Misconduct | What sporting behavior do you find most reprehensible?

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

Richard Labbe

Summer 2006. Against my will, a friend decides to drag me to Parc Jean-Drapeau, where the grand final of the World Cup is broadcast in the open air. Normally, I would have preferred to go to the dentist and have three crowns put in, but hey, the weather is nice, it’s hot, it’s a big game, so why not? It’s going very well and the show is very good… until a player (Italian or French, I can’t remember) falls into unbearable pain, a performance that reminds me of the time I witnessed Othello’s death at the Budapest Opera in 2005. In short, I find it hard to believe this player’s spectacle, and I remember screaming my most total dissatisfaction… only to then have the guy to my right explain all that: “Yes, but… it’s part of the strategy to try to fool the referee. ” Is that so ? Well, I pretty much chose to come in at that point, having been made aware of this very sad reality, I who believed that fooling the referee was only acceptable in professional wrestling. . They call it the beautiful gamebut I don’t see anything beautiful when I see players rolling around on the grass.

Nicholas Richard

I don’t know yet whether or not fighting should be banned in the NHL. This is a complex issue. Nevertheless, what I am certain of is that there is nothing more ridiculous in the world of hockey than “the code”. This completely barbaric and unreasonable way of settling scores by hitting your opponent with your bare hands to respect etiquette. Remember, just a few months ago when Corey Perry accidentally injured John Tavares. The Leafs captain’s head hit the Canadian player’s knee and he was stunned. Obviously, this gesture was not wanted and Perry was obviously angry with himself. The two have previously been teammates. Perry never intended to hurt Tavares and he apologized to him. It was clear. However, Nick Foligno wanted to avenge his captain and took up the fight with Perry. A deplorable, sad and embarrassing scene for hockey. Forcing a man to fight for being involved in an accident. Everyone lamented Foligno’s initiative, because everyone knew it was an unfortunate accident. It’s even worse when it happens in junior hockey. When teenagers aged 16-17-18 are forced to come to blows to respect an outdated tradition whose effect on the outcome of the match is questionable. It’s even more absurd when “the code” is implemented weeks or even months after an event. As in the Mark Scheifele case. Was his action against Jake Evans in the playoffs reprehensible? Obviously. Does it really change anything to fight to settle accounts the following season? It is difficult to answer in the affirmative.

Miguel Bujold

It happens quite rarely, but when a team is leading by 25 or 30 points in the fourth quarter and they keep going for passes for long wins, I think it’s a bit petty. Bill Belichick and the Patriots were often guilty of doing this in their heyday. The unwritten law of football dictates that a team that is well ahead on the scoreboard and has victory in its pocket uses its ground game in the final minutes of a match. A question of avoiding humiliating his rivals further and to spend as much time as possible on the clock. And it’s a very good unwritten law. Class and respect.

Jean-Francois Tremblay

There is a sporting behavior that horrifies me, because it is both dangerous and unnecessary: ​​hockey players who lose control and hit the head. This includes all situations where the head can be damaged: fighting, intentional shouldering, checking when you see the numbers, the extremely rare sticking too. Why but why was Mark Scheifele punished only four games for leaving Jake Evans for dead on the ice? By what miracle was Tom Wilson even fined (FINED!) for his icy version of Triple H’s pedigree? These two stupid gestures would have earned me 20 good suspension games. At least Radko Gudas was suspended 10 games for his ax to the head of Mathieu Perreault. Hockey needs to get these behaviors out of the sport forever, and it’s not going to happen with fines. As for the players who still agree to commit these gestures between them, not strong, chief.

Alexander Pratt

The hockey players who project themselves into the boards, or the footballers who dance, after a goal which brings the score to … 7-0. To conquer without danger, one triumphs without glory. And in a massacre, it is not always the loser who is covered with ridicule. It is also the winner who boasts.

Guillaume Lefrancois

On May 30, 2007, the Yankees faced the Blue Jays in what was once called the Skydome when Jorge Posada lifted an infield candle. Alex Rodriguez then runs for third base, and as he passes behind third baseman Howie Clark, the latter drops the ball, obviously believing that Inter were going to catch it. The reactions of the Blue Jays after the game left no doubt: Rodriguez shouted something to confuse. This kind of play happens from time to time in the baseball or softball leagues in which I play and it is unfortunate. Like John Gibbons said, that’s minor league behavior.