SPORTS HUMORA sports fan identifies friendliest and unfriendliest athletes by sport
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The day after Christmas is the perfect time to think about which professional athletes are usually nice even when they have nothing to gain from the spoiled-rotten prima donnas. You know the Donnas -- they don't think the world exists to serve them; they know it.
You recognize the bad ones -- the spoiled hot dogs that believe being a pro athlete is not a privilege but a right. They are why so many of us think badly of all pro athletes even though many are quite decent folks who just happen to make more money than most of us.
While you're still trying to exchange that bizarre lamp from your weird aunt, I'm going to divide the bitter from the sweet. And, yes, this is a totally arbitrary division that hardly will stand up in a court of law, but don't we all like to get rid of a little hostility on Dec. 26
First, the nice ones.
TOP FIVE LEAST ARROGANT
1. LPGA -- A few exceptions near the top, but these women are usually gracious to the public and even to the media.
2. Hockey players -- Sure, they might pour a beer on your head, but they will be laughing the whole time.
3. Arena Football League players -- Most never have made the NFL and know they are lucky to play any game for a living.
4. Horse racing -- No, silly, not the horses. They bite. But trainers, jockeys and even owners are usually nice people.
5. NASCAR drivers -- At the top of this list 20 years ago but falling fast.
And now let's get to the other list of athletes who won't give you the time of day -- unless you pay for it and have a network camera with you.
TOP FIVE MOST ARROGANT
1. Female tennis players -- The young ones give a whole new meaning to "pampered." Some grow up, but by then, we no longer care.
2. NBA -- Not all, of course, but for many, it must be hard not to feel removed from the rest of us when you are taller and a lot richer than everyone else.
3. NFL -- A mixed bag. Offensive linemen are OK, and the kickers are funny.
4. PGA -- Even more of a mixed bag as many still remember what it was like to be one of us. But many have forgotten, too.
5. NASCAR drivers -- Falling on the other list, rising on this one. Another 20 years, and the only difference between them and young female tennis players will be the racket and skirt.
Note that baseball players didn't make either list because decent guys make up the majority, but Barry Bonds cancels out their karma by himself.
