Bad Conduct | What is the greatest injustice in the history of sport?

Every week, journalists from Sports de Press answer a question with pleasure, and a little insolence as well

Richard Labbé

It’s pretty easy to answer that question, IMHO. Alain Côté’s (not good) goal, Brett Hull’s skate, Steve Bartman and the Cubs, all of this is very small beer compared to the catch denied to Dez Bryant. Context: January 11, 2015, Lambeau Field in Green Bay, division final in the National Conference. The Packers have a five-point lead, but with 4:43 left in the fourth quarter, and with the ball in the Packers’ 32, the Dallas Cowboys are looking to convert a fourth down and two yards to go. That’s when Tony Romo, the greatest no-ring quarterback of all time, throws a perfect pass along the sideline to wide receiver Bryant, who pulls off the wrestling of the century at the one-line, a catch. which may lead to victory. But after seeing the replay, the refs decide to ridicule themselves and reverse their decision, much to the surprise of anyone with eyes. The Cowboys will never get over it and lose the game. To this day, “Dez Caught It” remains a popular line on social media. Three years later (!), The NFL will eventually admit that the catch was good. Thank you there.

Mathias Brunet

In 1936, Gottfried Von Cramm represented in the eyes of the Nazi regime the ideal incarnation of the Aryan demigod suitable to make German youth dream. Blond with blue eyes, elegant, twice champion at Roland Garros, he is urged by the regime for propaganda purposes. But this aristocrat, also nicknamed Baron Von Cramm because of his grace on the courts, systematically refuses their advances. In 1937, Hitler refused to register him at Roland Garros to defend his title. The following year, the Nazis arrested him in the middle of a family dinner to accuse him of homosexuality and of financial aid to the Jews. He was sentenced to one year in prison, before being sent to the Russian front as a private. He will be injured, but will survive the horror of war. Despite his opposition to Hitler, he was, like all Germans, banned from all international competitions from the end of World War II to the early 1950s. He returned to Wimbledon in 1951 after a 14-year hiatus, but loses in the first round… at 42 years old.

Simon-Olivier Lorange

Okay, that might not be the greatest injustice in the history of sport, but it is certainly one that deserves a mention. The 2008-2009 season for the Canadiens, the club’s centenary, was a real disaster. The roster assembled by general manager Bob Gainey over the summer was promising, but a plethora of mishaps and injuries marred what was to be a celebratory campaign. Barely entering the playoffs, the CH was swept away mercilessly and without love by the Boston Bruins. The injustice, here it is: to everyone’s surprise, in the second game, Gainey, interim head coach following the dismissal of Guy Carbonneau, sent Francis Bouillon into the fray. The Quebec defender, who was treating injuries to the groin and abdominal wall, had not played for two months. He had not taken part in any full training, contenting himself with a skating session on the morning of the match. In the evening, the experience was not long: after only 1 min 46 s of play, he had to withdraw. A few weeks later, Gainey made a clean sweep and let 10 free agents go without compensation, including Bouillon, who did not even receive an offer. In the end, playing him while he was not fully recovered was already highly questionable, but then throwing him away like an old handkerchief was, the word is weak, unfair. And probably lots of other qualifiers that we will keep to ourselves.

Nicholas richard

The Canadian Olympic Committee’s Athlete Excellence Fund awards a bonus to its Olympic medalists. An athlete who wins gold receives $ 20,000, silver, $ 15,000, and bronze, $ 10,000. In return, Canadian Paralympic medalists receive no financial reward. Zero. Niet. Nada. This award is only available to Olympic athletes. Absolute nonsense, an absurdity without a name… a first-rate injustice. Let’s imagine what happened next to Chantal Petitclerc, Benoit Huot and Aurélie Rivard, who respectively won 21, 20 and 10 Paralympic medals. Ahead of the Tokyo Games last summer, the United States and Australia announced that performance bonuses were going to be the same for Olympic and Paralympic medalists. In Canada, “we are crossing our fingers for Paris 2024”, a Paralympic medalist told me …

Guillaume Lefrançois

In 2017, were there really 96 quarterbacks superior to Colin Kaepernick in the NFL? This is what the 32 teams of the circuit have visibly agreed, unanimously in addition, because Kaepernick has never even signed a contract since the end of the 2016 season. That year, Kaepernick presented a efficiency coefficient of 90.7. It was good for the 17th^e rank in the NFL, ahead of names like Blake Bortles, Brock Osweiler and Trevor Siemian. Does this mean that he was superior to them all? Not necessarily, especially since Kaepernick was showing a 1-11 win-loss record in 2016, which is not optimal. But the 49^ers were also the worst defense in the NFL, both in yards and points allowed. The problem: Kaepernick is also the one who dared, the first, to put one knee on the ground during the American national anthem before the matches, in order to denounce the racial injustices in the United States. Kaepernick filed a grievance against the NFL for collusion, and an out-of-court settlement was reached in February 2019.

Miguel bujold

I could tell you about Ali or Kaepernick, but I’ll keep it light. In 1998, the Bills believed they had found a successor to Jim Kelly, the quarterback who had given them their best years. They had sent the ninth overall pick and their fourth round pick to the Jaguars in return for Rob Johnson. A USC alumnus, Johnson was the prototype of the Hollywood quarterback with his handsome face and 6ft 5in. But in 1999, he lost three of his first four starts and was injured in his fifth. Returning to the NFL after dominating the CFL, Doug Flutie has taken over. Standing at 5’9, Flutie won 8 of 11 games and helped the Bills advance to the playoffs. In a last game that meant nothing, the Bills made Johnson play, which was nothing abnormal. But to everyone’s surprise, it was Johnson that the Bills gave the ball for their playoff game the following week. Flutie had however been dazzling that season and deserved to get the start. The result: a 22-16 loss to the Titans in Tennessee. The famous “Music City Miracle” match… For their incomprehensible and very unfair decision, the Bills got what they deserved! Good old Flutie never found the magic of 1999 again. We’ll never know, but the Bills may have missed out on a memorable month of January through their fault.

Katherine Harvey-Pinard

I have a hard time with cheaters. Even more in sport. Even more when it involves doping. Even more when… OK, we get it. I find Lance Armstrong’s story appalling. He won seven Tours de France on banned substances. Seven ! I know there has been a lot of talk about the culture of the sport he was trained in, but I have no mercy. His titles were taken away – fortunately – but the fact remains that he was able to experience the euphoria of victory each time. And, at the same time, deprive non-doped cyclists (even if they were rare …) of such euphoria. And that, I find that unfair. I stop here.

Alexandre pratt

The defeat of boxer Roy Jones Jr in the Olympic final of the Seoul Games in 1988. In this three-round fight, Jones reached his South Korean opponent 86 times. For those who are not familiar with Olympic boxing, this is huge. One hit every six seconds. Truly a one-sided duel. Everyone gave Jones the win. Everyone… except three of the five judges. Huge uneasiness. Onlookers booed the decision. “I can’t believe they’re doing this to you,” the South Korean boxer said to the American. He even lifted him into his arms in the ring. The three judges were later suspended.

Jean-Francois Téotonio

In soccer, an injustice that transcends all others is also one that most fans are particularly fond of. Argentina faced England in the 1986 World Cup quarter-finals at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. At the 51^e minute, the Argentinian Diego Maradona makes one of his incomparable breakthroughs in the axis. The ball goes to England defender Steve Hodge, who tries to clear it by lobbing it towards his goalkeeper. Maradona propels herself, jumps to join the ball… and hits it with her fist, above her head. 1-0, Argentina. The English are pissed off. Maradona, instead of being offered a yellow card and having his goal denied, celebrates. This playfulness is matched only by his flash of genius, which struck four minutes later. Maradona was 2-0 at 55^e on a race with the ball masterfully, cementing at the same time his legend. Gary Lineker would reply with a header at 81^e, for a final score of 2-1. What would have been the story of this match if the hand of God, as Maradona himself so poetically described it after the meeting, had not raged angelically?