A much maligned post...now that's evil!

In a recent news article from the Buffalo News, the reporter references the "maligned defensman Rory Fitzpatrick". I don't know if I'm getting defensive since Rory grew up in my hometown and went to highschool with me, but it really irks me when reporters attach "maligned" to his name. It bugged me so much, that I went to look up the definition. Here's what I found:

Malign:
1. Evil in disposition, nature, or intent.
2. Evil in influence; injurious.
3. Having or showing malice or ill will; malevolent.

Wow, that's sounds a little harsh. Don't you think? This isn't the first time I've seen this word associated with Rory or even with other athletes who aren't performing at the top of their games. Yeah they may be out there making some mistakes which may or may not affect the outcome of the game, but come on, do we have to call them evil for making mistakes? I'm pretty sure they are not out there saying to themselves "I'm really going to mess up this play because I really hate this team, town, etc. and I'm really evil". I know it may sound like I'm blowing things out of proportion, but I really can't stand it when people say "Well, they are professionals, they shouldn't be making mistakes like that". I think that's BS. We're all professionals, we are all getting paid to do something professionally, be it flipping burgers, writing software, or playing sports. I really don't like the whole "they get paid so much more than me" argument either, that's directly related to the market price for professional sports. It doesn't make these people any more professional than anybody else. It's a career and I can't imagine what it would be like if every mistake that I made was scrutinized across the nation. Of course, that's one of the hazards that you take on when your job is televized (well, at least it is televized all over Canada).

I guess my main beef is using such strong language to describe someone who is not playing at the top of their game. After all, just the previous NHL season (2003-4) was a career season for Fitzie were Lindy Ruff "was not afraid to put him on the ice for any type of situation" (see NHL.com article). Additionally, he has twice been awarded the Rochester Amerks McCulloch Trophy for community service. This hardly sounds evil to me.