20 Athletes Who Infuriate Their Fanbases

Life would be so much more enjoyable if these few athletes would just get with the program. As it is, they are the most frustrating bunch to root for in sports. 

I present to you a pretty annoying display of some very good athletes. Rather, this is a list of some very good athletes being utterly annoying. 

Either way, it should be good for some chuckles. 

These are the sports stars that fans hate to love. They may rock the hometown jerseys, but their shenanigans make them so hard to root for. 

It mat be malaise or just some rash of injuries that has them forever locked away from the field of battle. No matter how well they are doing, you just know that something ridiculous is right around the corner. 

Here are the athletes who infuriate their fanbases to no end. Who do you consider missing from this list? 

20. Manny Ramirez

Manny Ramirez is an enigma wrapped in the body of a crazy person that could hit the crap out of a baseball. 

When he is great, we deal with his inane antics. Unfortunately for the Rays and now the A's, he is a shell of his former self and will merely frustrate from here on out. 

That hardly deters me from waiting eagerly for him to come off his suspension and gives us some more awful memories. 

19. Chad Ochocinco

Is it possible to be infuriated with a player that really doesn't matter anymore?

I will say yes, as the Patriots fans were forced to root for a Chad Ochocinco who pretty much forgot how to play football. 

18. Jay Cutler

There are hardly more passionate fans than the ones that reside in Chicago. Unfortunately for them, their leader is played by a man that smiles less than Tim Duncan. 

I have no idea why Cutler chooses to mope so much, but it makes him so very hard to root for. Add to that his inconsistent play, and you have one frustrating man to root for. 

It all came to a head in 2011 when he left a playoff game with an injury. Some Bears fans will never forgive him no matter what he does on the field. 

17. Juan Uribe

This list officially becomes personal with Juan Uribe. 

Sure, every team he has played for is instantly annoyed by his ability to swing from his heels and whiff in glorious fashion, but he is now an LA Dodgers player, and I can't deal with that fact. 

Every morning, I wake up and begin to cry as I remember that Uribe is busy swinging for the fences and coming up empty in Dodgers blue. 

16. Wayne Rooney

Shrek earns a spot on this list for his domestic meltdown that saw him suspended for two games in Euro 2012. 

What's more is that he has failed to be the most consistent player on the pitch for England. While he has dominated for Manchester United, he continues to play some frustrating football for the Three Lions. 

15. Closers

If you want a sports rarity, it's a closer that can put together a long-lasting career of dominance. These guys are far more prone to meltdowns and fiascoes that turn into a manager invoking the worst thing in baseball, closer by committee. 

The closer also happens to be the most annoying position in all of fantasy sports, making this a double-whammy spot on the list. 

14. LeBron James

Here is a controversial inclusion, but one that has to be made. 

Yes, LeBron James is the best basketball player on the planet, but he plays like a great role player at times, and it's beyond frustrating. 

Let's say that 90 percent of the time, the King will give Miami Heat fans reason to cheer. The rest of the time is spent wondering why he decided to pass off to Mario Chalmers. 

13. Alex Rodriguez

He is the LeBron James of hardball, or the Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees. 

First off, he is so damned hard to root for when he plays right next to the well-liked and very well-respected Derek Jeter, a man that epitomizes timely hits. 

For A-Rod, his time to take a vacation comes roughly around the same time as the Yankees beginning their playoff run. 

He may have erased some of his choke artist label, but past transgressions will haunt his legacy for eternity. 

12. Pau Gasol

Oh boy. 

He is still one of the best big men in the biz and is still a versatile beast that can score from the perimeter and collect double-doubles at will. 

We think. 

This past season saw Gasol get lost on offense and go through sheer confusion on defense. If he were any softer, he would be that adorable Snuggle teddy bear. 

11. Kickers and Punters

Parents, don't let your kids grow up to be kickers or punters, because they will be despised by just about everyone they come in contact with. 

At best, they are merely doing their jobs and kicking a meager field goal. At worst, they are destroying your entire season with one failed kick. 

Who needs them?

10. Greg Oden

I tread lightly here because Greg Oden's issues are no fault of his own. That doesn't mean his face doesn't invoke a very real emotional response from Portland Trail Blazers fans. 

He is the walking personification of Mr. Glass from the movie Unbreakable, and it continues to be one of the saddest stories in all sports. 

We may never know if Oden would be an All-Star if only healthy, and that makes us sad.

9. Tony Romo

Tony Romo occupies that beautiful fine line in the NFL known as a good but not great quarterback. They are the most frustrating arms in all of sport. 

He can show flashes of brilliance, but then lose it all in a flash. While he had a solid 2011, you just know that heartache is on the horizon. 

He isn't an elite quarterback, and we should stop asking form him to act like one. 

8. Andrew Bynum

I know, Bynum. We all feel the same way. 

With Dwight Howard having back issues and playing general manager, Andrew Bynum plays the role of best big man in the business. 

That is rather hard to accept considering his ability to go through fits of negative returns on the floor. His maturity and questionable mental effort make it so damn hard to love him as a fan. 

7. Fernando Torres

Chelsea fans are hit with sudden fear the second they hear the words, "and Fernando Torres is going to come onto the field."

Sure, he scored in the glorious conclusion of the 2012 Champions League final, but it hardly erases a couple years of frustrating futility. 

6. JR Smith

JR Smith never met a ball he didn't want to shoot. He has the drive to score of a Kobe Bryant and the shooting touch of Sasha Vujacic. 

New York Knicks fans are the latest to get the best and worst of the maestro known as JR Smith. 

5. Josh Beckett

He is the best pitcher on a sinking ship, and there have been some repercussions. 

The most frustrating story for Red Sox fans surfaced recently and placed Josh Beckett on the golf course a day after he was scratched due to injury. 

It was an overblown story, but made Sox fans wonder if this team's annoying antics would ever end. 

4. Milton Bradley

I know that he isn't active and remain a free agent since 2011, but he is an original hometown horror that many MLB teams loved to hate. 

Every time he changed jerseys, the new hometown fanbase would wonder what the hell management was thinking. 

Bradley never disappointed in melting down and taking out his frustration, even on his own fans. 

3. Lamar Odom

Based on the year Lamar Odom just had, I am going to say this is a picture of the forward missing a shot. 

The former Sixth Man of the Year was traded by the Lakers to the Mavericks, whined about it and then subsequently shut down emotionally. 

Mavericks fans thought they were getting a quality role player that averaged over 14 points per game in the previous season. Instead, they got a constant headache and mere 6.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. 

2. Albert Haynesworth

There are those athletes that you just hate until they are on your team. Albert Haynesworth is that even rarer sports star that you hate, even if he is on your team. 

From stomping on players to generally loafing around, Haynesworth embodies all the bad that we can think of overpriced talent. 

1. Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard just wants to be loved, and he is pretty damn awful at it. 

This past season saw Superman devolve from the most beloved Magic player in history to the guy that caused head coach Stan Van Gundy to get fired, allegedly. 

Through it all, he wanted to be traded; then he didn't and then he did. It was a nauseating roller coaster that Magic fans would like to get off of right about now. 

No. 1 with a bullet is the prima donna that just can't make up his mind. 

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