SWANSBEST
19th February 2003, 05:58 AM
http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,6006024%255E23211,00.h
Carey 'most hated': poll
19feb03
ANTHONY "The Man" Mundine has lost his title as Australia's most hated sports star to AFL bad boy Wayne Carey.
Mundine came a close second in a poll by Inside Sport magazine that drew more than 1000 voters.
Carey earned top spot in the "least admired" category after his affair with the wife of teammate Anthony Stevens, with many Kangaroos fans also voting against him for leaving the club in such dark circumstances.
"It seems the Aussie public is protective of its sporting heroes only up to a point," said Inside Sport editor Nigel Wall.
While Mundine lost the most hated title, he can still lay claim to being our most boring sportsman.
He won the "least interesting" category by the length of the straight, with Ian Thorpe surprisingly coming in second and Tiger Woods third.
Lleyton Hewitt finished the year as the fans' clear favourite.
Hewitt aced the field, taking the double as both the most admired and most interesting sportsman.
It was just three years ago that Hewitt topped the charts as our least admired sports star - a clear indication of just how much he has turned around his act in recent times.
The sporting public obviously holds tennis stars in special esteem - for the past two years, Pat Rafter has been top of the most admired category.
Wimbledon champ Hewitt pipped two of our world champion cricketers as most admired star, Steve Waugh and Matt "The Bat" Hayden.
Predictably, the fans' choice of the two best coaches are the men who won the AFL and NRL premierships, Brisbane Lions' Leigh Matthews and Sydney Roosters' Ricky Stuart.
Wayne Brittain, who last season steered Carlton to their first ever wooden spoon, topped the poll for worst coach.
The Brisbane Broncos' Wayne Bennett, who has clearly split the opinions of sports fans, ended up on both lists - sixth in the "best coach" category and third in the "worst coach".
Spare a thought for the Socceroos' Frank Farina - he came in second behind Brittain, but would have polled highly had the vote been taken after last week's epic win over England.
Overseas stars dominated the least admired list, with wayward soccer star Mark Bosnich (third), boxing villain Mike Tyson (fourth), England cricket captain Nasser Hussain (fifth) and Aussie-turned-Yugoslav Jelena Dokic (sixth) all attracting plenty of votes.
Anna Kournikova still can't crack it for a major title, yet for some reason remains a favourite with the fans, coming in as third most interesting star behind Hewitt and Steve Waugh.
But Anna also has her critics, - dare we say many of whom are of the female gender - coming in 10th in the least admired category
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Carey 'most hated': poll
19feb03
ANTHONY "The Man" Mundine has lost his title as Australia's most hated sports star to AFL bad boy Wayne Carey.
Mundine came a close second in a poll by Inside Sport magazine that drew more than 1000 voters.
Carey earned top spot in the "least admired" category after his affair with the wife of teammate Anthony Stevens, with many Kangaroos fans also voting against him for leaving the club in such dark circumstances.
"It seems the Aussie public is protective of its sporting heroes only up to a point," said Inside Sport editor Nigel Wall.
While Mundine lost the most hated title, he can still lay claim to being our most boring sportsman.
He won the "least interesting" category by the length of the straight, with Ian Thorpe surprisingly coming in second and Tiger Woods third.
Lleyton Hewitt finished the year as the fans' clear favourite.
Hewitt aced the field, taking the double as both the most admired and most interesting sportsman.
It was just three years ago that Hewitt topped the charts as our least admired sports star - a clear indication of just how much he has turned around his act in recent times.
The sporting public obviously holds tennis stars in special esteem - for the past two years, Pat Rafter has been top of the most admired category.
Wimbledon champ Hewitt pipped two of our world champion cricketers as most admired star, Steve Waugh and Matt "The Bat" Hayden.
Predictably, the fans' choice of the two best coaches are the men who won the AFL and NRL premierships, Brisbane Lions' Leigh Matthews and Sydney Roosters' Ricky Stuart.
Wayne Brittain, who last season steered Carlton to their first ever wooden spoon, topped the poll for worst coach.
The Brisbane Broncos' Wayne Bennett, who has clearly split the opinions of sports fans, ended up on both lists - sixth in the "best coach" category and third in the "worst coach".
Spare a thought for the Socceroos' Frank Farina - he came in second behind Brittain, but would have polled highly had the vote been taken after last week's epic win over England.
Overseas stars dominated the least admired list, with wayward soccer star Mark Bosnich (third), boxing villain Mike Tyson (fourth), England cricket captain Nasser Hussain (fifth) and Aussie-turned-Yugoslav Jelena Dokic (sixth) all attracting plenty of votes.
Anna Kournikova still can't crack it for a major title, yet for some reason remains a favourite with the fans, coming in as third most interesting star behind Hewitt and Steve Waugh.
But Anna also has her critics, - dare we say many of whom are of the female gender - coming in 10th in the least admired category
tml