What’s worse than a bad loser? A bad winner. One of my least favorite things in sports is the guy who mouths off as soon as he wins something. If you watched the playoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday evening, you saw Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman getting in the face of Niners wide receiver Michael Crabtree after he made the game-saving deflection late in the fourth quarter. He then gave sideline reporter Erin Andrews an earful during a post-game interview.

A lot of people think that trash-talking is okay if you can back it up with quality play. There is no disputing that Sherman is a fantastic player. In fact, he may be the best cornerback in the league, although Darrelle Revis would probably argue that point. To me, that actually makes his offense worse. If you are that good, you don’t need to run your mouth in the way that he clearly feels is necessary. During the interview with Andrews, Sherman practically yelled:

“I’m the best corner in the game! When you try me with a sorry receiver like (the 49ers’ Michael) Crabtree, that’s the result you are going to get! Don’t you even talk about me!”
“Who was talking about you?” Andrews asked.
“Crabtree. Don’t open your mouth about the best or I’m going to shut it for you real quick,” Sherman piled on.

This may not be true for people younger than I am, but I don’t respect people who have to tell you that they are the best at something. Let your play speak for itself. If Michael Crabtree is a “sorry” receiver, his play will make that evident. Actually, he is a pretty good receiver. I am sure that the heat of the game and the thrill of the win and the huge play affected Sherman’s excitement level, but that is really no excuse. It’s just like the players who make a big play and start pounding their chests in celebration. Yes, we know you did it. We were watching the game. We think less of you after that display then we would have if you had just made the great play. I know that it takes a certain amount of egotism to be a truly great player, but there is a reason you never see a guy like Peyton Manning singing his own praises.

A guy like Richard Sherman will not learn. At some point, his skills will erode and he will be just another trash-talking sub-par player. He’ll then be out of the league and wondering why people don’t love him anymore. If he could realize now that he’d be a much more well-respected player if he would just shut up and play, he might find that to be an even more rewarding outcome.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Houston Texans running back Arian Foster has had a bad week. A woman has sued him, saying that he impregnated her and then harassed her in an attempt to get her to have an abortion.

3) Baseball salaries are out of control. Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers signed a new contract this week that will pay him $215 million over the next seven years. Kershaw may be the best pitcher in the game, and at a very young 25 years old, is the guy you are going to overpay if you are going to overpay anyone. However, paying anyone over $30 million per year for seven years is insane, especially in a sport where you have to pay 24 other guys too. Beyond that a starting pitcher only plays once out of every five games. Sure, he can have a huge impact on each one of those games, but that’s an absurd amount of money.

4) Davone Bess appears to have gone off the deep end. The former Miami Dolphins wide receiver, now a member of the Cleveland Browns, got into trouble on Thursday after he tweeted a picture of a package he received that appeared to contain marijuana. Then, on Friday, he was arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest at the Fort Lauderdale airport.

5) Two whole seconds into the hockey game between the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, a huge brawl broke out that ended with the ejection of eight players. John Tortorella, the coach of the Canucks, was then involved in some kind of fight after the first period when he tried to get into the Flames’ dressing room.

6) Darren Sharper, who was a star defensive back for the Green Bay Packers until he retired a few years ago, was arrested on Friday and charged with “suspicion of rape.” Not exactly sure what that means, but it isn’t good.

Good Sports:

1) Oakland Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor fired his idiot agent who last month claimed that head coach Dennis Allen was only starting his client in week 17 so he could watch him fail.

2) Remember the movie “Cool Runnings” about the Jamaican bobsled team that qualified for the Olympics back in 1988? They may need to make a sequel, as it has happened again. The country has qualified for the two-man bobsled competition in the upcoming Winter Games in Sochi.

Bad sports, good sports appears every Monday

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02

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