Meltdowns

Don’t you just love it when players and coaches overreact after a play or a call doesn’t go their way? Well I love it. From Bobby Knight to Mike Ditka, coaches have always been at the forefront of public meltdowns. Most of the time, the coaches who have the meltdowns don’t even realize it until after the game when they watch themselves on tape. Public meltdowns are a part of sports, and at some point or another, a player, coach, or even the owner may find themselves in the middle of a downfall, witnessed by millions.

One of my favorite meltdowns of all-time is the “Where’re talking about practice” rant that Allen Iverson went on after his coach, Larry Brown got on his case about missing practice. I guess Iverson thought he was too good to practice and didn’t have to tone up his skills anymore. What’s so funny about the “practice” rant is that he keeps saying, “Were talking about practice” like practice isn’t an important part of the game. Then, sometime during the interview, a reporter ask Iverson shouldn’t practice make your teammates better? Iverson responded by saying, “How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing”. That’s one of the funniest lines I’ve ever heard in sports. Iverson is one of the best players of all-time, but come on Allen, practice makes perfect.

George Brett was always known as a very classy person who had a strong love for baseball. The classy persona flew out the door after he had hit a home run that was called back when the umpires examined the amount of pine tar that was on his bat. George Brett completely lost it as he ran out of the dugout, onto the field and proceeded to give the umpire a shower, aka spit job. It was one of the craziest calls an umpire has ever made, and one of the most classic meltdowns in baseball history.

One of the most everlasting sports images of the 2000s is the headbutt between French soccer player Zinedine Zidane and Italy’s Marco Materazzi. The ruckus began after Italy broke up the French rally and players from both sides started talking trash to each other. What happened next was just brutal. Moments after all the trash talk, Zidane smashed his head into the chest of Materazzi, knocking him to the ground. Reports followed the next day and the situation turned kind of funny. Apparently, Materazzi called Zidane a terrorist, but later on denied it. Materazzi denied it.

Ty Cobb’s nickname is “Georgia Peach”, but this peach ain’t so sweet. Cobb had an ugly reputation for being a jerk on and off the field, but on May 15, 1912, he took his jerk status to a higher level. Disabled New York Highlander fan Claude Lueker heckled Cobb the entire game. Claude Lueker wouldn’t get off Cobb’s back and when he hurled a racial slur at Cobb, who was born in the segregated south, Cobb charged into the stands and viciously beat him. The ‘ass whuppin’ was legendary. A witness reportedly said that punches bounced off of Lueker’s face like a golf ball from a rock.

- John A. Roberts

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Tags | Allen Iverson, George Brett, Georgia Peach, Marco Materrazi, Soccer, Ty Cobb, Zinedine Zidane