France attacking midfielder Zinedine Zidane was sent off in the 110^th minute of the 2006 World Cup final when he head-butted Italy defender Marco Materazzi in the chest. The two exchanged words and as they were walking away, Materazzi reportedly said, “I prefer the whore that is your sister,” to which Zidane replied with the head-butt. Italy won the World Cup 5-3 via shootout.  Materazzi received a 2-game suspension and $4117 fine while Zidane received a 3-game suspension and $6176 fine.  Zidane had already retired, but voluntarily served 3 days of community service to make up for it.  This didn’t deserve to be on the list, but definitely deserved to be mentioned. It’s not often that you see a player head-butt an opponent in the chest, let alone knock him down with it. You have to give Zidane credit for his creativity.

Tennessee Titans DT Albert Haynesworth removed the helmet of Dallas Cowboys C Andre Gurode after he fell to the ground while blocking for RB Julius Jones on a touchdown run. Haynesworth proceeded to stomp on the head of Gurode, cutting his forehead above his right eye. The cut needed 30 stitches. Haynesworth was given a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty and followed that by throwing his helmet to ground, gaining another 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty and his ejection from the game. Haynesworth was suspended for 5 games without pay which totaled about $190,000. The suspension is the longest for an on-field incident. Haynesworth apologized and did not appeal the suspension. That was about all Haynesworth could do to save face. This is about as shameful as it gets. To intentionally take a man’s helmet off and then kick him in the head for no real reason is unbelievable. Tempers will flare in the trenches, but Haynesworth’s temper got the best of him and had to be included in the list of the most shameful ever.

Los Angeles Lakers F Kermit Washington was suspended for 2 months, missing a total of 26 games, for his brutal punch on Houston Rockets F Rudy Tomjanovich during their 116-105 loss to Houston. Washington was in an altercation with Houston C Kevin Kunnert and Los Angeles C Kareem Abdul-Jabbar when Tomjanovich approached Washington quickly from behind. Washington turned around and immediately punched Tomjanovich in the face. Tomjanovich laid in a pool of blood on the court and was taken to a hospital where it was determined that he had a facial fracture and that spinal fluid was leaking into his mouth. He missed the remainder of the season and was awarded $3.2 million from the Lakers in a lawsuit. Washington’s mentality was “swing first, ask questions later.” He could have just as easily hit a teammate. Fortunately, Tomjanovich came back and played 3 more seasons and didn’t suffer too much permanent damage. Unfortunately, Washington couldn’t catch on with anyone as he played for 4 teams in the next 6 seasons and retired to no one’s dismay.

Former Vancouver Canucks LW Todd Bertuzzi hit Colorado Avalanche C Steve Moore in the side of the face from behind, knocking him down, followed by Bertuzzi falling on top of him. The hit was in retaliation from a February 16 game when Moore hit Canucks captain Markus Naslund in the head without a penalty (Naslund suffered a concussion and a bone chip in his elbow). The Bertuzzi punch left Moore with three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial lacerations. Bertuzzi forfeited $501,926 in salary and the Canucks were also fined $250,000. He was suspended by the NHL for the remaining 13 regular season games and 7 playoff games for the Canucks and the ‘04-’05 cancelled season. Bertuzzi returned for the ‘05-’06 season. Without a doubt, this is the worst cheap shot in any sport given how much damage it did. Sticking up for a teammate is forgivable, but to do it in this manner is not.

Michigan F Chris Webber infamously called a time out with 11 seconds left while down 73-71 against North Carolina during the NCAA Championship game when they had no time outs left. That resulted in a technical foul which effectively ended the game for Michigan. North Carolina won with a final of 77-71. It’s a little tough to blame Webber for this. In the heat of the moment with the biggest game of a college basketball players’ career on the line, a man’s mind may go blank and he’ll just do what he’s always been taught to do. Call a timeout. However, a player, especially on team like Michigan, ought to at least know how many time outs he has left. On the bright side, though, this technically never happened after Michigan forfeited the entire 1992-93 season, among other things, when it came out that Webber’s amateur status was compromised when he took money and prostitutes well before he attended Michigan.

Legendary Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson middle guard Charlie Bauman in the throat during the Gator Bowl after Bauman intercepted a pass along the Ohio State sideline in the last seconds of the game, which Clemson won 17-15. Hayes was known for his temper and inability to not let it affect the game. What’s worse is that he affected key games including 2 games against rival Michigan, 2 Rose Bowls, and the Gator Bowl, which brought an end to his career. After he got back to Columbus, Ohio, he was informed that he was fired as coach of the team. A coach should be keyed up during a game, but not to the point that it hurts the team. His legacy is scarred now because of his temper. People today will forget his lifetime record of 238-72-10, 3 national championships, and 13 Big Ten championships. They’ll remember that he was violent on the field and would even go so far as to assault a player during a game.

Boston Red Sox P Bob Stanley threw a wild pitch that allowed the New York Mets to tie the score at 5-5 in the bottom of the 10^th inning of Game 6 of the World Series. This was followed by Boston 1B Bill Buckner’s infamous error when he let New York OF Mookie Wilson’s slow grounder skip through his legs, allowing 3B Ray Knight to score the winning run. The Mets went on to win the Series in Game 7 two days later. He is every Mets fan’s hero and every Red Sox fan’s enemy. He can’t be entirely blamed because the Red Sox still had another game to win it in. But to miss a routine grounder like that is something a 5-year old pee wee player does. Much like Hayes, people will forget what he accomplished including leading the league in batting average in ‘80 and finishing in the top 10 of the MVP vote twice. Instead, two seconds of a game has made him Boston’s public enemy number one.

Buffalo Bills kicker Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard field goal in the last seconds of Super Bowl XXV giving the New York Giants a 20-19 win. It should be noted that Norwood was just 1 for 5 from 40+ yards in grass during the regular season as was this kick. It should also be noted that the Bills defense allowed the Giants to convert three 3^rd downs and hold the ball for 9:29 (a Super Bowl record) on one drive in the 3^rd quarter before Super Bowl MVP running back Ottis Anderson scored a touchdown. However, Norwood’s field goal would have made all of this forgiven. It may seem a little high for this list, but it’s the Super Bowl. The man was getting paid to kick field goals. Missing one, let alone the most important one of his career, is hard to swallow. He’ll most likely go down in history as sports’ biggest choker, deservedly or not.

Eight Chicago White Sox players were banned from baseball for life when they accepted money and threw the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds. The players were P Eddie Cicotte, P Lefty Williams, OF “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, OF Hap Felsch, 1B Chick Gandil, IF Fred McMullin, SS Swede Risberg, and 3B Buck Weaver. The fix was reportedly a combination of the players’ greed and hatred of White Sox owner Charles Comiskey for unfair treatment of players and not giving them their rightful pay. The players made questionable plays during the Series that resulted in players being safe and runs scoring when they could have possibly made a play. Jackson and Weaver professed their innocence until their death to no avail. If all the reports are true that Comiskey treated his players as bad as they say he did, it’s hard to fault them for accepting money. But throwing a game is just un-American, especially when it's the World Series.  We may never understand what the players were thinking at the time, but we can hope that it never happens again. Ruining the integrity of the World Series is unforgivable.

The infamous Indiana Pacers vs. Detroit Pistons brawl occurred at the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit. Indiana F Ron Artest and Detroit C Ben Wallace got into a scuffle when Artest gave Wallace a hard foul when the game was effectively over. Wallace pushed Artest causing him to back off. John Green, a Detroit fan, threw a cup of beer at Artest provoking Artest to climb into the stands. Artest confronted the wrong man and a brawl broke out when Indiana G/F Stephen Jackson punched the man Artest was confronting. Many fans and players got involved throwing punches. Artest returned to the court and punched Detroit fan A. J. Shackleford who came onto the court and was heckling him. Indiana F Jermaine O’Neal punched fan Charlie Haddad, who was on the court during the melee. The game was called with less than a minute to go with Indiana winning 97-82. Artest was suspended for the remainder of the season which was 86 total games, Jackson for 30 games, O’Neal for 25 games (15 after appeal), Wallace for 6 games, Indiana G Anthony Jackson for 5 games, and four more players for 1 game apiece for leaving their respective benches. Artest may play good defense, but he’s nothing more than a thug. He showed his cowardice by not fighting back with Wallace and instead showed his ignorance by going into the stands. All of the men involved in provoking the brawl got off easy with only suspensions. They should be happy they’re even allowed to play basketball at all in this country.