Someone in the office asked me Monday, ""Would you rather have John Stocco or Troy Smith?""
I replied, ""I would rather have Stocco than Rex Grossman.""
OK, maybe it was my post-Super Bowl mourning that made me say that, but the truth is, I'm only one of 10 million people from the greater-Chicago area that has Grossman on my shit list.
It probably isn't fair either, but I don't really care—his performance Sunday was one of the worst by a quarterback in Super Bowl history, and he was the one guy who could not afford it.
After all the criticism Grossman got all season, he found himself at a fork in the road Sunday in Miami. He could either join Jim McMahon as the second decent yet heroic quarterback to lead the Bears to glory, or he could play like absolute crap and wear a scarlet letter in the city of Chicago forever.
He decided to take the road less traveled.
It's sad because even after forgetting TWICE that the first thing you have to do on any given play is take a damn snap, and even after getting away with one of the worst throws ever in the first quarter (which went about 10 yards down field but about 100 yards in the air), and even after turning a 2nd and 1 into a 4th and 200 because he thought he could make a play by rolling on the ground like Sonic the Hedgehog, he was still within eight points in the fourth quarter with a chance to be enshrined as a Chicago hero forever.
And then it happened.
The Bloomington, Ind. native wanted the Colts to win so bad he threw two passes I could have thrown better in that rain, right to the wrong-colored jersey.
Seriously, he missed Bernard Berrian by 15 yards on that second interception.
If I could have voted for the MVP, I would have voted for Grossman to be the Colts MVP. He was that good for the blue and white.
Oh, I know it wasn't all his fault. The offensive line couldn't block a two-year-old trying to get to the quarterback and the defense couldn't tackle Icebox from ""Little Giants.""
Icebox isn't even a dude, for those of you poor souls who haven't seen the movie.
But Grossman still had the opportunities in the fourth quarter, and he failed. Instead of being a hero, he is now one of the five most-hated sports figures in Chicago.
Who else is on that list? Well, let me just preface this by saying these have to be people that Chicagoans abolutely can't stand. Brett Favre does not make that list—he is more like a fly that won't go away and always bugs you, but most respect him.
In addition to Grossman, here are the other four most hated sports figures in Chicago:
4. James Posey—Posey is a recent addition. In the last 10 months the Miami Heat forward mugged the Chicago Bulls' Luol Deng twice, hip checked Kirk Hinrich in the playoffs, and broke Tyrus Thomas' nose in the kid's first-career NBA game. He has almost single-handedly sparked a bitter rivalry between the Heat and Dwanye Wade's hometown team.
3. Sammy Sosa—Sosa was hated by White Sox fans because the Sox traded him to the Cubs for George Bell, but the other half of the city loved the guy. After the homerun chase with Mark McGwire in 1998, Sosa was the toast of Chicago as Michael Jordan retired. Then the steroid rumors surfaced and Sosa spent his last game at Wrigley Field leaving after the fourth inning. The right fielder was essentially banned from the city and now the entire city hates him.
2. Steve Bartman—Just like Super Bowl XLI and Rex Grossman, Bartman was not the only reason the Cubs lost Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS and ultimately the series, but he took the fall for it. Alex Gonzalez, one of the best defensive shortstops that season, booted a tailor-made double play ball and Mark Prior suffered a collapse he still hasn't rebounded from.
Unfortunately for Bartman, the foul ball he interfered with was the shot on the front page of every newspaper in the country the next day and America ran with it.
Although many Sox fans sarcastically declared him a hero, the majority of Chicago wanted his head and Bartman will live in infamy for the rest of his life.
1. John Starks—If there is an ideal hero of Chicago, John Starks is the exact opposite. This list is mostly comprised of more recent sports figures because Chicagoans will always love or hate you based on the last thing you did. For Starks, however, he will never escape the hatred of the city.
While the Bulls won six championships in the 1990s, the team developed a very competitive rivalry with the Knicks. They would always meet in the playoffs and for the most part, Jordan and the Bulls would usually win.
Chicagoans have a habit of fixating on one person that bothers them, and when it came to the Knicks it was the scrappy John Starks who would get booed every second his two feet were in the state of Illinois. It was so bad that in 2000 when Starks was traded to the Bulls in a mid-season trade, he was still booed in the United Center.
He lasted four games and the Bulls cut him.
Grossman won't be cut, but may want to be if he does not improve. Unfortunately for him, even though the Bears have 19 of 22 starters under contract for next season, they probably won't be the favorites in the NFC.
The favorite to be the Bears' starting quarterback next season? Well the fans will be crying, ""Griese.""
Unfortunately it will probably be Grossman.
Share your feelings on Grossman at hoge@dailycardinal.com.
