Street Fighter IV Character Selection, "Honorable characters" etc

If you click my user profile on AllisFighter.com and look under "Street Fighter 4" you will see that all my selected character portraits are Sagat.  This is because I have very little interest in playing anybody else, even for "casual" play.  Sagat is widely considered the best character in the game, and a lot of players are getting derided for choosing him, or for switching from a weak character to a better one.  As a utilitarian person, I don't see the problem with using a character I not only like but is also really strong as a bad thing.  I can, however, understand why some players feel "betrayed" when their favorite player switches to one of the top/upper tier characters. 

Are some matches made easily winnable by Sagat's options?  Absolutely.  Is this a bad thing?  Some players seem to think so.  Sagat has some tough matches as well, I consider Akuma and Blanka to be particularly difficult.  Some players also seem to want an uphill battle every time they play, by knowingly picking a character that THEY KNOW is bad simply for the reasons that the character they could be good with is "overpowered" or "broken."  Everybody is free to pick Sagat, Akuma, Viper, Fuerte whoever they'd like so I don't see the issue in wanting to switch.  The words Overpowered, Broken, Unbalanced all sound the same in my head as "cheap", some players can transcend the "throwing is cheap, fireballs are cheap" etc but seem forever unable to overcome the "this character is cheap!" mindset.  If you have a legitimate reason for picking a low ranked character, such as unlocking their hidden potential or you are very strong with them then I say go for it.  One player I always cite as making the best out of a bad character is Hayao (Hugo player) he makes Hugo's high priority and turtling style into an art form by using the system, his knowledge, and his execution talents to win against top tiers.  Hayao plays Hugo because Hugo suits his style and abilities, not because it's "HONORABLE" to do so!  Same thing in 4 with Iyo Dhalsim, Iyo has been playing Dhalsim in CVS2 for a long time and has figured out Dhalsim on a level others haven't in 4.

What I'm saying is, don't limit yourself because "honor" straps you to a character.  If you start playing "honorable characters" it's a slippery slope (back) to scrub mentality.  Just like you should have a reason for what you do IN MATCH, you should have a reason for what you do on the select screen!

Another thing that particularly irritates me is when a well known player changes characters to one that they are better with.  One case a lot of people know about is Tokido switching from Urien to Chun in 3s, Tokido was a great Urien player... but some think that he became an even better Chun player.  His results certainly reflected that.  Especially since 4 is so young, players are going to be switching all the time.  I heard recently that Kindevu changed from Rufus to C. Viper.  No doubt there will be players criticising them for these switches, I say it's nuts.  Why be a strongly ranked Urien when you can be a top of the line Chun player.  Don't feel betrayed if your favorite player switch one, two, or many more times throughout SFIV.  This happened with well known Smash player Gimpyfish, he announced he was going to switch from Fei long and his blog got completely buried in derisive commments.  The man has been playing for less than a month by my estimation, let him get accustomed to who he should play.  Myself, I went through the whole cast except for Viper, Ken, Rog, and Rufus to finally settle on Sagat.

Another note:  This game is not yet fleshed out 100%, somebody may take that throne from Sagat and others have moved into his S+ tier in the recent lists.  Not saying it will be as drastic, but during the earlier days of Marvel characters that could control space with a lot of projectiles and traps were the top ranked.  The character rankings of those days included Dr. Doom pretty much at the top, and Sentinel was considered terrible.  We saw that perception change completely and now Sentinel is one of the "Big four" possibly even the best character in the game!  There is still a lot to be discovered, and maybe the console characters will shift things a bit more.