A-Rod, Tiger Woods, Big Ben & Michael Vick among Forbes most hated athletes

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BY Kyle Finck and Deanna Harvey
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Tuesday, June 22nd 2010, 2:06 PM

Call them the athletes we love to hate.

Michael Vick, Ben Roethlisberger, Tiger Woods and, yes, Alex Rodriguez, made the Top 10 of Forbes' Most Disliked People in Sports for 2010.

Sparred by his conviction for dog fighting, Vick topped the list with 69% of those polled citing him as someone they "dislike alot," "dislike," or "dislike some."

Though Vick completed his 21-month sentence and publicly apologized for his actions, he still holds the top spot spot for most disliked person in sports for the second year in a row.

Woods' infidelities catapulted him from the No. 1 spot in golf to fourth place on the despised list, while A-Rod made some improvement in this year's ranking, going from third place in 2009 to eighth place this year.

The E-Poll Market Research surveyed 1,100 people nationwide, ages 13 and older, to create the infamous list.

The Top 5 include Vick, Al Davis in second place, Roethlisberger in third, Woods in fourth and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones holding down fifth place. Six through 10 are rounded by Mark McGwire, Terrell Owens, Rodriguez, Allen Iverson and Gilbert Arenas.

Of those polled, 53% said they disliked Woods in some way, despite his numerous public apologies. Woods is appearing on Forbes' list for the first time.

Things got better for A-Rod, a year after he admitted using steroids while he played with the Texas Rangers. While 57% of people disliked A-Rod in 2009, only 45% of people disapprove of him Wednesday.

Noticeably absent from the list is Manny Ramirez, who held second place in 2009, along with Kobe Bryant, who held fifth place last year.