Five Worst Moments in Sports

In sports, games are broken down into moments and memories that forge a trail of excitement and pain that every sports fan has stored in his mind. Ask him where he was when Bill Buckner let a simple ball roll through his legs and the real sports fan will remember. Ask someone else where they were when they found out Mike Tyson had been knocked out by Riddick Bowe and the answer will be equally specific. Sports are a universal language that bridges every gap that separates man and brings us all together to laugh and to cry as we follow a particular player or team on their journey through a sports season.

Along with the wins and losses, championships and gut-wrenching choke jobs, there are moments in sports that transcend the game. These moments forge beyond a game and cause us to remember that it is just that, a game. These five moments are the very worst in sports.

#5 NBA: Indiana Pacers versus Detroit Pistons

Early in the 2004-2005 season, terror erupted when Ron Artest fouled Detroit's Rasheed Wallace. With the game in hand, Artest's foul was deemed too rough by Wallace. Rasheed Wallace responded with a fish to the face of Ron Artest and the scramble erupted from there. With a minute left to go in the game, the fans of Detroit watched as both benches cleared as players from both sides came to the rescue of their own. With the referees attempting to restore order, ending the game Artest removed himself and lay down on the scorer's table. And from the stands, a fan through a cup of beer on Artest. What had become a calm situation, immediately reignited as Artest who was followed by teammate Steven Jackson, made a bolt for the stands and began to inflict vicious blows on fans.

#4 Dale Earnhardt's Death at Daytona

There has never been a more respected driver in NASCAR than Dale Earnhardt. A fan favorite and maverick driver, Dale Earnhardt embodied the growth of NASCAR as a major sport until his untimely death on the last lap at the 2001 Daytona 500. Chasing his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Darrell Waltrip into the last turn, Earnhardt's air flow was interrupted by the pursuit of Sterling Marlin and Dale Earnhardt's #3 Budweiser car spun into the retaining wall while hitting the front of Ken Schrader's car. While the accident looked bad it certainly did not appear to be a serious one. What the fans could not see was the front wheel of Earnhardt's car collapsing and the retaining wall tearing into the front of the car and into the windshield with Earnhardt secured inside. When Schrader was able to get out of his car and check on Dale Earnhardt, he screamed for help calling the EMT's to the wreckage. Less than three hours later, NASCAR commissioner announced that Dale Earnhardt was dead.

#3 Marshall Football Team's Plane Crashes in Storm

With the team returning from a heartbreaking loss to the East Carolina Pirates, the University of Marshall Thundering Herd football team was on their way back to the mountains of Marshall, West Virginia when poor visibility and conditions caused the pilots of the Southern Airlines flight to drop below the minimum descent altitude. This caused the plane to strike a forest of trees that were perched on a hillside. The consequences of which caused the plane to crash and burn a mile away from the airport's runway. All told, seventy-five players, coaches, and major donors died that evening in November of 1970.

#2 Greg Louganis at the Olympics

You can be a fan of Greg Louganis like I am. But pondering the fact that during the Olympics he chose to keep his recently contracted AIDS virus quiet and dive anyway. To make matters worse, when he hit his head on the high dive board, his busted head had to be treated by a doctor who was not told of his disease. This put the doctor in danger of contracting the AIDS virus without his knowledge. This irresponsible behavior has to be one of the most controversial moments in sports as fans salute Louganis' triumph in winning the gold medal. While at the same time, enraged that he would risk the health of someone else by not coming forward about his health.

#1 Israel and Munich, 1972

On a hot summer night in Munich, West Germany, eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were kidnapped by members of the Palestinian militant group Black September. In something out of a movie, members of Black September made there way to the dorm area where Israeli athletes were sleeping and were able to take eleven hostages, most of whom were wrestlers and coaches. Over the next day, various demands were made including a rescue attempt and subsequent move of the hostages. In the midst of this chaotic situation, events escalated causing one of the Black September members to throw a grenade at the helicopter that had hostages on it. The helicopter exploded, and a gun battle ensued. In the end, the hostages were dead and the militant terrorists were killed. When ABC Sports Announcer made the announcement, three words will always be remembered, 'they're all gone.'