12/21/24
August 09, 2006
Cheaters: Anyone missing from this Most Unwanted List?
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY to general at 05:28 PM - 47 comments
Big Mac, Sosa, Raffy, Juan Gon, Barry, Floyd Landis, Lance. I see a baseball feeling in there...
posted by Joe88 at 06:32 PM on August 09, 2006
I'm not sure where this fits on the cheating scale, but Stella Walsh deserves some kind of a mention for the fact that she hid her male, um, attributes for decades.
posted by Amateur at 07:17 PM on August 09, 2006
D'oh! That was Rick Honeycutt with the tack, not Bannister. Here's a good article to piggyback the FPP.
posted by vito90 at 07:31 PM on August 09, 2006
Let's not forget the Dallas Mavericks for Cheating us out of a championship against the Miami Heat. How in the world do you blow a series being up ......
posted by Mustang 71 at 07:33 PM on August 09, 2006
MLB and the players association cheating us out of the best part of the 94 season and, the NHL et al, cheating us out of a whole season, and the NFL, well, 'nuff said.....
posted by mjkredliner at 07:44 PM on August 09, 2006
Michael Schumacher needs to be on this list. Deliberately crashes into his title rival in 1994 to win his first title. Does the same in 1997 but puts himself out rather Jacques Villeneuve. This year at Monaco he deliberately stopped on track to prevent those behind him beating his pole position time. Plus the Benetton team for who he drove in 1994 cheated by modifying their fuel rig to flow faster, ultimately leading to Jos Verstappen being set on fire during a pistop. Plus a whole slew of other instances. (Hell, this past weekends Hungarian GP had 4 great examples with him trying to take two Renault's, a McLaren and a BMW out.)
posted by Drood at 07:48 PM on August 09, 2006
I know, I know ... a lot of you are wondering just what would Dick Pound say, right? "Come clean, young men ... just come clean."
posted by Spitztengle at 08:03 PM on August 09, 2006
Here is the full editorial by Dick Pound referred to in the link Spitztengle provided.
posted by Amateur at 08:17 PM on August 09, 2006
New England Patriots for having the ground crew bring out the snow blower to clear the field of snow for their field goal kicker. The S.F. Giants ground crew for swamping the first base area to prevent the visiting Dodgers from stealing bases in the '60s.
posted by samtana at 08:17 PM on August 09, 2006
Add Jim Bowden to the list. Giving a pitcher a shot to mask an injury and then trading him without telling the other team is in my mind cheating the other team. I am speaking of the Majewski trade. Some might say let the buyer beware, but I say that baseball already has too many black eyes and don't need this type of trash. Whatever happen to being a good sportsman and having honor? Bowden never heard of such things I guess.
posted by calvinobass at 09:00 PM on August 09, 2006
Here is the full editorial by Dick Pound referred to in the link Spitztengle provided. Thanks for that link amateur. Excellent article and I couldn't agree more. Landis should redeem himself by coming clean and becoming an example for the rest of sports. People may hate cheaters, but they hate liars even more (esp obvious ones who insult every one's intelligence by continuing to lie after they've been caught) and they'll forgive a cheater who comes out, admits he was wrong and asks for forgiveness.
posted by commander cody at 10:03 PM on August 09, 2006
What the (expletive deleted) is going on? What I really need to know is if Pound edited himself, or if the Citizen editor did this for him. What was the expletive that was deleted? Seriously though ... thanks for the full editorial, Amateur. You really are all over this topic, aren't you? Keep up the great work!
posted by Spitztengle at 01:08 AM on August 10, 2006
If memory serves me right, didn't Phil Niekro get caught doctoring the baseball?
posted by ryemonster at 01:15 AM on August 10, 2006
A pack of cigs falling out of "Rosie's" sock. That made me laugh hard. I enjoy when the cheater gets busted. Thanks for the post.
posted by T$PORT4lawschool at 01:16 AM on August 10, 2006
Although he is not as modern, this guy should be near the top of any list.
posted by jojomfd1 at 01:27 AM on August 10, 2006
Maradona's "Hand of God" to overcome England in the World Cup. The "Black" Sox of 1919. Tonya Harding having Nancy Kerrigan beat up to take her place in the Olympics. And maybe one of the most bizarre episodes of Sports Cheating....the one performed by Stella Walsh, actually being a "male"...in part :)
posted by zippinglou at 03:38 AM on August 10, 2006
Let's not forget the Dallas Mavericks for Cheating us out of a championship against the Miami Heat. Dear God, a Mavs fan not blaming the referees for the Finals loss? Unbelieveable!
posted by The_Black_Hand at 05:07 AM on August 10, 2006
Maradona's "Hand of God" to overcome England in the World Cup. Exactly. That was a HUGE oversight. That's probably the biggest cheat of all time on the world's biggest stage. Calling Jordan a cheater for pushing off on Bryan Russel is a bit disingenuous. Agreed. Reggie Miller's (another all time great cheater) push off of Jordan was much more flagrant, and just as crucial.
posted by psmealey at 05:08 AM on August 10, 2006
I was less than impressed with Rivaldo's antics against Turkey in the 2002 world cup.
posted by blarp at 07:47 AM on August 10, 2006
Actaully, I think this could be a much, much longer list. Picking the 20 worst cheaters is like picking the 20 hottest Swedish women. Plenty more available.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:02 AM on August 10, 2006
After his election to the Hall of Fame, Whitey Ford admitted that he sometimes doctored the ball, with considerable help from Elston Howard.
posted by rhickok at 08:35 AM on August 10, 2006
I was wondering when lil' Diego's mano would come into play.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 09:20 AM on August 10, 2006
Excellent link indeed. I remember constantly bitching at the Raiders and how they would immerse their hands in stick-em (glue) ... Particularly Lester Hayes! Hard to drop balls with that much glue on your hands. LOL!
posted by GoHorns at 10:17 AM on August 10, 2006
Dear God, a Mavs fan not blaming the referees for the Finals loss? Unbelieveable! Nah. Just another whiny Spurs fan.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:46 AM on August 10, 2006
I think that Fred Biletnikoff was the Raider most notorious for use of said stick-em. Lester Hayes played on the defensive side of the ball...
posted by mjkredliner at 10:47 AM on August 10, 2006
Who can forget Conrad "Dirty" Dobler?
posted by mjkredliner at 11:18 AM on August 10, 2006
although many will disagree, i think that john stockton was quite a cheater in his day. He was so good that he would get referees to call fouls on the man guarding him when he was the one holding their hand/arm on his body! He used his body as a screen to trick the refs into thinking that the opponent's hand was "grabbing" him when he was holding their arm on his body. I saw this happen way too much in the playoffs from him, although i guess it never got him a ring.
posted by brainofdtrain at 11:33 AM on August 10, 2006
Calling Jordan a cheater makes me sick. He had some tricky moves, but to coin him as a cheater is a bit much. Secondly, Reggie Bush shouldnt be on the list either. Bush donates money to all of the Katrina relief funds, and forces his sponsors to donate millions to New Orleans. Bush didn't really do anything that dosent happen routinely with the push, but thats just my opinion.
posted by redsoxrgay at 12:29 PM on August 10, 2006
that maier kid wasn't a cheater,the fat ass umpire should have been there to make the right call!
posted by mars1 at 12:35 PM on August 10, 2006
Bush donates money to all of the Katrina relief funds Ulf Samulesson may taste like pumpkin pie, but I don't see how it would affect whether he's a cheater.
posted by yerfatma at 01:21 PM on August 10, 2006
Ufez jones you are absolutely correct in the fact that I'm a Spurs fan. However, the whining came from Mark Cuban.
posted by Mustang 71 at 01:30 PM on August 10, 2006
Tonya Harding having Nancy Kerrigan beat up to take her place in the Olympics That's not cheating, that's assault brother. How about Jgar and his illegal sticks? And almost every NHL goalie pre '05-'06?
posted by HATER 187 at 01:49 PM on August 10, 2006
Mustang71, Cuban handled the loss to Miami with class, even staying on the court after game 7 was finished to lead the cheers for the Heat, and shaking hands with the members of the team. True, he bitched about the officiating during the series, but anyone could see that there were some real stinkers by the refs, and not just in Miami's favor, they blew 'em both ways.
posted by mjkredliner at 03:22 PM on August 10, 2006
I will agree with the Stockton addition. He's dirty in all the little ways. If John Stockton was a football player, he'd be the guy that bit your leg at the bottom of a pile. Watch him close up for a while and you'll see more elbows, slaps, hand checks, body checks, and blatant pushes and forearms than Michael Jackson ever thought of. Lester Hayes was so covered in stick 'em when he went on the field, his Raider teammates used to joke that balls would stick to his shoulder pads, jersey, and helmet. The old Raider Myth is that Lester was working out one day in practice, didn't see the pass coming, it hit him right between the numbers and just stuck there...on the back of his jersey.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 04:15 PM on August 10, 2006
Yerfatma- your right. I just thought that would give you a better judgement of his character. But about the "pushing" thing, I dont consider it list worthy, do you?
posted by redsoxrgay at 04:39 PM on August 10, 2006
I'm not a big Reggie Bush fan, but I do think "the push" shouldn't have made the list. Ask just about any lineman, and he'll tell you that there's holding on every play. DB's get accolades for taking "good" pass interference penalties because the play would have led to a score otherwise. There are horror stories about what goes on under the pile when there's a fumble. My point is that guys consciously choose to do things on every play that are illegal, because they think the reward of a big play (or preventing one) is greater than the risk of getting caught. Bush cheated, the refs missed the call, his team scored. Was it wrong? Sure. Was it any more egregious than diving at a receiver's ankles and tripping him up because he's got you beat for the winning TD? I can't see it that way. Reggie just got caught on camera on a decisive play in "The Big Game". Otherwise, most of us would have completely forgotten it by now.
posted by ctal1999 at 05:12 PM on August 10, 2006
But about the "pushing" thing, I dont consider it list worthy, do you? No, even as a Notre Dame fan I can't claim that. My feeling is if you're making such a list, it should be people for whom cheating was entertwined with their game.
posted by yerfatma at 05:31 PM on August 10, 2006
What about Dewayne Wade? He got away with pushing off Dirk Nowitzke with 1:20 to go in the final game of the NBA championship this year. Nowitzke got called for the foul. On the ensuing play, Wade pulled Josh Howard's jersey to keep him from shooting a three with about :50 left. No call.... Dallas was down by one when he pushed off and down by three when he pulled the jersey. No harm, no foul, right?!
posted by quaybon at 06:07 PM on August 10, 2006
Oh, by the way, I could care less about either team, but it was so obvious....
posted by quaybon at 06:08 PM on August 10, 2006
Don't forget about the E.Germans olympic "WOMEN'S" swim team.
posted by bo_fan at 07:55 PM on August 10, 2006
GoHorns & The_Black_Hand: You were correct about Lester Hayes' use of stick-um, but so did Fred. It seems that Lester (a rookie in 1977) learned the trick from Fred (a rookie in 1965), and the NFL actually made it illegal in 1981, so until it was outlawed, I guess it wasn't actually cheating. At least, it didn't hurt Fred in the eyes of the Hall of Fame voters.
posted by mjkredliner at 09:10 PM on August 10, 2006
You helped me see basketball as the sport of cheaters. Odd...
posted by Joe88 at 10:10 PM on August 10, 2006
You helped me see basketball as the sport of cheaters. Odd... WTF are you talking about?
posted by willthrill72 at 10:44 PM on August 10, 2006
And no such list would be complete without Boris Onischenko, Soviet modern pentathlete with rigged fencing sword (it would register a hit at the push of a button, as opposed to when one actually landed).
posted by silverpie at 11:57 PM on August 10, 2006
The 1972 Soviet Olympic basketball win over the U.S. This one sure dates my ass.
posted by quaybon at 11:25 AM on August 11, 2006
Yeah, I agree with mjkredliner. I don't see it as cheating until it was outlawed. Just like the Andro situation with McGwire. Not cheating until outlawed by MLB.
posted by kidrayter2005 at 04:06 PM on August 12, 2006
Calling Jordan a cheater for pushing off on Bryan Russel is a bit disingenuous. I think Maury Wills when he managed the M's once ordered the grounds crew to enlarge the batter's box to gain an advantage. Floyd Bannister once got busted for having a tack under a flesh-covered bandaid while pitching for the M's. Graig Nettles got caught with super balls in his hollowed out bat - if memory serves he claimed he found the bat on a kid's playground.