The Athlete Likeability Scale

There is only so much you can like a certain athlete, and only so much you can hate one as well. The important part is that you know which ones to give each emotion. To help you out, I have created the Athlete Likeability Scale. The scale is based on college affiliations, so if you didn’t attend college or went somewhere with little or no athletic support (and no I don’t mean jock straps), like or hate whoever you wish.

First of all, there are a few rules that must be followed. If you don’t adhere to these rules then either you are a bigger fan of pro sports than college (blasphemy!) or you don’t have as much love for your school as you thought you did.

1. Any individual that attended your school can be rated no lower than a 6. A 6 means you at least somewhat like and cheer for the athlete. If he willingly chose to attend the same school as you, he is owed at least this much. Notable exceptions to this rule include: athletes who transfer away from your school and anyone who gets into any kind of trouble at any time. It’s perfectly acceptable to drop all love for an athlete if he decides it is a good idea to ruin his career by…oh I don’t know…throwing a keg at someone.

2. An athlete that attended one of the main rivals to your school cannot be rated higher than a 5. You can respect a person’s talent and even like the way he plays the game, but you cannot cheer for him openly if he had part in causing any misery to your school at all. Exceptions include: athletes who end up playing for your favorite pro team AND are outstanding human beings. It must be both! For example, Derrick Brooks was a Nole and no one can ever change that, but during his career for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (The Bull Gator’s hometown team), he has been a model citizen and one of the most charitable players in the NFL. Other than this, unless the individual in question pulls you from a burning building or helps deliver your first born, he can never be given more than a 5 on the scale.

3. Remember this scale rates how much you like and can cheer for a certain athlete. It has nothing to do with what you think of their athletic ability. Tayshaun Prince has turned into a good NBA player, but it doesn’t mean I have to like him at all.

As with a lot of the articles on The Bull Gator so far, in honor of March Madness, I will give you the scale as related to college basketball. Keep in mind; the examples used are from a UF fan. Obviously your own personal scale would look very different.

0 – Keith Bogans – Bogans is on this list for the same reasons the next athlete is. He played for the Wildcats when the rivalry was at its height. Bogans gets the 0 over Prince because he always seemed to be the more arrogant of the two.

1 – Tayshaun Prince – Prince must be Sam Cassell’s taller, lankier, younger brother. They both came from another planet. During Prince’s time at Kentucky, the UF/UK rivalry was really getting hot. Hitting a jumper with only a few seconds left to give the Wildcats a 1-point win in 2001 was only one of the reasons I cursed him repeatedly.

2 – Kyle Korver – Normally Korver would be on the bottom half of this list anyway. He should be in a teen clothing catalog, not on a basketball court. But he gets ranked especially low because he helped lead Creighton (CREIGHTON!) past the Gators in the tourney a few years back.

3 – Bob Sura – Please just search for a picture of Bob Sura. I know Joakim Noah isn’t any better, but at least he was a Gator so I can give him a pass. There is no excuse for Sura. There is also no excuse that he lasted as long as he did in the NBA.

4 – Al Thornton – The UF/FSU rivalry doesn’t have the same feeling on the basketball court as it does on the football field – probably due to the fact of it being played so early in the season due to conference schedules. But Thornton went out on a high note in his final game against the Gators, getting a win for the Noles. He is, however, a complete player that is carving out a good rookie season.

5 – James White – I wanted James White to live up to his potential and he almost did, averaging 15.9 points per game his senior year. Problem is he did it for the Cincinnati Bearcats, transferring after only 1 season in Gainesville.

6 – Justin Hamilton – Hamilton was a nice guy, good student, and a great defender, but how many people remember him? He did a lot of things good, but not much great. He was never the guy the team leaned on or the fans cheered for. I have nothing against him, but I’m wondering if in another 5 years he would even enter into this discussion.

7 – Matt Bonner – Bonner never did anything wrong when he was a Gator and was selected to several academic All-American teams during his career, but I just don’t think of him as one of the greatest UF basketball players. He had solid effort and seemed to rarely be off his game, but he was just Matt Bonner. Nothing more, nothing less.

8 – Joakim Noah – I’ll admit I wasn’t a Noah fan right away, but he developed into an inside force and vital leader for UF during the back-to-back title runs. Sometimes his enthusiasm (both at UF and for the Bulls) was a little much. But he appears to be learning when to tone it down and when to crank it up.

9 – Mike Miller/Corey Brewer – It was very hard for me to pick just one player to use as an example of a 9. Miller was the first “star” basketball player at UF in quite some time when he arrived to play for the Gators. His clutch shooting led UF to a national title game appearance and his basket against Butler in the 1^st round of that tourney is one of the most memorable moments in NCAA Tournament history. Brewer, on the other hand, proved he was more than just a defensive stud during the Gators’ second title season, becoming a legitimate scoring threat late in the season. Now a rookie in the NBA, he is usually chosen to guard the other team’s top offensive player.

10 – Al Horford – 2 national championships, 3^rd overall pick in the NBA draft, currently one of the league’s top rookies, great character, and probably the most consistent of the famed 04’s. What’s not to like about Al Horford?

And there you have it. As we get closer to the fall, I will give you my list using football as an example. That list gets interesting with more examples of the exceptions to the rules being present.