Class, Hustle, Respect

If you're a professional sports player, chances are you're talented in your chosen sport. Writers, fans, and haters may say a particular player sucks, but in reality, they're probably better than 99% of the rest of world in their sport.

Despite this talent, all players are different in their approach to the game. Some players train relentlessly; some will study video or game film; and then there are those who waste away their talent. In many cases these are the douche bags of the sports world. Most of them burn out after a few years of success. Some of these players will bounce back after their initial fall and learn to appreciate the game the way it was meant to be played. Class, hustle, respect.

It's the players that play this way, that tend to be the ones I respect and ultimately like the most. It's a lot harder to hate a player when they play with these three qualities. Even when a fan does claim to hate a player with these attributes, most of the time it's because they play for a team that is a rival to their favorite team.

In baseball, my favorite player is Kirby Puckett. He hustled his butt off, smiled when he played, was always there for his teammates, and never took his talent for granted. His will alone won Game Six of the 1991 World Series, leading to the Minnesota Twins taking the whole Series in seven. When you watched him play, you wanted to play just like him. It was hard to cheer against him, even if he was on a team that you didn't like.

Legends that were given/worked for their talent that was at an even higher level than those around them, are often remembered for their hustle and respect for the game. Joe DiMaggio was a Hall Of Fame player, but will be a legend because of his class, hustle, and respect. In an organization of stars, Hall of Famers, and everything in between, Joltin' Joe is always going to be remembered as one of the biggest Yankee legends.

This is probably the reason I am a Yankees fan the most. True the Yankees are one of the most hated teams in sports, but they are also one of the most loved in the world. The Yankees play on a higher level when it comes to prep work for their games. David Wells wrote in his autobiography that even though he was a playing baseball for years before joining the Yankees, when he joined the Yankees, it was as he jumped into a new level of baseball.

This is why Alex Rodriguez is considered by many Yankees fans, "not a true Yankee." He has talent, but he doesn't try every game, he creates conflict amongst his teammates, and makes it seem that he should be praised for even showing up to the game.

There are exceptions to the rule of having class, hustle, and respect to be a "legend to be remembered." This is usually done by star players that are known to be characters. Babe Ruth was larger than life and is still probably one of the most widely known baseball players of all time. He smoked, drank, ate everything in sight and slept around with prostitutes and all of this was before the seventh inning stretch. Certain players have this persona or quality that will keep them remembered, but not necessarily for all the right reasons. Babe Ruth might be well known still today, but it was Lou Gehrig that tore a hole in the hearts of the Yankees fans when he announced his retirement.

Players today tend to come off more theatrical, partially because this makes them more marketable to sponsorship deals. If Bengals wide receiver, Chad Ochocinco, didn't change his last name and remained Chad Johnson, would he have received deals with Reebok, danced with Cheryl Burke on Dancing With The Stars, and been the focal point of his own reality show? He had the talent to become one of the greatest receivers of all time, but with his poor work ethic, he will be remembered for a long time, but not as a legend.

I will never say an athlete like Kobe Bryant sucks in ability, but he will never have the same level of respect or be considered the legend that Magic Johnson is. Magic is the Mr. Lakers. Kobe, no matter what he does for the rest of his career, will not reach Magic's level. Magic played the game the right way. He inspired others. He hustled. Off the court, he was just as large in life as he was on the court. Off the court, Kobe will be remembered for Colorado, dating an underage girl (although he did marry her when she turned eighteen), and his almost yearly "trade me" demands for a six year period, that eventually forced the Lakers to choose between Kobe and Shaq. Magic never acted childish in a manner that forced the Lakers to trade off stars such as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy, or Jamaal Wilkes to keep Magic.

I, as many people, have said that "Player X" sucks, but I don't mean compared to an average person such as me. I once played in a pick up basketball game with Sean Rooks, a lifetime back up center for various teams and often a twelth man on a squad. I personally witnessed him make everyone look bad by playing an outside game that fans never got to see when he was picking up Shaq's towels on the bench. On a talent level, Sean Rooks is a bottom of the rung type of player in the NBA, but compared to the average street court hero, he was light years better.

In my book, players like Kirby Puckett, Derek Jeter, Joe DiMaggio, and others like them will always be at the top of the legends list. They make others want to play like them, inspire them to want to be better players, and earn the right type of respect from their peers and fans.