Sports Scandals
Page 2
Longtime Cubs fan Steve Bartman interferes with a foul ball, and the Cubs lose Game 6 of baseball's National League Championship.
2004
Former University of Colorado kicker Katie Hnida says she was molested and raped while on the team in 1999.
Vancouver Cannuck Todd Bertuzzi attacks Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore during regular season game.
Rape case dismissed against Kobe Bryant.
Basketbrawl between Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
2006
University of Northern Colorado disgruntled punter Mitch Cozad is accused of stabbing the starting punter in his kicking leg.
LaSalle University is found to have failed to report allegations of sexual assault involving players, in violation of Clery Act.
Operation Slapshot, an alleged hockey gambling ring involving a former player and a state trooper, makes the news.
Three Duke lacrosse players are accused of raping a stripper at a party.
Sprinter Justin Gatlin tests positive for steroids.
Miami Northwestern High School star Antwain Easterling has consensual sex with underage girl at school, prompting cover-up by school officials and threats to cancel season.
2007
Shock jock Don Imus calls Rutgers female basketball players ''nappy-headed hos.''
Atlanta Falcon superstar quarterback Michael Vick is arrested for dog fighting.
All charges are dropped against Duke lacrosse players accused of rape and district attorney Mike Nifong is disbarred.
NBA referee Tim Donaghy is implicated in game fixing during prior two seasons.
Barry Bonds breaks homerun record under tremendous accusations that he used steroids.
Cyclist Floyd Landis is found to have doped his way to victory in the 2006 Tour de France.
Sprinter Marion Jones confesses to using steroids.
Isiah Thomas is found guilty of sexual harassment and ordered to pay $11.6 million to former New York Knicks executive Anuchua Browne Sanders.
George Mitchell reports widespread steroid abuse in Major League Baseball.
2008
Controversial, but highly successful, basketball coach Bobby Knight quits during the middle of the season for Texas Tech.
Chapter 1
VIOLENCE: FIGHTS, BITES, MURDER, AND MAYHEM
In selecting the cases, this chapter casts a wide net. Included are many forms of violence in various degrees of severity, committed by athletes and retired athletes, both on and off the field. The selections are so varied because violence itself is never simple, nor is it easy to create a profile of who will be perpetrators or victims. All the cases, however, have had a tremendous impact on the sporting world, as is noted at the end of each entry.
Sadly, violence is a seemingly permanent fixture in U.S. culture, permeating virtually every institution. From world wars to the war on terror, the schoolyard to the backyard, many people use violence as a means of obtaining power and of responding to conflict. This is true in sports as well, although rather than a problem worthy of serious examination, it is often chalked up to being ''part of the game.'' When excessive violence occurs in the course of a game or event, it is often treated as though it is trivial. Rarely has an athlete been prosecuted for in-sport violence, although this chapter highlights the cases of Marty McSorley and Todd Bertuzzi, which were exceptions. Although violence occurring in sport is generally directed at opponents, the cases of Latrell Sprewell (who attacked his coach) and Basketbrawl (which pitted players against fans), illustrate that not all violence is player to player. In other cases, athletes perpetrate violent acts outside of the sport realm.
Their actions impact not only their individual victim(s), but their teams, sports organizations, and the sport community as a whole. Many of the cases described in this chapter, from the double murders allegedly committed by O. J. Simpson to the murder of a Baylor University athlete, demonstrate the devastating impact of off-field violence and the cover-ups that sometimes follow.
THE PUNCH - RUDY TOMJANOVICH NEARLY KILLED
During the third quarter of an NBA game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets in December 1977, a fight broke out that would be long remembered for a single, devastating punch. Los Angeles Laker Kermit Washington, a six-foot-eight, 230-pound player, hit six-foot-eight, 220-pound Rudy Tomjanovich so hard that it literally crushed his face, nearly killing him.
The altercation began with a minor scuffle between Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Rockets forward Kevin Kunnert. Sensing an impending brawl, Washington reacted when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned and punched, catching an unsuspecting Tomjanovich squarely on the face. ''The Punch,'' as it would come to be known, was so vicious that Tomjanovich later said, ''The next thing I remember was lying on the floor. There was a buzzing in my ears. I remember thinking that the scoreboard must have fallen on me.''1 Abdul-Jabbar compared the sound of the impact to a melon splitting on concrete.
It took three surgeries to repair Tomjanovich's face. Both eye sockets had been broken, along with his nose and jaw. Some teeth were knocked out. The surgeon who initially did the reconstruction compared it to putting a broken eggshell back together with Scotch tape. The last surgery involved an incision along the side of his nose to allow for the passage of tears. It was truly a miracle that he survived.
The NBA fined Washington and suspended him for twenty-six games. The Lakers traded him to the Boston Celtics and then he was moved to the San Diego Clippers, then to the Portland Trail Blazers, and later to the Golden State Warriors. Wherever Washington went, the reputation that The Punch had given him followed. He was a pariah in the league and deemed a thug by the fans. Washington never felt that the labels that were applied to him were accurate. Many would attest that he was, in fact, a kind and sensitive man who abhorred fighting. He has always claimed, and even took a lie detector test to support, that he simply saw a figure charging at him and reacted. In his heart, The Punch was an act of self defense.
Tomjanovich filed suit against Washington and California Sports, Inc. (owners of the Los Angeles Lakers), seeking millions of dollars in actual and punitive damages. Likewise, his team, the Rockets, filed suit seeking $1.4 million, claiming that the loss of the player caused the team to have a terrible season. The Rockets had been 49-33 the season before and slumped to 28-54 without the all-star player. Lawyers representing the Lakers claimed that Tomjanovich assumed the risk of being hit by playing pro basketball and that Washington acted in self-defense.2 The Lakers lost the case and millions of dollars.
Although Washington's name will forever be linked to The Punch, he went on to have considerable achievements as a humanitarian activist after his playing days ended. He ran a program, called Project Contact, that took relief items including medical attention to areas in Africa that were suffering from the results of wars, famine, and disease. He made several annual trips to places such as Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda. At least 40,000 people benefited from the aid that his group delivered. Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan, in an article about Washington's charitable work, called him, ''a bookworm of a family man with a strong social conscience.''3 He also suggested that skin color likely had a lot to do with the demonization of Washington (he is black, Tomjanovich is white).
Tomjanovich played eleven years in the NBA, making the all-star team five times. The Houston Rockets retired his jersey. In 1992 he became the interim and then head coach of the Rockets. During his twelve seasons there, the team was a regular playoff contender and won NBA titles in 1994 and 1995. Tomjanovich was a part of the organization for thirty-four years as a player, scout, coach, and consultant. He left coaching following the 2002-3 season after being diagnosed with bladder cancer. Later, he briefly coached the Los Angeles Lakers and continued to work with USA Basketball as a director of scouting. In 2000, Tomjanovich led the Olympic team to basketball gold in the Sydney Games.
The Punch
is significant for several reasons. First, it brought attention to the issue of violence in basketball, helping to demonstrate that it is not just the contact sports that can be dangerous. Second, the racial implications brought out by the case highlight a recurring issue in many sports-that is, the huge number of black players and the small number of black coaches.
NANCY KERRIGAN ATTACKED, STILL WINS OLYMPIC MEDAL
On January 7, 1992, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked after her practice at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan, where she was preparing for the U.S. Olympic trials. Kerrigan had earned a bronze medal at the previous Olympics and was considered a contender to win in Lillehammer, Norway.
The assailant ran by Kerrigan, clubbed her on the knee with a blunt object, and then disappeared into a crowd of people who were attending an auto show at Cobo Hall. The attack resulted in a very serious bruise on her right knee, calling into question whether she would be able to participate in the trials. She did withdraw from the competition, but, fortunately, the rules allowed U.S. Olympic officials to give her a spot on the team. The attack was the second assault on a high-profile female athlete in less than a year. Just eight months prior, in April 1991, tennis star Monica Seles was stabbed while she changed courts during a tournament in Hamburg, Germany. Her assailant, Guenter Parche, claimed he attacked Seles because of his devotion to her rival, Steffi Graf. Parche received a two-year suspended sentence.
One week after the attack on Kerrigan, two men were charged in Portland, Oregon, and another man surrendered in Phoenix, Arizona. Rival skater Tonya Harding's bodyguard, Shawn Eric Eckardt, was one of those indicted. He reportedly hired two men to attack Kerrigan. Derrick B. Smith drove the getaway car and Shane Stant hit Kerrigan with a collapsible metal baton. Eckardt claimed Harding and her husband, Jeff Gillooly, were involved in the planning and cover-up of the attack. U.S. Olympic officials hoped Harding, who qualifled for the U.S. Olympic team, would withdraw from the Lillehammer games.
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) also asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to consider declaring Harding ineligible for the games, a power that body holds. Records showed Harding had made two phone calls to the arenas in which Kerrigan was practicing, allegedly in an attempt to discern her practice schedule. Kerrigan said, ''I can't understand any explanation of why something like this would occur. I don't think I could ever understand the answer, because I can't think that viciously.''4
Harding had previously filed two restraining orders against Gillooly. Even though they were officially divorced, the two reconciled, and at the time of the attack, Harding considered Gillooly her husband. John McBride, a coach and owner of a skating rink in Portland, explained Harding was ''a girl who was never taught or trained in how to deal with life.… My hat's off to the people who've dealt with her.''5 Gillooly was charged less than a week after the others. Harding proclaimed that she and Gillooly were innocent. However, she announced they were separating in order for her to concentrate on preparing for the Olympic Games.
On January 27, 1994, Harding admitted she learned about the attack shortly after it occurred, but had no role in planning it. The USOC announced it was deeply concerned about her admission and formed a five-member investigative committee in response. Harding expressed that she was sorry about what happened to Kerrigan. She said, ''I am embarrassed and ashamed to think that anyone close to me could be involved. I was disappointed not to have the opportunity to compete against Nancy at the trials. I have a great deal of respect for Nancy.''6
In the end, both Harding and Kerrigan competed in Lillehammer. Kerrigan won silver and Harding finished eighth, well out of medal contention. Gillooly pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison on racketeering charges. He was given the option of serving six months in Oregon's SUMMIT boot camp program. While there he had his name legally changed to Jeff Stone. Harding was sentenced to three years of probation and was stripped of the national title she won in Kerrigan's absence. Sean Eckardt also pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and was sentenced to eighteen months in prison.
The two other conspirators, Shane Stant and Derrick Smith, also were sentenced to eighteen months for their involvement. The courts determined that Smith drove the getaway car and Stant was the actual assailant.
Harding continued to be involved in scandalous and questionable behaviour over the years, often involving alcohol and fights with boyfriends. A video of her and Gillooly having sex appeared on the Internet, and stills from the tape were featured in Penthouse magazine. Harding claimed she was drunk at the time of the filming. She also appeared on a USA Pro Wrestling show in 1994.
In 2002 Harding boxed against Paula Jones on the Fox network Celebrity Boxing show. In 2003 she made her official professional boxing debut, in which she lost in a four-round decision.
The case is still significant today. It demonstrated to many the cutthroat nature of a sport long known for its beauty and grace, and highlighted the fact that women, too, can commit or orchestrate violence in such a competitive environment. Additionally, it represented to many a classic example of ''good versus evil,'' as Kerrigan was the beautiful princess to Harding's working-class brute. Further, although there are many scandals that have emerged from the Olympics, this was one of the most violent and certainly one of the worst to occur in a winter games.
O. J. SIMPSON IS CHARGED WITH DOUBLE MURDER
The nation was stunned as the story unfolded on national news: Beloved former football star and actor O. J. Simpson was accused of murdering former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her companion, Ron Goldman, in a brutal attack at Brown Simpson's home in Brentwood, California. On June 12, 1994, neighbors out for an evening stroll encountered an agitated dog that led them to the bloody body of Nicole Brown Simpson. Officer Robert Riske was first on the scene and discovered the second body. Both victims had bled to death from multiple stab wounds. Nicole's throat was deeply slashed. Ronald's body bore multiple stab wounds and showed evidence he had struggled with the assailant. Shortly after, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Central Robbery and Homicide Division detectives arrived and were ordered to inform Nicole's former husband, O. J. Simpson, that his ex-wife had been murdered but that their children were safe. Bloody shoe prints leading away from the bodies and toward a back alley, and a bloody glove and knit hat, were among the evidence found at the scene. Blood was found inside Simpson's Rockingham residence, including a bloody shoe impression in the carpet, and blood on his driveway, in the foyer of his house, and in his bathroom.
Blood was also found in his white Ford Bronco. Elsewhere on the grounds, investigators found a single glove that matched the one found at the crime scene. Simpson himself had a deep cut on one of the fingers of his left hand. When investigators inquired about the cut during their interview with him fifteen hours after the murder, Simpson could not recall how he had gotten it.
The prosecution seemed to have a slam dunk case. They had a DNA match between Simpson's blood and the blood drops found on the scene, an analysis found the hairs inside the hat found at the murder scene were consistent with Simpson's hair, the matching gloves belonged to Simpson, and testimony from itnesses, including Brian ''Kato'' Kaelin, Simpson's limousine driver, and friend and retired policeman, Ron Shipp, verifled he had no alibi for the time of the murders. Further, Shipp testifled that Simpson spoke of dreams he had of killing Nicole and his concern that the dreams would affect a lie detector test.
O. J. Simpson smiles after being found not guilty of the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. Courtesy of AP Photo/POOL, Myung Chun.
The prosecution argued that Simpson had not only the means and opportunity to commit the crime, but the motive to do so as well. They brought up previous allegations of his abusive behaviour towards Nicole, introducing the world to recordings of 911 calls that Nicole had made and photographs of her with bruises all over her face.
The defense strategy focused on besmirching the Los Angeles
Police Department, arguing the case against Simpson was a conspiracy concocted by racist officers. They repeatedly brought up the possibility that evidence was either planted, contaminated, or both. Because the investigation and analyses were so botched, jurors were instructed that they could not trust the results of the DNA, hair, and other tests. In what is often called the Trial of the Century, Simpson was acquitted in October 1995. A February 1997 civil trial, however, found him liable for the wrongful deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Simpson was ordered to pay $33.5 million in compensatory damages to the victims' survivors. The trial received tremendous media attention, with CNN alone providing more than 600 hours of coverage. An estimated 150 million Americans were watching live at the moment the verdict was announced. Orenthal James Simpson first captured the hearts of Americans as a running back at the University of Southern California (USC), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. He went on to play for the Buffalo Bills and attained all-pro status. In 1985 Simpson was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. During and after his professional career, Simpson was well known for his work as a pitchman for various companies, most notably Hertz rental cars. He began acting towards the end of his NFL career, appearing in several films including the Naked Gun comedies.
According to author Gregg Barak, Simpson has avoided making any payments to date, as he often, but not always, denies responsibility for the deaths. In fact, until recently, Simpson seemed to be living a life of luxury in South Florida, where he plays golf regularly and is a part of the nightlife in South Beach. State law protects his Kendall, Florida, home from seizure, and the families are unable to touch his NFL pension and the income from his personal production company, which is allegedly $300,000 per year. Simpson made a different statement in a 1998 Esquire magazine cover story, in which he said for the first time, ''Let's say I committed this crime … even if I did this, it would have been because I loved her very much, right?''7 More recently, the scandal continued as Simpson announced he was writing a book titled, If I Did It. The book was to be published by HarperCollins and chronicles the ''hypothetical'' account of the slaying of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. In February 2007 the partial transcript of an interview Simpson did with publisher Judith Regan became public. In it, Simpson made several comments that certainly indicated his guilt. Regan was later fired by HarperCollins amid public outcry about the publisher attempting to profit from the double murders. In the summer of 2007, the families of the deceased won the rights to the book. The Browns are to receive the first 10 percent of the gross proceeds and the Goldmans the rest.