Charles  Barkley

Charles "Chuck" Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" for his aggressive and outspoken demeanor, and "The Round Mound of Rebound" for his unusual build and talent, Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's (NBA's) most dominating power forwards.

In March 1991, during an overtime game in New Jersey, a courtside heckler had been yelling racial epithets throughout the game at Barkley. Upset by the heckler's remarks, Barkley turned to spit at him, but, as he later described, did not "get enough foam", missed and mistakenly spat on a young girl. Rod Thorn, the then-NBA's president of operations, suspended Barkley without pay and fined him $10,000 for spitting and using abusive language at the fan. It became a national story and Barkley was vilified for it. Barkley, however, eventually developed a friendship with the girl and her family. He apologized and, among other things, provided tickets to future games. Upon retirement, Barkley was later quoted as stating,

"I was fairly controversial, I guess, but I regret only one thing—the spitting incident. But you know what? It taught me a valuable lesson. It taught me that I was getting way too intense during the game. It let me know I wanted to win way too bad. I had to calm down. I wanted to win at all costs. Instead of playing the game the right way and respecting the game, I only thought about winning.

Throughout his career, Barkley had been arguing that athletes should not be considered role models. He stated, "A million guys can dunk a basketball in jail; should they be role models?" In 1993, his argument prompted national news when he wrote the text for his "I am not a role model" Nike commercial. Dan Quayle, the former Vice President of the United States, called it a "family-values message" for Barkley's oft-ignored call for parents and teachers to quit looking to him to "raise your kids" and instead be role models themselves.  Barkley's message sparked a great public debate about the nature of role models. He argued,

I think the media demands that athletes be role models because there's some jealousy involved. It's as if they say, this is a young black kid playing a game for a living and making all this money, so we're going to make it tough on him. And what they're really doing is telling kids to look up to someone they can't become, because not many people can be like we are. Kids can't be like Michael Jordan.

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George Best

George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional football player, best known for his years with Manchester United. He was a winger whose game combined pace, acceleration, balance, two-footedness, goalscoring and the ability to beat defenders. In 1968, his annus mirabilis, he won the European Cup with Manchester United, and was named the European Footballer of the Year. When fit, he was an automatic choice for the Northern Ireland team, but he was unable to lead them to the World Cup qualification, despite being capped 37 times and scoring nine goals.

In 1999, he was voted 11th at the IFFHS European Player of the Century election, and 16th in the World Player of the Century election. Pelé named him as one of the 125 best living footballers in his 2004 FIFA 100 list and Best was named 19th, behind Gerd Müller, at the UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll. In his native Northern Ireland the admiration for him is summed up by the local saying: "Maradona good; Pelé better; George Best."

He was one of the first celebrity footballers, but his extravagant lifestyle led to problems with alcoholism which curtailed his playing career and eventually led to his death in November 2005 at the age of 59. His cause of death was a kidney infection, a side-effect of the immuno-suppressive drugs he was required to take after a liver transplant. GQ named him as one of the 50 most stylish men of the past 50 years.

Best suffered from alcoholism for most of his adult life, leading to numerous controversies and, eventually, his death.

In 1981, whilst playing in America Best stole money from the handbag of a lady he did not know in order to fund a drinking session. "We were sitting in a bar on the beach, and when she got up to go to the toilet I leaned over and took all the money she had in her bag.".

In 1984, Best received a three-month prison sentence for drunk driving, assaulting a police officer and failing to answer bail. He spent Christmas of 1984 behind bars and turned out as a player for Ford Open Prison.

In September 1990, Best appeared on an edition of primetime BBC chat show Wogan in which he was clearly drunk and swore, at one point saying to the host, "Terry, I like screwing". He later apologized and said this was one of the worst episodes of his alcoholism.

In August 2002, he had a successful liver transplant at King's College Hospital in London. The transplant was controversial due to Best's alcoholism. The controvesy was reignited in 2003 when he was spotted openly drinking white wine spritzers.

On 2 February 2004, Best was convicted of another drunk driving offence and banned from driving for 20 months.

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Dennis Rodman

Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American retired professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The Worm" and was known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities. Playing small forward in his early years before becoming a power forward, Rodman earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors seven times and was voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year twice. He also led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years and won five NBA championships (1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998).

Experiencing an unhappy childhood, Rodman was shy and introverted in his early years. After aborting a suicide attempt in 1993, he reinvented himself as the prototypical "bad boy" and became notorious for numerous controversial antics. He dyed his hair in artificial colors, presented himself with many piercings and tattoos and regularly disrupted games by clashing with opposing players and officials. He famously wore a wedding dress to promote his autobiography. Rodman pursued a high-profile affair with singer Madonna and was briefly married to actress Carmen Electra.

Apart from basketball, Rodman is a part-time professional wrestler. He was a member of the nWo and fought alongside Hulk Hogan at two Bash at the Beach events. He had his own TV show, The Rodman World Tour, and had lead roles in the action films Simon Sez and Double Team alongside Jean-Claude Van Damme. Both films were severely critically panned, with the latter earning Rodman a triple Razzie Award. He appeared in several reality TV series and was the winner of the $222,000 main prize of the 2005 edition of Celebrity Mole. Rodman also won the first ever Celebrity Championship Wrestling tournament.

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Phil Luckett

Phil Luckett is a back judge in the National Football League (1991-2005, 2007-present). His officiating uniform number is 59. He entered the NFL as a field judge in 1991, was a referee from 1997-2000, and has since returned to the back judge position (the NFL switched the titles of back judge and field judge in 1998). Luckett took a leave of absence from the NFL for the 2006 season. Having returned for 2007, Luckett is the back judge on Bill Carollo's crew. Luckett also refereed in the WLAF/NFL Europe, including being assigned World Bowl '97.

The first was an overtime coin toss on Thanksgiving, 1998 between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Detroit Lions. The referee microphone only picked up Pittsburgh captain Jerome Bettis calling "tails. "The toss was "tails", and Luckett called the Lions as the coin toss winners. Bettis insisted that he had called "tails", and Luckett insisted that (Bettis) had called "heads-tails," meaning that Bettis said "heads" first. The Steelers argued the call to no avail and Bettis denied Luckett's claim. The Lions scored a field goal on their first possession of the overtime to win the game.

Within a week, the game tape was enhanced, and Bettis is clearly heard saying "hea-tails." A sideline microphone enhancement also clearly had Bettis telling Coach Bill Cowher that (Bettis) had said "hea-tails." According to NFL rules, a team's first call is the one the referee will use.

Following this incident, the captain's choice of heads or tails is now called before the coin is flipped, and the referee will generally state it over his microphone so that there is no dispute.

This incident was parodied in the film Rat Race, where Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays the role of a referee who botches a coin flip, costing one team the game.

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Jeffrey Maier

Jeffrey (Jeff) Maier (born September 24, 1984) is an American baseball fan best known for an incident he was involved in as a twelve-year old at a baseball game, when he deflected a batted ball in-play into the stands during Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles. His action altered the course of Game 1,as the resulting home run allowed the Yankees to tie the score. They would go on to win the game and the series, four games to one.

On October 9, 1996, the Yankees trailed the Orioles 4–3 in the bottom of the eighth inning when shortstop Derek Jeter hit a deep fly ball to right field. Right fielder Tony Tarasco moved near the fence and appeared "to draw a bead on the ball" when the then-12-year-old Maier reached over the fence separating the stands and the field of play 9 feet below and deflected the ball into the stands. While baseball fans are permitted to catch (and keep) balls hit into the stands, if "a spectator reaches out of the stands, or goes on the playing field, and touches a live ball" spectator interference is to be called.

Right field umpire Rich Garcia immediately ruled the play a home run, tying the game at 4–4, despite the protest of Tarasco and Orioles manager Davey Johnson. The Yankees would win the game in the eleventh inning on Bernie Williams' walk-off home run. The Orioles maintained their protest of the Maier play after the conclusion of the game, but their protest was denied by American League President Gene Budig because judgment calls cannot be protested. After viewing the replay, Garcia admitted that there was spectator interference, though he maintained the ball was not catchable. Garcia's contention that the ball was not catchable has been disputed. Had Garcia ruled it spectator interference, he would have then used his own judgment to determine what the most likely outcome of the play would be--either an out or awarding Jeter a given number of bases.

The Yankees went on to win the series against Baltimore, four games to one, as well as the World Series against the Atlanta Braves. As a result of the play, a railing was added to the top of the right field wall at Yankee Stadium to prevent fans from reaching over it.

Meanwhile, in New York, Maier became a minor celebrity. The New York Daily News allowed him to sit behind the Yankee dugout later in the postseason. The boy appeared on national talk shows, including The Late Show with David Letterman, and was even awarded the key to New York City by mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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Mike Tyson

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is a retired American boxer. He was the undisputed heavyweight champion and remains the youngest man ever to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles. He won the WBC title at just 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old, after defeating Trevor Berbick by a TKO in the second round. Throughout his career, Tyson became well-known for his ferocious and intimidating boxing style as well as his controversial behavior both inside and outside the ring.

He was the first ever heavyweight champion to hold the WBA, WBC and IBF titles simultaneously.

Nicknamed "Kid Dynamite", "Iron Mike", and "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson won his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, 12 in the first round. He unified the belts in the splintered heavyweight division in the late 1980s to become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Tyson lost his title when he lost to 42-to-1 underdog James "Buster" Douglas in February 11, 1990, in Tokyo, by a KO in round 10.

In 1992, Tyson was convicted of sexually assaulting Desiree Washington, for which he served three years in prison (during this time he also converted to Islam). After being released from prison in 1995, he engaged in a series of comeback fights. He regained a portion of the heavyweight title, before losing it to Evander Holyfield in a 1996 fight by an 11th round TKO. Their 1997 rematch ended in shocking fashion as Tyson was disqualified for biting off part of Holyfield's ear. He fought for a championship again at 35, losing by knockout to Lennox Lewis in 2002. Tyson retired from competitive boxing in 2005 after two consecutive knockout losses to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride. Tyson declared bankruptcy in 2003, despite receiving over US$30 million for several of his fights and $300 million during his career.

He is ranked #16 on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

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Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona (born 30 October 1960 in Lanús, Buenos Aires) is a former Argentine football player, and current manager of the Argentine national team. He is considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all time; he finished first in an internet vote for the FIFA Player of the Century award, and he shared the award with Pelé.

Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Newell's Old BoysNapoli, setting world-record contract fees. In his international career, playing for Argentina, he earned 91 caps and scored 34 goals. He played in four FIFA World Cup tournaments, including the 1986 World Cup where he captained Argentina and led them to their victory over West Germany in the final, winning the Golden Ball award as the tournament's best player. In that same tournament's quarter-final round he scored two goals in a 2-1 victory over England that entered soccer history, though for two very different reasons. The first goal was an unpenalized handball known as the "Hand of God", while the second goal was a spectacular 60-metre weave through six England players, commonly referred to as "The Goal of the Century".

For various reasons, Maradona is considered one of the sport's most controversial and newsworthy figures. He was suspended from football for 15 months in 1991 after failing a doping test for cocaine in Italy, and he was sent home from the 1994 World Cup in the USA for using ephedrine.

After retiring from playing on his 37th birthday in 1997, he increasingly suffered ill health and weight gain, hardly helped by ongoing cocaine abuse. In 2005 a stomach stapling operation helped control his weight gain. After overcoming his cocaine addiction, he became a popular TV host in Argentina.

His outspoken manners have sometimes put him at odds with journalists and sport executives. Although he had little previous managerial experience, he became head coach of the Argentina national football team in November 2008.

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Paolo Di Canio

Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Active in Italy, Scotland and England, Di Canio made over 500 league appearances in his career, scoring over 100 league goals.

Di Canio is a self-proclaimed fascista and has been photographed and videotaped several times giving the controversial Roman salute to Lazio supporters while playing for Lazio. He was suspended and fined €10,000 in 2005 after making the gesture during a match against Juventus the previous year (the Italian Constitution explicitly prohibits the recovery of the dissolved Italian Fascist party) though most Italian politicians made light of the incident and Di Canio publicly asserted that the gesture was intended to be a solidarity greeting to his fans, not an expression of racism, pointing out that he often uses both arms.

Lazio has traditionally been associated with Italian Fascism and was favored by Benito Mussolini, the Fascist leader of Italy in the 1930s and 40s.

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Matti Ensio Nykänen

Matti Ensio Nykänen (born 17 July 1963 in Jyväskylä, Finland) is a former Finnish ski jumper who won five Olympic medals (four gold), nine World championships medals (five gold) and 22 Finnish championships medals (13 gold). Nykänen is the only ski jumper in the world to have won both a gold medal in Olympic Games, World Championships and Ski flying World Championships and finished first in the overall World Cup and Four Hills Tournament.

Since the 1990s, however, his status as a celebrity has mainly been fueled, not by his sporting achievements, but instead by his colourful personal relationships, his career as a singer, and various incidents often related to heavy use of alcohol and violent behaviour. Nykänen has been in the headlines of tabloid newspapers more often than any other person in Finland. The latest episode was on Christmas Day 2009 - the alleged knife attack of his wife's head and hand, almost 10 years after his first assault on her.

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Tiger Woods

Eldrick Tont Woods (born December 30, 1975), better known as Tiger Woods, is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No. 1, he was the highest-paid professional athlete in 2008, having earned an estimated $110 million from winnings and endorsements.

On November 25, 2009, supermarket tabloid The National Enquirer published a story claiming that Woods had an extramarital affair with nightclub manager Rachel Uchitel‎, a claim she denied. The story began to attract media attention when Woods had a car accident a day and a half later. He was leaving his home around 2:30 a.m. in his SUV, a 2009 Cadillac Escalade, when he collided with a hedge, a fire hydrant, and finally a tree down the street. Woods was treated for minor facial lacerations, and cited for careless driving. He refused to speak to the police and the accident fanned intense speculation for the following two days until he released a statement on his website. He took blame for the crash, but said it was a private matter; he also praised his wife Elin for getting him out of the car. Woods later announced that he would not attend his own charity golf tournament, the Chevron World Challenge, or any other remaining tournaments in 2009.

Interest in the story grew until San Diego cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs publicly claimed in the gossip magazine Us Weekly, that she had a two and a half year affair with Woods, producing voice and text messages that she said Woods left her.

After over a dozen women claimed in various media outlets that they had affairs with Woods, media pressure increased. On December 11, he released another statement, admitting to infidelity, offering another apology, and announcing an indefinite hiatus from professional golf. On the same day, lawyers acting on his behalf obtained an injunction in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, preventing the publication in the UK of any images of Woods naked or having sexual intercourse, while denying that Woods was aware of the existence of any such images.

The day after the statement, several companies indicated they were reconsidering endorsement deals. Gillette suspended advertising featuring Woods, and said they would not be hiring him for any public appearances for the company. On December 13, management consultancy firm Accenture completely cut its sponsorship of Woods, stating that the golfer was "no longer the right representative."

On December 15, 2009, The New York Times reported that Anthony Galea, a Canadian sports doctor who had previously treated Woods, was under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for allegedly providing the drug Actovegin and human growth hormone to athletes.

As of December 25, 2009, the count was 14 women. The Walt Disney Company had mocked Woods with a reference written into its California Adventure Park Aladdin show.

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Marion Jones

Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is a former world champion track and field athlete. She won five medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia but has since agreed to forfeit all medals and prizes dating back to September 2000 after admitting that she took performance-enhancing drugs.

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