Earlier today we posted an intriguing question about the Portland Trail Blazers. We asked who the most underrated player in team history was. As I published, it occurred to me that you can’t open that subject without its companion question. Who is the most overrated Trail Blazers player ever?
This one is a little trickier. “Underrated” implies a lifting of the player in question. He deserves more credit than he got. “Overrated” almost implies a corresponding taking down, pulling a player off of his pedestal.
Very quickly that turns into calling the player bad, which is not at all the point. Instead we’re asking who gets a little more credit in popular lore than his play or impact might strictly deserve?
To keep this post from going negative, let’s remember that to get that much credit in the first place, a player has to be darn good. Nobody unimportant or untalented is going to be mentioned in this post. We’re just asking whose reputation or remembrance might have propelled them farthest up in the pantheon, creating the greatest positive distance between actual achievement and the honor/reward received for same.
In the underrated post, we used examples from the world of music to clarify. We can do that here too. Consider the Eagles, Oasis, or U2. All are huge mega-bands with multiple hits to their credit. To this day, their names are spoken in awe. Rightfully so! Their greatness exceeds anybody’s wildest dreams. But some would argue that, when you look at the actual music these groups produced, it’s not head and shoulders above any number of great groups who never get mentioned. The reverence with which their names are held might be justified, but still a tad above their actual production when you consider the musicianship of Rush or the cultural significance of The Supremes.
The quintessential example today is Taylor Swift. I like her songwriting! She’s carved out a place unparalleled in this generation and it’s well deserved. She’s fairly unique and super-talented. She also made, what, a billion dollars from her latest tour? More power to her! But with that kind of credit incoming already, there’s no way possible she could be underrated and, compared musically against many of her peers, her rewards and mentions may be a tad bit inflated even though she’s clearly great.
Get the idea? Who are the Taylor Swifts and Oases from Portland’s history? Share your nominees and reasoning in the comment section below and be sure to name your underrated players too!
