Ever worry that some athletes just don't care?

[Damaramu 0]

Most of us as sports fans view sports as something important or almost sacred. We take it seriously and we take the teams wins/losses seriously. We believe that winning a championship and doing well is what is important.

Conversely we think that all athletes are supposed to be trying their hardest and are supposed to love the sport. They play because they want to win and they care about what they're doing.

But are there athletes(and we know there are) that think it's just a job? That when the game or practice is over shut it off like any other job and go home not caring? All they care about is that they're getting paid?

What does that do for us as fans? We've made an emotional investment in this team and then you find out one of the central figures in the game doesn't give a damn one way or another?

Who are some notable athletes that are just doing a job and don't care?

 

It just hit me the other day while watching OU play football. I just thought "how many of these guys really like and care about football? and how many are just here to get to the NFL to get paid or to be someone famous?"

 

And that's antoher issue. Are there players playing these sports that don't even like the sport? I remember I had a friend in HS. He was really good at football. He played tight end and he was a damn good receiving TE. However he hated football. He couldn't stand to watch it and he didn't really care about the advancement or the sport as a whole, he just wanted to play because he was competitive and it was something he was good at competing at.

 

I dunno. It's hard to put in words but basically if they're just there to get paid and they don't care about the sport then I don't want to see them. And I was just wondering how many of them there were and if any of you felt as strongly or stronger than I do. or maybe you don't care if they're trying there hardest or not?

[Guest Vitamin X]

[CanadianChris 0]

Any college athlete that's in it just to get drafted and make a big paycheque is fucking dumb, because those are the guys who never make it to the pros.

 

The ones who don't care get weeded out eventually. Good riddance to them.

[Guest Felonies!]

The offensive linemen are there because they love football. They sure as hell aren't in it for fame.

[razazteca 0]

Next question.

[CanadianChris 0]

The offensive linemen are there because they love football. They sure as hell aren't in it for fame.

I thought they were in it for the postgame spread.

[tominator89 0]

It's probably the same for musicians who get into a band for chicks, fame, money, etc. How many of them really care about the music?

[Guest Felonies!]

The progressive rockers are there because they love music. They sure as hell aren't in it for pussy.

[Slayer 0]

Remember when Anthony Muñoz joined Dream Theater?

[Guest Princess Leena]

There's a lot more athletes that don't care than most people think. Just look at the sorry state of tennis, especially on the women's side. Obscene amounts of money is a big reason for it.

[Guest Felonies!]

That and if you bang your knee up, there's always modeling, unless you're one of those manbeasts like Capriati.

[Guest Princess Leena]

No recent tennis girls could be a serious model, except for Pornikova. And she doesn't even do that.

[randomguy 0]

But they can be in ads and such.

 

Yeah, money is the problem. Does anyone really think Britney cares about music? She thought "I love rock and roll", a song she COVERED on an album, was by Pat Benatar...

 

Then you have basketball dudes that are tall so they play, even though they couldn't care less. Like that center on Utah, he even said flat out that he didn't really care about basketball.

 

If there is enough money involved people with enough talent or marketability will do it for money/fame alone.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Interesting Topic.

 

A few devil's advocate questions I'd like to throw out there before adding my two cents.

 

Regarding athletes who consider their sport just a job. What do they say then to the fan who watches the sport during its season, and then shuts it off and moves on to the next sport during the winter?

 

Anyway, I think most athletes care deeply about the success of their teams, perhaps moreso than the fans. We have a lifetime to witness a championship. They have until their mid-30s.

 

There's always going to be some disconnect between the fan and athlete. The athlete, after all, is usually playing for a team he didn't choose, and probably didn't root for growing up.

 

At some point, fans need to relax and remember that it is just a game. An athlete is what he is, and it is unfair to expect too much out of them. Many have various reasons for doing what they do. But if you think they don't care, remember, when's the last time you showered your buddies with champaigne after your team won?

[Guest Felonies!]

No recent tennis girls could be a serious model, except for Pornikova. And she doesn't even do that.

Hantuchova was a real cutie, at least as far as tennis players go.

[Guest Princess Leena]

Daniela has the angelic face (which some think is also a boyish face). But, she has no curves. And no breasts. Ok, maybe she could be a model.

[Slayer 0]

No recent tennis girls could be a serious model, except for Pornikova.

What about Henin-Har...

 

Okay, I can't even say that with a straight face

[Guest Princess Leena]

Justine can be quite attractive when she wants to be. But, she's a tomboy and doesn't give a damn if everyone hates her.

[Slayer 0]

Justine can be quite attractive when she wants to be.

X

[Just John 0]

I don't think athletes not caring is that rampant of a problem in the pros.

 

You don't get to that level if you don't care. Even if some guys (we'll use TO since he's already been brought up) just do it for money and fame, that still motivates them to play at a higher level. Maybe they don't care as much as they could, but they still care somewhat.

[Black Lushus 0]

I can understand hating guys that are dogging it on your favorite team and are clearly there simply for a paycheck (see most of the New York Knicks), but if your team is winning and the guy is at least contributing, who cares what he's really in it for?

[Red Baron 0]

Your saying that man beast Amelie Marusemo is attractive?

[2GOLD 0]

Keep in mind there are also those who are just in it because their parents pushed them and they really don't like the game at all. But now its all they know how to do and they are kinda stuck with it.

[Special K 0]

Hingis is very pretty.

[Slayer 0]

Your saying that man beast Amelie Marusemo is attractive?

How dare you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you redbaron! Shame on you! [/jimrome]

[nl5xsk1 0]

In regards to the original question, no I don't worry about athletes not caring. As long as they're helping the team that I'm rooting for win, I couldn't care less why they're doing it or how much they care about it. If a player's apathy grew to the point that it was affecting their play, and thus the team's chance of winning, then I'd start to be more concerned. (probably still not the point of "worry", but I'm just being anal at this point.)

 

In regards to the tennis hotties sub-conversation, Hantuchova & Hingis are both really hot. Maybe not "model attractive" in the Stephanie Seymour/Elle MacPherson mold, but attractive enough to do ads & modeling gigs without looking awkward or out of place. And I wouldn't be adverse to tapping Mauresmo - while she's not that attractive, she's certainly not a manbeast at the level of Davenport or BJ King.

[NoCalMike 0]

Ricky Williams and Lennox Lewis come to mind. Both basically said they just happened to be good at the sport, but didn't have a passion for it.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

T.O. cares about football.

 

 

There isnt even a punch-line there, I've never seen any evidence that pointed to him not caring about football. How quickly do we forget the Super Bowl game that he shined in with a broken leg? The man struggled in High School, went to Tennessee-Chatanooga and cut his NFL teeth playing on special teams. Hes done a lot of nutty stuff off the field, but I would bet the farm that it has more to with the BUSINESS of the NFL than the GAME of football.

 

I have to imagine that in a game as physically punishing as football, you don't even sniff the pros unless you care deeply.

[Guest]

In regards to the original question, no I don't worry about athletes not caring. As long as they're helping the team that I'm rooting for win, I couldn't care less why they're doing it or how much they care about it. If a player's apathy grew to the point that it was affecting their play, and thus the team's chance of winning, then I'd start to be more concerned. (probably still not the point of "worry", but I'm just being anal at this point.)

I don't care either. Why should I? They don't.

 

More so in the case of basketball players than anything else. If there's a sport in which you DON'T have to leave it all out there in order to succeed and collect the paycheck, that's the one. It's a sport driven on numbers. You get your 15 points and 10 rebounds, and you get paid. Just look at how many players in that sport have great seasons in the contract year, and then go right back to playing like shit. If there's a reason that athletes don't care, it's because of the money. It's too late now, but you lower player salaries and the players would come in and bust their asses in order to get the extra money.

 

When guys like Brian fucking Cardinal get 35 million, there's a problem with the way the system works. He's not the best example, as I think Bobby Simmons or Jerome James are better ones. The guys that work to get their shot are the ones that care the most. Why would anyone put themselves through playing ball in Europe, or being a practice dummy if they didn't care?

 

I'd say that football has a higher ratio of players that do care, but it doesn't matter.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

In regards to the original question, no I don't worry about athletes not caring. As long as they're helping the team that I'm rooting for win, I couldn't care less why they're doing it or how much they care about it. If a player's apathy grew to the point that it was affecting their play, and thus the team's chance of winning, then I'd start to be more concerned. (probably still not the point of "worry", but I'm just being anal at this point.)

I don't care either. Why should I? They don't.

 

More so in the case of basketball players than anything else. If there's a sport in which you DON'T have to leave it all out there in order to succeed and collect the paycheck, that's the one. It's a sport driven on numbers. You get your 15 points and 10 rebounds, and you get paid. Just look at how many players in that sport have great seasons in the contract year, and then go right back to playing like shit. If there's a reason that athletes don't care, it's because of the money. It's too late now, but you lower player salaries and the players would come in and bust their asses in order to get the extra money.

 

When guys like Brian fucking Cardinal get 35 million, there's a problem with the way the system works.

 

I'd say that football has a higher ratio of players that do care, but it doesn't matter.

 

Baseball seems like it would be hard to care about too, 162 games, and half the teams are out of the play-offs before the first pitch is thrown. I'd like to think that the history of the game drives people, and the fact that theres an entire team full of people waiting to take your place in AAA ball, and that players aren't wearing rally caps and chewing styrafoam cups for nothing...