Offbeat sports stories of 2011
What a party
Squirrels, Shaq, and Britney Spears? They all made our list of the best offbeat sports stories of the year — along with a few more. Take a look
Help a player out
When you gotta go, you gotta go. So when nature called, Adrian Peterson stopped by a McDonald's near his house for some relief. Unfortunately, the interior of the store was closed for the night and the employee who let him in got canned for violating the restaurant's policy by allowing Peterson to pee. Luckily, the restaurant offered the seven-year McDonald's veteran her job back after being contacted by the local media
Tied up
Being a car salesman in Chicago is tough when you're a Packers fan. One 34-year-old fan found out it's even worse when you wear your Green Bay tie to your job the day after the Bears are eliminated from the playoffs by the Packers. Luckily, a rival dealer hired fan John Stone after Packers fans said they would give him their business if they hired the offending fan
Oh say can you sing?
Just because you're a superstar singer doesn't mean you're going to always get the words right when all eyes are on you. Christina Aguilera proved just that when she flubbed the words to the national anthem in front of a worldwide crowd at this year's Super Bowl. Yes, the national anthem. At the Super Bowl. Maybe next year's singer should bring a cheat sheet.
Ring true
One 10-year-old gave us some hope for humanity back in April. Cliff Forrest took $8,500 out of his college education fund and bought William “Refrigerator” Perry's Super Bowl XX ring with it. Then he returned it to Perry. The kid and his family flew to Chicago to give the ring back to the former NFL star, who was said to be "overwhelmed by the gesture," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. So were we
Swamp thing Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick's house was one of nine in Washington State robbed by a burglary ring and among the possessions taken from him was his cherished 2008 World Series ring. But this story actually had a happy ending! More than a month after the theft, the ring was found by police searching a swamp in an unrelated case.
Slam dunk or singer?
In April, the WNBA had fans questioning why the Phoenix Mercury would draft a pop singer. However, it turns out the team actually drafted Brittany Spears, a basketball player for the University of Colorado. The similar name confused people enough that #brittanyspears was trending on Twitter after the draft, prompting one user to tweet "the fact that #brittanyspears is trending is sad...you all spelled Britney wrong..." No, we didn't.
Life lessonJa
Marcus Russell may be one of the best known draft busts in the NFL, making him a prime candidate for a life coach. But how bad do things have to get to make your life coach want to dump you? Russell hired former NBA player John Lucas to serve as his guide, but Lucas didn't even last a year before dumping his employer because his charge allegedly didn't want to cooperate with his coach's life lessons
Wish you were here
What's the French word for "Oops"? Because that's probably what France's hockey officials were saying after sending the team to the world championships after the team flew to Krakow, Poland, but the event was being held in Kosice, Slovakia. Luckily, the French players were able to make it to the tournament on time -- after a 180-mile bus ride to get them to the right city
Hair raising
When you're a world famous soccer player, you can afford things like big houses, fancy cars and ... hair transplants? That was exactly Wayne Rooney did with some of his fortune and took to Twitter to ask his followers for hair gel recommendations after confirming he had the procedure. He even got his 740,000 Twitter followers to make "#hairwego" a trending topic.
Shaq is out
Shaquille O'Neal does things his way and his retirement announcement was no exception. Rather than doing the typical press conference to publicize his departure from the NBA, the basketball star posted a short video on Twitter stating his plan to quit the game, saying "We did it; 19 years, baby. Thank you very much. That's why I'm telling you first: I'm about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon.
Take a bite
Takeru Kobayashi ate 69 hot dogs on the Fourth of July -- a number that would've earned him the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Championship and a world record. But because of a contract dispute with the competition's organizers, Kobayashi wasn't actually at Nathan's to compete and instead ate in exile from a roof bar in Manhattan. Joey Chestnut won the official Nathan's men's title after downing 62 dogs while Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas won the first women's hot dog eating title
Slow it down
Kyle Busch forgot that race car drivers should only speed on a track when he was ticketed for reckless driving and speeding in North Carolina. The NASCAR star was caught going 128 mph in a 45-mph zone while behind the wheel of a Lexus two-seat concept car. After pleading guilty to the charges, he was fined $1,000 and had his license revoked for 45 days
Double vision
When his twin brother Nick won the chance to shoot a puck for $50,000 -- but was outside the arena with his friends -- 11-year-old Nate Smith stepped in to take the shot. And he made it. Unfortunately, the brothers, who came clean about the switch, couldn't collect the cash because Nick's name was on the winning ticket. Honesty really is the best policy, even if it did cost these boys a big payday.
What a rush
Terrell Owens started the season without a team and staged a national TV event in October with the hope of drumming up interest among NFL teams who may need his services. No NFL scouts showed up, but the move wasn't a total bust after T.O. got a contract offer from the Arena Football League's Chicago Rush. Of course, he would've had to take a big pay cut -- the AFL team only offered him a standard $400-a-week deal.
He must be nuts
During the fifth inning of the NLDS game between the Cardinals and Phillies, an unwelcomed guest ran onto the field: a squirrel. He was the third squirrel to scamper around the field during the series, but the other two didn't have the boldness to actually run across home plate. The Cardinals eventually won the World Series with their "Rally Squirrel" giving them a bit of good luck along the way.
Hot diggedy dog
A California man was arrested after throwing a hot dog -- yes, a hot dog -- at golfer Tiger Woods. The fan stated he was inspired by the movie "Drive" saying, "As soon as the movie ended, I thought to myself, 'I have to do something courageous and epic. I have to throw a hot dog on the green in front of Tiger.'" The weiner wrongdoer was charged with a misdemeanor for disturbing the peace.
Big fish tale
Squirrels, Shaq, and Britney Spears? They all made our list of the best offbeat sports stories of the year — along with a few more. Take a look
When you gotta go, you gotta go. So when nature called, Adrian Peterson stopped by a McDonald's near his house for some relief. Unfortunately, the interior of the store was closed for the night and the employee who let him in got canned for violating the restaurant's policy by allowing Peterson to pee. Luckily, the restaurant offered the seven-year McDonald's veteran her job back after being contacted by the local media
Being a car salesman in Chicago is tough when you're a Packers fan. One 34-year-old fan found out it's even worse when you wear your Green Bay tie to your job the day after the Bears are eliminated from the playoffs by the Packers. Luckily, a rival dealer hired fan John Stone after Packers fans said they would give him their business if they hired the offending fan
Just because you're a superstar singer doesn't mean you're going to always get the words right when all eyes are on you. Christina Aguilera proved just that when she flubbed the words to the national anthem in front of a worldwide crowd at this year's Super Bowl. Yes, the national anthem. At the Super Bowl. Maybe next year's singer should bring a cheat sheet.
One 10-year-old gave us some hope for humanity back in April. Cliff Forrest took $8,500 out of his college education fund and bought William “Refrigerator” Perry's Super Bowl XX ring with it. Then he returned it to Perry. The kid and his family flew to Chicago to give the ring back to the former NFL star, who was said to be "overwhelmed by the gesture," according to the Chicago Sun-Times. So were we
In April, the WNBA had fans questioning why the Phoenix Mercury would draft a pop singer. However, it turns out the team actually drafted Brittany Spears, a basketball player for the University of Colorado. The similar name confused people enough that #brittanyspears was trending on Twitter after the draft, prompting one user to tweet "the fact that #brittanyspears is trending is sad...you all spelled Britney wrong..." No, we didn't.
Marcus Russell may be one of the best known draft busts in the NFL, making him a prime candidate for a life coach. But how bad do things have to get to make your life coach want to dump you? Russell hired former NBA player John Lucas to serve as his guide, but Lucas didn't even last a year before dumping his employer because his charge allegedly didn't want to cooperate with his coach's life lessons
What's the French word for "Oops"? Because that's probably what France's hockey officials were saying after sending the team to the world championships after the team flew to Krakow, Poland, but the event was being held in Kosice, Slovakia. Luckily, the French players were able to make it to the tournament on time -- after a 180-mile bus ride to get them to the right city
When you're a world famous soccer player, you can afford things like big houses, fancy cars and ... hair transplants? That was exactly Wayne Rooney did with some of his fortune and took to Twitter to ask his followers for hair gel recommendations after confirming he had the procedure. He even got his 740,000 Twitter followers to make "#hairwego" a trending topic.
Shaquille O'Neal does things his way and his retirement announcement was no exception. Rather than doing the typical press conference to publicize his departure from the NBA, the basketball star posted a short video on Twitter stating his plan to quit the game, saying "We did it; 19 years, baby. Thank you very much. That's why I'm telling you first: I'm about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon.
Takeru Kobayashi ate 69 hot dogs on the Fourth of July -- a number that would've earned him the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Championship and a world record. But because of a contract dispute with the competition's organizers, Kobayashi wasn't actually at Nathan's to compete and instead ate in exile from a roof bar in Manhattan. Joey Chestnut won the official Nathan's men's title after downing 62 dogs while Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas won the first women's hot dog eating title
Kyle Busch forgot that race car drivers should only speed on a track when he was ticketed for reckless driving and speeding in North Carolina. The NASCAR star was caught going 128 mph in a 45-mph zone while behind the wheel of a Lexus two-seat concept car. After pleading guilty to the charges, he was fined $1,000 and had his license revoked for 45 days
When his twin brother Nick won the chance to shoot a puck for $50,000 -- but was outside the arena with his friends -- 11-year-old Nate Smith stepped in to take the shot. And he made it. Unfortunately, the brothers, who came clean about the switch, couldn't collect the cash because Nick's name was on the winning ticket. Honesty really is the best policy, even if it did cost these boys a big payday.
Terrell Owens started the season without a team and staged a national TV event in October with the hope of drumming up interest among NFL teams who may need his services. No NFL scouts showed up, but the move wasn't a total bust after T.O. got a contract offer from the Arena Football League's Chicago Rush. Of course, he would've had to take a big pay cut -- the AFL team only offered him a standard $400-a-week deal.
During the fifth inning of the NLDS game between the Cardinals and Phillies, an unwelcomed guest ran onto the field: a squirrel. He was the third squirrel to scamper around the field during the series, but the other two didn't have the boldness to actually run across home plate. The Cardinals eventually won the World Series with their "Rally Squirrel" giving them a bit of good luck along the way.
A California man was arrested after throwing a hot dog -- yes, a hot dog -- at golfer Tiger Woods. The fan stated he was inspired by the movie "Drive" saying, "As soon as the movie ended, I thought to myself, 'I have to do something courageous and epic. I have to throw a hot dog on the green in front of Tiger.'" The weiner wrongdoer was charged with a misdemeanor for disturbing the peace.
An 881-pound tuna could've made some big bucks for one fisherman. Instead, fishing boat owner Carlos Rafael had his trophy catch seized by federal fishery officials because he caught it with a net, which is illegal. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the move was to discourage fishermen from catching the tuna because of a decline in its population.
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