asked a group of my friends who all happen to be Laker fans, what they would do if Kobe Bryant knocked on their door in the middle of the night and asked if he could stay over because the cops were chasing him.

All 12 said they would let him stay until he could figure out his next move.

I am not lying to you.

Paul Pierce would get turned in in Boston. As would Tom Brady and Big Papi.

People in Indiana would talk Peyton into turning himself in.

New Orleans folks would throw Brees and Chris Paul going away parties, but would then drive them to the police station.

Kobe fans? They would get him to the border and empty out their bank accounts for him.

More people on talk radio were upset at him when the Lakers were mediocre (before the criminal trade with that idiot from Memphis) than they were with the Colorado incident.

As much as Magic has done for the community and for the Laker Legacy, he is not as beloved in LA as Mr. Bryant.

And it has nothing to do with the fifth title. Trust me.

Kobe could not be convicted of any crime in LA.

I don't get it.

No. 4 Tiger Woods

Fourteen major championship wins, yada, yada...

Eldrick would have never made this list just 18 months ago. Hell, a year ago, no one would say he was polarizing.

You either loved his play or you admired his achievements.

But there was no reason to loathe or be disgusted by the guy.

We didn't know anything about him except that he had a lot of money, a beautiful wife, and two cute, little kids.

And then last Thanksgiving came and the flood gates opened.

Now he can't win anymore, so we don't know how to feel about him.

Women are still repulsed. And even guys who like to think of themselves as pretty open-minded had to do a double take.

After reading some of those texts, there was no denying it...

Tiger is a stone cold freak!

You don't want him near your daughter, your sister, your mother-in-law, or your fish...

And every time he misses a putt, you have to wonder if he was doing unspeakable things to adult stars in his free time, would he had made that shot?

'Prolly.

No. 3 - Barry Bonds

In the book Game of Shadows, the case is presented that Barry Bonds took HGH.

And in graphic detail, you hear of some of the side effects of the PEDs.

Ugh.

But the funny thing with Bonds is that he was never liked by the media and most ball players before he allegedly took the drugs.

My favorite story in the book is when he walks into the Giants clubhouse for the first time after signing with them and points to all the pitchers that he has homered against and laughs.

Classic.

But a lot like Kobe, but to a lesser degree, he was beloved in San Francisco throughout his career there.

I won't list the numbers, because well...

But the tragedy is that he was first ballot HOF even before he decided to use in the late 90s.

No. 2 - Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson has done a 180 degree turn in the way that he is viewed in society. A generation of young fans only know him as the cool guy in The Hangover.

He wasn't always so cuddly. I found this great site that has Mike Tyson's best actual quotes.

So instead of listing his achievements and his run ins with the law, I'll just give you a few to make the case for him being on this list...

“[He] called me a ‘rapist’ and a ‘recluse.’ I’m not a recluse.”

"My main objective is to be professional, but to kill him...I want to rip out his heart and feed it to him [Lennox Lewis]. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children."

(To: Razor Ruddock) "You're sweet. I'm going to make sure you kiss me good with those big lips. I'm gonna make you my girlfriend."

..."He was screaming like my wife."

And my favorite, during an interview:

“I want to throw down your kid and stomp on his testicles, and then you will know what it is like to experience waking up everyday as me. And only then will you feel my pain.”

Wow.

http://kjkolb.tripod.com/homepage/miketysonquotes.html

No. 1 - OJ Simpson

A lot of people think that the love and hate for Simpson breaks down along racial lines, and that couldn't be further from the truth.

Most of OJ's best friends after retirement from football, were rich, white men.

He had money and liked to golf and gamble and stay at luxury suites.

He wasn't doing charity like Ali and Magic after retirement. He wasn't visiting prisons and inner cities like Jim Brown.

He was spending his money at golf resorts.

So do not assume that just because the trial was sold to the public as black and white, that OJ was of the Black community.

Vanity Fair did an article soon after the verdict in the murder trials where foreign women were flocking to him and asking for autographs.

Celebrity is something totally different than what most of us can comprehend.

OJ is polarizing because he is a celebrity and he was good at football.

And for some people, that's all that matters.