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Whether he has sought the title, Busch now is considered NASCAR’s “villain.” In a sport that has, with few exceptions, become overrun by vanilla personalities — not a bad thing, of course, just vanilla — like him or not, Busch gives fans a reason to be involved.

Hatred and disdain are powerful forces, even in sports.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em.

So Busch has me thinking. Thinking back to when I was a little kid watching sports, and you realize at a young age that there exists in your mind a division of good and bad among athletes. There are athletes you believe are villains, and, ultimately, you are drawn to watch them perform time and again, because your hatred makes you, well, curious. What could he or she possibly do next that is going to anger me so much that I’m going to talk about it for the next week, or until the next game?

Angels and devils

For the young me, Ken Anderson, quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals: good. Jack Lambert, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker: bad. I hated him and loved that I hated him. (Still do. You just can’t let that stuff go).

Let’s face it, villains help make sports compelling and are fascinating.

Back to racing, Dale Earnhardt was a beloved menace. He wasn’t called the “Intimidator” just because. He drove a sinister-looking black car and his racing peers still talk about how, yes, intimidating it was when they’d look in the rear-view mirror and see him coming. Now, Earnhardt truly is revered in death, but there is no doubt he had his share of haters when he was racing. He loved the role and filled it well.

Another villain from my childhood memories: Conrad Dobler. The offensive lineman was considered the dirtiest player in the NFL, a cheap-shot artist. Hated him, too, but wasn’t he also intriguing?

John McEnroe truly was one of my all-time favorite athletes. He was a rebel, maybe even a jerk on the tennis court, and maybe to someone else, a villain. This villain, I embraced and defended. I couldn’t wait to not only watch him deftly drop shot an opponent, but to see what the next outburst would be. Who would bear his wrath? My oldest brother despised McEnroe, and we argued all the time about him, but he watched him, too.

Why we watch

It’s kind of fun to watch a McEnroe, or, say, a Bill Laimbeer get into an opponent’s head. There’s almost the, you-think-I’m-a-jerk-well-I-probably-am-but-who-really-cares-if-I’m-going-to-get-you-out-of-your-game-before-you-even-get-into-it approach.

Mike Tyson had that, too. So did George Foreman before he found religion and an electric grill to promote.

Of course, everyone knows Ty Cobb was probably baseball’s biggest villain. Mean and hated, Cobb still has a mystique. Bobby Knight, while he has toned down his act a bit as a television analyst, was college basketball’s most consistent villain. You expected Knight to be tenacious and nasty, especially toward the media, and he delivered. Love him or hate him, Knight is a draw.

George Steinbrenner, the Yankees owner: villain? In his prime, yes. His well-documented multiple firings of manager Billy Martin, their public fights, all contributed to Steinbrenner being reviled by fans across the country.

Tonya Harding? Yes, yes, yes. Marty McSorley? Yes.

Then you’ve got Jack Nicklaus. Sweet, competitive, friendly Jack Nicklaus? The Golden Bear. Well, this one depends on era. There are athletes who become villains only because of the climate of the sport. When Nicklaus came on the scene, how could anyone appreciate the next great one when the existing great one, Arnold Palmer, was so beloved? Nicklaus became golf’s villain because he wasn’t Palmer. Of course, the world knows better now.

There are others, many others. Maybe we just need people to despise, especially in the heat of competition. In the world of sports, there are the good guys and the bad guys, and it’s a lot of fun to hate the bad guys, who often are some of the most talented athletes in sport.

So Kyle Busch, keep on winning, keep on with the aloofness, and fans, keep on booing. The so-called villains are part of the game, and maybe we actually love ‘em.

The Buzz You can reach Angelique S. Chengelis at .