Chicago is the third most populous metropolis (2.85 million) within the United States and the city’s natives don’t always cohabit in peace. No one can ever really agree due to the size of our city, but a few things the town can concur on are what’s good and bad in, & for, Chicago. We here at theAverageChicagoan.com, would like to outline all the folks who have had some encounter or affect on the city, that all natives can agree, has been terrible. These people have created, inspired, and ignited ire for most Chicagoans. When talking to natives, one word normally comes up when discussing these individuals and that is… Hate! This list is what we call our town’s own ‘Hater’s Ball’; summarizing the windy city’s most reviled opponents, political figures, stars, and residents. In no particular order:
POLITICS
Roland Burris – In the beginning of 2009, Burris’ name was on the tongue of every American as his rise into becoming a U.S. Senator from Illinois and currently the only African-American serving in the Senate, was a major controversy. He was appointed by former Governor Rod Blagojevich to replace former senator and now U.S. President Barack Obama seat. Unfortunately, Blagojevich was later arrested by the FBI on federal charges of corruption, among others, in connection with allegations about a “pay to play” plot to sell Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. Instead of stepping down under controversy, Burris continued onto Washington D.C. and later found himself in trouble for being approached for the Senate seat by Blagojevich’s brother, also indicted, and filing a sworn affidavit stating that he wasn’t approached by anyone else but Rod Blagojevich for the job. He refused to resign and many saw him as arrogant, especially after it was later discovered Burris had already erected a mausoleum for himself containing a tombstone proclaiming Burris as a “trail-blazer” and includes a list of his accomplishments, with space left open for future ones.
Todd Stroger – Todd is the current Cook County Board president succeeding his father John Stroger, who served also as president for 12 years. Many believe his father practiced nepotism in nominating Todd for the position when he was forced to retire after suffering a stroke during his term. During his time as Cook County Board president, Stroger has come under constant criticism for a variety of other issues. His budget cuts were unpopular and he was accused of nepotism after appointing his cousin into a high paying financial job. The relative later resigned after it was discovered she appointed Tony Cole, who has an extensive felony record and currently in prison on a domestic violence charge. Stroger then cemented his unpopularity by raising the city’s sales tax in 2008 despite public and political opposition to remedy Cook County’s budget deficit in 2008, a recession year.
Rod Blagojevich – Upon the election of the United States’ first black president, Barack Obama, the entire US would come to lambast former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich for his “play to play” scandal that would lead to his impeachment and removal from office. 2008 & 2009 have been bad years for the former governor and his family. A description of his story isn’t really necessary as most are aware of his political fall.
SPORTS
Brett Favre – Favre, for 15 years, was the quarterback of the Chicago Bears’ bitter NFC North nemesis: the Green Bay Packers. He destroyed many Bears teams of the 90s with his hall of fame play. Every Chicago Bears fan respects yet despises Favre as an opponent with a passion due to his current lifetime record of 23-10 against the Bears. We believe this is all the information you need on why Chicagoans dislike Favre.
John Starks – Remember him? The overly emotional New York Knicks shooting guard of the 90s, who most likely suffered from “little man syndrome.” His style of play was very physical which resulted in hard fouls, cheap shots, and an occasional brawl. He, along with Charles Oakley & Anthony Mason, were the defensive leaders of the Knicks during the 90s that drew ire, especially from Chicago fans. The Knicks were Jordan’s biggest rivals during his prime and Starks’ crybabiness/off-color play made him a despised rival for the team and its fans. One of his most memorable plays was his dunking on Horace Grant with Jordan coming in late to help in a 1993 playoffs game.
Randy Johnson – If you’re a Cubs fan, you should probably hate him. Over the future hall-of-famer’s 21 year career, he holds a record of 12-0 versus the Cubs. Ouch!
NEWS MEDIA
Jay Mariotti – ESPN talk show panelist and former Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist. He has earned disapproval from many in town due to his almost constant negative sports columns and harsh criticism of his hometown teams. Even while representing Chicago on the ESPN program, Around the Horn where he is a regular panelist, he has been criticized for his lack of support of the Chicago based teams he covers. An example of his dislike in the Chicago sports world is his ongoing feud with the Chicago White Sox. Mariotti got into an actual fight with Ken “Hawk” Harrelson after Harrelson called him a “fraud” stemming from one of Mariotti’s harsh rants on the team. Even current White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillen, was quoted calling Mariotti a fag. He apologized only for offending the homosexual community by using the slur.
FIGHTING
Matt Hughes – Hughes is a Mixed-Martial-Arts fighter from Hillsboro, Illinois who holds a fight record of 43-7, was 2 x UFC welterweight champion, and is a future UFC Hall of Famer. After reading, one would come to believe that this is a man who is a hero and should command admiration but that’s not the case. Based on many fans of MMA and the UFC, popular opinion states that in person, Mr. Hughes, acts like a douchebag. He allegedly does not sign autographs, nor likes to interact with most fans. A fan calls him, “an arrogant holier-than-thou redneck asshole!” Most of this anger is towards an athlete who allegedly thinks very highly of himself and less of others.
LOCAL
Drew Peterson – We all have come to know Mr. Peterson very well over the last few years. His story to be concise is that of a suspected serial murder of his ex-wives. Drew is a Chicagoland area police sergeant who has a bad reputation as cop in the past and has been married four times. He has been indicted and reprimanded by his own department for disobedience, bribery, harassment, and excess force. His first two marriages ended in divorce due to Drew’s infidelity. His third marriage ended due to domestic abuse.
Steve Bartman – You all know the infamous Steve Bartman. The Chicago Cubs fan who attended game six of the 2003 MLB National League Conference series in Wrigley Field and inferred with a pop foul off that led to the team’s collapse and thus elimination in the series. Although one could argue that it may not have been his fault and he shouldn’t be blamed for the team’s demise, the momentum did shift drastically after that incident and few die-hard Cubs fans have let it go. He was hounded and harassed by so many Cubs’ fans that police had to be stationed outside his home after the incident, he changed his phone number and eventually had to move away and go into hiding. He was even offered asylum from former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, after the Florida Marlins won the 2003 World Series. No one really knows where Bartman is or what he is doing but as long as the Cub continue their century plus drought without entering the World Series, he is not safe in this city.
ENTERTAINMENT
Dave Matthews – Well… I’m sure in the city the Dave Matthews Band fans more than quadruple the amount of haters but DMB hasn’t been all too good to the city. Dave Matthews Band was sued by the state of Illinois, in 2004, for dumping raw sewage from the band’s tour bus over a bridge into the Chicago River. The tour bus dumped around 800 lbs of human waste into the river, violating water pollution laws, and some of the disposed sewage even landed on a passing tour boat containing more than 100 people. Ewww!
FOREIGN
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) – In June 2008, the IOC choose our great town as one of four candidates to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. After being chosen to the committee’s shortlist, the city prepared plans, raised substantial money, and in general did it’s all to best ‘kiss the ass’ of the IOC, who many would like to falsely characterize as a bunch of foreign luminaries who give the hosting duties of the Olympiad to the towns who can pamper them the most, and maximize the games’ profit as well as their own foreign business and political interests. The Chicago bid committee met most of the needed improvements, financial promises, and other objectives required to have a strong chance at landing the 2016 games but in the end, fell short. Not only did Chicago lose, placing last in the vote, but our mayor, town and president, who personally flew out to Denmark to make a plea on Chicago’s behalf, were embarrassed. No reason for the poor result have been specified as of yet.
WE KNOW THERE ARE MORE SO IF THERE IS SOMEONE YOU’D WANT TO ADD TO OUR LIST—-WRITE IT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION, ALONG WITH A MINI-DESCRIPTION OF WHY CHICAGO HATES HIM/HER!
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