Sports Surprises That Had Another Surprise Waiting

Think about an event that made you say, "wow I didn't expect that." 

Then, it takes another turn that makes your head spin even more. 

By the time it is all said and done, you're speechless, scratching your head or simply saying, "what?" "really?" "thats interesting." or "some people just don't get it."   

Well, here are a few instances in the sports world that have done just that.

The Broken Curse...

Now, I have to admit, you can use this one and look at it in reverse to see the true irony that makes you say, "no kidding, couldn't have worked out any crazier..."

The thing is, not only did the Boston Red Sox break "The Curse of the Bambino," that stood for 86 years,  they came back from an 0-3 playoff deficit, against the Yankees, for the right to go to the curse breaking World Series.  Can't see a more surprising scenario of events to make this one more amazing.

Pete Rose

Pete Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on the game, even his own team.  He adamantly denied that he did so.  For years he would speak of his innocence, most notably during the 1999 World Series, in an interview with Jim Gray.

Gray- "Pete, let me ask you now. It seems as though there is an opening, the American public is very forgiving. Are you willing to show contrition, admit that you bet on baseball and make some sort of apology to that effect?"

Pete- "Not at all, Jim. I'm not going to admit to something that didn't happen. I know you're getting tired of hearing me say that."

Then, in 2004, he said, "yeah, I bet on baseball, four or five times a week..."

Maurice Clarett

We all remember Maurice Clarett: Ohio State freshman phenom, a rarity for a freshman to lead a national championship team in rushing, great combination of size and speed, key play in the biggest game of the year by stealing the ball away from a defender who was headed the other way after a turnover...

Yeah, well, Maurice was a great athlete, but he also yelled at position coaches, publicly maligned OSU officials, lied to the cops about stolen merchandise and then, to top off all of his oppositional defiance, he decided to challenge the NFL's rule of entering the draft.  A player must be out of high school for three years before entering the NFL draft.  They must be either entering after junior year status or redshirt sophomore year status. 

Maurice tried to get the courts to make the NFL let him in after one year out of high school.  He lost the appealed case in an opinion by Judge Sonia Sotomayor and since he had hired an agent, he was unable to go back to Ohio State and be eligible to continue playing football.

Mike Williams

In case you were wondering what the second punch was with Maurice Clarett, this is it.  Mike Williams also tried to get into the NFL before the three year rule.  Also, like Clarett, he hired an agent and was ineligible to go back to USC to play college football.

The result of all this? Both players actually did get drafted in the 2005 NFL draft.  Williams was the 10th overall pick and Clarett was the 101st pick.  SInce then, Williams has played with several different NFL teams and Clarett went to jail.

Holyfield-Tyson II: The Sound and the Fury

This one just got completely out of hand. The match was supposed to be a rematch of Tyson and Holyfield's previous match that ended with a Holyfield victory.  Tyson complained of being headbutted on purpose by Holyfield in that match. 

The headbutts, which had been determined accidental, also occured in the rematch.  It was at this point that Tyson clinched and bit Evander Holyfield's ear.  Even Mills Lane couldn't believe it.  He stopped the fight and inspected Holyfields ear.  After debating what to do, he deducted points from Tyson and let the fight resume due to the ringside doctor saying Holyfield could continue even though part of his ear was now on the ring floor. 

Really? Yeah, really.

And then, wouldn't you know it, in another clinch, Tyson bit Evanders "other ear."  What!  ...Tyson was disqualified...

Nightline with Ted Koppel and Al Campanis 1987

Freudian Slip: an error in speech.

Al Campanis' comments in the 1987 Nightline interview with Ted Koppel- um, more than an error, a major screw up that cost him his job.

In a 1987 interview, Al Campanis, Dodgers' GM at the time, was asked by Ted Koppel why African-American managers and general managers were virtually nonexistent in the sport. 

His response, "It's just that they may not have some of the necessities to be, let's say, a field manager, or, perhaps, a general manager."

Everybody, including Ted Koppel, thought they really didn't hear what they just heard.  Fact is, they did. Then, what made people's eyes almost pop completely out of their heads was when, after Koppel gave Campanis a chance to correct himself, he didn't.  In fact he went from digging a hole using a shovel, to using a back-hoe. 

Koppel asked, "you really believe that?" Campanis made no attempt to correct his previous statement. He instead, went on talking about why there are not more black quarterbacks, pitchers, and swimmers..."

Campanis was fired the next day.

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/ESPNSports/story?id=3034914

Michael Jordan's Retirement from Basketball

This one was a surprise to many. Even Phil Jackson didn't know until the Bulls owner called him, begging him to make Jordan stay.  Phil's response was classic Phil, "I can't make Michael do anything he doesn't want to." 

The 1993 timeline went something like this:

June-Bulls win third straight NBA title.

July-Father found murdered

October-Jordan announces his desicion to retire from basketball only days before the season opener.

While everybody understood why Michael retired, it was still shocking how quickly he did it so close the beginning of the 93-94 season.  Michael had just won his third straight NBA championship, became the first player to win three straight NBA Finals MVP awards and the first player to average 40 points per game in a Finals series. 

The loss of his father was also weighing on him heavily.  In his press conference, he talked about his desire for the game not being there, and he did not believe he could go on playing when he had accomplished everything he set out to do.

Now, if all this wasn't shocking enough to the sports world, that next spring, Michael started tryouts for the White Sox.  Upon being asked why he is trying out for the White Sox, he answers, "because my family lives in Chicago."  After a couple setbacks, he had a 51 RBI, 30 stolen base season in the minor league.

Icing on the cake with this slide is that after that season, he came back to the Bulls and won three straight championships again!

O.J. Simpson

You have to shake your head at this one, because none of it was good. 

We all know the story, O.J.'s ex-wife and her boyfriend were found murdered.  O.J. was the prime suspect.  Then we saw the white Bronco being followed on the highway and feared the worst.  Suicide on national TV?  Hope not.  Casual viewers thought this solidified his guilt. Fans of O.J. the football player were in disbelief that the player they loved was fleeing the police! 

After it was all said and done, a highly publicized trial, $6 million lawyers, 150 witnesses, lots of evidence placing Simpson at the crime scene and what was named the "trial of the century," Simpson was found not guilty.

To many, this was shocking enough.  But a kicker came exactly 13 years later to the day of his not guilty verdict. Simpson was found guilty on 12 charges after being arrested for his involvement in a robbery and sentened to 33 years in prison.