Image via Complex Original
Sports hold a tremendous power over this nation, and the spirit of competition has proven able to unite war-torn nations and provide distraction in times where it is mostly sorely needed. Sporting events are also places where we learn the most about the character of the athletes themselves; many prove that they are not just top-caliber performers in their chosen field, but also excellent human beings. Then again, some prove to be the complete opposite.
Whether it’s taking repeated cheap shots like Bill Romanowksi or physically ripping an appendage off of your opponent like Mike Tyson, the exploits of some of our top athletes make us simply shake our heads. It’s not just enough for them to go out and compete; these people instead also must violate the spirit of camaraderie the game itself provides. Throughout the annals of history there have been many recorded instances of terrible acts on the playing field or court, but these are the 50 Most Unsportsmanlike Acts in Sports History.
50. Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" Goal
Date: 6/22/1986
Sport: Soccer
Punishment: None
It's kind of amazing that one of the most famous goals in soccer history is also blatantly illegal, but Maradona's incredible work in Argentina's 2-1 quarterfinal victory over England in the 1986 World Cup may be one of the most famous individual efforts of all-time on a soccer field. While his goal four minutes later would be voted FIFA's "Goal of the Century," his 51st minute header might be the century's most notorious given that Maradona clearly punched the ball into the net, missing his head completely. What could have been a red card instead helped propel Argentina past England and ultimately on to the World Cup title.
49. Roger Clemens fires a bat shard at Mike Piazza.
Date: 10/22/2000
Sport: Baseball
Punishment: None
If this isn't roid rage, we don't know what is. Roger Clemens can even be seen mouthing "I thought it was the ball" after flinging the barrel of a bat at Mike Piazza. Uh, Roger, in what universe is a two pound shard of wood anything like a five ounce baseball? And if you really did think it was the ball, why did you throw it at the hitter and not to first base? You know that there's no pegging in real baseball, right? Not that we're breaking new ground here, but there's a lot of things Roger Clemens says that simply don't add up. Just add this one to the list.
48. Sammy Sosa corks his bat.
Date: 6/3/2003
Sport: Baseball
Punishment: 7-game suspension
Sammy Sosa's fall from grace was only in its infancy when on this June afternoon he broke his bat in the first inning of a game against the Devil Rays. He was immediately ejected when the bat was revealed to be corked, a big no-no in baseball. While Sosa's claim of "accident" was aided by the fact that none of the 76 other bats in his possession were corked, it was a harbinger of bad things to come for the Cubs; a mere four months later Steve Bartman would become a household name, and in less than a year Sosa would be on the DL after injuring himself sneezing.
47. Georgia Tech runs up the score on Cumberland.
Date: 10/7/1916
Sport: Football
Punishment: None
Particularly before they became a big business, college sports were ultimately supposed to be for fun. There isn't much fun about losing a football game 222-0, though. Upset that Cumberland had allegedly used pros as ringers the previous year to beat Georgia Tech's baseball team 22-0, Engineers' coach John Heisman (yes, he of trophy fame) who also happened to be the baseball coach decided to avenge the loss in the most obvious way possible. He forced Cumberland into a matchup with the vastly superior Tech team, saying if they canceled the game they'd have to fork over $3000 (a modern-day equivalent of $60,000 or so). Considering Cumberland only dressed 14 guys for the game, we'd say they did pretty well.
46. Pedro Martinez throws a charging Don Zimmer to the ground.
Date: 10/11/2003
Sport: Baseball
Punishment: None
The hatred between the Red Sox and Yankees in the 2003 ALCS was palpable from the very first pitch, and things really boiled over in Game 3. After a series of close calls in the top and bottom halves of the 4th inning, the benches cleared.
Normally in these "brawls" nothing actually happens, but here fans were treated to some actual fighting. Seventy-two-year-old Yankees bench coach (and one-time Sox manager) Don Zimmer was so upset with the Sox's Pedro Martinez's head hunting that he charged right at the pitcher, and Pedro did all he could to sidestep the altercation and guide the old man out of harm's way. Unfortunately, the top-heavy Zimmer did a faceplant in the Fenway grass, vilifying Martinez in the process and making himself into a bit of a national laughingstock.
45. Rosie Ruiz jumps to the last mile to win the Boston Marathon.
Date: 4/21/1980
Sport: Running
Punishment: Disqualified from race
Honestly, while we can't condone cheating, what Rosie Ruiz pulled off at the 1980 Boston Marathon was one of the more incredible feats in recent memory. These were the days before the police escorts and video monitoring of the course, which enabled Ruiz to ride the T all the way to a half mile from the finish line before she popped onto the course and seemingly "won" the race. While it didn't take long for her ruse to be discovered, Ruiz had (however briefly) set the women's record for fastest marathon time ever.
44. Ndamukong Suh stomps on Evan Dietrich-Smith.
Date: 11/24/2011
Sport: Football
Punishment: Ejected from game, 2-game suspension
Football is a violent game, and as such we have to adjust the barometer for "unsportsmanlike acts" to account for the fact that players are naturally going to brutalize each other. However, when the whistle blows and the piles are separated, usually civility wins out. Ndamukong Suh, a player notorious for his particularly rough style of play, doesn't subscribe to that practice. When he ended up on top of the Packers' Evan Dietrich-Smith, he decided that instead of simply getting up, he'd slam his opponent's head into the ground three times and then stomp on him for good measure. A truly classy move, and one he decided to do on Thanksgiving of all days.
43. Scottie Pippen refuses to go into game because the final play wasn't designed for him.
Date: 5/13/1994
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: None
Even without Michael Jordan, the Chicago Bulls were an excellent team. Scottie Pippen finished third in 1994 MVP voting, making the All-NBA First Team and establishing himself as a legitimate star. He propelled the Bulls to 55 wins (just two fewer than with Jordan the previous year) and earned the right to be considered "the man" in Chicago come playoff time. However, when Phil Jackson drew up the final play of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals for rookie Toni Kukoc, Pippen refused to enter the game. Jackson's decision was of course vindicated when Kukoc buried the shot, but it was nevertheless a shocking moment from a player who had been team-first his entire career.
42. Michael Jordan punches Steve Kerr in the face during practice.
Date: Training camp ,1995
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: None
Everyone knows about Michael Jordan's legendary competitive streak. It's what made him the greatest player of all time and what fueled the Bulls to six NBA titles. But it wasn't always such a good thing for MJ, as Steve Kerr would find out. One day, at a particularly spirited training camp practice, Kerr took exception to Jordan's trash talking, and got right back in His Airness' face. Bad move. Jordan clocked Kerr, but just like that it was over. Jordan had left a message on Kerr's answering machine apologizing before Kerr had even gotten home, and the two would go on to be good friends thereafter.
41. Kevin Garnett calls Charlie Villanueva a "cancer patient."
Date: 11/2/2010
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: None
There is no player in the NBA who gets more carried away with trash talking than Kevin Garnett. From "Happy Mother's Day" to "Honey Nut Cheerios," KG's on-court head games often go way over the line. He may have hit a new low with Charlie Villanueva, whom (if Villanueva's Twitter account is to be believed) Garnett declared looked like a cancer patient. Given the number of those affected by cancer in and around the NBA, this did not go over particularly well, although Garnett claimed he said Villanueva was "cancerous to your team and our league." For the record, Villanueva has alopecia, a condition which renders those who suffer from it completely hairless.
40. Jets' strength coach Sal Alosi trips Nolan Carroll, who was running downfield on punt coverage.
Date: 12/12/2010
Sport: Football
Punishment: Suspended for remainder of season, fined $25,000
If you ever feel down or are worried that you might not be the smartest person in the world, don't worry; you're definitely smarter than Sal Alosi. The former Jets' strength coach decided that it was a good idea to extend his leg and trip the Dolphins' Nolan Carroll as Carroll ran down the Jets' sideline on punt coverage. Since it was an NFL game, there were cameras trained on pretty much everyone on the field, and Alosi's idiotic attempt at giving his team an edge was quickly exposed.
39. Charles Barkley unintentionally spits on a little girl sitting courtside.
Date: 3/26/1991
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: 1-game suspension, $10,000 fine
Charles Barkley, by his own declaration, was not a role model. Even for someone who doesn't want to be an aspirational figure, this incident looked pretty bad. Barkley got justifiably irked by the racial slur-laden heckling of a New Jersey Nets fan, and lashed out by trying to spit on him. The only problem was, Barkley missed; instead of splashing the racist right in the face, the spittle hit a little girl sitting courtside. Fortunately, this occurred before the proliferation of talking head shows, which would have fed on this story for weeks upon weeks after. The affable Barkley took the suspension like a man, and in fact made it a positive as he befriended the girl he accidentally hit and made sure she and her family had tickets to many future games.
38. Bill Romanowski spits on J.J. Stokes.
Date: 12/15/1997
Sport: Football
Punishment: Fined $75,000
In the pantheon of all-time assholes to play professional sports, Romanowski has few peers. The linebacker made a living out of antagonizing his opponents and teammates alike, intentionally inflicting punishment when it was not entirely necessary. The whole football-watching world got to see this attitude on full display on Monday Night Football, when Romo responded to J.J. Stokes' complaints that Romanowski was punching him in the groin during a pileup by hocking a loogie right in Stokes' face.
37. Andrew Bynum delivers a flying elbow to JJ Barea.
Date: 5/8/2011
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: 4-game suspension
The demise of the 2011 Los Angeles Lakers was one of the most cringe-worthy events of the NBA season, and instead of losing with grace they decided to go out like total punks. With his team down by 30 with just over eight minutes to go, Lakers' center Andrew Bynum decided that Mavericks' guard JJ Barea was not going to score anymore, no matter what; when Barea cut up the Lakers' defense again and got to the rim, Bynum delivered a vicious elbow that got him immediately ejected from the game and suspended to start the next season. Ripping his shirt off was a nice touch though.
36. Nicolas Batum deliberately punches Juan Carlos Navarro in the groin.
Date: 8/12/2012
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: None
The Olympics are supposed to be about sportsmanship and goodwill, but those two things were decidedly absent from the France-Spain quarterfinal basketball game at the 2012 summer games. Nic Batum of France decided that he had had enough of Spain's incessant flopping, and figured he would really give them something to complain about. Needing to intentionally foul late in the game to get the ball back, Batum delivered a swift right hand to the groin of Juan Carlos Navarro, predictably sending the Spanish guard crumpling down to the floor and touching off a near-brawl on the court.
35. Luis Suarez bites Branislav Ivanović.
Date: 4/21/2013
Sport: Soccer
Punishment: 10-match suspension, undisclosed fine
Luis Suarez may be the least popular man in world football, and given incidents like this one it's easy to see why. Nobody likes a biter, especially not on the playing field. Suarez has long shown that he doesn't care what most people think, however; this incident from only a few months ago clearly showed that. He managed to get his gnaw in out of sight of the referee, and later in the match he would go on to score the equalizer in a 2-2 draw for Liverpool.
34. Roy Keane deliberately tries to injure Alf-Inge Håland's knee.
Date: 4/21/2001
Sport: Soccer
Punishment: 8-game suspension, £155,000 fine
Roy Keane was always a brutally physical player, and the Manchester United legend had no short supply of enemies by the time he hung up his boots after 18 years (and 13 red cards, a tie for the most all-time in English football). His most infamous incident was his foul on Alf-Inge Håland, whom Keane felt had taunted him when Keane had injured his knee nearly four years earlier. Keane would have gotten off relatively easily with a three match ban and £5000 fine, except in his 2002 autobiography he plainly stated that he meant to do it. The FA tagged on another five games and £150,000 for his trouble.
33. Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson put on a boxing display.
Date: 4/13/1998
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: 2-game suspension (both), $32,500 fine (combined)
The tale of the tape on this fight was truly staggering: you had the 6'10", 260-pound Mourning going toe-to-toe with the 6'7", 235-pound Larry Johnson, with the added bonus that these two guys were former teammates in Charlotte who absolutely hated each other already. They took wild swings at each other that quickly cleared both benches, and also forever gave us the comedic image of 5'9" Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy hanging onto Mourning's leg as the fight continued.
32. Tree Rollins bites Danny Ainge's finger.
Date: 4/24/1983
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: None (Ainge ejected)
The headline ("Tree Bites Man") was almost too good. After Atlanta Hawks center Tree Rollins elbowed the Celtics' Danny Ainge in the face, Ainge tackled Rollins to the ground and the two engaged in what looked like a typical, uneventful wrestling match. But not so fast. Rollins decided that to get even, he would chow down on Ainge's finger, biting so deeply that Ainge required two stitches just to keep the tendon in his finger together.
31. Chris Simon attempts to break Jarkko Ruutu's leg by stomping on it with a skate.
Date: 12/15/2007
Sport: Hockey
Punishment: 30-game suspension
Chris Simon was yet again at the center of controversy after an altercation on the ice that didn't even involve him. Simon's teammate Tim Jackman got into it with notorious agitator Jarkko Ruutu, and Simon decided to insert himself into the argument the only way he knew how: he first yanked Ruutu's leg out from behind, causing him to fall to his knees, then promptly stomped on Ruutu's right leg with his skate. Unfortunately, he did this right in front of the referees, and he was thrown out of the game. The subsequent 30-game suspension he received is the second-longest in NHL history for an on-ice incident.
30. Claude Lemieux rearranges Kris Draper's face on the boards with hit from behind.
Date: 5/29/1996
Sport: Hockey
Punishment: 2-game suspension
A notoriously dirty player, Claude Lemieux will forever be remembered as one of the least-liked NHL players of all-time. Perhaps his most famous incident was this one with Kris Draper, which occurred during a hotly-contested playoff series between the Red Wings and Avalanche that touched off one of hockey's biggest rivalries of the late-90s. Lemieux's check sent Draper face-first into the boards, breaking his jaw, nose, and cheekbone while also causing a concussion. Despite these extensive injuries that forced Draper immediately into facial reconstructive surgery, Lemieux somehow escaped with only a two game suspension.
29. Chris Simon uses his stick like a baseball bat to hit Ryan Hollweg.
Date: 3/8/2007
Sport: Hockey
Punishment: 25-game suspension
Hockey and baseball are pretty dissimilar athletic pursuits. Don't tell that to Chris Simon though. When the New York Islander got absolutely wrecked into the boards by the New York Rangers' Ryan Hollweg, he did not simply get off and slink away like a man defeated. No, instead Simon decided to swing for the fences and absolutely crush Hollweg in the face with his stick, cutting Hollweg's face. But fortunately not causing further injury purely by grace of the fact that the stick hit Hollweg's shoulder pads first before it hit him in the face. Despite the positive outcome for his victim, Simon still earned a tidy suspension for the attack.
28. Karl Malone delivers a flying elbow to Isiah Thomas' face.
Date: 12/14/1991
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: 1-game suspension, $10,000 fine
Karl Malone may be remembered now as simply a Hall of Fame power forward, but in his prime he was also known as one of the league's dirtiest players. No player was spared, not even an All-Star like Isiah Thomas. When Zeke tried to score at the rim in a game in Utah, Malone slid over and delivered a thunderous elbow to Thomas' face that opened up a cut above the point guard's eye that required 40 stitches to close. It didn't help Thomas that he had torched Malone's friend and teammate John Stockton in their previous game, seemingly over his being passed over for the Dream Team in favor of Stockton.
27. 7' 4" Ralph Sampson punches 6' 1" Jerry Sichting.
Date: 6/5/1986
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: Ejected from game
Jerry Sichting was most definitely an agitator, and the Celtics' 6'1" reserve guard refused to back down from anyone, including the 7'4" Sampson. For Sampson's part, he should have known that someone well over a foot shorter than him was going to try to bother him; he took the bait anyway, throwing a wild punch at Sichting and then a second at Celtics' point guard Dennis Johnson during Game 5 of the 1986 NBA Finals. Sampson was ejected from the game, and then played poorly as he was clearly rattled by a venomous Boston crowd in the deciding Game 6.
26. Marcus Vick stomps on Elvis Dumerville's knee after the whistle.
Date: 1/2/2006
Sport: Football
Punishment: Thrown out of school in early 2006 for "a cumulative effect of legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play"
Marcus Vick was never going to be as good as his brother, and any thoughts to the contrary were simply delusional. However, he did manage to make a name for himself on the field; unfortunately, it was more for incidents where he lost his temper than his actual football exploits. After sitting out all of 2004 due to his myriad of misdemeanor convictions, Vick capped his 2005 season by attempting to destroy the knee of Louisville (and current Baltimore Ravens) lineman Elvis Dumerville. It didn't work, and Vick was thrown out of Virginia Tech shortly thereafter.
25. Elizabeth Lambert yanks opponent's hair and generally commits random acts of violence.
Date: 11/5/2009
Sport: Soccer
Punishment: 2-game suspension
In this era of televised everything, nothing escapes the cameras. Elizabeth Lambert sure didn't make it difficult, though, given the frequency with which she tried to injure her opponents. Her absurd display of violent, over-the-top physicality in New Mexico's Mountain West tournament clash with BYU led SportsCenter and truly baffled most of the sports world. Her ridiculous attempts at hurting other players seemed to stem from an elbow in the ribs she received early in the game, but it's hard to say the initial crime warranted such an outburst. At least she became a YouTube celebrity, right?
24. Dale Hunter checks Pierre Turgeon head first into boards long after goal is scored.
Date: 4/28/1993
Sport: Hockey
Punishment: 21-game suspension
Hunter accumulated the second-most penalty minutes in NHL history over the course of his career, an impressive accomplishment given the number of goons in the league through the years. This particular incident was one of the more dirty hits the league has seen, as a frustrated Hunter turned the puck over in his own zone and watched helplessly as the New York Islanders' Pierre Turgeon put the game away with a goal seconds later. In retaliation, Hunter shoved the celebrating Turgeon from behind into the boards, separating his shoulder and forcing him to miss all but one of the rest of the Islanders' playoff games.
23. Corky Taylor knees opponent in groin when helping him up.
Date: 1/25/1972
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: Suspended for remainder of season
The brawl between Ohio State and Minnesota is one of the worst in the history of college basketball, although few remember it since little footage still exists. It started when Ohio State's Luke Witte threw an elbow at a Minnesota player on their way into their locker rooms at halftime. After a Minnesota player flagrantly fouled Witte late in the second half, it looked like Minnesota's Corky Taylor was going to be the bigger man and help his fallen opponent up. Instead, once Witte was nearly on his feet, Taylor delivered a swift knee to the junk that touched off a bench-clearing brawl.
22. Tie Domi fights a Flyers fan in the penalty box.
Date: 3/29/2001
Sport: Hockey
Punishment: Fined $1,000
Ranking No. 3 in NHL history in total penalty minutes, Tie Domi was no stranger to the sin bin during his 16-year career. However, one particular visit will likely stand out above all others. Sick of a heckler's jeers during a road game in Philadelphia, Domi squirted water over the glass and onto a fan. Another fan tried to climb the glass to go after Domi, but got more than he bargained for when the panel gave way and he all of a sudden found himself squabbled up with a legendary NHL enforcer. Security quickly intervened, sparing the fan from too brutal an assault.
21. Zinedine Zidane headbutts Marco Materazzi in World Cup Final.
Date: 7/9/2006
Sport: Soccer
Punishment: Red card
The brilliant career of Zidane looked like it would be ending in the grandest way possible. With just 10 minutes to go in extra time, Zizou had already scored his team's lone goal in the Final and had been named the winner of the Golden Ball (World Cup MVP) before the match. All that remained was for France to break the deadlock either in extra time or the penalty shootout, and Zidane would have yet another trophy. Instead, Italy's Marco Materazzi's well-timed comment about what he would like to do to Zidane's sister managed to irk the Frenchman enough that he delivered a thunderous headbutt right in front of the linesman. Zidane was thrown out, and France would lose on penalties mere minutes later.
20. Albert Belle throws a baseball at a heckling fan.
Date: 5/12/1991
Sport: Baseball
Punishment: None
Albert Belle had some serious anger management issues. He was so fanatical about the temperature in the clubhouse that one time someone changed it, and Belle responded by setting it back to his favorite temperature (sub-60°) and smashing the thermostat with a bat. In this particular instance, Belle didn't like a fan poking fun at Belle's drinking problem. To show his displeasure, Belle picked up a foul ball and whizzed it right into the fan's chest from about 15 feet away, somehow escaping without any sort of punishment.
19. Albert Haynesworth stomps on Andre Gurode's head.
Date: 10/1/2006
Sport: Football
Punishment: 5-game suspension without pay (~$190,000)
Albert Haynesworth will go down in history as one of the biggest free agent busts in the history of football, but maybe the Redskins (who signed him to that disastrous seven-year, $100 million contract) should have seen trouble coming. After allowing a touchdown run in a game against Dallas, the Titans' Haynesworth was so enraged that he ripped off an opposing lineman's helmet while they were on the ground, then got up and tried to stomp on his head. When Haynesworth missed, he decided to go for it again; this time he connected, opening up a wound that required 30 stitches to close and cost Haynesworth almost $200,000 in missed game checks.
18. Izzy Alcantara karate-kicks the catcher to start a brawl.
Date: 7/3/2001
Sport: Baseball
Punishment: 6-game suspension
Alcantara was seen as a key prospect for the Red Sox, and the outfielder bashed 36 home runs to lead the International League in 2001. However, he also had a bit of a temper that got him into quite a bit of trouble; it's the reason he didn't stick in Boston when he was called up, and it's the reason this ridiculous incident occurred. Alcantara took exception to a brushback pitch from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitcher, but instead of electing to charge the mound as normally is done, he went with the karate kick to the catcher first. While he may have scored points for landing the first blow of the fight, he was summarily smacked around by the entire Scranton/Wilkes-Barre squad once they got out onto the field.
17. Ulf Samuelsson intentionally hits Cam Neely in Neely's already-injured knee.
Date: 5/3/1991
Sport: Hockey
Punishment: None
Utter the name Ulf Samuelsson anywhere around Boston, and you're sure to hear a colorful selection of words suggesting all manner of horrific things that ought to befall the former Pittsburgh Penguin. That's because Samuelsson injured Cam Neely on a check in Game 3 of the Conference Finals, which alone would make him a notorious villain. However, it was his blatant hit on the same spot in Game 6 that caused Neely to develop the knee problems that would ultimately end his career. While Neely would continue to play for five more years, he'd only participate in a total of 162 contests, an average of fewer than 33 per season.
16. Michael Westbrook assaults Stephen Davis during practice.
Date: 8/19/1997
Sport: Football
Punishment: Fined $50,000
Westbrook was a really talented receiver for the Redskins, but had a hard time staying on the field due to repeated injuries. In his eight year career, in fact, he played in 16 games just twice. After watching the way he pounced on rookie Stephen Davis and began pummeling Davis' face, it's no surprise that Westbrook has since gone on to a pretty successful career in both MMA and jiu-jitsu.
15. Luis Suarez racially abuses Patrice Evra during a game.
Date: 10/15/2011
Sport: Soccer
Punishment: 8-match suspension, £40,000 fine
World football has long been plagued with ugly instances of racism. While FIFA and the English FA have made every attempt to eradicate it from the stands, it's much harder for them to control the minds of the players on the pitch. Luis Suarez's abuse of Manchester United's Patrice Evra drives the point home, as the talented Uruguayan striker laid into the French defender with various racial epithets throughout the match. Months later, Suarez did himself no favors in the court of public opinion when he refused to shake Evra's hand in the standard pre-match handshake line.
14. Marty McSorley hits Donald Brashear in the head with his stick.
Date: 2/21/2000
Sport: Hockey
Punishment: One-year suspension, charged with assault with a weapon
After a testy game that saw Brashear fight Marty McSorley, taunt the Bruins' bench, and injure Bruins' goaltender Byron Dafoe, it looked like things might finally end without incident. However, with three seconds left McSorley decided to try his luck with Brashear again. This time, though, he brought a weapon to the party. His temple-thumping of Brashear sent the Canuck down to the ice, bringing on a seizure and inflicting a Grade 3 concussion. While Brashear was able to return before the end of the season and continues to play professionally to this day, McSorley never took the ice again in the NHL.
13. Dennis Rodman kicks a courtside cameraman in the groin.
Date: 1/15/1997
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: 11-game suspension, $200,000 settlement with cameraman
Dennis Rodman has never been a model of stability. Whether he was taking his shoes off on the bench, coloring his hair a different shade each night, or being photographed in a wedding dress, his bizarre behavior on and off the court has cemented his legacy of being one of the strangest players sports has ever seen. This outburst, though, seemingly came from out of nowhere and showed a malicious side to his outrageous actions. After he stumbled down over a photographer's foot (chasing a ball out of bounds we might add), a frustrated Rodman kicked the cameraman next to the photographer in the groin with a ton of force. His subsequent suspension and settlement were certainly deserved.
12. Coach Woody Hayes punches player from Clemson in the throat.
Date: 12/29/1978
Sport: Football
Punishment: Fired the morning after the game
Woody Hayes is one of the most legendary coaches in Ohio State and college football history. He won five national titles and is a college football Hall of Famer, but what many remember him for is the way his career ended. A blusterous, quick-tempered fellow, Hayes' frustration at a late-game interception thrown by his quarterback got the best of him during the 1978 Gator Bowl. When Charlie Baumann (who had intercepted the pass) was finally run out of bounds on the Ohio State sidelines, the Buckeyes' coach decided to punch the massive nose tackle right in the throat on national TV. Needless to say, Hayes did not keep his job after that one.
11. Bill Romanowski attacks teammate Marcus Williams so viciously he ends Williams' career.
Date: 8/24/2003
Sport: Football
Punishment: Fined one game check ($58,000); Williams awarded $340,000 in subsequent lawsuit
"Romo" is one of the most hated athletes in NFL history and the poster child for "roid rage," and incidents like this one demonstrate why. During a preseason scrimmage, Romanowski didn't like the way that tight end Marcus Williams was blocking/holding him during a pass downfield. Naturally, rather than use his words, Romanowski responded with pure physical violence; he ripped off Williams' helmet and punched him so hard that he crushed Williams' eye socket, a hit that caused permanent damage and ended Williams' career.
10. Delmon Young flings his bat at the umpire.
Date: 4/26/2006
Sport: Baseball
Punishment: 50-game suspension
Look, even the best umpires in the world are going to botch call from time to time. It happens in baseball at all levels, and in the minor leagues the boys in blue are doing the best they can but are still inferior to the MLB crews. We can't argue with former Devil Rays' prospect Delmon Young's beef with the call itself; clearly, the pitch is outside. However, when he decides to throw his bat at the umpire, that might be taking it a bit too far.
9. Todd Bertuzzi sucker punches Steve Moore in the back of the head.
Date: 3/8/2004
Sport: Hockey
Punishment: 20-game suspension (estimated $501,926.39 lost salary), pleaded guilty to assault
Frustrated that he couldn't instigate Steve Moore into fighting him late in a blowout loss, Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi decided to lash out in the most vicious way possible. He skated up behind Moore, grabbed his jersey, punched him in the back of the head, then rode him down to the ice, smashing Moore's face on the ground. A totally unconscious Moore fractured three veterbrae in his neck and suffered a concussion, and would never play again. Moore's lawsuit against Bertuzzi went to trial this past April.
8. Tonya Harding hires a goon to take out Nancy Kerrigan.
Date: 1/6/1994
Sport: Figure Skating
Punishment: Pleaded guilty to conspiring to hinder prosecution of the attackers, three years probation, 500 hours of community service, $160,000 fine
It's a story that really sounds like it's straight out of a Lifetime original movie: a borderline psychotic figure skater hires some goon to critically injure her chief rival, clearing her path to the Olympics and glory. The first part of the plan actually kind of worked; Kerrigan was hurt to the degree that she missed the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and Harding won the event. However, Kerrigan recovered in time for the Olympics and took the silver medal, while Harding finished eighth. It would only get worse for Tonya, who would then be prosecuted for her role in the attack and be functionally banned from all figure skating events.
7. Roberto Alomar spits on umpire John Hirschbeck.
Date: 9/27/1996
Sport: Baseball
Punishment: 5-game suspension
Generally speaking, even in the worst of times an athlete knows not to get physical with an official. It's the easiest way to get tossed from a game and guarantee yourself both a suspension and a huge fine. For Roberto Alomar, though, a controversial third strike call was enough to send him into a total frenzy. Not only did he blatantly spit in umpire John Hirschbeck's face, but after the game he said Hirschbeck was just bitter because one of his sons had recently died and another had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Yikes.
6. Kermit Washington punches Rudy Tomjanovich.
Date: 12/9/1977
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: 26 game suspension, $10,000 fine
Washington was actually a solid NBA role player, a one-time All-Star and twice a member of the All-Defensive second team. Unfortunately for him, he is only remembered for this horrible on court incident where a reflexive action nearly killed an opposing player. During a small fracas between the Lakers and Rockets, Houston's Rudy Tomjanovich charged towards the fray in an effort to play peacemaker and separate the two sides. All the Lakers' Washington saw, though, was someone from the other side running at him full speed. His punch to Rudy T broke many bones in Tomjanovich's face and even caused spinal fluid to leak into his mouth. He eventually returned before retiring for good in 1981.
5. Jack Tatum paralyzes Darryl Stingley.
Date: 8/12/1978
Sport: Football
Punishment: None
The NFL preseason is a joke. However, Jack Tatum took it seriously. So seriously, in fact, that when Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley grabbed a slant across the middle Tatum went for the big hit to try to send him a message. Unfortunately, Stingley also lowered his head and inadvertently allowed for the bruising Tatum to damage Stingley's spinal cord, paralyzing him from the chest down. Tatum did himself no favors by refusing to apologize to Stingley at any point between the hit in 1978 and Stingley's death in 2007.
4. Luis Resto loads his gloves for his fight against Billy Collins Jr.
Date: 6/16/1983
Sport: Boxing
Punishment: Boxing license suspended for one year, convicted of assault and sentenced to 2.5 years in prison
Resto wasn't considered a big name outside the state of New York, and headed into his fight with the up-and-coming Collins he was viewed largely as a stepping stone for his promising opponent. Resto, however, shocked experts when he took a 10 round unanimous decision over the visibly pummeled Collins. However, a quick investigation revealed that an ounce of padding had been removed from each glove, rendering the blows of the light-hitting Resto significantly more effective. Collins' eyes were damaged to the extent that they ended his career, and months later he was dead after a car wreck.
3. Arnold "Chick" Gandil and the Chicago White Sox throw the World Series.
Date: 10/9/1919
Sport: Baseball
Punishment: All participants banned for life from baseball
While a guy who may not have even participated ("Shoeless" Joe Jackson) is easily the most famous, the 1919 Chicago White Sox needed more than just one person to intentionally lose the World Series. "Chick" Gandil was the ringleader of the entire operation, and he used his connections to the criminal underworld to ensure a big payday for all involved. The entire team hated owner Charles Comiskey, who was a legendary scrooge that made sure his players made the absolute least amount possible, and this hatred was really the biggest motivator for all the players involved.
2. Mike Tyson bites off Evander Holyfield's ear.
Date: 6/28/1997
Sport: Boxing
Punishment: Stripped of boxing license in Nevada, fined $3 million
Perhaps the most infamous of all in-game infractions, Mike Tyson had reached the end of the line of his once-promising career heading into this rematch with Evander Holyfield. After deciding that he didn't like the way Holyfield was headbutting him during the fight (and the way it was going unpunished by referee Mills Lane), Tyson decided the only way to get Holyfield's attention was to bite him. After being cautioned and losing two points after his first nibble, Iron Mike went big and fully ripped off a piece of Holyfield's right ear. Understandably, the match was stopped and Tyson was disqualified.
1. The Malice at the Palace
Date: 11/19/2004
Sport: Basketball
Punishment: 86-game suspension (Ron Artest), 30-game suspension (Stephen Jackson), 15-game suspension (Jermaine O'Neal), 6-game suspension (Ben Wallace), 5-game suspension (Anthony Johnson), 1-game suspension (Reggie Miller), 1-game suspension (Chauncey Billups), 1-game suspension (Derrick Coleman), 1-game suspension (Elden Campbell)
The Malice at the Palace might be one of the most damaging on-court incidents in American sports history. Say what you will about these athletes, but when they fight usually they keep it among themselves. Not so in this case, where a beer hurled at Ron Artest after an on-court scuffle with Ben Wallace led the anger-prone Pacer to sprint into the stands to fight the guilty party. His loyal teammates followed him, and the ensuing brawl was as close as the NBA will ever come to a full-on riot at a game. It's such a black eye for the league that it's pretty much the only NBA clip that the league actively seeks out and removes from YouTube.