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When athletes attack
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/476205p-400595c.html
When it comes to the Fourth Estate, athletes generally maintain a relationship that falls somewhere in between Johnny Damon and ... Albert Belle. To quote Forrest Gump, "You never know what you're going to get" when Q&A time starts. Just ask ESPN's Kelly Naqi, who did the unthinkable by asking Giants DE Michael Strahan about some radio remarks he had made that were critical of teammate Plaxico Burress.
There have been many memorable media-athlete bouts over the years. The old axiom goes, "Don't Shoot the Messenger," but reporters might want to duck anyway.
Nov. 4, 1981 - Jets quarterback Richard Todd grabs New York Post sports writer Steve Serby by the neck, stuffs him in a locker and then shoves him to the clubhouse floor. Serby had written that the team would have been better off with QB Matt Robinson at the helm (Robinson had been traded two years earlier to Denver). Serby files criminal charges against Todd, but a Nassau County DA decides against acting on the case.
1983 - The Mets' Dave Kingman verbally abuses a female reporter. In June 1986, with the A's, Kingman is fined $3,500 for sending a live rat to sports writer Susan Fornoff of The Sacramento Bee.
Oct. 14, 1992 - The Braves' Deion Sanders dumps three buckets of ice water on CBS TV announcer Tim McCarver after Atlanta clinches NLCS. McCarver had been critical of Prime Time's trying to play in football and baseball games on the same day.
April 10, 1993 - Daily News sports writer Bob Klapisch and Bobby Bonilla clash at Shea. Bonilla, irked at Klapisch's book "The Worst Team Money Could Buy" (co-written with current News sports columnist John Harper) curses at Klapisch in the clubhouse: "Make your move, 'cause I'll hurt you. … I'll show you the Bronx." The two nearly come to blows before being separated.
April 26, 1993 - After a loss to Tigers, Royals manager Hal McRae throws a postgame tirade in front of reporters. "Every night it's these same stupid questions," McRae says. "Every night, the same stupid questions. That's it." McRae then tosses a phone, tape recorders and virtually every object off his desk. One item cuts the cheek of Topeka Capital-Journal sports writer Alan Eskew. McRae later apologizes to Eskew.
1994 - ESPN2's Jim Rome calls NFL quarterback Jim Everett "Chris" (in reference to female tennis great Chris Evert). Everett turns over studio table and knocks Rome out of chair.
Oct. 24, 1995 - Albert Belle, the surly Indians' slugger, blasts NBC's Hannah Storm with obscenities while she is waiting to do an interview with Kenny Lofton in the Cleveland dugout before Game 3 of the World Series against the Braves.
Feb. 6, 1996 - John Starks of the Knicks confronts the Post's Thomas Hill after a team practice and physically threatens him. The Knick guard is furious Hill has contacted Starks' family in Tulsa, Okla., for a story about his relationship with Knicks coach Don Nelson.
Sept. 21, 1998 - After a loss to the Chiefs 24 hours earlier in which he completed one pass for four yards, fumbled three times and threw two INTs, Chargers' QB Ryan Leaf unleashes profanity-laced tirade against a print reporter who had written a story about Leaf's earlier confrontation with a cameraman. "No, you listen to me. I don't have to listen to you. Don't … talk to me," says Leaf, the No. 2 pick in the draft that year. He is restrained by LB Junior Seau and a Chargers' spokesman, but the incident is caught on tape and nationally televised.
June 2002 - Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa becomes enraged at Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly after the columnist suggests that Sosa take a steroid test to prove he is clean. "You're not my father!" Sosa yells in front of his Wrigley Field locker. "Why do you tell me what to do? Are you trying to get me in trouble? I don't need to go nowhere. This interview is over!"
Jan. 10, 2005 - On way to get a physical that will officially make him a Yankee, Randy Johnson shoves two local cameramen, yelling, "I don't care who you are, don't get in my face!" He also shoves a Daily News photographer. At his Yankee Stadium press conference a day later, Johnson apologizes.
June 29, 2005 - Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers shoves two Dallas-area cameramen as he walks onto field, sending one to a hospital. Rogers is fined $50,000 and slapped with 20-game suspension. The punishment is later reduced to 13 games, while the fine is converted to a charitable contribution.
April 8, 2006 - Mets ace Pedro Martinez confronts Daily News columnist Mike Lupica about a column that said Martinez was "dramatic" on and off the field.
June 20, 2006 - Ozzie Guillen uses an expletive to suggest that Chicago Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti is gay and adds a racial epithet. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig says Guillen must complete "sensitivity training."
Wednesday - Giants defensive end Michael Strahan singles out ESPN reporter Kelly Naqi, asking the media crowd to part so she can be face to face with him as he unloads - "Come here, I want to see your face. Are you a responsible journalist? Look me in the eye and ask me this question, please, the way that you want to ask it. Come on. Look a man in the eye before you try to kill him or make up something."
Originally published on November 30, 2006
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/476205p-400595c.html
When it comes to the Fourth Estate, athletes generally maintain a relationship that falls somewhere in between Johnny Damon and ... Albert Belle. To quote Forrest Gump, "You never know what you're going to get" when Q&A time starts. Just ask ESPN's Kelly Naqi, who did the unthinkable by asking Giants DE Michael Strahan about some radio remarks he had made that were critical of teammate Plaxico Burress.
There have been many memorable media-athlete bouts over the years. The old axiom goes, "Don't Shoot the Messenger," but reporters might want to duck anyway.
Nov. 4, 1981 - Jets quarterback Richard Todd grabs New York Post sports writer Steve Serby by the neck, stuffs him in a locker and then shoves him to the clubhouse floor. Serby had written that the team would have been better off with QB Matt Robinson at the helm (Robinson had been traded two years earlier to Denver). Serby files criminal charges against Todd, but a Nassau County DA decides against acting on the case.
1983 - The Mets' Dave Kingman verbally abuses a female reporter. In June 1986, with the A's, Kingman is fined $3,500 for sending a live rat to sports writer Susan Fornoff of The Sacramento Bee.
Oct. 14, 1992 - The Braves' Deion Sanders dumps three buckets of ice water on CBS TV announcer Tim McCarver after Atlanta clinches NLCS. McCarver had been critical of Prime Time's trying to play in football and baseball games on the same day.
April 10, 1993 - Daily News sports writer Bob Klapisch and Bobby Bonilla clash at Shea. Bonilla, irked at Klapisch's book "The Worst Team Money Could Buy" (co-written with current News sports columnist John Harper) curses at Klapisch in the clubhouse: "Make your move, 'cause I'll hurt you. … I'll show you the Bronx." The two nearly come to blows before being separated.
April 26, 1993 - After a loss to Tigers, Royals manager Hal McRae throws a postgame tirade in front of reporters. "Every night it's these same stupid questions," McRae says. "Every night, the same stupid questions. That's it." McRae then tosses a phone, tape recorders and virtually every object off his desk. One item cuts the cheek of Topeka Capital-Journal sports writer Alan Eskew. McRae later apologizes to Eskew.
1994 - ESPN2's Jim Rome calls NFL quarterback Jim Everett "Chris" (in reference to female tennis great Chris Evert). Everett turns over studio table and knocks Rome out of chair.
Oct. 24, 1995 - Albert Belle, the surly Indians' slugger, blasts NBC's Hannah Storm with obscenities while she is waiting to do an interview with Kenny Lofton in the Cleveland dugout before Game 3 of the World Series against the Braves.
Feb. 6, 1996 - John Starks of the Knicks confronts the Post's Thomas Hill after a team practice and physically threatens him. The Knick guard is furious Hill has contacted Starks' family in Tulsa, Okla., for a story about his relationship with Knicks coach Don Nelson.
Sept. 21, 1998 - After a loss to the Chiefs 24 hours earlier in which he completed one pass for four yards, fumbled three times and threw two INTs, Chargers' QB Ryan Leaf unleashes profanity-laced tirade against a print reporter who had written a story about Leaf's earlier confrontation with a cameraman. "No, you listen to me. I don't have to listen to you. Don't … talk to me," says Leaf, the No. 2 pick in the draft that year. He is restrained by LB Junior Seau and a Chargers' spokesman, but the incident is caught on tape and nationally televised.
June 2002 - Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa becomes enraged at Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly after the columnist suggests that Sosa take a steroid test to prove he is clean. "You're not my father!" Sosa yells in front of his Wrigley Field locker. "Why do you tell me what to do? Are you trying to get me in trouble? I don't need to go nowhere. This interview is over!"
Jan. 10, 2005 - On way to get a physical that will officially make him a Yankee, Randy Johnson shoves two local cameramen, yelling, "I don't care who you are, don't get in my face!" He also shoves a Daily News photographer. At his Yankee Stadium press conference a day later, Johnson apologizes.
June 29, 2005 - Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers shoves two Dallas-area cameramen as he walks onto field, sending one to a hospital. Rogers is fined $50,000 and slapped with 20-game suspension. The punishment is later reduced to 13 games, while the fine is converted to a charitable contribution.
April 8, 2006 - Mets ace Pedro Martinez confronts Daily News columnist Mike Lupica about a column that said Martinez was "dramatic" on and off the field.
June 20, 2006 - Ozzie Guillen uses an expletive to suggest that Chicago Sun-Times' Jay Mariotti is gay and adds a racial epithet. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig says Guillen must complete "sensitivity training."
Wednesday - Giants defensive end Michael Strahan singles out ESPN reporter Kelly Naqi, asking the media crowd to part so she can be face to face with him as he unloads - "Come here, I want to see your face. Are you a responsible journalist? Look me in the eye and ask me this question, please, the way that you want to ask it. Come on. Look a man in the eye before you try to kill him or make up something."
Originally published on November 30, 2006
