Renee Gork and the 10 Strangest Sports Firings Ever
The news that Arkansas radio reporter Renee Gork was fired for wearing a Florida Gators cap to a press conference run by Bobby Petrino is another example in a long history of strange and/or ill-timed firings.
Whether it is wearing the wrong hat or seemingly saying the wrong thing, strange firings are a common occurrence at every level of sport. Sometimes entertaining but more often bizarre, these sports firings left us wondering what exactly were the bosses thinking when they fired or even originally hired the person.
10. Kevin Pritchard
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Former Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard constructed one of the best, young teams in the NBA. He built the team around Brandon Roy and put the pieces in place for the Blazers to contend now not just in the future.
However, Pritchard may have been forced to fall on his sword for selecting Greg Oden over Kevin Durant in the 2007 draft.
What makes this firing so strange is that not only did Pritchard build a quality, young team but he possessed unwavering fan support and respect around the league. Plus, the Blazers asked Pritchard to run their 2010 draft process despite being fired before draft night.
9. Renee Gork
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Gork's dismissal was the most recent and notable example to make the list. The KAKS radio reporter went to a press conference run by Arkansas head coach Bobby Petrino. However, when it began to rain she made the wrong decision to throw on her Florida Gators cap.
The result was Petrino's refusal to answer any of her follow-up questions while KAKS fired her for not showing 100 percent loyalty to a 100 percent Razorback-loyal station.
Fired over a hat. That's a new one.
8. Rob Butcher: Yankees PR Rep
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The Yankees had to make big moves in the offseason following the 1995 season. One move was to re-sign David Cone after trading for him during the previous summer.
Cone's signing came during Christmas Week 1995 and promptly made big news around New York. However, one man not seen during the news cycles was Yankees public relations executive Rob Butcher. Butcher instead went home for the holidays but was told he wouldn't be needed back in the office when the brass reconvened.
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7. Eagles Employee Dan Leone
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Dan Leone was a gate chief at Lincoln Financial Stadium who let his emotions get the best of him when Brian Dawkins signed with the Denver Broncos in the spring of 2009.
The distraught Leone posted on his Facebook page, "Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver ... Dam Eagles R Retarted!!"
That little quip landed him in hot soup, costing him his job with the Eagles. Leone was very remorseful for his Facebook post.
"I apologized 20 million times. I never bad-mouthed the organization before. I made one mistake and they terminate me? And they couldn't even bring me into the office to talk to me? They had to do it over the phone? At least look me in the eye. To get done dirty like this, I can't believe it. I'm devastated."
6. Marty Schottenheimer
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Marty Schottenheimer helped to build the Chargers into a legitimate contender. In 2006, the team won their third AFC West title in three years en route to a 14-2 record. However, even a 14-2 record in the regular season was not enough to spare Schottenheimer following a loss in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
San Diego canned Schottenheimer, making him the only coach to ever be dismissed following a 14-win season.
5. Woody Hayes
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Woody Hayes was the legendary head coach at Ohio State, but after 28 years it all came to a crashing halt. During the 1978 Gator Bowl, Hayes let out his frustration in the worst way possible when he popped Clemson linebacker Charlie Bauman after an interception. Hayes' long, storied tenure in Columbus came to an end in a way no one saw coming.
4. Bob Knight
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Bob Knight was already treading on thin ice during the late '90s in Indiana. But Knight's long, winning tenure at one of college's most prestigious basketball programs came to an end in late 2000 following the news that Knight once again physically confronted a player.
Knight's firing was a result of a zero tolerance policy instituted upon him following the news that he choked former player Neil Reed during the 1997 season. Knight, like Hayes, was taken down by physical obsession to the game.
3. Billy Martin
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It is impossible to mention strange firings without mentioning five-time Yankees manager Billy Martin. Martin won a World Series with the Yankees in 1977, but spent the rest of his tenure in pinstripes battling George Steinbrenner for his job.
The smallest losing streak, the seemingly most benign clubhouse argument, or simple personnel decisions brought the axe on Martin's head time and time again before he left the team for good in 1988.
2. Isiah Thomas
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Isiah Thomas' tenure with the Knicks was controversial, bizarre, and sometimes lewd. Thomas became the villain in New York for his poor coaching and even worse personnel decisions when he became president of basketball operations.
Sexual harassment suits, charges of blackmail, and general dislike among the players eventually relegated Thomas to a quasi-consultant role when Donnie Walsh took over operations for the Knicks. Thomas was a Knicks employee but was barred from contact with the players and personnel decisions.
He was as neutered as an employee possibly could be before he was ultimately let go in 2009 so he could pursue a head coaching job at Florida International University.
1. Mike Leach
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Mike Leach had the Texas Tech football program on an upswing before he was suspended and ultimately fired around New Year's 2010.
Leach was suspended for the handling of concussion suffered by wide receiver Adam James. Allegations of hazing and Leach punishing James to a garage. James' father, ESPN announcer Craig James, joined in the public relations fight against Leach who was fired one day before he was owed an $800,000 bonus and $1.7 million in contract incentives for 2009.
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