Why is Nigel Short always the butt of chessplayer's insults, unsporting gestures and the fans' jokes?

Question

I mean, the man managed to reach within one step of the World Championship title in 1993!

Answer 1

In 2001, Short was in the news as the story broke that he had been secretly playing the reclusive former chess champion Bobby Fischer online in speed chess matches. Short later retracted the claim after Fischer himself denied it.

In January 2007, Short gave an interview to an Indian newspaper where he discussed the possibility of Topalov cheating in his match versus Kramnik. During this interview, he blamed the situation on Zurab Azmaiparashvili's incompetence, and called him a dunderhead. In July 2007, the FIDE Ethics committee met and sanctioned Short for his use of the word dunderhead. This decision was met with derision from the British Chess Magazine.

Answer 2

Plus he lost about the most boring match in world history to Kasparov (talk about embarrassingly one-sided).