[Genetic]

Many of us have experienced some not so great moment during the practice of sports. Some were maybe to say the least embarrassing. On a personal note I have lived so many that some of them are, now, good memories.

In a «past life» I had the chance, only once, to be the director of a men national indoor tennis tournement. During the qualification a player who had to do serious mileage to attend was angry because his opponent was defaulting after a last minute injury. He challenged me in public to take the place of the missing player. Usually as a director tournement you refuse in those situations. But the public challenge got to me and I accepted. I beat the crap of this gentlemen.
Now the good part: with this «victory» I had access to the main draw and was opposed to an australian player, the tournement was an open one, that was in the past ranked 23 in the world. So after winning the toss I choose to serve first and won the first game with some lucky shots. That is exactly where the sky fell on my head. My friends, with friends like mine you dont need ennemies, who were seated in the crowd started, to my outmost embarrassment, a «wave» to celebrate my win....

The fury of my opponent was so intense and I was so severely beaten that he asked me after the match if he could practice on the court with one of the other players...

And you, what is your infamous personnal sports memory?

 

[usc goose]

Back in high school football there was a play that went down with only 10 people on the field. I must have zoned out a little.

The most embarrassing thing that I saw wasn't something I did, but when I was rowning, my bowman once crabbed out of the boat on the way to the start line. If you know anything about rowing, that is not something that you want to happen right before a race. (but better than during I guess)

 

[dhwilkin]

I've got two, neither all that bad.

First one is I'm playing racquetball against my roommate. In the middle of a rally where I had just made a ceiling shot, we ended up positioning ourselves so that he was a few feet in front of me, getting ready to return the ball on its way down. But, for some reason, he decided not to return it and let it bounce... since I was fully expecting him to return it and thinking ahead to what my next shot should be, the ball ended up hitting me and giving him the rally. The bad part is the same thing happened again the next week.

The second one was at an informal wrestling scrimmage against another team. We didn't have our uniforms yet, so we were in normal practice clothes. Apparently, I had forgotten to tighten up the sweatpants I was wearing sufficiently, which I found out first time my opponent tried a double-leg shot.

 

[raif]

When I was in the fourth grade I was one heck of a 4-square player. One particular recess I had made it to the top right in the beginning and stayed there the whole time. By the end, it had become the mission of everyone to try and get me out, and after 15 minutes of them failing I started to get a little cocky. Right near the end of recess one of my main competitors tried to get me out with some b.s. "baby hit" move, to which I of course responded with a massive "treetop." After getting him out I made a circle jumping and celebrating "in your face" style, when one of the girls in line yelled out, "Hey your fly's open."
...
so that sucked.

Worst thing is, my fly wasn't really open, I just had on some cheap pair of shorts that only zipped up maybe 4/5 of the way and also exposed the zipper. To this day I have never showboated in sports, and up untill I graduated High School, I would periodically check my zipper every time I was out walking about.

 

[Braver]

couple of years back, when I was playing in this volleyball team with people twice my age against people twice my age (and size/strength too)... I tended to keep too close to the 3-meter line when defending...ended up defending more than one really well-hit smash with my head

you live, you learn

most recent silly mistake was a *slight* miscalculation during a sessions of benchpressing...only got to three repetitions and then it took everything I had to not get squashed

 

[JMT]

I was in the 8th grade and playing Pony League baseball. I was having a good year hitting-wise and poked a few home runs. We were in a tie for first place and playing the team that we were tied with. It was a close game, and I already hit a homer during my first at bat. We were down by two in the bottom of the eighth inning, two outs, and we had guys on first and second when I came to my third at-bat (I had singled during my second at-bat). First pitch I hit it deep into center field, and just knew it was going to clear the center field fence. The center fielder simply turned his back and ran, that's how I knew I just hit a three run homer to give us the lead.

So, of course, I started my "home run" trot around the bases to savor the moment. Looking forward to crossing home plate and getting mobbed by my teammates, picture in the paper, pretty girls wanting my autograph, etc. So I slowed my trot down....just a bit.

I glanced up just long enough to see the ball drop right in front of the center field fence and the center fielder pick the damn thing up (I just reached first base by then). My head went down and my legs started pumping like there was no tomorrow. I WAS NOT GOING TO HAVE A 230 FOOT SINGLE!!!!!!!

I came into second base sliding with my spikes up. I felt something hit my leg and popped up onto the bag just in time to hear the second base umpire yell......"YER OOWWWWWWT!!"






My teammates still mobbed me.

 

[MN Ham Phones]

Riding an adult sized "Big Wheel" sort of contraption at a campground. No handlebars, the front wheel was on a pivot so you leaned to one side to turn.

Tooling around the paved paths saw a hill with a sign warning of steep hills. So I read it as a challenge and not as a caution.

Went down the hill, faster and faster, till the front wheel started oscillating from side to side. It finally went full lock, picked the back end up, threw me up, out and over.

I landed a few feet a way, face down in the dirt besides the path. The Big Wheel launched upwards, caught up to me, smacked me in the back of the head, driving me down for an unwanted dirt sandwich.

A cloud of dirt flew by me as I struggled to my feet. The folks at a picnic table not six feet away were too stunned to ask if I was OK. I wasn't.

I was wearing my Dad's watch. His retirement watch. The crystal was destroyed. One knee and shin were a bloody mess. Road rash a quarter inch deep. Other minor road rash on both palms and dirt ground into my gums.

I got back on, peddled away, encountered another, smaller hill, and started going down again. (always get back on the horse). It started oscillating but I managed to stop before being ejected again.

I pushed the contraption back to the tie up area for bikes and hobbled back to my campsite.

That was June 26 years ago. The scabs lasted till after the first of the year.

To this day I have knee trouble in cold weather.

I can't say it was a glorious or embarrassing moment. But it was dramatic.

 

[GlowWorm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by genetic I had access to the main draw and was opposed to an australian player, the tournement was an open one, that was in the past ranked 23 in the world. So after winning the toss I choose to serve first and won the first game with some lucky shots. That is exactly where the sky fell on my head. The fury of my opponent was so intense and I was so severely beaten that he asked me after the match if he could practice on the court with one of the other players...

What's so embarrassing about getting your butt handed to you by a former #23 player in the world? Who was it, Wayne Arthurs?

 

[DLP]

Skiing. There were these three little, small, tiny jumps in succession. I had been taking them all day without any problem, until it happened. I hit the first one fine, hit the second one in a somehow really screwed up position, wound up going face first into the third one to have one of my skis come off my foot and hit me in the back of my head. Everybody just kinda stared and kept going downhill around me.

 

[ricola_pak]

When I was playing defense for my high school's soccer team, I tried to chest down the ball right in front of my goal and it ended up going into the net

 

[Genetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlowWorm What's so embarrassing about getting your butt handed to you by a former #23 player in the world? Who was it, Wayne Arthurs?

Hi GlowWorm

Ian Fletcher. I have lost, an won, so many matchs that I know it's not the result that count but the way it's done. My «friends» even sang THE infamous song «na na na hey hey goodby...» at the last change of side of the second set...

Amicalement

 

[GlowWorm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by genetic Ian Fletcher.

Yeah, I remember him making a little "noise" in the 70's.

 

[Genetic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GlowWorm Yeah, I remember him making a little "noise" in the 70's.

Keep in mind that he was at the end of his pro carreer (U.S Open, Wimbledon, French Open, etc.) as I was barely out of juniors ranks...

Amicalement

P.S. How I got the gig as tournement director so young? A long story...

 

[Demolition]

My most embarrassing moment was an own goal in hockey. During bantam hockey (more than 20 years ago

), I scored into my own net while trying to clear a loose puck from in front, losing it for us in overtime. Just shot it straight in, beating my goalie cleanly (or "smoked him like a bad cigar", in the immortal words of Mike Lange, the Pittsburgh Penguins' play-by-play man). It was a real showstopper. The players on both teams just stopped dead. The crowd just stopped dead. It was quite something.

D.

 

[plainsong]

In horseback riding, I was never great at English style. I started out at it briefly, fell, broke my wrist and shoulder and got a concussion - but that wasn't a bad day because that's the first day I put the saddle on my own horse. When I got better I switched to Western, and excelled at horsemanship and then reining...

So now that you know that, it was because of my horse that I was so good at reining, I never was a great rider, but she could also find her way over jumps. It wasn't her thing, but she could pick up on it with a little training. It's good to work on more than one discipline for many horses. It keeps them thinking. She was one of those that likes a surprise.

So during a day out with some English-riding friends, I have my horse in an English saddle because it's just not too comfy jumping in a western one, though you can. We'd never jumped a chicken-coop and it was higher than we'd ever schooled at 3'6", but at 16.1hh it wasn't exactly high from my horses's point-of-view. I decided to take the risk and try the jump.

Umm, Not the best choice. I over-jumped her. Meaning I was too far forward for my own good. She, sensing my funny position, said "I don't think so" and refused. So I kept going over the jump anyway. Except that I landed on my feet standing on top of the jump.

I was a bit shakey, but laughing to. What are the odds of landing there as if I planned it? But my horse waited for me to get back on and we got it right the second time. What can I say, jumping wasn't our thing.