10. The Michael Sam "Distraction"
Not only does he mock how shocked people are that an athlete's sexual orientation doesn't affect his physical talents, but he takes a run at Jonathan Vilma's homophobia and reminds the NFL about the criminal behavior of some other star players, which are not considered a "distraction."
9. Michael Vick Dog-Fighting Scandal
Stewart takes issue with sports media when they begin to shift focus from the harm done to innocent dogs to "more important" factors involved in the scandal: gambling and ratting on other players.
8. Lance Armstrong Admits to Blood Doping
Jon shows that he's on the same page as all of us by employing his trademark self-deprecation, hearkening back to his own interview with Armstrong in 2006 and admitting how obvious his cheating seems in hindsight.
7. Gay Players in American Sports
"Still, all in all it's a great day for major league sports. At long last they have decided that gay people are fit to be included in their elite club. One that's already allowed in adulterers, wife swappers, gamblers, cheaters, rapists, racists, and slaughterers of man..."
Don't worry, he keeps going.
6. Penn State Riots
In perhaps his most terse sports commentary to date, Stewart uses two minutes and understandably very little humor to reprimand the students of Penn State, who rioted over the firing of Joe Paterno in the wake of revelations that the athletic department was implicit in covering up Jerry Sandusky's rape and assault of young boys in their facilities.
5. NBC's Olympic Coverage
Stewart offers up warranted antagonism toward NBC for pulling an Olympic tribute to the victims of the London subway bombings in favor of airing a Ryan Seacrest interview with Michael Phelps.
4. St. Louis Rams Protest Ferguson
The Rams' players profound and peaceful "hands up" protest in reaction to the racial unrest in Ferguson were met with criticism by law enforcement and some media outlets. Mr. Stewart rails against the irrationality of these critics by merging his unbridled disgust with his characteristic witty sarcasm.
3. The Steroid Era vs. the Hall of Fame
In classic Stewart fashion, the conversation begins by pointing out the hypocrisy of the BBWAA's refusal to include known steroid-users in the Hall of Fame, but then eventually takes a lighter turn. He flips the script to poke fun at the unreasonable extremes to which players like Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds went in their transformation at the hand of performance enhancers.
2. NCAA vs. Student Athletes
"...we like our exploitative, overwhelmingly-financially-advantageous-to-us, draconian collegiate model. I mean you know the old expression: if they're broke, why fix it?"
1. Roger Goodell and NFL Domestic Violence
In an uncharacteristically long monologue in which he tears apart the morals and ethics of Roger Goodell and the NFL, Jon Stewart at his most indignant is both funny and poignant. The segment starts out light but builds momentum before culminating with a proposition that the NFL mitigate its image problem by promoting the "gay distraction" they were so worried about earlier in the year.
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