Best 'Poke the Bear' Moments in Sports of 2016
Well-known jokes suggest you don't tug on Superman's cape, you don't mess with Texas and you don't poke the bear. Comedian Dave Chappelle put it another way during a segment of his former television show when he taught us "keeping it real" sometimes goes wrong.
Multiple athletes learned such lessons the hard way in 2016.
For reasons that still make little sense months after the fact, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors decided to taunt Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James during Game 4 of the 2016 NBA Finals. James and the Cavs responded by winning three straight contests and the championship, likely leaving some left wondering what may have occurred had Green not engaged the all-time great.
Ironically, Cleveland fans were left to regret making jokes about the Warriors blowing a 3-1 series lead come early November.
UFC champion Conor McGregor had his mouth closed by Nate Diaz for a period of time before McGregor earned some revenge. The Toronto Blue Jays did not do enough to startle young Cleveland pitcher Ryan Merritt during the playoffs. Swimmer Chad le Clos probably regrets dancing and shadowboxing in front of American Michael Phelps at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Trash talk can be a valuable tool for an athlete, and such antics make for entertaining television. Poking the bear can, however, come back to bite an athlete, a team or even a fanbase. It turns out pride really does come before a fall every now and again.
Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate
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All Holly Holm had to do to retain her UFC bantamweight championship versus Miesha Tate at UFC 196 this past March was stay away from Tate during the final round. Those of us watching the fight realized this before the start of the fifth round, and such opinions were confirmed after the fight, as the MMAjunkie staff explained, when we learned Holm held a 38-37 lead on each of the judges' scorecards after Round 4.
Holm, for whatever reasons, did not take such an approach to the last five minutes of the encounter, as she instead chose to engage Tate. The challenger took Holm down to the mat and then locked in a rear-naked choke, and Holm was unable to escape before she was rendered unconscious. Holm's decision to poke the bear and attempt to finish Tate cost her the title, and it may have cost her millions of dollars in the long run.
Holm defeated Ronda Rousey in November 2015, but losses to Tate and then to Valentina Shevchenko this past July have hurt her drawing power. We shouldn't expect to see Holm fight in the main event of a pay-per-view anytime soon.
Cleveland Fans Joke About the Warriors Blowing a 3-1 Lead
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The figurative "bear" in this case is fate or the sports gods or however you want to term some imaginary entity.
You can only blame Cleveland fans so much for this one. After all, the majority of them didn't have a lot of experience celebrating titles until the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the 2016 NBA Finals. The Cleveland Browns won an NFL championship in 1964, but that was the city's last major sports title until LeBron James and the Cavs erased a 3-1 series deficit and stunned the Warriors.
With that said, perhaps karma came back to haunt some Cleveland fans this fall.
"The Warriors blew a 3-1 lead" jokes became so popular among even those who don't regularly root for the Cavs that they inspired memes. Cleveland supporters who helped spread those quips could then do nothing when the Cleveland Indians blew a 3-1 lead to the Chicago Cubs en route to losing the World Series.
The Warriors blowing their lead is not the same as the Indians dropping three straight games to the Cubs. The Cubs, not the Indians, were the better of the two teams, on paper, just as the Warriors had a better overall record than the Cavs at the start of the NBA Finals. That, as Andrew Joseph of USA Today explained, did not prevent Golden State forward Draymond Green from making a "3-1" joke of his own about the Indians.
One would think Green would know better by now. More on that later.
Dwayne Thomas Says LSU Will 'Dominate' Alabama
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LSU senior cornerback Dwayne Thomas wasn't completely off when he stated before his team's matchup with Alabama that the Tigers defense would "dominate" the offense of the Crimson Tide, as Alex Byington of the Decatur Daily explained.
LSU gave an Alabama side used to winning games by double-digit figures this season its hardest game to date. Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts had only 107 passing yards, and the Tide's offense managed to score only 10 points.
Unfortunately for Thomas and the Tigers, the LSU offense couldn't score at all versus the best team in the country. In fact, the hosts generated a paltry 125 total offensive yards in the losing effort.
One could, thus, say the Alabama defense dominated the action November 5.
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Kevin Durant Responds to Oklahoma City
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The game between the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder on November 3 at Oracle Arena was always going to be emotional. Kevin Durant, who made the move from Oklahoma City to Golden State during the offseason, was facing his former team for the first time, and fans couldn't help but wonder if the Thunder would play with extra motivation while facing the reigning Western Conference champions.
Jerami Grant was the first to poke the bear during the contest when he dunked on Durant during the first quarter of the game. Grant then bumped Durant after the dunk, and he finished that sequence of play by staring down the 2014 NBA MVP.
This, we learned, was a mistake. Durant dominated much of the action during the final three quarters of play, as Sam Amick of USA Today explained, as he drained seven of 11 three-pointers and scored a game-high 39 points. The Warriors ran away with a 122-96 rout, and Durant silenced any and all critics for at least one evening.
Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz
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McGregor and Diaz both spoke with Jane Wells of CNBC leading up to the UFC 196 show, and the segment quickly became awkward. The outspoken Irishman didn't wait 10 seconds before saying Diaz could "take a coffee break" and even "bring me my coffee," and McGregor went on to suggest Diaz owed him for whatever money he was going to make off of the fight.
Diaz eventually had enough of McGregor's antics, and he walked away from the interview before the five-minute mark. Diaz then shut McGregor's mouth, for a few minutes, when he won the fight via submission in the second round.
Even a loss could only silence McGregor so much, we would learn, as he repeatedly talked trash leading up to a rematch in August. McGregor won that contest, perhaps proving, in the process, that poking the bear isn't always a bad thing.
Toronto Blue Jays Suggest Ryan Merritt Will Be 'Shaking in His Boots'
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The Toronto Blue Jays did well to avoid a sweep in the American League Championship Series by defeating the Cleveland Indians in Game 4. Cleveland possessing a commanding 3-1 series lead over Toronto did not stop Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista from calling out 24-year-old Cleveland starting pitcher Ryan Merritt before Game 5.
Bautista, per Mike Axisa of CBS Sports, went so far to say Merritt would be "shaking in his boots" due to the power located throughout the Toronto lineup.
Bautista's confidence was understandable at the time. Merritt, after all, pitched in only 11 innings while with the Indians during the regular season, and he'd never performed in an elimination game with a berth to a World Series on the line.
Merritt's boots were nevertheless steady throughout his 4.1 innings of work, during which he surrendered a pair of hits and zero runs. Cleveland's bullpen kept the Toronto lineup off the scoreboard, and the Indians won 3-0.
Indians players took to Twitter after winning the pennant to respond to Bautista and the Blue Jays. To the victors, it appears, goes the trolling.
Chad Le Clos Dancing in Front of Michael Phelps
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Chad le Clos of South Africa could've approached the semifinal of the 200-meter butterfly that included American Michael Phelps during the 2016 Summer Olympics one of several ways. Le Clos, who beat Phelps in the event back in 2012, could've prepared for the race steps away from Phelps, or he could've remained in his chair as he waited, along with other swimmers, to be called to the starting blocks.
Le Clos chose neither of these options, as Chris Chase of Fox Sports explained. The 24-year-old instead decided to dance and shadowbox in front of Phelps, seemingly in an attempt to get inside of the head of the man who is, statistically speaking, the greatest Olympic swimmer in history. Phelps responded by glaring ahead with what may have been the sports world's most famous stare of the year, and the American then won the race.
Phelps forevermore closed the rivalry the next night when he won the gold medal in the event. Le Clos may want to work on his intimidation techniques before the next world championships.
Cam Newton Versus the Denver Broncos
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It turns out pockets of football fans and observers weren't the only individuals upset with the on-the-field antics of Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton during the 2015 NFL season. Defensive players on the Denver Broncos also weren't fans of how the NFL MVP often danced, celebrated and otherwise expressed himself throughout Carolina's successful season leading up to Super Bowl 50.
The Broncos, not Newton, had the last laugh on the final Sunday of the 2016 playoffs.
Newton was kept out of the end zone throughout the evening, and he completed only 18 of 41 pass attempts. The Denver defense forced three Newton turnovers, one of which directly resulted in a touchdown when Super Bowl MVP Von Miller stripped Newton and defensive lineman Malik Jackson fell on the ball for a touchdown.
Perhaps Newton danced or celebrated one time too many during the season, because Denver players had plenty to say about the QB after the big win, per John Breech of CBS Sports.
"There ain't no Easter Bunny, there ain't no Santa Claus, there ain't no Superman," cornerback Aqib Talib explained while speaking with the Broncos' team website, indirectly referencing one of Newton's well-known celebrations. Linebacker Danny Trevathan told Robert Klemko of MMQB.com Newton was "playing for himself" during the title game.
This serves as a reminder an athlete doesn't always have to directly "poke the bear" to anger and motivate future opponents.
Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping
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Luke Rockhold probably should've known better than to engage with Michael Bisping during the press conference leading up to their fight at UFC 199.
Bisping had a reputation for being one of the top heels in the promotion earlier this year, and Rockhold had little to gain in returning the trash talk before the fight. Rockhold, apparently, couldn't help himself, as can be seen via this NSFW Fox Sports video, as the then-champion explained he "didn't need" a healthy knee or even to walk in order to defeat Bisping.
Bisping, as we learned, had Rockhold exactly where he wanted him at the start of the fight. The 37-year-old twice knocked Rockhold to the ground, and Bisping then finished Rockhold with a trio of punches to the head to win the middleweight championship in an upset victory this past June.
Draymond Green Taunts LeBron James
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The Golden State Warriors took a commanding 3-1 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals following a 108-97 victory in Cleveland. Golden State forward Draymond Green and Cleveland star LeBron James engaged in a brief altercation late in Game 4, one that resulted in James stepping over a fallen Green and Green apparently hitting James with an intentional low blow.
As James Herbert of CBS Sports explained after the game, James told ESPN's Chris Broussard that Green had called him the "B-word" during the on-the-court encounter, and it was Green's use of the word that incensed James.
We can't say, for sure, what would've occurred had Green never used such language toward James. We do, however, know what happened in the final three games of the series.
James dropped 41 points at Oracle Arena in Game 5, and he repeated that feat in front of a home audience in Game 6. The greatest player in the NBA today then accumulated a triple-double in Game 7, and he produced a rejection for the ages that will be replayed just about every time the Warriors and Cavs face each other through the end of James' career.
Bringing a championship to Cleveland and ending the city's title drought of 52 years is, to date, James' defining moment, and it's one that occurred after Green verbally called him out on the court. Cleveland fans may owe Green a Christmas card this holiday season.
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