Why Hate on the Greats?

   Do you remember the first time you heard about a "great"? By "great" I mean a concept of a state of superiority affecting a person, object or place. The concept carries the implication that the particular person or object, when compared to others of a similar type, has clear and perceivable advantage [as quoted from Wikipedia]. Someone like Wayne Gretzky, Tiger Woods( Pre-hooker phase), the Beatles, Gene Kelly or William Shakespeare. I remember the first time I heard about Shakespeare, that's for sure. How could one person be such a genius and write so many magnificent plays? I was blown away. All of the people I've mentioned are "greats" but no matter how "great" they are, someone always hates them. I always wondered why until a few months ago.

    I was sitting in the cafeteria at lunch about to tell my friends about my new, intensely creepy love for Sidney Crosby. As soon as I said his name, I got attacked. One of my friends all of a sudden started screaming (I'm not kidding, she was screaming.) about how much she hated him. Apparently he's a jerk, a girl, a wuss and a whiner. Now, I never believed a word she said but I still wondered if he was those things. In the end, decided I didn't care if he was a whiner. He was a fantastic hockey player and was hot. That was all that mattered. He would be always be known as a "great", even if he never played another hockey game.

     I finally realize why she and other haters, hate him so much. They can't believe that a single person could be that great. How one person could be so talented and have so much success that they'll probably never have. People also hate the "greats" because everybody else likes them. It's the whole "rebelling against conformity" thing. They think the "greats" are overrated and wonder why they receive so much attention. Now, the "greats" receive so much attention because they're great, it's as simple as that.

    I mean, even though I don't really like Tiger Woods or Wayne Gretzky, I still respect that they are great and worked hard to be that way. I can't deny that.