Bad Sport: Worst Athlete Flip Outs Of The Year

The competitive nature of professional sports and its athletes is great for sports, but it also leads to some major overreactions. It is nearly impossible for a major sport to go through an entire season without seeing a player flip out from time to time. This year is not even half over, and there have already been several overreactions from professional athletes. These are the four biggest flip outs of the year so far.

Carlos Gomez

Carlos Gomez of the Milwaukee Brewers has been known for admiring his home runs for far too long. Gomez admired a hit off of Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerritt Cole that he though was leaving the yard, but it ultimately ended up being a triple. Cole had a few words for Gomez as he went into third base, but Gomez quickly started throwing punches. The outburst got Gomez a three game suspension.

Nick Young

The normal looking foul by Alex Len of the Phoenix Suns on Nick Young of the Los Angeles Lakers quickly escalated after Young took exception to the foul. Young and Len shared heated words when several Suns players stepped in between the two players. Nick Young was still clearly upset and took his frustration out by punching Suns guard Goran Dragic, which ultimately got him suspended one game of the NBA season.

DeJuan Blair

The Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs were in a heated playoff battle earlier this season when the entire series got decided by one player's poor decision. DeJuan Blair and Thiago Splitter were both going after a pass when the two players collided and fell to the floor. Blair then made the bad decision of kicking Splitter in the head before standing up. This move got him ejected from the game and suspended for the next game in the series. Blair had been one of the most successful players for the Mavericks in the series and his absence led to their departure from the NBA playoffs.

Everyone on Canucks and Flames

It only took two seconds for chaos to ensue in the January 18th game between the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames. Immediately after the drop of the puck to start the game, everyone on the ice started to fight each other. The brawl lasted for several minutes and led to the ejections of eight players from the game.

While only a small percentage of professional athletes decide to flip out each year, it gets a lot of media attention every time it happens. Anyone with a coaching master's degree will tell you that this is relatively rare in professional sports though. Hopefully we can not take from their example and be better sports than these sore losers.