Worst Live Sports Mishap you saw

[socksoff]

The Quarterback question kind of sparked a (hopefully) interesting topic to discuss.I remember watching the game where Washington Redskin's Quarterback Joe Thiesseman had his leg bone broken off thus allowing Joe to form a perfect letter "L" (complete with a perfect right angle at the break!!!
I remember one Olympic games where a weightlifter lost control a the jerk stage and the weight fell behind him dislocating his shoulder joints . OOOUUUCCHHHH!!!
Anyone see or can remind us of other such "breaking" sports highlights?

 

[TklDuo-Ann]

Hmmmm.....

I remember the 1980(?) summer olympics with Greg Luganis smacking the back of his head on the high dive board and just dropping dead weight into the pool. That was scarey. I was so relieved when he turned out to be okay.

The college football game where the punt returner had called for a fair catch and got nailed anyway. As I recall, his signal had been shielded from the view of the guy who hit him by a ref. Unfortunately, the hit was a blatant head shot either way. The guy is in a wheelchair for life after that one. As I recall, that led to some added safety precautions and stiffer penalties for shots like that.

There was an incident in the mid or late 70s when one of the Met's pitchers (John something or other) had a line drive come right back at his head. He wasn't as lucky as Greg. He had to be helped off the field. I still recall seeing the imprint of the stitches from the ball on his head. This led to a change in his pitching style, with his follow-through bringing him into position to protect himself from other such incidents.

There've been plenty of nasty incidents.

Ann

 

[Neutron]

Two I Saw..

My junior year in High School. We were watching a film of a team called Avon Lake. A guy was punting the ball, a kid going to block it came down across the punters knee just prior to his foot touching the ground post punt.

The punters knee bent in the oposite direction and you could see his foot pointing straight up. This took 9 surgeries to correct.

My senior year. A running back from Elyria was cutting inside a tackle. A middle linebacker caught him helmut straight into the groin. The back, who was Division 1 college bound took 3 years before he could walk again.

My Freshman year in college I was playing inside linebacker. I had a great shot at a tailback, Hit him square in the chest, snapped his sternum and ten ribs, and cracked my helmut in 4 places.
On film it sounds like a cannon, and you can actually see his chest implode. To this day I get a bit ill thinking about it.

Tron

 

[maniactickler]

I remember a pro hockey goalie who got his throat slahed by a skate and was spurting blood about 10 feet from his neck.

 

[maniactickler]

I remember a pro hockey goalie who got his throat slahed by a skate and was spurting blood about 10 feet from his neck.

that would be "slashed".

 

[featherfingers]

I don't remember all of the details, but back in the '70s the Detroit Lions' defensive player Chuck Hughes was involved in some kind of tackling mishap. He was taken off the field in a stretcher...a few minutes later, the commentator announced that Chuck Hughes had just died. If someone remembers that event, please refresh my memory. I don't want to be giving out misinformation.

 

[Neutron]

Chuck Hughes..

Heart exploded from a congenital heart defect. Although he was tackled the films show him running in an open field, then stumbling 3 steps and as he fell a linebacker hit him.

The coroner ruled he was most likely dead by the second stumbling step.

Tron

 

[featherfingers]

Re: Chuck Hughes..

Heart exploded from a congenital heart defect. Although he was tackled the films show him running in an open field, then stumbling 3 steps and as he fell a linebacker hit him.

The coroner ruled he was most likely dead by the second stumbling step.

Tron

Thanks, Neutron. I remember being incredibly shaken up by that whole incident when it happened. I just had flashbacks. What a sad way to go...but he died playing the game he loved.

 

[fitnesstickle]

The guy that crashed on the downhill ski race that showed on Wild World Of Sports for years.

 

[theshire]

Cameroonian soccer player Marc Vivien-Foe, who collapsed and died of heart failure in the middle of a match.

 

[Mitchell]

Two that I can think of, both fatal. One I saw, another I read about.
Boston Celtics player Reggie Lewis, who had a heart aliment, collapsed on the basketball court in the middle of a game in the early 1990s and died a short time later, that was tragic. I think I recall watching videotape of Lewis collapsing on the court.
Also, I didnt see this, because I wasnt alive at the time of course, but I recall reading in a baseball history book of a guy who was hit in the head and "beaned" as they call it in baseball, by a pitch thrown in a major league baseball game. He collapsed on the field, was taken to the hospital, and died early the next morning. Apparently, the pitched ball had sustained a severe head injury and trauma that ultimately resulted in his death.
Those are the two most tragic mishaps I can think of in sports.

Mitch

 

[Dave2112]

Sorry guys, but out of all the gruesome injuries that have been mentioned...one thing stands out in my mind as the worst thing to witness in pro sports in the last decade or possibly more...

The "Basket-Brawl" of only a few weeks ago. What a decisive point to prove that basketball has become nothing more than an extension of "The 'Hood". If violent rap music has a lucritive outlet, it's the NBA. It's become nothing more than a live field for the re-living of "payback" and "hoodrules".

Long remember the "real" NBA, as now it's gone...only a vehicle to push rap CD's.

 

[Limeoutsider]

At a hockey game there was a player that was lying on the ice for about 10 minutes, when the 15 year old girl sitting near me started yelling "get up you aint hurt!" and her parents encoruaged it

 

[giantfan121262]

One time the Jets were playing the Chiefs and the Chiefs QB was being rushed by Dennis Byrd and Scott Merseareau converging on him. The chiefs QB stepped out of the pocket to avoid the sack and the two defensive players collided. That was the game where Byrd fractured his vertabrate and became paralyzed. Obviously, it ended his career. there is a somewhat happy ending to the story where Byrd made a pretty good recovery and can lead a pretty normal life. It just goes to show how one play can change the life of a player

 

[Alex Warfield]

Sadly, I can remember many:

Michael Irvin going headfirst into the turf vs. the Eagles. He was being tackled and had put his head down to avoid a helmet-to-helmet collision with another tackler. Ended his career.

Willis McGahee of the Miami Hurricanes getting his knee blown up in the national title game. A horrific thing to watch. It's incredible what he's doing right now in the NFL.

Tony Saunders of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays breaking his arm while throwing a pitch....twice. The last time was in one of his final rehab starts before his comeback. He sadly was forced to retire.

The many times pitchers have had balls batted back at their heads.

The fans at the White Sox/Royals game that ran on to the field and beat the shit out of the Royals first base coach.

Seeing the entire Royals team run onto the field and beat the shit out of those dweebs. Heh heh!

I once saw a hockey game where a player had slid onto the ice to block a shot, and the shooter slapped the puck right into the guys throat. I thought for sure it was going to kill him.

That's all for now.

 

[giggleygirl25]

i remember watching when clint malarchuk got the skate to his neck(sorry i can't remember which nerve was nearly severed)..that was scary as hell....there've been guys with concussions,broken bones and stuff like that...but clint's is the only one that really stands out to me.

 

[Neutron]

I Saw Brendan Shanahan..

Take a puck right in the throat, it was shot by that big Defenseman from St Louis Al Maginnis (spelling might be off)

How about when Rudy T gor his face caved in during that Basketball game. It was horrifying. I saw that on live TV.

Tron

 

[KoocheeKoo]

The worst thing I ever remember seeing live on tv was MLB umpire John McSherry dying of a massive heart attack on opening day at Riverfront Stadium (Cincinatti) in 1996...

Of course, Theismann's broken leg is another I'll never forget....as was the MLB pitcher who's arm broke as he was throwing a pitch (think it was Dave Dravecky); those were both difficult to watch.

The worst thing I've ever seen "live" was a friend of mine in the 8th grade.....Jen was jumping on a trampoline in P.E. (gym) class, landed wrong (missed the trampoline), and shattered her lower leg and ankle; she nearly went into shock before the paramedics arrived.

 

[toyou444]

Saw one of the wrestlers in GLOW dislocate her elbow...and they showed it over and over and over and over and over...(shudder)

~ toyou

 

[Bulldogge]

Sid Vicious

I remember watching WCW wrestling when it was in it's death throes, and seeing Sid Vicious coming off the top rope and breaking his ankle. His foot and ankle just went at a complete right angle to his leg.... horrible. Worse when seen in slow motion, as so many of these things are.....

 

[tkrexx]

When Eddie Guerrero had first joined the WWF (As it was then) with Chis Benoit, after a match that he wasn't even a part of, before in fact he'd actually wrestled as a WWF'er, he frog splashed some one and landed on his elbow. I happened to tape that sequence, and you can actually see the elbow coming apart. In slo-mo it's particularly hideous.

Rxx

 

[batch]

i remember when chris pronger of the st. louis blues got hit in the chest with a shot from a red wing. his heart stopped for a few seconds and he collapsed on the ice. he of course survived and is still an all-star defenseman.

 

[giantfan121262]

One time, when I was playing football in highschool, I was playing LB and there was a bee that came right at the defensive tackle. This doesn't sound bad except that this guy was allergic to bees and if he got stung, God knows what could have happened. When I saw the bee, I called time so we could shoo the bee away hence preventing a potentially tragic mishap.

 

[natural tickler]

Two instances, actually:

When Moises Alou was playing for the Expos, he was rounding first, and tore up his ankle, it spinned totally around

When I was in high school, I was playing Defensive End, and the other def. end was rushing the passer, and we both nailed him, I hit him high, and my teammate hit him low, and he did a helicopter spin, and landed awkward on his neck

 

[tommytikl]

Willis McGahee of the Miami Hurricanes getting his knee blown up in the national title game. A horrific thing to watch. It's incredible what he's doing right now in the NFL.

I saw this game on live on TV and happened to be channel surfing by and stopped basically at the snap of the ball for the said play...
I was amazed at the height he got and then horrified as his knee went in a direction not meant by God...

Tony Saunders of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays breaking his arm while throwing a pitch....twice. The last time was in one of his final rehab starts before his comeback. He sadly was forced to retire

I think I saw the first time he broke his arm pitching or I saw it on Sports Center...either way that was a crazy thing to see.


The worst one I saw was watching gymnastics and a guy was doing the floor valut thing where you jump on this board hit the pomel horse with your hands and do some amazing landing...well the guy hit the floor valut thing and his chest smacked SQUARE into the pomel hourse, he just bounced off and laid there...crazy!