You can’t be a professional athlete if you can’t project some sportsmanship in your character. However, the following dudes were so good at being bad in their chosen sports niche. Who among these athletic hunks can we declare as the ultimate bad boy in sports?
Sean Avery
He is an innovative hockey player, which brought his team to many victories. But such innovativeness proved to be very controversial, which upset a lot of people. That’s not the reason why he is called a bad boy athlete though. It’s due to his up-front trash talks and some major altercations with police officers. Throughout his career, he had been through a series of fines and penalties, in addition to numerous altercations with people even from his own social circle. These are more than enough proof that no hockey jock is ever badder than Sean Avery.
Conrad Dobler
In a Football field, physical skirmishes are always present to the extreme. But while most players do it for the sake of the sport, Conrad does it for something else. He was a promising player in his prime which made him quickly develop a reputation as a nasty player. Instead of toning down that image, he seems to take pride in it, believing that it’s a great technique to intimidate some defensive players. His most memorable offense was punching Mean Joe Greene, in addition to spitting and kicking on injured opponents. For such transgressions, he was labeled by Sports Illustrated as “Pro Football’s Dirtiest Player.”
Pete Rose
He loves baseball so much that he worked hard at being a player and a team manager. But in addition to it, he engaged in gambling for his team as well as that for others. Not a big deal, we may say. But he was an evader of his financial dues most notably on his taxes. He lied and faked a lot just so he can get away with it. Throughout his career as one of the biggest names in baseball, he also earned a reputation for being excellent at fraud and deception. He came clean though and pushed some efforts on WWE. There, he attacked Kane who attacked him in return. Kane had this to say: “I have an unhealthy obsession with torturing Pete Rose.”
Brock Lesnar
While most people are judged as being mean and villainous because of their filthy deeds, this guy has no known illicit record outside of his profession. It could be due to his inability to wear a friendly smile, or it could be simply due to his super-tough demeanor. Either way, he is viewed by the spectators of wrestling and mix-martial arts as the incomparable baddie. Whether be it on a wrestling court, or on the octagon ring of mix martial arts, the name Brock Lesnar is undeniably synonymous with “bad-assery.” And if you’re not intimidated nor scared enough with his size and image, his actual acts and performances may just convince you that indeed, he is one of the baddest humans in combat sports.
Alex Higgins
He came to be known as the “People’s Champion” because of his excellent skills with sticks and balls. He brought snooker in a wider audience better than his predecessors ever did. But our guy was a chain- smoker, an alcoholic, a heavy gambler, and was a cocaine and marijuana user – bad habits that made him a difficult character to deal with. Was he a great player? Yes. Was he an ideal role model for snooker? Sadly, no.
It is still unavoidable for athletes to get entangled in a heated competition, because physicality is what sports are all about in the first place. But sometimes, the match-ups that happened between the following pairings became too overblown to the point of being controversial. Which among these can you consider as the greatest rivalry in sports?
Ayrton Senna vs. Alain Prost - Racing
Being speedy and being ahead is their objective, and since both of them aim to be the fastest guy inside a car, they engaged themselves in a heated rivalry that only subsided when Senna got himself killed on a Grand Prix. Unexpectedly, Prost served as a pallbearer during the funeral– an act that touched the hearts of racing and media spectators all over the world.
Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture - Mix Martial-Arts
Defined by a trilogy, all three fights have ended in knockout, and were absolutely 3 of the best fights in the history of combat sports. Both warriors were very good at their craft and they eventually became movie stars. Many analysts and fans openly say, that without the Couture vs Lidell matches, MMA wouldn’t be that much of a global phenomenon.
Michael Jordan vs. Isiah Thomas - Basketball
Although it may just have been due to media exaggeration, Thomas was said to have this intense dislike to the really talented Bulls rookie Jordan. Ultimately, the latter had the last laugh especially when Thomas failed to join the US dream team of 1992. The rivalry began in the late 80s and became intensified even further when Jordan steadily rose to become NBA’s most celebrated player.
Roger Clemens vs. Mike Piazza - Baseball
It was just supposedly a case of a bat that broke, but due to the split-second reaction and human nature of the 2 players, the story was blown out of proportion. It escalated into a major media frenzy. Clemens and Piazza were both excellent players. Unfortunately, though, they are now only remembered as the players who wanted more than a baseball game on the field.
Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo - Football
Having won a combined 9 FIFA Ballon d’Or awards, both kickers are widely admired as the 2 best players of their generation, as well as being among the best of all time in Football. Though their rivalry is on the same level as the other pairings in sports, these 2 never talked ill against the other, making them well-loved even more by their fans and admirers.
Bat nkakatakot mukha nla? 😅🤣