10 Recent Sports Tantrums: Justified or Not?

Was Cam Newton justified in walking out of his Super Bowl 50 postgame press conference?

That is the million-dollar question, isn't it? Sports figures, like anyone, can let their emotions get the best of them. And even though their feelings are often understandable, their outbursts aren't always so easy to justify.

Taking away the fact tantrums of any kind are hardly ever advisable in sports, let's take a look and see if any of these were at least partly excusable. Did the sentiment behind them hold up? Did their method of publicizing their frustration make sense?

Here, a tantrum can be anything from a press-conference walkout to a fight with a Gatorade cooler, but wildly NSFW behavior, excessive profanity and person-to-person violence will be left out. Let's keep it clean(-ish), folks. 

LeBron James Walks off the Court

Rocky W. Widner/Getty Images

For any professional athlete to walk off the playing surface mid-game would be unprofessional. For a team leader such as LeBron James to do it, though? That was as surprising as it was inexcusable.

During a November game against the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers forward grew frustrated and simply walked off the court in the middle of the game, earning himself a technical foul in the process.

The Cavs eventually won, and James apologized. Per Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, he said, "I blew a (gasket), you know what that means? I apologized to my teammates for it."

Verdict: Regardless of what, specifically, upset James, there is no excuse for abandoning your team.  

Adrian Peterson's Contract Twitter Rant

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In May, a contract dispute led Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson to unleash a legendary Twitter rant about the very nature of contracts. Though signed for three additional years at the time, Peterson wanted a change. (He eventually got a restructured deal in July.)

The lengthy rant included tweets such as the following: "A lill crazy how one side has so much power that they can do as they please when it come to the contract! But when the other-side (player's)...Feels for whatever reason! Family, Change of scenery or simply - what they feels just might work best for them! Those same laws don't apply!"

Peterson's use of his own Twitter account to publish his opinions is certainly allowed (if not entirely advisable).  

Verdict: Yet even if the Internet is where people go to air their grievances, publicly talking smack about your longtime team is probably not the best idea.

Joey Votto's Ejection

In September, home plate umpire Bill Welke ejected Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto from a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The resulting tantrum was a doozy.

After two called strikes against him, Votto reportedly asked for a timeout, according to C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. He gestured toward the bench and was promptly booted by Welke.

That's when Votto really got riled up, getting in Welke's face and ultimately earning himself a two-game suspension from MLB (later reduced to one).

Votto said, per Rosecrans, "Did I overreact? Yeah, I did overreact. But I felt so compelled and I was in such an intense place – who is to decide how angry I get as long as I follow the rules? I didn't touch him. I wasn't verbally abusive. I didn't make contact with any of the other umpires."

Votto is no stranger to ejections, and throwing a tantrum is never a good look. Still...

Verdict: The tantrum was overkill, but Votto's perspective is understandable. 

Louis van Gaal Attacks the Media

Rumors of an impending sack for Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal have persisted for months amid a less-than-ideal season at Old Trafford.

Once Jose Mourinho was ousted at Chelsea, his name began to circulate with regularity in relation to the job. Retired English footballer Trevor Sinclair actually tweeted, "LVG is to be sacked," per Lee Thomas-Mason of Metro.co.uk, but later claimed it wasn't him.

Van Gaal did not find the tweet, or any related rumors, funny and displayed his displeasure with the media in December.

Per Jim White of the Telegraph, Van Gaal said, in part, "I think I was already sacked. That's what I read. My colleague [Mourinho] was here already. What do you think that happens with my wife or with my kids or with my grandchildren or with the fans of Manchester United or my friends? They have called me, a lot of times."

He refused to take questions and eventually walked out. 

Verdict: This was less a tantrum and more a frustrated man making some good points.

Tim Flannery Gives Padres a Piece of His Mind

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Tim Flannery played for the San Diego Padres from 1979-1989 and later served as their third base coach under former manager Bruce Bochy. He eventually joined Bochy with the San Francisco Giants before retiring in 2014.

According to Flannery, San Diego fans didn't take kindly to his time in San Francisco. In May 2015, he wrote in a Facebook post, per Melissa Felkins of China Basin Chatter, "As far as the new Padre fan that comes and goes, you call me a traitor again, you are showing your baseball ignorance, and if I restrain from a punch in the mouth, I will show you my three rings, because the team I grew up in, didn’t need us anymore."

One rant against the team and its fans—OK, maybe. But two? In February, Flannery posted another social media rant, this time on Twitter, criticizing the Padres management and the fans.

Here is a snippet, per Adrian Garro of Fox Sports, "I'm a Giant for life, you all allowed the organization to do whatever they wanted, and so did Giant fans, but don't diss me with your Padre loyalty."

Verdict: Social media rants might be cathartic, but if Padre fans are in fact giving Flannery grief, they are unlikely to stop even if he made good points (just a guess). 

Jim Harbaugh's Regular Sideline Tantrums

University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh is certainly not the only coach to ever vehemently disagree with officiating, but he does have a tendency to go particularly ballistic with some regularity.

Here he is in September throwing a clipboard ruthlessly to the ground, and here he is in November removing his jacket with authority. Outbursts like this one over a no-call in the Citrus Bowl have to be borderline dangerous for his health, right?

Even if he is right about some of the calls, the frequency with which he goes bananas is uncalled for. It's a bit like the boy who cried wolf, no? 

Verdict: Right or wrong, Harbaugh's insistence upon throwing a hissy fit every time a call doesn't go his way, well, it's out of hand.

Ezekiel Elliott Criticizes OSU Coaching

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

As a college football player, publicly criticizing the coach has got to be some kind of cardinal sin, right?

After a 17-14 loss to Michigan State in November, Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott started in on the blame game. Elliott said in his postgame presser, per Ari Wasserman of Cleveland.com, "I'm disappointed in the play-calling. I'm disappointed in the situations that we were put in, and I wish it all played out differently."

Elliott elaborated on that sentiment and also announced his plans to enter the NFL draft, stating there was "no chance" he'd be back at OSU.

Verdict: Even though Elliott apparently apologized, and even though coach Urban Meyer went, perhaps, a little too easy on his star running back, there is no excuse for pointing the finger like that.  

Sean Rodriguez Assaults a Gatorade Cooler

The 2015 National League Wild Card Game will be remembered for an epic pitching performance, a Chicago Cubs postseason win and one outrageous tantrum.

The Cubs' matchup against the Pittsburgh Pirates turned heated in the seventh inning when pitcher Jake Arrieta was hit by a pitch. The benches cleared as a result, but Sean Rodriguez of the Pirates appeared to be particularly enraged.

He was ejected and later took out his anger on a poor Gatorade cooler in the dugout.

Verdict: Not only was Rodriguez's tantrum an embarrassing scene, but he also went at the cooler with bare-handed punches. Not smart for a person who uses his hands for a living.

(At least he apologized to the cooler.) 

Cam Newton's Super Bowl Press Conference

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was most often seen celebrating and flashing his pearly whites in 2015 (that tends to happen when your team goes 15-1 in the regular season).

Yet after a 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, Newton was less than cheerful with the media. In fact, he gave brief, dejected answers and eventually walked out of the postgame presser altogether.

The newly minted NFL MVP was criticized heavily for his demeanor, and critics certainly had a point. To say someone of Newton's high profile should conduct himself with a bit more professionalism would be entirely justified. Even Newton conceded to the media he is a "sore loser." 

However, the physical setup of the postgame press conference should be taken into consideration. As it turned out, players from both teams were interviewed in close proximity to each other. Newton could, in all likelihood, hear the comments of Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. as he gave his interview.

Harris himself said, per Nina Mandell of For the Win, "I would have been mad if I was Cam too."

Verdict: Just this once, Newton's actions were (sort of) understandable. In the future, however, his reputation will likely be better served if he handles these types of situations differently. 

Cristiano Ronaldo Walks out

Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo is no stranger to interview walkouts. And although Cam Newton got a (reluctant) pass because of the physical setup of his Super Bowl presser, Ronaldo will get no such sympathy.

Ronaldo is one of the game's best goal scorers and has continued to prove it in the 2015-16 Champions League season. Still, as of February 16, he had not scored an away goal since November. A reporter asked him about it, and the forward did not take it well.

Per BBC Sport, Ronaldo responded, "Who else has scored more goals away from home than me since I arrived in Spain? Name one player who has scored more than me. No answer? OK. Thank you," and proceeded to exit stage left.

Ronaldo's was a calm tantrum, but not every question is going to be to his liking. Since he is one of, if not the world's most visible players, he should know how to handle all types of interview scenarios. 

Verdict: You can't just walk out every time you don't like a question (or, you can, but you probably shouldn't).