As another decade of sports ticks down, sportsnet.ca looks at the athletes, scandals and games that defined the past 10 years. Today we open with 10 sporting oddities that fans will never forget.
Over the next five days we will revisit the decade’s best games, studs & duds, players to watch over the next 10 years and finish up with the 10 top stories — one per year — from the first decade of the 21st century.
As always, we encourage your debate at the bottom of the page.
Enjoy.
10. Tiger Woods’ transgressions (December 2009)
Tiger Woods will be included in most decade retrospectives, but thanks to the word “transgressions”, most of the mentions will likely overshadow his numerous feats on the golf course. The events of December, the book-end final month of a decade worth of dominance on the course for Tiger, leaves his future in the game in doubt as he chases some of the game’s most revered records.
Woods’ world unravelled when a late-night car crash in his own driveway was later reported to be the result of a domestic dispute over Woods’ infidelity. In the days that followed, numerous women came out to reveal affairs with golf’s No. 1 player.
So far, Saturday Night Live and its ‘Weekend Update’ segement has provided the most eloquent synopsis of the Woods’ saga:
“Last Friday Tiger Woods hit a tree and a bunch of ladies fell out.”
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9. Ricky Williams in the CFL (May 2006)
No. 1 draft pick, drug suspensions, retirement, clinical depression, a year studying the ancient Indian system of holistic medicine, unretirement, more suspensions, a year in the CFL and back to star for the Miami Dolphins in the NFL — all in 10 years for the enigmatic Ricky Williams.
The CFL can boast a few Heisman Trophy winners in its modern history, but none like Williams. On May 28, 2006, Williams became the highest-paid running back in the CFL when he signed a one-year $240,000 contract with the Argonauts. The move north was precipitated by a year-long suspension by the NFL that left Williams without a team. The signing in Toronto was met with skepticism as many thought the CFL decision to allow the suspended Williams the chance to play undermined the NFL, and set an unusual precedent.
In the 11 games that he played during 2006 CFL regular season, Williams rushed 109 times for 526 yards, scoring two touchdowns. Williams enjoyed life away from the spotlight, but the desire to play in the NFL – and the threat of having to pay back his Dolphins signing bonus – would draw Williams back to Miami in 2007.
8. Tommy Salo (2002 Winter Games, Salt Lake City)
The fact that Canada claimed gold at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City overshadowed what was one of the biggest — and strangest — upsets in international men’s ice hockey.
In the third period of the quarter-final game between Sweden and Belarus, with the score tied, Swedish goaltender Tommy Salo allowed Belarus defenceman Vladimir Kopat to beat him from 20 metres out. It was not the goal that turned Salo into an instant scapegoat, but rather how the puck reached the back off the net. After hitting Salo in the head, the puck fluttered in slow motion toward the empty net. It made it and Sweden was eliminated from any medal contention.
Sweden never recovered from the gaffe and captain Mats Sundin rushed to his goaltender’s defence by berating fans and media for singling Salo out asserting that, “the entire team played subpar, a single fluke goal shouldn’t cost us the game.”
Salo played just two more seasons in the NHL before returning to Sweden.
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7. Zinedine Zidane (World Cup 2006)
After writing himself into the record books by joing Pelé, Paul Breitner, and Vavá as the only players to score in two separate World Cup finals, Zizou wrote himself into soccer folklore by being sent off after one of the game’s most bizarre incidents.
An exchange of verbal taunts with Italian Marco Materazzi prompted Zidane to deliver a head-butt to the sternum of the defender. Materazzi dropped to the field and a brief discussion between match officials led to a red card being shown and Zidane ejected. France was a man short for the remainder of the game, and in the penalty shootout the club would be without one of its most reliable spot-kick takers in Zidane.
Italy would go on to win the World Cup in PKs (5-3) and to this day neither side has confirmed in detail what was actually said to send the French talisman over the edge. But Google the incident for yourself to read a few of the colourful reports.
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6. Plaxico Burress shoots self, sent to prison (November 2008)
A crime novel could be penned from the multitude of off-the-field legal issues that plagued the NFL over the past 10 years. But none caught the public eye mroe than the case of New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress.
Coming off a Super Bowl XLII win in 2007, Burress signed a contract extension in New York in anticipation of adding a second Super Bowl ring. But on Nov. 8, 2008 it was reported that Burress was admitted to a New York City hospital with what was described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Details would surface that Burress was indeed carrying a concealed firearm and accidentally depressed the trigger when it slipped out of the waistband of his pants. Upon being released from hospital, Burress turned himself in to face charges of criminal possession of a handgun.
The Giants cut ties with the veteran wide receiver, but a year later on Aug. 20, 2009, Burress accepted a plea deal that would put him in prison for two years with an additional two years of supervised release.
5. Pedro Martinez & Don Zimmer (October 2003)
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees hate each other; few will argue this truth. But when the then 32-year-old Boston starter Pedro Martinez threw 72-year-old New York bench coach Don Zimmer to the field during a bench-clearing brawl during the playoffs, it launched the hatred into the stratosphere.
Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS boiled over when the players from each side maintained that both Game 3 starters, New Yokr’s Roger Clemens and Boston’s Martinez, were intentionally throwing at opposition batters. After Boston’s Manny Ramirez questioned a high, inside fastball from Clemens and made a move toward the mound, both benches cleared and Zimmer made a beeline for Martinez. Claiming self-defence, Martinez hurled Zimmer to the turf.
“It was an ugly scene,” Martinez said afterward. “Zim charged me and I think he’s going to say something, but his reaction was totally the opposite, (he) was trying to punch my mouth and told me a couple of bad words about my mom. I just had to react and defend myself.”
Remember who won the game? The Yankees, who would eventually win the series in seven games.
4. Joe Namath & Suzy Kolber (December 2003)
A very public solicitation of sideline reporter Suzy Kolber by Hall of Fame Jets quarterback Joe Namath led to Namath entering an outpatient alcoholism treatment program and proved the theory that live television can be unpredictable.
During a nationally televised NFL game, Kolber prepared to interview Namath – who was noticeably intoxicated and began by telling the ESPN reporter that he wanted to kiss her, and “couldn’t care less about the team strugg-a-ling.” Kolber responded with, “Thanks, Joe. I’ll take that as a huge compliment.” Namath later apologized, but the video went viral and a sports blog web site even adopted the incident as its domain name (kissingsuzykolber.com).
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3. The Malice at The Palace (November 2004)
A seemingly innocuous pushing match between Indiana Pacers bad boy Ron Artest and Detroit Pistons centre Ben Wallace escalating into a full-on brawl that resulted in nine players being suspended without pay for a total of 146 games and $10 million in salary being lost.
With under a minute to play, Arest clashed with Wallace under the basket and was separated by teammates. After laying down on the scorer’s table, Artest was hit by a cup thrown from the crowd. Artest responded by seeking out and punching a man whom he mistakenly believed was responsible. Artest’s teammate Stephen Jackson also ran into the stands shortly after and threw punches at fans, and eventually players from both teams entered the stands while many fans spilled out on to the court to escape the altercation.
The chaotic scene was replayed numerous times on every nightly sports wrap up show and the NBA would react by mandating increased security presence between players and fans — and ban the sale of alcohol after the third quarter.
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2. Cubs fan Steve Bartman (October 2003)
Fans of the lovable loser Chicago Cubs have suffered for over a century as their team continually finds a way to lose in the post-season. But in 2003 the plight of the beleaguered Cubs’ fan was given a face in Steve Bartman.
The Cubs were four outs away from a World Series appearance when Florida Marlins infielder Luis Castillo popped a ball foul down the third-base line. With Cubs outfielder Moises Alou giving chase, the ball drifted towards the first few rows of the left-field stands. As fans have done countless times at baseball games, a myriad of hands reached to grab the souvenir. Unfortunately for Bartman, it was his hand that struck the ball and deflected it away from a stunned Alou.
The Cubs would go on to lose both the Bartman game and Game 7 and watched from home as Florida marched on to claim the title over New York. The “Steve Bartman Incident” was widely accepted as the turning point and a ceremony was set up in the offseason to destroy the infamous foul ball.
For Bartman, he was given police protection and shortly after the incident released a statement saying he was: “Truly sorry.”
1. Premature end to the NHL lockout (February 2005)
When news broke that Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were in New York to help broker a deal that would end the NHL lockout and save the season, it threw Canadians into a tizzy. The meeting of the minds took place just days after commissioner Gary Bettman took to the podium to officially cancel the 2004/05 season. The sad news led to a flurry of activity in hockey circles, with general managers, agents and players desperately trying to resuscitate the talks.
News filtered in from Europe, where several NHLers were playing during the lockout, that several players were being pulled from games and scratched from lineups, hinting that a resolution was indeed on the horizon. It seemed that two of the game’s greatest players had saved the season.
But in the end the reports would prove false and hockey would lose all 82 games. The NHL now carries the distinction of being the first professional sports league to lose an entire season, the most games lost (1,230) due to a work stoppage, and the longest-lasting shutdown (310 days) in sports history.
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