LeBron James and Dany Heatley are two guys who it's pretty hard to feel any kind of pity or 'sorry' for.
Two guys, two different sports, yet fans in the two cities that each used to play for, hate that man with a growing passion.
James spent seven seasons playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers, while Heatley was the name and face of the Ottawa Senators for years as well.
Both are supremely talented. Both are insanely skilled, and both have long made names for themselves in their respective towns.
They used to be good names.
Now in Cleveland and Ottawa, they are bad names.
Sports can be very emotional for some fans. In fact some supporters get so caught up in their favourite teams that they completely lose perspective of some things.
That was the case last week in both Cleveland and in Ottawa; coincidentally, both happened on the same night.
James, who represented the Cleveland Cavaliers' only real shot at an NBA title, chose to walk away from the team in the summer time.
He is that most famous traitor in the city according to the fans.
His method of going through with his decision was strange and different and might have been one of the worst 'decisions' he's ever made; he did it by holding his own TV show, "The Decision" as his way of announcing to the world that he was taking his talents to 小蓝视频 Beach.
That obviously did not sit well with the Cavs' fans and they let him have it last Thursday night when James returned to Quicken Loans Arena with his new team.
He's not dumb. He was ready for it. So much so that he put up his best game of the season against his former friends.
Cavs fans booed him. They held signs up and cheered Miami mistakes. The only thing Cavs fans couldn't do was get a little revenge.
Apparently James himself loved every minute of it.
He played one of his best games of the entire season. He shot 15-25 and added 24 points in the third quarter. Teammate Dwyane Wade nearly posted a triple-double.
In the end, Miami made off with a 118-90 victory.
It was a similar story when Heatley made his return to the Corel Centre in Ottawa as a member of the other team.
Fans really hit him hard when he went out for the warmups, the same Thursday night that James returned to Cleveland. They booed both players every chance they had.
Fifteen months ago, Heatley made a demand to be traded only one year into a six-year, $45-million dollar US deal, that was supposed to make him the central cornerstone of a franchise with renewed Stanley Cup ambitions.According to various media reports, he couldn't get along with new coach, Cory Clouston, who had reduced Heatley's role on the team.Fans of the team came to Thursday's game attacking him by way of signs and chanting 'traitor' every time he touched the puck.
Prior to the start of Heatley vs. the Senators, a downtown Ottawa bar held a "Heatley Hate Fest" reportedly involving the use of darts.
He used his contract to refuse a good deal with the Oilers. That forced Ottawa GM Bryan Murray to accept a deal with the Sharks. San Jose now has a new leading scorer.
All Ottawa got in return was a former top-scorer named Jonathan Cheechoo, who no longer plays, a second-round pick which they gave up to acquire a veteran defenceman who, like Cheechoo, also no longer plays, and also Milan Michalek, who turned out okay, but this year so far, hasn't done much.
On top of all of that, San Jose smoked Ottawa that night, and of course, Heatley had a goal and was the best player on the ice.
If Ottawa can take any consolation out of anything in the Heatley mess, they can at least find some in knowing that Heatley is never going to win a Stanley Cup...at least not in San Jose.
