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9th Most hated...

attgig
Apr 29 2010 09:52 AM

Wall Street Journal released a hatred index

surprisingly, Yanks are #5.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 69378.html
Even President Barack Obama took jabs at the Yankees this week, cementing the fact that everybody—except, of course, Yankee fans—hates the World Champions. But are they actually the most loathed team in baseball?

Contrary to popular belief, the Yankees are only the fifth-most despised team in the majors, according to an Internet algorithm built by Nielsen Co. that analyzes how people feel about certain things. This service typically uses various keywords to find out whether people have positive, negative or neutral reactions to different brands and products. No team registered a negative mark on Nielsen's "sentiment scale," which ranges from -5 to 5, but the Yankees (1.8) were one of only six teams to score lower than 2. The Mets finished four spots higher, making them the ninth most-hated team. "Even Yankee fans don't hate the Mets these days," says Benjamin Kabak, a writer for the River Avenue Blues Yankees blog. "We just feel bad for them."

The San Francisco Giants (4.5) and Oakland Athletics (4.2) were the most-liked teams on this scale, suggesting that laid-back Northern California fans are the most accepting. But the Cleveland Indians' MLB-worst 0.9 was a bit of a surprise. They simply haven't done a lot over the past 13 years to warrant that much attention. "I can believe that though," says Ed Carroll, who runs the Deep Left Field Indians blog. "The team does a lot to alienate its fans." The unheralded Cincinnati Reds (1.5) and Houston Astros (1.8) were also in the basement.

The good news for the Yankees is that their low score is better than the only team that really matters: The rival Boston Red Sox, who are the second most-despised team.

The Hatred Index

Using an algorithm designed by Nielsen Co. that measures positive and negative reactions on the Internet, here are the 10 most despised teams in baseball (scale is -5 to 5).

Team Score
1. Cleveland Indians 0.9
2. Boston Red Sox 1.1
3. Cincinnati Reds 1.5
4 Houston Astros 1.8
5. New York Yankees 1.8
6. Washington Nationals 1.9
7. Chicago White Sox 2
8. Baltimore Orioles 2
9. New York Mets 2.3
10. Los Angeles Dodgers 2.4


They ain't feelin so sorry for us now!

Gwreck
Apr 29 2010 10:08 AM
Re: 9th Most hated...

"an Internet algorithm built by Nielsen Co. that analyzes how people feel about certain things"

I translate that to be "bullsh*t."

TransMonk
Apr 29 2010 10:12 AM
Re: 9th Most hated...

Who hates the Indians? And why?

Willets Point
Apr 29 2010 10:18 AM
Re: 9th Most hated...

TransMonk wrote:
Who hates the Indians? And why?


There's that guy in the outfield seats who likes to heckle Rick Vaughn.

metirish
Apr 29 2010 10:19 AM
Re: 9th Most hated...

TransMonk wrote:
Who hates the Indians? And why?




Yeah this, is it Leslie Nielsen that compiled the list?

TransMonk
Apr 29 2010 10:21 AM
Re: 9th Most hated...


Looks happy there.

dinosaur jesus
Apr 29 2010 10:22 AM
Re: 9th Most hated...

Either Nielsen or the writer of that piece is confused. That survey doesn't really measure "most despised." It measures which team gets the most generally negative reaction, which isn't the same thing at all. Ask people about the Indians, and they'll say something like "Yeah, that city sucks. And the team does too, the last time I looked." But does anyone actually hate the Indians? The Yankees have to be the most hated, by the sheer number of people who loathe everything they stand for. And the Mets are probably in the top five, somewhere after, I'm guessing, the Dodgers and the Red Sox, and maybe the Braves or the Cubs (that lovable loser shit gets old pretty fast). But those teams probably also have the most fans across the country, so they're not going to place in a survey like that as a team like Cleveland, which has no fans.

MFS62
Apr 29 2010 10:26 AM
Re: 9th Most hated...

TransMonk wrote:
Who hates the Indians? And why?

I never heard about this survey while it was going on.
Could be it was mentioned in some local newspapers and a lot of fans took it as a chance to voice their displeasure with the current teams.
No mention of sample size or methodology, though.
Chalk it up to "who cares?".

Later

Edgy DC
Apr 29 2010 02:38 PM
Re: 9th Most hated...

The truth is that a graph of the most hated ball team (or most hated anything) will look a lot like a graph of the most beloved.