The 10 Biggest Sports Sins

Poor play from players is something that we learn to live with as fans, because sports are not easy. But the factors that account for the poor play are much different.

This list stays within the borders of the field of play, as rape and murder accusations, while much worse than anything mentioned here, take place elsewhere.

Here are the most egregious sports acts that can take place.

Not surprisingly, I have to thank Ndamukong Suh for the article idea.

10. Not Playing Through "Questionable" Injury

Fans sometimes use certain players' demeanor against them if they look laid-back and not willing to give it their all.

When we see someone like Tony Romo play through the same injury as Michael Vick sustained (broken ribs), we want the guy sitting to tough it out, even if the circumstances are very different.

Manny Ramirez's last days in Boston summed this point up best, and Peyton Hillis is doing his best Manny impersonation this year for the Cleveland Browns with a phantom hamstring injury.

You'll see "Manny being Manny" occurrences two more times on the list, so get excited.

9. Use of Fictional Timeouts

Tony Romo almost found out the wrath of using a timeout that didn't even exist Week 11 against the Washington Redskins.

Chris Webber will forever be remembered for using a timeout his Michigan Wolverines team didn't have in the 1993 NCAA basketball championship game, thus losing possession because of a technical foul and pushing the game out of reach.

This action is much worse when done by a coach, seeing how clock management is a top priority.

When fans know the timeout situation of their team, albeit maybe just because of the TV showing us, players should certainly be aware of how many they have left.

8. Caught Cussing

This isn't as much about obscenities like the "F" or "S" words as it is about derogatory, homosexual slurs. Kobe Bryant found out that combining the two is like mixing pills with alcohol.

We understand these players often get caught up in the heat of the moment with their competitiveness, but degrading millions of people because of it isn't tolerated, even if the words being used by someone like Bryant are particularly hollow.

Alienating large parts of fanbases isn't the way to go, and that's the smallest issue with this.

7. Bad Coaching Decisions

Fans not only love playing couch quarterback, but couch coach as well. With all the tools at our disposal, many of us believe coaching to be a much easier job than it is.

With that said, some coaching decisions are so atrocious that the average Joe would really do better.

No coach should go unquestioned when it comes to decisions, but we've seen guys like Bill Belichick get more leniency for bizarre moves that are justified by fans and the media.

Mike Smith, head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, has made the most questionable decision of 2011 in the NFL season.

6. Post-Play Garbage

We've come to the most despicable act on the list.

There's a huge difference between playing rough within the confines of the game and taking out frustration through horrendous post-play actions.

We can live with dirty play between the whistles, but it makes me feel terrible to even watch when Ndamukong Suh pulls a stunt like he did on Thanksgiving. How great do you think the endorsers of Mr. Suh felt when his commercials were played all day on a prominent television day?

At least Albert Haynesworth owned up to his mistake after the game, unlike Detroit's defensive tackle.

5. Illegally Recording Competitors' Practice

Spygate couldn't have been left off the list. 

Game-planning in football is bigger than in any other sport, and to illegally learn information before the biggest games is dead wrong. 

As much as people want to bury Belichick, we don't really know how much filming the Rams' walk-through really helped. With that said, assuming the worst scenario is safe.

4. Ignorance of Rules

There are not many worse feelings than when your team's best player publicly admits to not knowing a possible scenario could happen.

It doesn't matter if this has only happened with Donovan McNabb in Philadelphia, when the quarterback acknowledged in the postgame press conference that he didn't know a game could end in a tie. This is a terrible sin, especially when the majority of fans are well aware of the rule.

This is easily ranked ahead of bad coaching decisions because not knowing a rule like this alters the strategic moves and in-game strategy.

3. Lying Down on the Job

It doesn't have to necessarily mean taking the phrase literally, as Albert Haynesworth did on this glorious occasion.

Lack of effort is inexcusable to the common man, former players and current teammates of those who give minimal or no effort. Many fans would love to be professional athletes, and we cannot envision under any circumstance not giving 100 percent.

2. Performance-Enhancing Drugs

We've seen it all too often. No matter how good a certain player is, steroids or any other banned substance tarnishes anything accomplished when the evidence is stacked against that athlete.

The Lance Armstrongs and Andy Pettittes of the world have a better chance, but whose word can we really trust as fans? Picking and choosing is a difficult game, and we never really know how accurate our assessments are.

Getting caught multiple times certainly takes away any chance for sympathy (see Ramirez, Manny). 

It's difficult for fans because we are forced to question what we saw with our own eyes, as in the summer of 1998 with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. We don't like to be fooled.

1. Gambling

This easily beats out PEDs. Cheating to better one's performance doesn't seem like anything when compared to throwing games for money.

Whether it's Pete Rose as Cincinnati's manager or the "Black Sox Scandal," this cannot be shaken, as we've seen by the remembrance of a scandal from 1918. Field of Dreams, arguably the best sports movie of all time, was even based on the Chicago baseball team's terrible act.

Professional athletes need to leave the gambling to the fans.