“I see you drivin’ ‘round town with the girl I love, and I’m like….”
-Cee Lo Green
For Tiger Woods, watching Steve Williams grin from ear to ear after carrying Adam Scott’s golf bag to victory at Sunday’s Bridgestone Invitational has to compare to watching an ex-girlfriend giggle merrily while she holds hands with some strapping, young millionaire at a sidewalk café.
We all know how Cee Lo feels about matters of love and loss.
But Williams’ (and likely Elin Nordegren’s) last laugh weren’t the only stiff, middle fingers handed out in sports this year. Here’s a few more…
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Boston Red Sox signed all-time Rays hit leader to a seven year contract, simply because they could, robbing a well-needed bat from Tampa Bay’s offense and reminding them they’re bouncing checks at K-Mart while the Sox are paying cold hard cash at Neiman-Marcus and saying keep the change.
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Team Japan boldly showed US Women’s soccer they were not the team of destiny we once thought, winning the World Cup Final after trailing 1-0, and then 2-1 in the final minutes.
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NFL and NBA players locked out and threatened their fans with the absence of a season. The NFL returned in time. The NBA might not.
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Justin Verlander has said eff you to basically every team he’s faced this season. He’s currently 16-5, leads the majors in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts and looks like a virtual lock for the American League Cy Young Award.
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Mark Cuban’s merry band of Mavericks told the Heatles thanks for playing, but they’ll be the ones hoisting the O’Brien Trophy in South Beach, making fans not only in Dallas, but throughout Cleveland, rejoice with glee.
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The Stanford women’s basketball team ended UConn’s streak of 90 consecutive wins, causing many to question the legitimacy of their streak and leading Geno Auriemma to become, for a brief second, not so smug.
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Only a month or so before the college football season, the North Carolina Tar Heels decided it was best to part ways with head coach Butch Davis. The only question remaining is who screwed who worse. UNC for leaving Davis jobless or Davis for leaving the Tar Heel program in shambles.
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Jamie McCourt divorced Frank McCourt telling the nation he was even less competent as a husband than he was as owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Novak Djokovic reminded us there are more than just two professional tennis players in the men’s bracket by rattling off a 43-match winning streak and winning both Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
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Speaking of driving around town, no one stuck it to Ohio LeBron-style like Terrelle Pryor. The former Buckeye Heisman hopeful traded school paraphernalia for tattoos, drove around Columbus in a brand new Nissan he couldn’t afford and left his school in a state of disarray. He also ensured his once-and-former, sweater-vested coach was unemployed in the process.
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Mark McGwire’s total and percentage of votes for Hall of Fame induction dropped substantially this year, showing that those voting are still not ready to forgive and forget.
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The Tennessee Volunteers fired their men’s head basketball coach, Bruce Pearl, after repeated recruiting violations. The school replaced him with Cuonzo Martin, who hopefully won’t show up topless and orange-chested to a Lady Vols game.
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And how could I forget that a certain, current Packers quarterback equaled a certain, former Packers quarterback in Super Bowl victories. He might even own a nicer lawnmower. Now wouldn’t that be something?
Pingback: The biggest eff yous in sports: 2011 edition, Straight Ballin Blog | BallHyped Sports Blogs
Is there anyone I’ve forgotten, ladies and gentlemen?
Wellll, Coach Mus did tell his “All- American” dope smokin’ starting corner “eff you” following his third strike. Does that count?
How about the city of Vancouver saying eff you to their town in one of the most controlled riots in history.
Nice list though!
Good call on Mus, Yaz, although Jenkings had it comin’.
There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Will Muschamp.
FYI… I’m all signed up for the Yahoo league and am calling for a repeat.
Chap…
I guess the most memorable thing about that riot, aside from the fact that Vancouver rioted and LOST, was that picture taken of the couple kissing on the ground.
Not sure if you caught Seth Myers take on the riot during his ESPYs monologue but you may want to check it out if you can find it. Funny stuff.
Yeah, that was a solid opening monologue! Much better than anything that happened during the ESPY’s…
Steve Williams now looks down on Tiger Woods from a great height . No truth to the rumor however that in his upcoming tell all book he’ll (Williams) make the player out to be an a_hole ! Williams feels that Tiger has done enough for the public to make up their own mind on the matter .
Jason Babbin of the Eagles needs to come off the Vicodin . All this talk about the team being the NFL’s answer to the Miami Heat is making for great cannon fodder in the city of ‘Brotherly Love’ !
No that wasn’t me in N London inciting the people to riot in the aftermath of the cops there shooting an unarmed individual for what’s said to be no apparent reason . I only incite riots when I feel that there’s a need to !
If Och’ catches more TD receptions than Moss did in his penultimate year before being jettisoned by the Pats should I be happy ?
About the only persons pis_ed with the loss at the Women’s World Cup were the idiot analysts of ESPN and a number of players on the US women’s team who felt that the title was theirs by divine right .
When and if McNabb throws his first TD for the Vikings does that mean that the Favre years with the organization will have become an aberration ?
There’s nothing wrong in shopping at K-Mart haven’t you heard that they’ve got a great layaway plan ?
Why hasn’t Gene Smith done the honorable thing at Ohio State and simply quit as the AD ? If Dick Baddour can do it at UNC in the aftermath of the Butch Davis fiasco then why can’t Smith simply man up ?
There’s no truth to the rumor that McGwire will be sending a congrats’ card to Jim Thome when he surpasses the 600 home run plateau. But we can but wait to see if it can happen .
tophatal …………..
Ali-Foreman. Eff you George,is that all you got. You need to punch harder.
Doug Williams-Joe Gibbs. Eff you Culverhouse, we’ll win our Super Bowl elsewhere. And speaking of Culverhouse, Bo Jackson told him to eff off and the dumbasses still drafted him only to find out he wasn’t kidding when he said he would never play for him.
I agree, Mus really had no choice. Damn shame, tho. Let’s see who, if anyone, steps up.
Welcome once again to the pickem. I’m coming to get my crown back!
Chap…
I agree. I thought the award show was pretty flat. But I do dig Seth Meyers as host.
My favorite line was when he mentioned that, because of the lockout, the Mavs players weren’t allowed to talk to Mark Cuban and Meyers said the players were calling it “better than a championship.”
Classic.
Leave it to Aer to go old school.
I was only going 2011. God knows we could come up with a healthy list of memorable eff you’s in sports history.
Howzabout Harry Frizee selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees and not having the Red Sox win a World Series for 80 some odd years.
Or Bartman and the Cubs?
Oh, we could have some fun with that.
Clay-Liston anyone? “I SHOOK UP THE WORLD!!!”
Please know, Yaz, that I had your crown newly jeweled. I took it around town, like my little Stanley Cup and oh… the things it’s seen.
Al…
Williams is looking down on Tiger? I don’t think so. I just hope he’s enjoying his renewed 15 minutes of fame.
If the Eagles are the NFL’s answer to the Miami Heat, does that mean they’ll get to the Super Bowl, then lose?
Ohhhhh-cho, that’s right. He’s on the Pats. That means you have to root for him now. FYI, Al. I’ll be at next Thursday’s Pats-Bucs game. Prepare to lose.
I think Vikings fans, while not calling Favre their own, Al, will look back fondly on that year and wonder what could have been, had AD coughed up those fumbles and Favre not thrown that final pick.
Chris
Williams will still be looking down on Tiger at the end of the season (PGA) . Woods is so far down the Fedex Cup Standings that he’s now an afterthought.
We have the last major of the season due to start this Thursday and if Tiger can even put together four consecutive rounds of golf under par for each then I’ll be surprised ! His game is so inept at present that it’s not worth talking about . There were more cheers for Williams at the Bridgestone WGC Invitational that you’d have thought it were the caddy competing and not Adam Scott , the player he was caddying for.
If the Eagles do lose then look for the fans to make what’s happening in London seem like a picnic . And as I said I’m not the one who incited the riots in my home town .
Preseason games are nothing but it’ll be interesting to see how the young rookies do on both teams .
Favre throwing picks ? Well it became his modus-operandi over the last two seasons of his career and then some . In his final five years he was more of a liability than an asset to his teams. Anyone who believes that to be the contrary clearly hadn’t been watching the guy up close and personal unless they happen to be either Schlereth or Chris Mortensen !
tophatal …………
Chris
Williams has nothing at all to prove whereas Tiger has ! Were it not for the Australian one doubts Woods would have won as many times as he has done on the PGA Tour . 13 of his fourteen majors have come with the Williams as his caddy and over 73% of his victories worldwide .
So who’s kidding whom here ? Woods’ problems aren’t just his game but his mental and physical approach to it .
So Kornheiser has gone off on another of his asinine rants in describing a Hispanic MLB ball-player as an ….. ‘illegal alien’ ? Never mind the fact that the player has resided in the US has all of the prerequisite documents to be an employee of a major league ball club. But this is what one would now come to expect of the idiots employed by the broadcast outlet !
Even with Kornheiser’s his less than contrite apology ESPN hasn’t reprimanded the tv show host . Like I said in the piece the broadcast outlet would rather make news rather than impart it in terms of being informative and with it being from a journalistic standpoint .
tophatal …………….
Chris
It’s not so much the accident but the fact that the incident was caused by a pink pistol ? Click link to read . I’m hoping that Plax wasn’t behind this !
Two other great F-yous…
1) The one that came at the end of the conversation between former Nats’ manager Jim Riggleman and GM Mike Rizzo.
2) Almost any Ozzie Guillen press conference.
Al…
I can’t say I agree with you and your take on Steve Williams.
He’s a caddy. Scott and Tiger are the golfers.
Back in the day, Woods provided Williams with the opportunity to make a life for himself. Now he sounds like a scorned lover.
A little humility goes a long way.
Re: the young or newly-put together NFL teams, Al, I’m also looking to see how this will affect Vegas lines. There could be some money to be made in the first few weeks if you know what you’re doing.
Williams has nothing to prove, Al?
Tiger does?
Someone help me out here please.
Damn, I missed that Kornheiser line. Send me clips of any backlash, will ya’?
Forgot about Rigs and Rizz, Dub. Great call.
And maybe next time, we should just give credit where credit is due and simply call these awards “The Ozzies.”
Of course Williams has nothing to prove ! Ok so it takes Woods (who’s a Bhuddhist) to make all the shots but who’s he consulting with concerning the lie of the green … and the play …… Amitabha , Vairocana , Ratnasambahva, or Stevie Williams ?
It was on Tony Kornheiser’s PTI show and then on his radio show where he as made the statement about a Latino ball player it was after the pitcher had called Giants’ pitcher Ramon Ramirez an illegal alien . Red Zebra broadcasting owned by Redskins’ owner Daniel Snyder is the producer and broadcaster of the show.
Now even Bruce Bochy is embroiled in this having called out Kornheiser . The host has apologized but it (the apology) isn’t as contrite as many believe it ought to be. Given Kornheiser’s proclivities for self serving derogatory remarks no one should at all be surprised by his stupidity !
Giants manager calls radio host comments ‘racist’
tophatal …………
Woods’ dislike and resentment may well stem from the fact that he blames his former caddy and Jesper Parnevik for introducing him to Elin Nordegren ? She at one time worked for Parnevik as a nanny as well as for a close family friend of Steve Williams.
tophatal …………….
If at all interested ?
http://tophatal.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/did-hell-freeze-over-the-ryans-are-at-it-again-well-at-least-one-of-them-appears-to-be-is/
http://tophatal.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/jim-thome-a-real-baseball-hero/
tophatal …………
Chris
It was Tony Bruno who made the initial comment about Ramon Ramirez which for some stupid reason Kornheiser reiterated .
tophatal …..
Via the Huffington Post ……
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/06/tony-bruno-calls-ramon-ramirez-illegal-alien_n_920224.html
Woods did say he spoke with the caddy directly to let him know that he’d be making changes. Well from Williams’ statement on the matter Woods left nothing more than a curt voice-mail message after a decade of working together . Hardly endearing himself to the caddy ya’ think ? . So what’d you expect Steve Williams’ demeanor to be after that ?
tophatal …………….
I liked how Plaxico told the G-men that they’re the Jets’ beeotch these days…..
Shaun White telling skateboard pro’s that all the 1/2 pipes are his domain….he kicked ass in Winter X too….
Boston telling Canada that the USA can kick your butts….even in Vancouver….and game 7….
Seal Team 6 telling Osama Bin Laden that he’s their beeotch….prolly thee best of 2011….
I know…it ain’t sports….but any friggin one of those Seals could step foot on any playing field and OWN some of our sports stars….
Al…
I’m not saying Williams didn’t have anything to do with Tiger’s success. I am saying he was, despite his immeasurable caddying wisdom, still just his caddy.
Tiger will be back, and even if he doesn’t, I’m sure Williams absence in his corner was only a small part of it.
About to read that Kornheiser mess now. Thanks for the link.
Ah, Al…
The blessings of Twitter. People, whether they’re journalists, athletes, movie stars or whatever, fail to realize that once something is out there, it’s out there.
I’ve listened to Bruno and heard him, as well as other talk show hosts, make inflammatory comments similar to those, without realizing how they might affect other people.
I wonder if there would have been any difference had he said that on the air as opposed to tweeting it.
Al…
I don’t know the reason behind the Williams-Woods split. I doubt it had anything to do with any sort of resentment between Parnevik introducing him to his ex-wife.
We’ll probably never know the truth… and personally, I’m okay with that.
Al…
I guess only time will determine where the Williams-Woods riff ranks in sports history.
It’s pretty juicy so far.
But Williams is now feeling the fall out on tour.
FtC…
I was gonna include the Bruins adding to Beantown’s recent list of professional titles but as J-Dub can attest, I talk as little hockey on this site as possible.
That is, until, the Lightning win another Stanley Cup.
THEN IT’S ON!!!!!!
Chris
Let’s put this way neither (Woods and Williams) will have the other atop their Christmas card wish list !
Tony Bruno has always been inflammatory as that’s part of his schtick ! But I’d like to see him try that sh_t in certain parts of Los Angeles or Miami and direct his blatantly racist diatribe towards an African American athlete ! The ‘bruthas’ would be on his a_s and treating him like a prison b_tch !
Woods’ last chance at a major this week in the PGA Championship . I don’t believe he’ll finish inside the top fifteen if that ! His game isn’t up to scratch and his mind isn’t into it all in spite of his public statements .
So the NBA hierarchy are now saying that Stern doesn’t pull down in excess of $20 million a year but they’re not prepared to divulge the exact figure he’s said to be earning ? Somehow that makes me feel a whole lot better about the league and their thinking …….. not ! LOL,LOL,LOL,LOL !!!!
I’m liable to believe the Philadelphia Inquirer’s figure and the resources they’ve got than anything that the NBA is liable to place within the public’s domain for consumption .
tophatal …………………
“Mark McGwire’s total and percentage of votes for Hall of Fame induction dropped substantially this year, showing that those voting are still not ready to forgive and forget.”
He doesn’t deserve to get in.
Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again soon!
Al…
Zirin wrote a great piece on the Bruno incident.
Here’s the link:
http://www.edgeofsports.com/2011-08-09-641/index.html
MRC…
I never thought McGwire was a first ballot Hall of Famer anyway, but let me ask you this…
Assuming he never took steroids and still put up the numbers he did, do you still think he doesn’t deserve to be in?
Wow, Rex Ryan stopped by.
Shouldn’t you be coaching up right about now and not surfing the internet, sir?