10 Most Disliked Athletes

Who is your favorite Athlete?

Scratch that. Who is your least favorite athlete?

Sounds like a funny question, but Forbes actually just released a list they compiled of the 10 athletes least liked by Americans! And Lance Armstrong and Manti Te’o are at the top of the list.

Lance lost all respect when he finally admitted that he cheated on the Tour. It’s pretty hard to like a guy who you’ve seen defending himself, dragging others down with him… all to be thrown in the wind one day when he basically confesses, Just kidding! I did cheat!

Put Manti Te’o in the “looney” category. This guy was one step short of introducing us to his imaginary rabbit Harvey.

Tiger grabbed the No. 3 spot for trying to cover up his affairs. I’m sure Mr. Schwarzenegger could have easily joined him in that spot.

Forbes posted their entire list here. You’ll see Michael Vick, Kobe Bryant and others.

Looking over this list, the most intriguing element to me was the “common denominators.” America as a whole doesn’t seem to like it when we’re lied to. The top 3 guys all tried to cover up their mistakes instead of owning up.

I’m curious if America would have cared as much if these guys would have admitted their iniquities in the beginning. Think Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Sadly, much of American didn’t mind President Clinton’s trespass, maybe because he wasn’t afraid to talk about it.

True, not all these guys are just liars. When you’re accused of rape (Bryant) or dog-fighting (Vick), that doesn’t sit well with Americans either.

This is one of those pop culture items that is a good discussion springboard with our teenagers. Show them the list and ask them their opinion. Ask:

–       Do you think America is being hard on these guys? Why or why not?

–       What are some of the common actions we’re seeing from this list?

–       Why does America seem to hate being lied to?

–       How might some of the small lies we do turn into big lies that haunt us some day?

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