# Most embarassing sports play you've seen **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 2, 2011, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595 "2011-11-02T05:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/61 "2011-11-03T00:35:07Z")
> [@Intelligently\_Designed](#): > > How about conceding an [infield triple](http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=17599161)? (Actually, it was scored as a single with the runner going to third on fielder’s indifference.) What I love about this play is that when he slides into third, Ryan pops up and he’s looking home. If the catcher hadn’t been right therehe was going to take off. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/62 "2011-11-03T00:43:26Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > [As a postscript to the Ryan-Ventura fight: Ryan is now the principal owner/president/CEO of the Rangers and Ventura was recently named manager of the White Sox. I don’t think they’re going to have a rematch the next time the ChiSox play the Rangers, but it’s going to be on everybody’s mind, so I’m excited about the possibilities. The White Sox open the 2012 season at Texas. Could be interesting. [URL=“[Official Chicago White Sox Website | MLB.com](http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20110914&content_id=24680480&vkey=pr_cws&fext=.jsp&c_id=cws)”]link]([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhWEqWHllQA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhWEqWHllQA)) ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/63 "2011-11-03T01:57:47Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > One more. Nolan Ryan and Robin Ventura. You know this play too. > > [spoiler]Nolan Ryan accidentally hits the much younger Ventura with a pitch and Ventura, for some reason, decides to charge the mound on the 46-year old pitcher. Ryan stands his ground and proceeds to put Ventura in a headlock and punches him in the head until his teammates pull him off. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zwDkrGKlCg[/spoiler]](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zwDkrGKlCg%5B/spoiler%5D) You know, I had always thought of that as one of the most brutal beatdowns delivered by a pitcher. But I’d only ever seen highlights of Ryan bulldogging Ventura. Now that you’ve posted the longer clip, it doesn’t seem quite so one-sided. By the time we lose sight of Ryan/Ventura and they fall out of the frame, Ventura has Ryan’s right arm secured and is in a very superior leverage position–he has bodily control behind Ryan. Depending how the bodies fell around them, I don’t think it unlikely that Ventura got in a few good licks on the bottom of that scrum. So yes, it’s a classic. Now that I actually see it, I think it may not be the whole story. ETA: And now that I watch it again, Ventura had a decent grip on Ryan’s throat as they went down… ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/64 "2011-11-03T02:12:22Z")
The worst thing I ever saw in person was at a high school football playoff game. One team decided to run a trick on their first play from scrimmage – an across-the field lateral. The player caught it and ran down the sideline for a touchdown. Only it wasn’t a lateral, it was an illegal forward pass, caught by an inelegible receiver. The ref walking the ball back 80 yards was a slow-motion humiliation. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/65 "2011-11-03T02:16:03Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZ94rkwdTvQ) Hilariously bad play, even the announcer calls it: “And that was the worst baserunning in the history of the game!!” ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/66 "2011-11-03T02:37:05Z")
How about: Baseball game ends on a [wild pitch during what was supposed to be an intentional walk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sp5HOvL2xo). The pitch actually went behind the batter. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Know\_Nothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f04885/32.png) [@I\_Know\_Nothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Nothing)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/67 "2011-11-03T02:39:21Z")
> [@Carmady](#): > > “And that was the worst baserunning in the history of the game!!” Yeah, and it was straight from the gut too. No rehearsal, no nothing. That was my favorite. I also love the pan over to the coach hanging his head and shaking it in shame. Poor Rivera. > [@Intelligently Designed](#): > > DeSean Jackson, as previously mentioned. So now I’m dieing of curiosity. What happened to the ball? Did someone recover the fumble? What happens if nobody picked it up? ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/68 "2011-11-03T02:58:26Z")
> [@I\_Know\_Nothing](#): > > So now I’m dieing of curiosity. What happened to the ball? Did someone recover the fumble? What happens if nobody picked it up? It was ruled a touchdown, and overturned on review. As soon as it was ruled a touchdown on the field of play, the play was over/the ball was ‘dead’. ETA: When blown dead, the ball is dead. It doesn’t matter whether the call was correct. ---
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/69 "2011-11-03T03:28:43Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > JR Hildebrand hits the wall on the final turn while in the lead of the Indianapolis 500. [Link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0zbVfTH9QE). I win. So you were the driver in second place? Is that what you meant by “I win”? If not,your submission is around dead last in this thread. You lose. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/70 "2011-11-03T03:41:49Z")
Billy Joe Hobert was the back-up quarterback for the Buffalo Bills in the 1997 season. Starting quarterback Todd Collins went out with injuries during a game against New England. Hobert was sent in and the game fell apart and the Bills lost a 33-6 blowout. Hobert admitted the reason for his poor playing after the game - despite the fact that he had signed with the Bills four weeks earlier he still hadn’t read their playbook. He apparently hadn’t figured he’d be coming off the bench. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/71 "2011-11-03T04:46:05Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Wasn’t really Zonk’s fault (or Joe Pisarcik’s), as the offensive coordinator Bob Gibson (not the HoF pitcher) insisted on the handoff and not a kneel-down. Neither Zonk or Joe wanted anything to do with the play, but halfheartedly went ahead with it anyway, and Murphy’s Law took over from there. From what I’ve read, Gibson gets 75% and the other two split the rest. Pisarcik was afraid of getting fired and did what the OC wanted. (Didn’t help, he was gone next season) Czonka said “Don’t hand the ball to me” despite that being the play called, and assumed Pisarcik wouldn’t. I’d call it a comedy of errors, but I wasn’t laughing. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/72 "2011-11-03T04:47:46Z")
[Mark Martin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PiOcj8z38c) thinks it’s the last lap of the race and comes in early while leading. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/73 "2011-11-03T05:20:04Z")
Mr. Tao is quite enjoying this thread, though he’s not a member; he wishes to add the infamous ‘Band on the Field’ clip for your amusement: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/mfebpLfAt8g/hqdefault.jpg "Cal Bears Football 82: The Play") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfebpLfAt8g) ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/74 "2011-11-03T05:33:47Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > So you were the driver in second place? Is that what you meant by “I win”? If not,your submission is around dead last in this thread. You lose. The word dead in this post is both absolutely true and very much too soon. Look up who won that race. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/75 "2011-11-03T13:16:12Z")
The most boneheaded play I ever saw was at a college intramural championship game. Winning team up by a safe margin and it’s garbage time. One guy’s bringing up the ball in his left hand while being hounded by the defender. He spots an open teammate and passes the ball. Teammate intentionally lets the ball go out of bounds. Explanation: That guy was me. I’m a horrible ball handler and really uncomfortable dribbling with my left plus the defender is right up on me so I’m looking to get rid of the ball. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot an open teammate and pass it to him. Teammate gets out of the way and ball goes out of bounds. I’m like WTF when I realize I just passed the ball to the ref. It was later pointed out to me that there were no white guys on our team. It made for a good laugh since we won. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/76 "2011-11-03T15:41:48Z")
I’ll go with plays, plural. Three of them in the same game. The setup is the Kansas City Chiefs, 1995-6 season. The tail end of Schottenheimer’s career with the Chiefs. Always a bridesmaid, never a bride when it comes to the Big One. Chiefs go 13-3 on the season, securing homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, and a brand new set of Ginsu knives. These wins were in no small part due to Lin Elliot, a former Cowboys Superbowl kicker and a guy who could do no wrong in the first half of the season. He was hitting the FG from everywhere we put it. Around about, oh, game 10, he started to actually _miss_ his field goals! Not enough to matter, but a cause of concern nonetheless. Anyway. Back to the Playoffs. It’s Chiefs and Colts battling it out at Arrowhead Stadium in fuckin’ freeze your nipples off sub zero temperatures. Lin Elliot, zee wunderkid of early season shanks not one, not two, but three easy field goals to send the Chiefs to the showers in a 10-7 loss. Fans are stunned. Fans were outraged. There were actual death threats against anyone in KC who happened to have the misfortune of being named anything approximating Lin Elliott. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/77 "2011-11-03T15:58:18Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > How about: Baseball game ends on a [wild pitch during what was supposed to be an intentional walk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sp5HOvL2xo). The pitch actually went behind the batter. Intentional walk mishaps are always embarrassing. One time I saw a Cubs pitcher balk while attempting to complete an intentional walk–with a runner on third. Other times I’ve seen the pitcher accidentally throw a strike, and the batter be too stunned to swing. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/78 "2011-11-03T17:07:20Z")
Major league Ray King did it, too. [Here’s a game where he did it while pitching for the Braves against the Cardinals in 2003](http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=230809124). Then he didn’t have to intentionally walk anyone for four years. - “This is the longest known streak of its kind,” says Wikipedia, lasting 328 appearances over four years. Draw your own conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Intelligently\_Designed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intelligently_designed/32/20957_2.png) [@Intelligently\_Designed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intelligently_Designed)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/79 "2011-11-03T18:52:13Z")
The Nationals once let Brandon Phillips [steal two bases on the same play](http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/media/player/mp_tpl_3_1.jsp?mid=200708012124024&vid=7758&gid=2007/08/01/cinmlb-wasmlb-1&v=2&id=589314&w=2007/open/tp/archive08/080107_cinwas_phillips_2stolenbases_tp_350.wmv). (Context: With Adam Dunn batting, the defense was shifted to right, with the 3rd baseman playing around where the shortstop normally is. Phillips had told Dunn he would try this when the occasion arose, i.e. the catcher didn’t throw to 2nd and he didn’t have to slide.) ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2011, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595/80 "2011-11-03T19:13:16Z")
Golf is not immune from embarrassing blunders. DeVicenzo signed a score card with an error in it and was DQd from winning the Masters. Then VanDe valde had to be searching for a rock to hide under after his play on the 18th at the Open. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-embarassing-sports-play-youve-seen/601595.md?page=5)