At this time of year, people are apt to make lists of their favorite people and moments of the past year. Sports writers are no different. Over the course of a year, we see many things that inspire us and others that make our blood boil. Such is the nature of life. Such is the nature of sports.
With that in mind, I would like to discuss people in sports who have grabbed our attention this year. And sometimes not in a good way. You may recognize these folks, or it could be your first acquaintance with them. So, without further ado, I give you Greg’s 1st Annual List of Sports Heros and Zeros. This will be a two-part series, and we will start with the Sports Zeros. Let’s get these despicable blokes out of the way first.
Sports Zeros of 2024
Rob Manfred and John Fisher
To be completely transparent, Mr. Manfred could be on this list yearly. From decimating the minor leagues to sucking every last drop out of the 2020 pandemic-shortened season, he demonstrates every day how much he hates baseball and its players. His biggest transgression this year was promoting and permitting the travesty of the Oakland Athletics leaving Oakland.
Fisher, the owner of the A’s, pretended to play nice with the City, entering into “genuine” discussions on how to keep the team in Oakland while simultaneously negotiating with the league and the City of Las Vegas for the future move. This was all exposed when the City of Oakland presented its proposal to Fisher to move the team to the Howard Terminal site in the East Bay. Even the mayor of Las Vegas chimed in, saying the team should consider staying in Oakland.
Well, the rest is history. Manfred convinced the other league owners to approve the move, and now the team has left the Bay Area after 57 years and will play their home games for the next three years at the crackerbox stadium that is Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. The renamed “Athletics” will move into their new stadium in Las Vegas for the start of the 2028 baseball season.
De’Vondre Campbell
This one really hurts me because Campbell was a standout linebacker for my alma mater, the University of Minnesota. He also had some standout seasons when he played for the Atlanta Falcons and Green Bay Packers before his exodus to the Bay Area to play for the San Francisco 49ers. But all that goodwill and respect was destroyed by Campbell’s actions on a recent Thursday night home game against the Los Angeles Rams.
After being waived by Green Bay after last season, Campbell signed a one-year deal with the 49ers. He was brought in to replace an injured Dre Greenlaw, who suffered a torn Achilles’ tendon in San Francisco’s Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last February. And he played well. He started 12 of the team’s first 13 games and was second in tackles with 79.
However, Greenlaw exited the game in the third quarter after experiencing some soreness related to his injury. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan asked Campbell to replace Greenlaw in the lineup, but Campbell refused to enter the game. San Francisco general manager John Lynch confronted him on the sidelines after the incident and told him to leave the field.
Reactions from his teammates were swift and to the point. After the game, tight end George Kittle summarized his teammate’s thoughts about the incident when he said, “I’ve never been around anybody that’s ever done that. And I hope I’m never around anybody that does that again.” The team immediately suspended Campbell for three games, but Shanahan announced he would not play another game for the 49ers this season. His tenure with the team is over, and his NFL career is likely also finished.
Everyone Connected to the Tyson/Paul Fiasco
I am not going to spend much time on this travesty, but my first reaction to the fight was to say the words, “Never again.” Meaning I don’t ever want to watch another box match in my life. After Jake Paul toyed with the former champion Mike Tyson for eight rounds, winning a unanimous decision.
Tyson looked old (58), slow, and interested only in a paycheck. Most people were relieved that Paul did not seriously harm Tyson, which some people feared. After 19 years out of the ring, it was foolish to think that Tyson would have anything left in the tank. And sadly, he didn’t
An insult was added to injury when the viewing audience for the fight experienced serious technical difficulties, including buffering delays, lags, and trouble loading the fight. To this, Paul could only say, “This is the biggest event. Over 120 million people on Netflix. We crashed the site.”
