In light of the Te'o story I started thinking of other sports-related stories that could rival the bizarreness. One that came to mind was when the Yankees' pitcher Cory Lidle crashed his plane into a New York city sky scraper.
I'm curious what other bizarre stories you guys remember that you think have similar shock and 'out-of-the-blue' quality that this Te'o news does?
The Baylor Basketball fiasco a few years back when Patrick Dennehy was murdered by a teammate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_University_basketball_scandal
This.
That is the biggest WTF I have ever had (well until today).
Delonte west getting pulled over on a 3-wheel motorcycle with enough firearms to supply a small army stocked on board.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Jr1JLg8Lc
and who could forget the wizards' gambling and near shootout that ensued in the locker room
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4787825
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2005/mar/7/20050307-121328-5084r/?page=all
Do anyof you remember Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson?..Both Yankee pitchers who were involved in one of if not the most bizarre trade ever.
Battles are sometimes won by generals; wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates. Football is no different, the guys down in the trenches win the games, not the coach.
My all time still has to be Tiger Woods.
Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan for sure...
Plaxico's story was pretty strange:
Of course my favorite would be the Carolina Panther Cheerleaders...ahem, practicing their formations.
“Right now, Michigan is not at the pinnacle of college football, and that’s all Urban Meyer cares about...He’s been there and knows what it takes to get there.”
If they had just gone to the men's bathroom, they'd still have a job.
They're not fugly, but I expected better.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
The Minnesota Vikings version of the love boat was a bit out there.
That kid out on California ( I think) who faked his own recruitment to schools that had never recruited him, then announced for one of them.
Saw a story recently on that kid. In the end it all worked out. He went to a junior college and eventually did end up playing D1 or D2 ball.
It was really hard to watch. Even bringing it up makes me feel awkward.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
The only time I've ever truly been dumbfounded, shocked and brought to tears was Payne Stewart's plane crash. The fact the news channel shot footage of the plane flying solo was incredibly heartbreaking.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
Tyson biting the ear off Evander Holyfield was pretty bizarre
How about Onterrio Smith and the Whizzinator?
Also: The British runner who cheated when he took a bus and skipped part of a marathon and then re-entered near the end to win.
Stumbled across this, we've hit on a few of them already:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/the-turnstile/where-does-manti-te-o-girlfriend-story-rank-140115493.html