The 10 Most Bizarre Ejections in Sports

We love ejections.

When a manager waddles out to complain about a call, we hold our breath, waiting for the moment we all know is coming.

Then it happens.

The ump literally makes the motion of throwing the manager out of the game (as if that is a one-handed job), the crowd erupts, and the manager goes into overdrive.

It's entertainment at its finest, but sometimes ejections come in more curious forms.

Here are The 10 Most Bizarre Ejections in Sports.

No. 10: Any Lou Piniella Ejection

This may not be one single ejection, but any time Lou Piniella gets tossed, it can get a little crazy.

Lou puts on quite a show.

He will get up in the ump's face, screaming until his face turns red, and then once he gets run, he will fling his hat to the ground.

Then Piniella makes a show of kicking dirt on the ump and kicking his hat a few times before he finally picks it up and stomps off.

Other managers have had bigger tirades, but Lou is consistently the funniest.

No. 9: Shaq Ejected for Dunking on Kirilenko

When you are Shaq's size and coming into contact with other players, sometimes there is going to be collateral damage.

Okay, most of the time there is going to be collateral damage.

But that does not explain why Shaq got ejected after dunking on Andrei Kirilenko.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen, you know?

That was a nice play, Shaquille, but do you think next time you could do that a little softer?

Some of the other athletes are starting to complain.

If anything, Shaq should have gotten ejected after he basically drop-kicked Arvydas Sabonis in the second video.

No. 8: Bobby Knight Gets Tossed for Throwing a Chair

Bobby Knight was never one to hide his emotions, and he has received more than a few technicals in his day.

But none were as bizarre as the time he decided to show his displeasure by chucking a chair right by the refs.

You don't even have to wait to see if you'll get ejected after something like that. Knight should have just started walking toward the locker room right afterward.

That would have been sweet: throwing himself out of a game before the refs get a chance.

No. 7: Zinedine Zidane Gets Red Card After Headbutt

It's the World Cup Finals. The game is tied in extra time.

If you are a ref, you are not expecting to have to throw anybody out at this point.

Then Zidane decides to lose his mind and headbutt somebody in the chest.

One thing I never quite understood—why headbutt someone in the chest?

If you're going to get thrown out, why not punch him in the face, or, even better, headbutt him in the face?

No. 6: George Brett Ejected in Pine Tar Game

No matter how many times I see it, I always crack up every time I see Brett shoot out of the dugout with that crazed look in his eye.

The quick change in demeanor is what makes this so classic. He went from calmly sitting on the bench to wanting to kill an umpire.

The ump had to eject him for his safety alone.

via videosift.com

No. 5: Sammy the Owl Gets Ejected

One of the greatest moments in mascot history.

Sammy the Owl, the Rice mascot, bumped the ref after what he believed was a bad call, then refused to move back and subsequently got tossed.

It was the proudest moment ever for that grown man inside an owl costume.

No. 4: Bobby Valentine Comes Back in Disguise

After getting ejected earlier in the game, Mets manager Bobby Valentine actually puts on a fake mustache using tape and a pair of sunglasses and comes back into the dugout to finish the game.

That's the kind of thing that happens in bad movies.

Unluckily for Bobby V, the commentators spied him out.

Nonetheless, it was still the greatest return after an ejection, ever.

No. 3: High School Ump Ejects Entire Crowd

Just a couple of days ago, a high school ump in Iowa actually ejected everyone in the crowd when he said they were getting too unruly.

The game was finished without anyone watching.

Apparently, the umpire got offended at the insinuations that he was blind, which was obviously false because he couldn't be officiating a game if he could not see.

After the crowd refused to believe his argument, he threw everyone out.

No. 2: Peoria Chiefs and Dayton Dragons All Ejected

The Peoria Chiefs and Dayton Dragons, two minor league teams, got into a scuffle. Things escalated when one of the players tried to fire a fastball into the opposing team's dugout.

The player proved why he was still in the minor leagues. The ball was high and it went into the stands, striking a fan.

After it was all said and done, 15 players were ejected, but then had to be let back into the game so that the teams had enough players to finish.

"You're outta here! Wait, I didn't mean it. Eventually you're outta here, but we kind of need you back right now. We good?"

No. 1: Tim Duncan Laughs at Joey Crawford

In possibly the most ridiculous ejection ever, Tim Duncan got ejected while he was sitting on the bench because Joey Crawford didn't like that Duncan was laughing at him.

I wish I could have seen Crawford as a kid on the playground trying to eject everybody that made fun of him.

It was a match made in ejection heaven: the most sensitive ref and the one player in the NBA who has never committed a foul.