Everybody Hates Greg Paulus

I just don't get why everyone hates Greg Paulus.

I've heard reasons why people don't like him, it's just that none of them represent the opinions of mature grown-ups. In sports there are always childish jokes that you make about players and teams you don't like. I know because I've made them too.

But with Paulus it seems to have just taken on a life of its own.

After Duke's loss in this year's tournament, and even prior to that, the Paulus hatred bandwagon had pretty much died down. He didn't play a lot and even though opposing fans cheered his name while he sat on the bench, seemingly begging for him to get in the game just to taunt him, the hater-movement never really got going this year.

It wasn't as strong as Paulus' previous three seasons when he drew the ire and disdain from every opposing fanbase. This year not only did he not start, but he played very little, especially down the stretch.

At that point I said to myself, "Well at least the poor kid doesn't have to deal with all that hazing."

That was until Paulus decided to consider taking up football, again. By now everyone has heard of Paulus' "work out" with the Packers and his discussion with Michigan Football Coach Rich Rodriguez.

Now the wagon of hate, which had seemingly been put away, has been pulled out and has a shiny new set of wheels.

It is again fashionable to hate Greg Paulus, but still no one has given me a good reason why.

While I know he played for Duke, easily the most hated college basketball team in the nation, the level of taunting and poking fun at Paulus, even from local media and radio station personalities, is just amazing.

The origin of this hate, as strong as it is, is just simply a mystery to me. Carolina fans hate Paulus, but then again don't they hate every player that dons a Duke uniform? Yet with him, there is just sheer disgust.

And as much as I respect how hard he worked and played and wanted to win, he just wasn't a great player. He was decent, at times very good, just not great.

So it always seemed pointless to me that people went out of their way to haze and tease the player who wasn't even the best on the court.

At least when people gave J.J. Redick a hard time, you could always connect that to him being one of the best, if not the best player on the court.

Paulus' work ethic, attitude, and drive always impressed me, not because he was a Duke player but because those characteristics are something you want in all players that represent the teams you like.

Even teams like Binghamton who don't play Duke thought it was cool to boo Paulus.

I'll admit that players on certain teams that reside eight miles down the road aren't my favorites, but I respect them for the effort they give if they deserve it because I don't know that kid and if he wore a Duke jersey I'd cheer for him.

So if anyone can give me a legitimate reason why they hate Paulus then I'm all ears. However, I'm not interested in crass, rude, frat-boy, homophobic jokes.

The way I see it is there just isn't anything outstanding about Greg Paulus that should make people hate him so much.