# Most unsportsmanlike and sportsmanlike athletes by sport **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 31, 2019, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801 "2019-03-31T06:43:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/21 "2019-03-31T21:10:12Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Distance runners in general. > Even high school cross-country/distance track is devoid of trash talking and such. That’s because they are out of breath! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/22 "2019-03-31T21:17:43Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Yeah there’s been some ugly episodes but at the very least after MOST fights the boxers congratulate each other after bashing each other’s faces in for 45 minutes. > > There’s always exceptions to the rule! > [https://youtu.be/vFOdi7qkCK0](https://youtu.be/vFOdi7qkCK0) There are a lot of fouls in boxing. Some guys do it any time they think they can get away with it, plus a few more on top of that when they know they’ll get caught. Even if a boxer doesn’t start it, he has to be ready to retaliate when the refs are blind and/or stupid. After Mike Tyson went cannibal on Evander Holyfield’s ear, Holyfield admitted that he had once bitten an opponent who kept holding him. Boxers are fighting for real, sportsmanship is a luxury in that game. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/23 "2019-03-31T21:20:50Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Judo > Been watching international tournaments over the past year or so, the athletes follow referees instructions to the letter, and shakes each others hands no matter the decision even unfair. Excessive celebration from winners is very rare, and I know there was one time at the Olympics or another competition a judo player attacked a referee, which was viewed with horror by the Judo community. I know in taekwondo in the Olympics a competitor once kicked a referee in the head, but I don’t know of any such incident in judo. But yes, the traditions are very strong in judo of conducting yourself with honor. I have competed and refereed and coached, and it is a lot like wrestling - not a major enough sport outside the community to push for bad conduct, and major enough within its own community to push for good. Yes, you get the occasional prima donna and overly invested parent or coach, but the general pressure is the other way. My sensei made it the rule - you can protest a wrong call in your favor, but if it goes against you, keep your mouth shut and win the next time. Least sportsmanlike - I would suggest sumo, with rampant match fixing and a tradition of mistreating junior wrestlers. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/24 "2019-03-31T22:32:44Z")
Similar to Judo is Kendo. One of the most aggressive, violent sports out there, where the goal is to hit the opponent with a big stick before he hits you. But after the match, most players will go out of their way to bow to each other off the court, and most big tournaments have a “godo keiko” or friendship practice the day after the tournament, where most competitors get together just to practice and learn from each other. Also, it has team competitions, where teams of 5 face off in a series of 1-1 bouts, with best 3 out of 5 winning. But even if one team wins the first three matches, they play out all five, with the last two being taken just as seriously as the first three, even though one team has no chance of winning. They play for the honor of their team and their dojo. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/25 "2019-03-31T22:35:20Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Agree? Disagree? Is there a sport I missed? Who are the good sports and bad sports out there? Remember: BY SPORT, not athlete! the idea that some professional sports are really unsportsmanlike and some are super sportsmanlike is comically absurd. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/26 "2019-03-31T22:39:59Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > BY SPORT, not athlete! I’ll just note that this last caveat in your OP is at odds with the wording of the title of your thread. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/27 "2019-04-01T01:21:56Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > the idea that some professional sports are really unsportsmanlike and some are super sportsmanlike is comically absurd. Well since you have chosen to shit all over the topic would you mind expanding? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/28 "2019-04-01T01:34:36Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Well since you have chosen to shit all over the topic would you mind expanding? > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk My assumption is that it’s because every sport has good and bad actors. The premise of the thread is somewhat flawed. Really, the only way you can compare sports (instead of athletes) is based on how much a sports league will tolerate unsportsmanlike conduct. But regardless, people are people whatever sport they compete in. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/29 "2019-04-01T02:40:49Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > My assumption is that it’s because every sport has good and bad actors. The premise of the thread is somewhat flawed. Really, the only way you can compare sports (instead of athletes) is based on how much a sports league will tolerate unsportsmanlike conduct. But regardless, people are people whatever sport they compete in. I disagree. There are definitely sports with a higher culture of honor than others. Apparently based on the responses I’m not the only that notes this. I think it’s a well thought out and fun topic that apparently the majority of posters here get, but leave it to a handful of crabs to ruin the party. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/30 "2019-04-01T02:53:59Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > I disagree. There are definitely sports with a higher culture of honor than others. Apparently based on the responses I’m not the only that notes this. > > I think it’s a well thought out and fun topic that apparently the majority of posters here get, but leave it to a handful of crabs to ruin the party. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yes, how dare someone express a disagreement on a message board. Surely they are bad people who deserve ad hominem attacks. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/31 "2019-04-01T04:14:15Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Yes, how dare someone express a disagreement on a message board. Surely they are bad people who deserve ad hominem attacks. Why is there even a disagreement about a friggen sports thread topic? Almost everyone here gets the OP and has had fun responding. A disagreement based on the OP would be one of the sports listed, not the premise. Don’t be a troll. And don’t think I don’t get your game: you are saying JUST ENOUGH to not get censured by a Moderator, but I’m on to you. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/32 "2019-04-01T06:33:57Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > My assumption is that it’s because every sport has good and bad actors. The premise of the thread is somewhat flawed. Really, the only way you can compare sports (instead of athletes) is based on how much a sports league will tolerate unsportsmanlike conduct. But regardless, people are people whatever sport they compete in. Sports differ wildly in how easily one can cheat and game the system - usually correlated to how complex the rules are. Football, for example, the beautiful game, is pretty simple. It’s hard to be unsportsmanlike or cheat without being a blatant asshole about it. Other sports can be the opposite, rugby union say, is all about interpreting and gaming the complex rules in your favour (and influencing the ref likewise), but this would be a sport that is frequently held up as an example of sporting chivalry where explicit dickhead behaviour is frowned upon. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/33 "2019-04-01T10:37:15Z")
**[Moderating]** **russian heel** , do not accuse other posters of trolling. If you think that another poster is trolling, then report their posts, and let the moderators decide about it. If you absolutely must say something yourself, then say it in the BBQ Pit. That said, it does not look to me like **Atamasama** ’s posts in this thread are even close to trolling. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/34 "2019-04-01T11:10:55Z")
For unsportsmanlike, in Formula 1, Michael Schumacher is the stand-out. He was known as the Cheetah. This has an appropriate homophone. His unsportsmanlike activities include stopping in the middle of the track in qualifying, attacking another driver, crashing into another driver deliberately, and many more. For sportsmanlike, I’ll nominate David Purley in F1 who stopped his car to try to save another driver. Senna saving Comas at Spa in 1992 comes a close second. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/35 "2019-04-01T12:45:25Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > NFL football > Cant tell you how many times I’ve seen players help up players they just tackled, and when the game is over, everyone goes from trying to kill each other to best friends. A friend of mine played in the NFL and is is the HOF. He has mentioned that in the end, it’s just a fucking game. He also has told me that during and after his career he had great friends on other teams as well as teammates who he hated. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/36 "2019-04-01T14:50:20Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Don’t have time to follow all 250 or so sports out there SO PLEASE DON’T RIP ME make your arguments, but based on my experience and first impressions: > > **MOST UNSPORTSMANLIKE** > > MLB Baseball > -Pitchers trying to deliberately hit batters because they showed them up or the other team’s pitchers hit their batters, followed up by dugout clearing brawls. > -Base runners “spikes up” dirty tactics including trying to the second baseman’s legs out during the throw from first base > -Spitballs, emery boards, and other dirty tactics by baseball pitchers > -Steroids and other PEDs trying to get the advantage > -An under reported signal stealing scheme by many teams > -No shaking of the hands by the teams after a game or a series. Everyone just heads right back to the dugout. > > Is there a dirtier game with a longer history of cheating than professional baseball? Is there truly any sport with less sportsmanship and more dirty dealing than baseball? Meh, baseball is lots cleaner than in the old days. No one cuts across the diamond when running bases while the ump isn’t looking, or grabs a baserunner’s belt to hold him back. Football has cheating i.e. holding on almost every play, and there are a zillion uncalled fouls in the NBA. Baseball also has very little of the prancing and celebratory crap after scoring that plagues other pro sports. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/37 "2019-04-01T15:27:19Z")
“Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It’s no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out. It’s a struggle for supremacy, a survival of the fittest.” - Ty Cobb ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/38 "2019-04-01T20:17:25Z")
Bill Laimbeer was notorious in the 1980s for fouling opponents hard and yet flopping and whining the instant an opponent brushed him slightly. Bill Romanowski once claimed to have deliberately broken someone’s finger by snapping it when he saw the hand protruding from a huddle-scrum of players during a football game and hearing a subsequent scream. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/39 "2019-04-01T22:35:22Z")
Curling is so sportsmanlike that they don’t even have officials. Everyone makes their own foul calls (if they even happen). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/40 "2019-04-01T22:54:51Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Curling is so sportsmanlike that they don’t even have officials. Everyone makes their own foul calls (if they even happen). Absolutely. There are officials but they are seldom used. The curlers officiate themselves. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801.md?page=3)