Image via Complex Original
Live TV has a complicated relationship with sports. On the one hand, everybody wants their sports up-to-date and up close and personal. On the other, if you've ever shanked a drive on the 18th hole of the Masters, or been subjected to the vagaries of NBA officiating, or had to play with Sasha Vujacic, you know that playing sports can make you use language that isn't really appropriate for family broadcasts.
Last weekend TV censors in England had one of those "YIkes!" moments, when Manchester United's ever volatile Wayne Rooney went ham after scoring a goal against West Ham. Rooney's outburst of foul language was especially foul since he ran up to the camera and practically jumped into viewers' living rooms; still it got us thinking about these other cases of Legendary Athletes Cursing on Live TV...
Kenyon Martin
DATE: 5/11/2009
WHAT'D HE SAY? "You better walk that way, you f*ggot motherfucker. You gotta come to Denver, bitch."
We could never co-sign dropping the f-word; we can't really co-sign talking shit to somebody's mom either though (as Mark Cuban, the object of K-Mart's little tirade here in the 2009 Playoffs, did). So let's just call this one fuckery squared.
Kobe Bryant
DATE: 12/3/2010
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "Stop worring about that shit. Just defend and shut the fuck up!"
"Just defend and shut the fuck up." Not a bad mantra for a championship club. But still, Kobe, take it easy on the rook! You're up by 29 points!
Chase Utley
DATE: 7/15/2008
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "Boo? Fuck you."
We got no problem with a curt "Fuck you" on live TV. But what's good Chase, you never been to The Bronx before? Of course they're gonna boo you, son.
Tiger Woods
DATE: 6/18/2009
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "Goddamn you...fuckin' prick."
"Whoa," indeed Mr. Stuffed Shirt golf commentator. Unfortunately for Tiger, it wasn't the first time his fuckin' prick got him in trouble in '09.
Glen "Big Baby" Davis
DATE: 5/13/2010
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "I know, I know. I fucked up. I fucked up...I fucked up!"
Yeah, yeah, we know you fucked up on this play. But this ain't the first time. Enough is enough.
Yao Ming
DATE: 2/20/2005
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "Kobe, don't fuck with me."
Except for being extremely tall, Yao isn't that different from us after all. We always learn the curse words from another language first.
Latrell Sprewell
DATE: 12/4/2004
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "Suck my dick!"
Damn Spre, we knew you were mean, but cursing the mentally-challenged Clippers fans? That's on some Lindsay Lohan mean shit!
Charles Barkley
DATE: 6/20/1993
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! That's bullshit!"
During his playing days, Sir Charles was never the type to hold his tongue. So it makes you wonder what TNT was thinking when they decided to get him behind the mic.
Shaquille O'Neal
DATE: 2/1/2004
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "People pay good money to watch us athletes play, they try to take over the fuckin' game." [Shaq, we're on live.] "I don't give a shit."
The only thing more gully than Shaq's "I don't give a shit" to the reporter's "Shaq, we're on live"? David Stern himself.
Michael Jordan
DATE: 9/11/2009
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "And when I called him, and asked him to stand up for me, I know I shocked the shit out of him."
Mike, it wasn't the curse word that actually "shocked the shit" out of us, it was more the shit you were popping off with about anyone and everyone who has ever done you wrong during the rest of the acceptance speech that left us astounded. MJ stays winning even if heads gotta roll in the process.
DJ Mbenga
DATE: 2/26/2009
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "Shut the fuck up, man."
Once upon a time, Sasha Vujacic was the Lakers' whipping boy. When Kobe, Odom, or Gasol were tearing him up, he just had to take it. Pause. When the 12th man on the team is telling you off, it's probably best you check to see if you even got any nuts.
Andrew Bynum
DATE: 10/22/2010
WHAT'D HE SAY?: "Give me the fuckin' ball!"
Ooof, this is a preseason game! Imagine if it was the playoffs? (Which is what Sasha has to do now that he got traded to the Nets!) Bynum sounds a lot nicer cursing after games.