Weirdest sports moment you've been a part of/witnessed firsthand

I was at the Garden the night all those Bruins players went over the glass to fight with the fans.

I was also at the very last Cosmos game at Giants Stadium. At the final whistle a bench clearing brawl took place and while a couple dozen or so players were punching each other out, the ref and the two AR's calmly walked off the field back to the dressing rooms and let the boys have at it.

And for another piece of Cosmos folk lore, I was there the night they won the playoff round when Carlos Alberto juggled the ball downfield instead of dribbling and scored in the shootout, thus staving off elimination. To this day I can recall the collective WTF and gasps from the crowd when he took off from the 35 yard line.

Can't say that I've witnessed that much notable. Best thing I can think of was the following:

I was at the famous FA Cup match when fourth-division Stevenage F.C. beat Newcastle United at their own ground in 2011. Stevenage is the next town south from mine, barely a five minute train journey, so I just went along for the kicks. I remember the ground looked a little ridiculous, what with how they'd built numerous TV camera booths precariously on top of stands which barely had a thousand fans underneath, and were probably about as deep as the cameras were long. I remember enjoying the flares the fans set off before the game, which comically rolled up the roof of the stand and completely smoked out one of the camera booths, to the point where the cameramen could barely see a single thing a metre in front of their faces.

Anyway, the weird part was at full time. Predictably, what with such a (comparatively) small team playing against a Premier League heavyweight and winning, there was a pitch invasion afterwards. I thought very hard about joining in, before deciding that - not being an actual Stevenage fan - I wouldn't know what to do if I did. I did take a few photos on my camera, though. It turned out on the news the next day that one of the fans had taken the opportunity to run up to a Stevenage player and punch him to the floor - it was big enough WTF moment that it made national news, and in the local press it turned into a huge manhunt with the local police offering rewards for anyone who could provide evidence of his identity. I thought seriously about handing in my photos - I realised that I did actually catch the guy on camera, though not in the act - but in the end decided they were too indistinct and wouldn't have helped. Turned out in the end that apparently the footballer he hit had run off with his girlfriend, of all things.

Anyway, not exactly a blockbuster of a story, but that's my moment of weirdness.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ott-Laird-shock-FA-Cup-triumph-Newcastle.html

I don't regularly attend sporting events, so I don't exactly have any WTF in person stories. However, in 2014 I was on the pitch at San Siro Stadium in Milan watching Italy get eliminated from the world cup on a big screen. That was pretty surreal.

Mostly I just wanted to comment on this:

Midas Mulligan said:

I was playing first, but neither me nor any other player or umpire in the infield even moved to defend him. The only person who ran in to stop it was our 2B's dad, an assistant coach. And he bolted out of the dugout. I contend the different perspective afforded by paternal instinct was the difference.

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This is actually quite common, it's called the 'bystander effect'. The more witnesses there are to an act of violence, the less likely it is anyone will intervene. I think it has to do with the fact that the more people are around you also witnessing the violent act, the more you're likely to think 'someone will/should do something' rather than put yourself at risk. Sort of like subconsciously everyone is waiting for someone else to do something about it. Here's a quick link I googled that is in no way shape or form scholarly but probably has some interesting info anyway https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/bystander-effect

I was at Yankee Stadium sitting behind 1B when Clemens threw the bat shard at Piazza. It was 100% insane and made 100% sense at the same time.

Great thread. I have some nutty ones both played and witnessed. Here are a couple (the first one very random).

I played for years in hockey leagues at Chelsea Piers, including roller hockey. One night we were playing a game in one of the outdoor rinks and ended up in a huge scuffle with our opponent. Almost all at once we all looked up and someone was lifting the Stanley Cup over the boards and showing it to us. In shock, we immediately stopped fighting and all raced over, and low and behold, it was the Cup. One of the execs from the Stars had the Cup on a yacht that had just docked at the Piers, saw us playing and brought it over. We all had an opportunity to handle and touch the Cup, which for me was the thrill of a lifetime.

The wildest live experience was at Game 6 of the 86 WS, the Buckner game. It was the most surreal experience in so many strange ways (I'm a Yankee fan BTW). My friend got four tickets last minute from his dad (who lived out of state) who was a big whale of a gambler. We were kids and our parents wouldn't let us train to the game (and we couldn't find a grown up to take us) so we had to find an older kid with a car. I ended up calling some senior who I played soccer with who had a car, and obviously he was thrilled. So many weird things happened at that game, including some guy came down with a parachute, the very same fan caught a foul ball with one hand in consecutive at-bats, the kids next to us were smoking pot and putting confetti on the head of an older gentlemen in the next row prompting his son to punch one of the kids and start a brawl getting many in our section ejected (if they only knew what they were about to miss). And then the game happened, wow. I have been to many big games and even iconic championship games, but nothing came close to the fan pandemonium I experienced. It was nuts. And then somehow it only took us twenty minutes to get back to a diner in Westchester which I don't even think is possible.

I have some other fun ones I will share over beers.

Great Thread .Have not attended many sporting events , and have no Weird/Strange story to tell, However I am enjoying your stories Fellas!!!!

Edit : If this count, the closest to a weird sport moment ,was when, I went to Spain, and was invited to see the running of the bulls, at the last moment I chickened out ... Gee decided did not wanted to be part of the statistic of" innocent tourist bystander " being trampled by the bulls.

1978 Yankee stadium opening day. Reggie bar day. Jackson homers in his first at bat and the candy bars start to rain on the field.
It took about 15 minutes to clean them up. great game. I kept my bar and still have the wrapper someplace(I Hope)

I was at Giants Stadium in 2008 with my 2 boys when Danny Cepero of the Red Bulls became the first GK to score in MLS league play. Kicked it from about the his own 30 yard line (see what I did there?). Columbus keeper was off his line and way out. Ball took a classic astroturf bounce and one hopped over the keeper's head into the net. We couldn't believe it

TabascoDiva said:

Great Thread .Have not attended many sporting events , and have no Weird/Strange story to tell, However I am enjoying your stories Fellas!!!!

Edit : If this count, the closest to a weird sport moment ,was when, I went to Spain, and was invited to see the running of the bulls, at the last moment I chickened out ... Gee decided did not wanted to be part of the statistic of" innocent tourist bystander " being trampled by the bulls.

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I traveled to Pamplona on my own before meeting up with friends in France for Bastille day. I bought a ticket to watch the bull run into the arena to play it safe since I was on my own. I then met a group of Canadians who said that they were going to run - I thought well I am sure as shit faster and far more badass than they are - so I decided to run. We partied until 6am and lined up right after dead man's corner. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. I highly recommend it and plan to do it again. For the record only one person was gored, but many were trampled by drunken humans and not bulls.

A few stories to add.

1. Grew up playing ice hockey in Massachusetts. I played hockey at a rink where two dads got into a fist fight and one of them died. One dad punched the other out so bad he went into a coma and died. It was during the summer and I was playing with/against their sons. The strange thing was that it all happened in the entrance to the rink. It was always creepy to walk in each time knowing what happened there.

2. Not super crazy but played summer soccer in a semi competitive league for all levels. It was an opportunity to stay fresh before fall tryouts. One team and one player in particular was clearly head and shoulders better than everyone else. The kid was scouted by US soccer and was a part of the project 2010 team which was some development program to identify talent for the 2010 World Cup.

Needless to say he was wiping the floor with us. The one thing was his mother would not shut up the entire game and would scream and cheer for him (only him) even after they were running up the score. During one of the final plays I turned, stopped the ball, and toed the ball at her head. It missed, barely, but it shut her up. After the red mist cleared, I felt so bad I sent an email to apologize to the coach who also happened to be that kid's dad. He responded and was cool about it.

QuigrNYCFC said:

A few stories to add.

1. Grew up playing ice hockey in Massachusetts. I played hockey at a rink where two dads got into a fist fight and one of them died. One dad punched the other out so bad he went into a coma and died. It was during the summer and I was playing with/against their sons. The strange thing was that it all happened in the entrance to the rink. It was always creepy to walk in each time knowing what happened there.

2. Not super crazy but played summer soccer in a semi competitive league for all levels. It was an opportunity to stay fresh before fall tryouts. One team and one player in particular was clearly head and shoulders better than everyone else. The kid was scouted by US soccer and was a part of the project 2010 team which was some development program to identify talent for the 2010 World Cup.

Needless to say he was wiping the floor with us. The one thing was his mother would not shut up the entire game and would scream and cheer for him (only him) even after they were running up the score. During one of the final plays I turned, stopped the ball, and toed the ball at her head. It missed, barely, but it shut her up. After the red mist cleared, I felt so bad I sent an email to apologize to the coach who also happened to be that kid's dad. He responded and was cool about it.

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Must have been a beautiful cross in