Hype Happens

Overhype happens. And it happens for a reason. While professional and amateur sports generate basically the same amount of raw information as in decades past, the number of sports media "organizations" has multiplied exponentially. With only so much information to go around, the same story ends up getting repeated over and over and over again in every conceivable format- newspaper, magazine, blog, website, television.

Take Cardinals' shortstop David Eckstein for example. The Cardinals win the World Series and Eckstein plays well. Outside of Albert Pujols, there's no one else on the team who is halfway attractive from a media standpoint. So every sports outlet in America does a piece on Eckstein. He's scrappy. He throws weird. He's small. He's underrated. And two weeks after the World Series, he's so overhyped that casual fans forget that out of the 21 major league shortstops who met the batting title qualification, Eckstein finished 11th in OBP, 16th in OPS and dead last in extra base hits. Hey, but he's scrappy.

Being overhyped is different is from being overrated. Overhyped suggests that an athlete is getting more attention than their performance warrants. Overrated suggests that an athlete simply isn't that good. Eckstein is overhyped because all the media attention gives the impression that he's a great player; he isn't. But he isn't overrated because he's not winning any major awards or earning millions of dollars. The media creates hype. Dumb general managers and owners create overrated.

But with overhype comes underhype. Some players, even some great players, don't get the hype they deserve. And other athletes are overshadowed by more media-friendly teammates and opponents. Some college programs and conferences are forever hyped in the media only to fizzle by the end of the season. The problem with being underhyped is that it's just a short stroll to being overhyped. One mention in a Bill Simmons article or in Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback or on PTI and suddenly the shy, little underhype has morphed into a pretentious douchey overhype.

With all that out of the way, below are Top 20 rankings for the most overhyped and underhyped athletes, coaches and issues in sports.

Top 20 Most Underhyped

20. LeBron James. How can the most famous basketball player in the world be underhyped? Because he's just that good. James is a freak of nature and he's only 21. If you were selecting an All Time NBA team, could you honestly leave off James?

19. Service Academy Football. As of this writing, the combined record of Army, Navy and Air Force is 14-15. The combined record of Miami, Florida State and Virginia Tech is 14-16. One guess which group of kids has a tougher course load.

18. Josh McRoberts. He's the most versatile player in the ACC. If he wasn't stuck playing center for the Dookies, McRoberts would have more opportunity to flash his considerable perimeter game. NBA scouts won't underhype come draft time.

17. Atlanta Hawks. They suck. I know. But the Hawks have some intriguing pieces. Josh Smith is a monster. Marvin Williams has shown flashes and Joe Johnson can shoot the lights out. If they can ever get a competent general manager, the Hawks may actually matter again in the NBA.

16. Corliss Williamson. Wasn't Williamson's game a bad fit for the NBA? The former Razorback has been in the league for over a decade and paved the way for a new generation of undersized NBA power forwards. And he's nasty in the NCAA Hoops video game.

15. Jay Bilas. He is one of the only major college hoops analysts who actually has the balls to consistently call out the NCAA and the sport's power brokers. His articles on ESPN.com are solid and he keeps the screaming to a minimum during telecasts.

14. Sidney Crosby & Evgeni Malkin. If I was in charge of the NHL, I would make it a capital offense if opponents breathed on these two. The NHL barely matters now; if Crosby and Malkin get knocked out by some cheapshot, the league might as well fold.

13. Ichiro. He's just nasty. Is there really any doubt that he isn't a Hall of Famer? He's been one of the major league's best players for years and still gets knocked down a peg because he played in Japan.

12. Champ Bailey. He may be the NFL's last real shutdown cornerback. No one throws on him.

11. 1 Year of College Hoops. No one screws with David Stern. Because the NBA boss decided that he didn’t want a bunch of overhyped high schoolers ruining the league, college hoops fans now get to enjoy at least one season of Greg Oden, Kevin Durant and O.J. Mayo.

10. Reyshawn Terry. Tyler Hansbrough gets all the hype at UNC but Terry is a great all-around player who carried the Tar Heels at times last season. He'll put the baby Heels on his back again this year.

9. Jason Taylor. The Dolphins defense has Taylor and that's about it. He can do it all and Miami's coaching staff is smart enough to consistently put him in situations to wreak maximum havoc.

8. Mariano Rivera. Were people really debating whether Padres' closer Trevor Hoffman was really better than Rivera during last season? The Yankees' closer is the greatest relief pitcher in major league baseball history and the real reason that New York was so unbeatable in the postseason way back in the 1990's.

7. Roger Federer. An absolute machine. He's like the bastard offspring of Drago and Bill Belichick. He has all the physical tools to win but what makes him dominant is his ability to outthink his opponents.

6. Georgetown. Hoya Paranoia is back. The Hoyas are starting to emerge as a legitimate national recruiting power but can also consistently reload with all the DC Metro talent. And John Thompson III brought the entire team in suits and ties to Red Auerbach's wake. That has to count for something.

5. Yao Ming. He was overhyped a few years ago. But now that he's matured and healthy, Yao flat out dominates every other center in the NBA.

4. UFC. Boxing should just give up already.

3. Ryan Howard. He kills the ball. Kills it. Outside of David Ortiz, I can't think of one major league hitter that I would rather watch at the plate. He is going to be entertaining for a long time.

2. Jared Dudley. Dudley was one of the five best players in the ACC last season. He plays with tons of passion, plays defense and rebounds and generally does all the little things that old school basketball fans love all while scoring from all over the court. He should be the Player of the Year in the ACC this season but the North Carolina mafia will screw him over.

1. Julius Peppers. He's simply unstoppable one-on-one. Peppers demands double teams but sometimes even two blockers aren't enough.

Other receiving votes: LaDainian Tomlinson, Vince Young, Dr. Z, John David Booty, New York Mets, Chris Paul

Top 20 Most Overhyped

20. NFL salary cap room. What's the point of having lots of salary cap room in a league with no guaranteed contracts? Sure, you want some wiggle room and a front office that doesn't give out ridiculous contracts. But does it really help the Patriots to be millions under the cap in November?

19. Eli Manning & Ben Roethlisberger. When these two young quarterbacks have to win games on their own, they can't do it. Roethlisberger looks a lot different when he's not handing off 70% of the time. And just wait to for Eli to slide next year when Tiki Barber isn't in the backfield.

18. Craig Hansen. At this point, Hansen has to basically develop into an outstanding major league relief pitcher to meet fans' expectations. He showed nothing last year after the Sox decided against dealing him for some serious All Star level talent.

17. Rutgers. Who doesn't love Rutgers right now? It's a great story but a Top 25 team winning at home isn't a miracle; it's the norm. The Scarlet Knights are a good story right now but they're still a long way from the BCS championship game.

16. Andy Roddick. He does one thing well- serve. Other than that, he's a joke in international tennis.

15. Adam Morrison. Has anyone else noticed that Morrison is almost always the last guy over halfcourt? Maybe he can develop into a great scorer but it's a big maybe. Sooner or later Morrison is going to run into a coach who isn't going to be willing to play four on five for most of the game.

14. Reggie Bush. Hey, Reggie, you're not playing against Stanford anymore. You can't dance behind the line of scrimmage for five minutes waiting to break open a big play. Just hit the hole like a man.

13. Athletes Complaining. What is so wrong about athletes being competitive? I like that Chad Johnson wants the ball on every play. What fan wants to root for a guy who doesn't want the ball in his hands when the game is on the line?

12. Jeff Samardzija. He has good hands and makes tough grabs. But the ND hype machine makes him out to be the second coming of Tim Brown. Some NFL team is going to buy into that and waste a first round pick on him.

11. Coaching Legends. Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs, Bobby Knight, Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden. If you could hire a 70 year old legend or a 40 year old up-and-comer, why pick the old guy? Unless you're in it just for the hype, there's no reason to.

10. Al Jefferson. Can Celtics fans just all agree to admit that Al isn't going to be anything special?

9. Michelle Wie. There should be a law that Wie can not be featured in any more profiles until she actually wins an event. Honestly, has Wie actually ever won a tournament?

8. SEC Football. You would think that the SEC was producing national champions year after year the way their fans and coaches were fuming about the attention being given to the Big East this season. Was West Virginia's Sugar Bowl beatdown of Georgia televised south of the Mason-Dixon?

9. NFL tight ends. Weren't tight ends supposed to dominate the NFL? Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Todd Heap, Ben Watson, Vernon Davis- none has come close to matching all the preseason expectations.

8. Jim Leyland. Outside of his cigarette smoking, what is so unique about this guy? He wins when he has the talent. End of story.

7. Nick Saban. Peter King swears that Saban is one of the NFL's top five coaches. But top five coaches stay away from Daunte Culpepper.

6. Tyler Hansbrough. How is he the leading vote-getter for the preseason All American team? He does a lot of hustling on the court but if it wasn't for the Tar Heels jersey, he wouldn't be close to garnering the All World status he currently enjoys.

5.  Brian Urlacher. Remember, it's overhyped not overrated. Urlacher is a great talent but you would think that he was the only guy on the Bears from all the attention he gets. He plays on a great defense with an outstanding defensive front that makes his job a lot easier.

4. Bill Parcells. Just go away. The Cowboys have loads of playmakers- TO, Julius Jones, Terry Glenn, Roy Williams and Terrence Newman to name a few- but the team is poorly constructed otherwise especially along the offensive line. That falls on Parcells who gets to shop for all the groceries.

3. China. The NBA is going to China. The NFL is going to China. Major league baseball is going to China. Make all the money you can but it will be decades before China is a consistent exporter of talent to any American sport.

2. Steve Slaton. Love watching him play but is there any doubt that Slaton is the next Reggie Bush? He's unbelievable in West Virginia's system but NFL defenders are going to hurt him.

1. Daisuke Matsuzaka. For what he's going to cost, Matsuzaka basically has to be one of the top ten pitchers in baseball or else he's going to be considered a bust. But at least the Red Sox will be able to sell more hats in Tokyo.

Others receiving votes: Matt Leinart, Michael Vick, Joe Lunardi, Ozzie Guillen, Alfonso Soriano, Nate Robinson, NBA executive Larry Bird, NBA role players, Dwight Freeney, Billy Beane