Arrogance In Sport

To look at this topic, I'm mainly using examples outside of basketball. Bear with me, I hope it's still enjoyable ;-)

By all accounts, Petter Northug could become the most dominant cross-country skier since the days of Bjørn Dæhlie, who has won eight Olympic and nine World Championship titles. The young Norwegian five-time Junior World Champion just turned 23, so he could stay on top for a good decade (typically athletes in endurance sports get much better over time and often peak after age 30 for long distance races). When he was still a junior, ski manufacturers were fighting to become his sponsor offering base salaries and bonuses (while in terms of money not even in the same ballpark as Nike going after LeBron, it was similarly unusual). 

In cross-country "sprints" where usually 6 riders are pitched against each other in a heat, often just the tip of the shoe decides a race (photo). Even after the marathon 30 and 50 km races, often seconds will determine if you win gold or nothing. While among female athletes the difference between the top athletes and the field are often more visible, among male athletes it's usually marginal. Northug's huge advantage that sets him apart: He is arguably the best sprinter of his generation, with an amazing punch even after long races. If he is still at the end of your skis 100 m before the finish line, you have all but lost.

Here is a pretty good highlight mix of his 2006-07 season when he was still a junior, with some examples how explosive he is. From min 3:55 to the end is a scene from the relay at the 2006 World Championships where he outright demolishes his two strong opponents to win the race and makes them look like amateurs (shorter clip of this here, starts the punch at min 1:30). The Norwegian TV announcer goes crazy like Wheels calling Brandon's buzzer beater against Houston. Usually Northug only beats himself (see crash on the home stretch of a 30 km championship race in the mix above at about 2 min in that he would have likely won, instead leaving him in fifth place and severely disappointed - cue sad music). He is that good. He could become one of the stars of the Olympic Games in Vancouver next year.

The problem some fans have with him: He is a pretty dirty and arrogant athlete (he would probably call it smart and confident). In pursuit races where you don't have to run alone against the clock, he rests in the field using the "slipstream" of the racers in front of him and tries to rarely take the lead and work for the success of the group. He zigzags between lanes on the home stretch to keep others behind him (usually one line change is accepted to overtake an opponent, but you rarely get disqualified for more). Most importantly he shows off when he knows he is winning. And he seems to like that bad boy image (see the graphic at the top of his website).

Last week, I saw a blatant example that gave me pause: In the relay race in Liberec (Czech Republic) at the World Championships, he stopped pushing long before the finish line after being uncatchable in front, demonstratively opened the velcro fastener of his sticks, looked back to his beaten opponent Axel Teichmann of Germany and waived into the crowd gliding over the line (1 minute video of the finish). It's probably only a matter of time when he will do a 180, look to his defeated opponents and push backwards over the line (which other athletes have done, but for fun and in races that were not close or important).

(Felgenhauer/XC-Ski.de)

He is also a loudmouth after his races. Some translated quotes:

After a team sprint, where his partner crashed and thus destroyed all hopes to win the race: "If I had come on the home stretch in the first group, I would have beaten [excellent Italian athlete] Zorzi in the sprint even without using sticks."

After beating a strong German athlete in the sprint of a World Cup competition: "I'm glad to have beaten Angerer today. Thus I have finally demonstrated who is the boss of the finish line."

After not being nominated for the Olympic games 2006 (which together with the crash above might have contributed to his current behavior) when he was still a junior athlete and Norway went with more experienced ones: "How the [expletive] should I not be at the Olympic games?"

After winning the Norwegian national championships with his relay team: "I waited on purpose for Tore [Ruud Hofstad] to beat him in the sprint. This way I could prove once and for all that I am the best finisher." Another quote from that competition: "That was easy."

After winning his first gold medal at the Junior World Championships 2004: "If I'm invincible? I definitely need to have a bad day when somebody wants to beat me."

After coming in second in a sprint at the "Tour de Ski" against Swedish athlete Fredriksson and Polish athlete Krezelok: "On the home stretch I ran zigzag to keep the crazy Polish guy behind me. Then I tried to overtake Fredriksson, but since he is quite fat it's hard to get past him."

All of which makes him not very popular among his peers, who usually respect each other for their abilities and are a pretty tight group, train together in the off-season across nations, etc. Some opponents from Sweden, Finland, Italy, Germany, and even his own countrymen have sworn that he will pay for that (which they could also do by using unfair tricks, e.g. by pushing him off the track in descents, "accidentally" stepping on his skis or sticks, coaches not giving him a replacement stick after a break, etc.). I think they will also talk to him about his behavior and he will mature over time and respect his fellows more (if only to create a more positive image in the media for marketing purposes, although as stated above he seems to like his current one), but so far his opponents are waiting in vain for a chance to stick it to him. He finished the World Championships in Liberec with three gold medals (double pursuit, relay, 50 km) - and immediately crowned himself the "King of Liberec".

There are many examples of equally dominant athletes in cross-country skiing and related biathlon who have been far less cocky - and people remember them for it. The above-mentioned Bjørn Dæhlie e.g. became famous also for waiting and enthusiastically congratulating a Kenyan athlete who came in dead last in a race he won during the Olympic games 1998 Nagano (Japan), encouraging the people in the audience to cheer for him since he was the first African to compete in the Olympics in a sport that, well, requires snow (albeit long-distance runners would be well suited to become good cross-country skiers). Dominant Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen while being fiercely competitive and a perfectionist in his sport is known to respect all his peers very much and not trying to show them off. Similarly humble is up and coming German biathlete Magdalena Neuner who has won over a dozen World Championships and Junior World Championships and is the youngest ever Overall World Cup winner.

How is it in other sports?

Track and field: Usain Bolt demolished the competition in Beijing in the 100 m dash in WR time, and already started to celebrate long before the finish line (Video).

"With a full seven strides to go, he dropped his arms and let them fall outstretched to his sides, appearing almost to run sideways as he played to the sold-out crowd of 91,000 at the Bird's Nest. Just before the finish line, he started high-stepping and, for good measure, executed a chest-thump." - Alan Abrahamson, NBCOlympics.com

That is not to say he is the only one who showed off. Most successful sprinters have a pretty big ego that they demonstrate before the start and after crossing the finish line. Some not rightly so (e.g. the infamous Ben Johnson, who celebrated his win in Seoul 1988 in similar fashion).

Swimming: Does Michael Phelps look down on the swimmers he beats all the time? I don't know. Mark Spitz was not necessarily arrogant, but so dominant that he was boasting why he should shave his body hair (which most swimmers did at a time when there were no racing suits) or even wear a cap when he was winning races anyway. Jokingly, he explained to a Russian coach who asked him if his famous mustache slowed him down: 

"No, as a matter of fact, it deflects water away from my nose, allows my rear end to rise and make me bullet-shaped in the water, and that's what allowed me to swim so great. He's translating as fast as he can for the other coaches, and the following year every Russian male swimmer had a mustache."

Tennis: Brad Gilbert, perhaps better known as the coach of Agassi and Roddick (himself often somewhat arrogant), wrote a book called "Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis - Lessons from a Master". Never the most talented player, he was still proud of his ability to get his opponents "off balance" to beat them. I e.g. remember a story about a US Open tournament when he read aloud from the box scores of football games in the warmup area that his opponent of course didn't care about at that moment. Women's tennis has seen its fair share of top players "bitching" about opponents. Still, most tennis players obey a "gentlemen's codex" of respect for the opponent on the field, some even pointing out errors the referee didn't call.

Basketball: It might be easy to point to Kobe Bryant as an arrogant athlete and find many instances of arrogant behavior. However, at the last Olympics an opponent claimed he was pretty much the only one not behaving like a tool (Does winning make Team USA any less arrogant). Is he still one of the most arrogant players? Is it Garnett barking at opponents? Shaq constantly proclaiming his dominance over other centers? Or a player like Barkley, who famously said at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics "All I know about Angola is that they are in a lot of trouble" when other members of the Dream Team gave diplomatic, face saving comments about their upcoming opponent? Are the current Blazers so likable in the eyes of their fans because they seem to lack overtly arrogant players?

I have no problems with an athlete being dominant, and showing exuberant joy and pride when scoring a big victory. I just prefer it when the winner does it without showing off the opponent for being weaker. Unfortunately arrogance quite often accompanies domination. It might even help performance in some sports. It could lead to hubris. But hubris would call for a downfall, a retribution, and for many of those supremely talented athletes that never really comes.

So what is your opinion, does it detract from the performance of an athlete when he is arrogant towards his peers? Or towards fans and the media? Does it bother you if an athlete is clearly superior - but feels a need to let others know he is? And who are some of the most arrogant athletes at the moment, in basketball and other sports?