WTF - No Karl Malone or John Stockton. ESPN Page 2 - Dirtiest Professional Athlete Other than my entries above...the list seems to be pretty accurate.
It is kind of cool that Karl did make Dishonorable mention in the worst choke artists though. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/readers/chokes.html What does that dirtiest players list have against the Oakland Raiders anyway?
They should have included coaches and put Buddy Ryan on there. He put a bounty on a kicker one time. Dude was nuts.
Guess most people don't think beating the Rockets in a playoff series qualifies as being dirty. Who knew?
Please tell me you don't seriously believe that is the only reason why so many on this board consider those two dirty. I don't remember cries of "dirtiness" with regard to Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton back when they beat us every season in the playoffs.
Romanowski may be known for a few bad incidents (the spitting was dumb I admit) but at least he does not hide the fact and try to play good sport and continue throwing elbows and cheap shots every game. I think part of the reason I hate Malone so much is that he acts as if he is above such tactics yet has used them constantly throughout the years.
Most people might consider his knocking Isiah Thomas' teeth out because he lit up Stockton to be dirty, not to mention knocking the Mermaid unconscious with an elbow.
They don't know hockey very well. McSorley wasn't a dirty player. That was a terrible incident, but it was very out of character for him. Bryan Marchment, otoh, may be responsible for more knee surgeries and concussions any other player I know of. Dale Hunter may be responsible for more stitches. They used to call Behn Wilson "The Surgeon" because of the way he used his stick like a scalpel. Darius Kasparaitis, Matthew Barnaby … you could have a real debate about who was the dirtiest. I don't think any sport lend itself to being dirty quite like hockey does. But there is a penalty for being dirty in the NHL. If you can dish it out, you better be able to take it, because you're going to find yourself in a few dustups.
I think that's a big part of it. Do you think people on the board would go on and on about these two supposedly being 'dirty' if they had never beaten the Rockets? I don't. But for whatever reason, people don't dislike those two as much as Stockton and Malone. I mean, Gary Payton is a freaking punk, Shawn Kemp is a lazy slob with about 25 kids with 20 different mothers, yet people aren't on their case. For some messed up reason, being a redneck and wearing tight shorts are graver sins around these parts. I think it has to do with being annoyed by your team getting consistently out-smarted. Crying about dirty play is just a way to ease the pain of a loss, as well as pretend your team was wronged in some way. Apparently not, since he didn't make the list. The Robinson thing happened in '97, yet Rodman was voted the dirtiest player in the league that year, not Malone. Also, how many games was Malone suspended for those incidents? Was he ejected? Was a foul called? Was there a fine? I don't even remember the Thomas thing, so hopefully you can answer some of these questions.
He was suspended for a game and fined $10k for elbowing Thomas. Thomas needed 40 stitches after the hit. He was also suspended a game and fined 5k for assaulting Robinson. That Rodman was voted the dirtiest player any year doesn't mean Malone isn't dirty. I don't recall Rodman ever KO'ing another player or putting them on the IR with a cheap shot.
You don't think that maybe, just maybe, the "some reason" might be that the Jazz play dirty? There is a reason many sports analysts across the nation think the Jazz play dirty. Jim Rome talks about it a great bit, and I am pretty sure he isn't biased towards the Rockets. Other teams have talked about it in the past (the Mavericks from last season's first round is an example I can think of off the top of my head...and the Jazz didn't even beat the Mavs in that series). Usually, where there is smoke, there is fire. Sure, if the Jazz weren't any good, their dirty tactics wouldn't be discussed as much, but does that mean that they don't happen? Does it make them any less of a reason to hate the Jazz, if you don't like those tactics? I don't think so.
I remember people talking about the Jazz being dirty in 1994...I'm pretty sure we beat them that year and the next. People on this board talk trash about Payton and Kemp all the time.
Well, a lot of guys have been suspended for 'cheap shots', I don't see how that makes Karl Malone stand out. Steve Francis threw Dirk Nowitzki into the basket support last year or the year before. Shaq tried to take a guy's head off from behind intentionally. It makes no sense to single out one (or two, if you count Stockton) guy. But you can't prove they're 'dirty'. Just because today's players like to whine about holding and grabbing, because they're a bunch of wimps, doesn't mean it's dirty play. It's smart play. Apparently the ESPN page 2 staff doesn't think they're dirtier than Charles Barkley or Dennis Rodman, so they must not be part of 'many sports analysts'.
