Complex Blog » Jose Canseco

Flippin’ The Bird: A History Of The Middle Finger In Sports

intern — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:08:50 +0000

There are few gestures that cross all social, culture, and economic barriers, but the middle finger is one of them. This weekend while his Tennessee Titans playing their best game of the year against the Buffalo Bills, Titans owner Bud Adams decided to add the universal signal to the cheer of the home crowd. Adams was fined $250,000 by the league for his actions, but he isn’t the first or last sports figure to flip the bird at a game.

In honor of Adams’ one finger, double-fisted salute, here’s our list of the best middle fingers in sports caught on camera. From baseball to Formula 1 racing, we’ve got them covered, so stick it where the sun don’t shine and enjoy…

15. JOE NEDNEY, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS, 2007
• Life isn’t easy for a kicker, no one really notices when you do well and fans are ready to castrate you when you miss any kick within 40 yards. Nedney didn’t feel like losing his balls or pride so this subtle yet effective form of the gesture worked just fine.

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14. JOSE CANSECO, TORONTO BLUE JAYS, 1998
• Before becoming the biggest snitch in pro sports, Canseco was an ass clown both on the field and off, as seen in this pic.

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13. PAT BURRELL, PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES, 2006
• Baseball is full of hand gestures that only a sign language instructor would be able to interpret, but Pat decided to go with universal expression that takes only a split second to understand.

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12. DANNY TIATTO, BRISBANE ROAR (SOCCER), 2009
• The beautiful game? Hardly. With more flops, nut grabs and complaints than all ~~real~~ American sports combined soccer is just as dirty as very other sport. This clip is just another piece of evidence.

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11. COACH DAVE HAKSTOL, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA HOCKEY TEAM, 2008
• We’re guessing that if you’re the head coach of a college hockey team, this is about one of the only ways you’re making it to the news anytime soon.

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10. JOE GLENN, UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING FOOTBALL, 2007
• Don’t lie: if your team was getting its ass kicked 43-0, you’d be doing the same.

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9. BROCK LESNAR, UFC, 2009
• In this post-fight clip from UFC 100, Lesnar brought some of his WWE fuckery to the world of MMA by playing his “evil villian” persona. Only thing is, in MMA, everyone beats the hell out of each other till they’re unconscious so there are no such things as villains.

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8. DAVID COULTHARD, FORMULA 1, 2000
• We’ve all done this at one point or another on the road, so the fact that Formula 1 drivers do it at speeds well over 100 mph makes us feel a little better.

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7. BRIAN GAICOMINI, LOUISVILLE FOOTBALL TEAM, 2007
• Hey, they’re going to hate you regardless, so either come out flipping as this college player did, or swing on ‘em later on.

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6. MASSIMO BUSACCA, SOCCER REFEREE, 2009
• Referees are supposed to be the one’s holding order, but when Busacca was fed up with heckling from fans he opted for this card rather than the yellow or red one.

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5. SEAN WILLIAMS, NEW JERSEY NETS, 2008
• We figured everyone would be all smiles during All-Star weekend, between the dunk contest, All-Star Game and other festivities, what’s not to love? Well, something pissed off Williams after this Rookie vs. Sophomores game enough for him to give the one-finger salute.

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4. MIKE DITKA, CHICAGO BEARS
• It’s real hard to look this cool and give the finger. Another reason why Ditka will remain one of the all time greats—unlike this asshole.

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3. JACK MCDOWELL, NEW YORK YANKEES, 1995
• Flipping off opposing fans isn’t really anything special, but giving home fans the finger after getting bombed? Yeah, that’s badass.

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2. MICHAEL VICK, ATLANTA FALCONS, 2006
• Vick was fined $10,000 for showing his version of the dirty bird; we bet he would have paid that 100 times over to avoid what was in store for him. Damn, doggy!

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1. BUD ADAMS, TENNESSEE TITANS OWNER, 2009
• Who said all NFL owners are boring billionaires with no personality or sense of humor? Bud put his own twist on the home crowd’s cheer in this clip.

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R.I.P. Deep Throat: America’s Most Infamous Snitches

dscott — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:05:34 +0000

Here at Complex, we don’t really condone snitching unless, of course, it’s for a good cause. That said, we poured a little out when we heard that Mark Felt b.k.a Deep Throat passed away yesterday from congestive heart failure at the age of 95 in Santa Rosa.

For those too young to remember, or were too rocked during this part of American History or Social Studies class, Deep Throat was the guy who anonymously tipped off two Washington Post reporters to the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon. In Honor of Mr. Felt’s legacy, we’ve compiled a list of the most infamous snitches in American history…

THE ORIGINAL SNITCH

Name: Joseph “Joe Cago” Valachi
Snitched On: The Genovese crime family. He was the first Mafia member to testify that an actual Mafia existed.
Consequence: The Mafia was no longer invisible to the world. After an attempted jail cell suicide, Valachi died of a heart attack in 1971.

THE PRIME-TIME SNITCH

Name: Chris Hansen
Snitched On: Potential child molesters on To Catch a Predator
Consequence: Dudes getting completely embarrassed on national television. Many families torn apart. Chris Hansen’s inflated self worth.

THE UNTOUCHABLE SNITCH

Name: LeRoy “Nicky” Barnes
Snitched On: 109 Harlem drug associates, including Gary Fisher.
Consequence: Most of Harlem’s drug lords were locked up and Nicky Barnes was released into witness protection.

THE HIP-HOP SNITCH

Name: James “Lil Cease” Lloyd
Snitched On: Lil’ Kim. After being subpoenaed, Cease testified against Kim’s assertion that she wasn’t at the scene of the ‘05 Hot 97 shooting with her two friends Damion “D-Roc” Butler and Suif Jackson.
Consequence: Lil’ Kim sentenced to a year in prison. Kim’s pre-prison album awarded 5 Mics by the source, BET gives her a reality show and Lil’ Cease still has no career.

THE BITCH SNITCH

Name: Linda Tripp
Snitched On: Monica Lewinsky with phone calls that were recorded without Lewinsky’s knowledge. And Kathleen Willey. Yeah, we didn’t know Billy smashed her either.
Consequence: Do we really gotta tell you?

THE ANIMATED SNITCH

Name: Spongebob Squarepants
Snitched On: Best friend and neighbor Patrick after they both stole a balloon on free balloon day.
Consequence: None. It’s Spongbebob Squarepants.

THE SORE LOSER SNITCH

Name: JosÃ© Canseco Capas, Jr.
Snitched On: Jorge Delgado, Damaso Moreno, Manuel Collado, Mark McGwire, Jason Giambi, Rafael Palmeiro, IvÃ¡n RodrÃguez, and Juan GonzÃ¡lez in his book “Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant ‘Roids, Smash Hits & How Baseball Got Big.”
Consequence: Ruining the Hall of Fame prospects of certain players, bringing about the Mitchell Report and being an overall douche bag.

THE WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND SNITCH

Name: Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano
Snitched On: John Gotti and the Gambino Crime Family
Consequence: John Gotti sentenced to life imprisonment. After entering the witness protection program, Gravano moved to Arizona, where he wrote a book and started selling over 25,000 ecstasy pills a week with a local white supremacist youth gang known as the “Devil Dogs.” He got caught and is now serving 19 years in prison. He was snitched on. Ha!

THE NEPOTISTIC SNITCH

Name: Jesse Jackson, Jr.
Snitched On: Rod Blagojevich for helping deny his wife the job of director of the Chicago’s Lottery Commission.
Consequence: Blagojevich looking like an extra, extra grimey dude after getting caught trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat. We’ll have to see if the criminal charges stick.

Did A-Rod Buy Steriods For His She-Man Squeezes?

Joe — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:38:03 +0000

Baseball's resident steroid snitch Jose Canseco is set to release his second book “Vindicated: Big Names, Big Liars, and The Battle to Save Baseball” on Monday, and the headline-grabbing content seems to involve New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez. The leather-faced Canseco writes in the book that he introduced A-Rod to a trainer/steroids dealer after Rodriguez showed interest in getting on the juice back in the late 90s. Although Canseco has seemed to be spot on about the steroid scandal in the past, we’re thinking that if A-Rod did indeed ask for a connect and copped some 'roids they were for his Amazonian jumpoffs, who he likes to keep ripped and she-manly. Don't agree with us? Just check the biceps on the chick A-Rod got caught hitting the strip clubs with last year'the bitch was brolic. After the jump, A-Rod denies any steroid use on 60 minutes, while looking 14 years-old.