# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/41 "2019-04-02T03:20:12Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Curling is so sportsmanlike that they don’t even have officials. Everyone makes their own foul calls (if they even happen). > [@Leaffan](#): > > Absolutely. There are officials but they are seldom used. The curlers officiate themselves. That’s not entirely true. There are on-ice officials who do the measurements when they’re needed, and they check the stones if there’s any sort of problem with them. There are also people off the ice who start and stop the clocks that keep track of how much time each team is using. I’ve done that at a few tournaments. Curlers are expected to call out their own fouls, though. I understand that’s also done in golf. Both sports originated in Scotland. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/42 "2019-04-06T00:45:00Z")
In some curling matches, the players even make their own measurement (which are only occasionally needed anyway). There is a rule that if you accidentally move a stone, you try to replace it was well as you can. They move it until the two skips agree, which happens very quickly. I once saw Russ Howard, the top skip of the 90s, just tell the opposing skip to put where he thought it ought to go, then turn his back and walk away. Except for timekeeping officials are really never needed. And they all shake hands before and after every match. And they congratulate an opponent on a super shot. Far and away the most sportsmanlike sport I’ve seen. Part of its appeal. I should say that there used to be hog line (foul line) calls, but they are now automated with a magnetic stripe at the hog line and a detector inside the stone. If the hand doesn’t come off before the hog line, it is a foul. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/43 "2019-04-06T19:02:57Z")
Baseball does have an example of sportsmanship which is what I think of when I think of the term. I speak of Christie Matthewson of whom was said > [@](#): > > He was known for his honesty and integrity (one umpire said he would know if he got a call right if Mathewson confirmed it). [https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/short-stops/christy-mathewson-first-face-of-baseball](https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/short-stops/christy-mathewson-first-face-of-baseball) He was kinda the anti soccer diver. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/44 "2019-04-06T22:21:05Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > 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. Wow. I just watched the video of Purley and read the wiki pages of both Purley and Williamson. Damn. That was really sad. And they were friends, and the wiki article states that Purley could hear Williamson screaming as he burned and asphyxiated to death. How awful. And sadder still, Purley died at 40…in a biplane crash over the English Channel. Crazy. > [@kayaker](#): > > 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. Can you not say whom he is? I would love to know. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2019, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/45 "2019-04-08T10:44:59Z")
Unsportsmanlike - Tony Stewart for running over and killing a fellow driver during a race ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2019, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/46 "2019-04-08T10:56:11Z")
Most unsportsmanlike players I can recall: - Bill Laimbeer, NBA - Roger Clemens, MLB - Albert Belle, MLB - Bill Romanowski, NFL MLB in general strikes me as unusually sportsmanlike in that teams generally don’t shake hands with each other after games. Throughout the season, there are also unspoken rules that, if violated, demand retribution (i.e. a pitcher hits your team’s batter, your pitcher must hit one of theirs). ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2019, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/47 "2019-04-08T11:39:09Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Most unsportsmanlike players I can recall: > > - Bill Laimbeer, NBA > - Roger Clemens, MLB > - Albert Belle, MLB > - Bill Romanowski, NFL > > MLB in general strikes me as unusually **sportsmanlike** in that teams generally don’t shake hands with each other after games. Throughout the season, there are also unspoken rules that, if violated, demand retribution (i.e. a pitcher hits your team’s batter, your pitcher must hit one of theirs). I meant un-sportsmanlike ---
**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 11, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/48 "2019-04-11T02:36:56Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Unsportsmanlike - Tony Stewart for running over and killing a fellow driver during a race Unproven. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![cardinal\_fang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal_fang/32/15316_2.png) [@cardinal\_fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cardinal_fang)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/49 "2019-04-11T03:02:16Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > [snip] > NHL hockey > I think the reasons for this are obvious. > [snip] Please enlighten us. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/50 "2019-04-11T03:16:36Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > MLB Baseball > > -No shaking of the hands by the teams after a game or a series. Everyone just heads right back to the dugout. Rule 4.06: “players of opposing teams shall not fraternize at any time while in uniform.” Also, teams in MLB often play three or four games in a row against each other. Tensions can run high and players are more likely to bust one another up than to shake hands with each other. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/51 "2019-04-11T03:18:40Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Distance runners in general. > Even high school cross-country/distance track is devoid of trash talking and such. I agree. Conversely, sprinters are fucking pricks to each other. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/52 "2019-04-11T03:22:36Z")
In motoGP, I offer up this guy for UNsportsmanlike… [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RaKfiUmmh4) ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/53 "2019-04-11T03:27:41Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Unproven. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Well, it IS a fact that he killed a guy by running him over. But it was after the race and the guy was out on the track when he shouldn’t have been, specifically to berate Stewart and got to close to his car. I’m pretty sure Stewart was absolved of any charges. Though I’m too lazy to look it up. ---
**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 11, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/54 "2019-04-11T04:48:59Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Rule 4.06: “players of opposing teams shall not fraternize at any time while in uniform.” That doesn’t seem to be enforced. I see runners and basemen chatting all the time (it generally looks cordial). Though it seems like it’s never a long conversation, usually a remark then a response, sometimes laughing and/or a pat on the back/shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![Artfog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/artfog/32/1011_2.png) [@Artfog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Artfog)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/55 "2019-04-11T06:39:38Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > Other sports that seem to be unsportsmanlike: Australian Rules Football I suspect that my opinion of good and bad conduct in sport is influenced by the sports I follow most closely. I initially disagreed that Australian Rules Football is notably unsportsmanlike compared to, say soccer football. But I think there are arbitrary differences between the two in what is considered acceptable behaviour. At AFL level, there is now very little back chat to umpires and absolutely no contact with them. It amazes me in soccer when several players surround the ref and appear to try to intimidate him/her. Similarly, faking an injury or flopping is disastrous for an AFL player’s PR but seems to be almost a prerequisite for professional soccer. On the other hand, there is a lot of unchecked off the ball scuffling in AFL which is not at all subtle and would not be legal in many other sports. Acts like throwing an opponent’s shoe into the crowd or attacking an injured player as they try to leave the ground also happen without consequence. The soccer etiquette of deliberately kicking out of bounds to allow a stop for an injured player on the other team is unthinkable in AFL. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/56 "2019-04-11T10:48:41Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Well, it IS a fact that he killed a guy by running him over. But it was after the race and the guy was out on the track when he shouldn’t have been, specifically to berate Stewart and got to close to his car. I’m pretty sure Stewart was absolved of any charges. Though I’m too lazy to look it up. Mild correction: it was in the middle of the race, though under a caution flag. Stewart settled the civil case before trial with the Ward’s family, but a grand jury declined to indict Stewart criminally. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/57 "2019-04-11T17:59:22Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > That doesn’t seem to be enforced. I see runners and basemen chatting all the time (it generally looks cordial). Though it seems like it’s never a long conversation, usually a remark then a response, sometimes laughing and/or a pat on the back/shoulder. Yogi Berra was famously gregarious; while on base, he’d be deep in a conversation with the opposing first baseman. Except when his manager called a hit-and-run, when he’d clam up and concentrate on the plate. Opposing teams noticed this, and started calling pitch-outs. So Yankees management ordered Yogi to stay quiet when on base; and when the impossibility of _that_ strategy manifested itself, they quickly reversed and ordered him to talk all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/58 "2019-04-11T18:21:57Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > **Cricket** > Ball tampering, match fixing, spot fixing, home team being incharge of designing playing conditions. > > **Tennis** > Match fixing, PEDs, and the authorities seem to be involved in covering up. > (Serena, Rafa and Djoker). I don’t know where you get your “facts”, but none of the three you mentioned have ever been accused of match fixing. In her TV mini series, Serena Williams talks about how she is tested a dozen times a year. So much, in fact, that it’s ludicrous. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/59 "2019-04-12T03:43:45Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Yogi Berra was famously gregarious; while on base, he’d be deep in a conversation with the opposing first baseman. Except when his manager called a hit-and-run, when he’d clam up and concentrate on the plate. He told them everything when he shut up? That seems uniquely appropriate for Berra. ---
**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 12, 2019, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801/60 "2019-04-12T06:25:04Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > That doesn’t seem to be enforced. I see runners and basemen chatting all the time (it generally looks cordial). Though it seems like it’s never a long conversation, usually a remark then a response, sometimes laughing and/or a pat on the back/shoulder. Baseball needs to remove this rule. It’s been completely ignored for like …ever. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unsportsmanlike-and-sportsmanlike-athletes-by-sport/831801.md?page=4)