“because all I ever saw of him was his trash-talking antics.”
That’s called “sports”. Every sport has it. play one sometime. Hell, trash talk is what motivates, it uplifts, it gets sportsmen fired up. Without it you might as well go back to playing checkers.
Sorry. Don’t buy into it. Played hockey for 15 years, football, baseball, so I’ve “played one sometime”.
Don’t like it trash talk, period. Doesn’t mean when things get heated people have to shut their mouths. But if you make that an integral part of your game, I think it diminishes you.
If you like it, then that’s your thing. I think it is demeaning and unsportsmanlike.