“Breaking the fourth wall” is a term in entertainment, but Ryane Clowe’s bizarre puck-touching incident plays like sports’ answer to such a break from the script. Whether it’s a coach, player or even fan, sometimes people “intervene” in events in a way that makes us gasp. Here are some of PHT’s choices for the most famous - and infamous - examples of such moments in sports.
Steve Bartman
How could the notorious Chicago Cubs fan-turned-scapegoat not make such a list? If you have even a vague interest in sports, you know the story. The Cubs were in Game 6 of the NLCS against the Florida Marlins when Bartman reflexively reached for a ball, Moises Alou lost his mind and then Bartman was blamed for the loss, the sagging US economy and Michael Jordan’s time with the Washington Wizards.* You know things are bad when ESPN makes a documentary about your shattered life:
One could say that Bartman is the bizarro Jeffrey Maier, even.
* - Just guessing.
Sal Alosi
From the “far more injurious” department, we have Sal Alosi, former strength and conditioning coach for the New York Jets. On Dec. 13, 2010, he tripped Miami Dolphins player Nolan Carroll and, well, you just have to see it to believe it:
Woody Hayes
Woody Hayes was a legendary college football with a legendarily short fuse. That temper truly boiled over during the 1978 Gator Bowl when he punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman in the throat as head coach at Ohio State.
Bobby Knight, Jim Playfair and other coaches throwing things
OK, this is a slight cheat as most of Bobby Knight’s epic meltdowns seemed to come after or before the whistles so to speak, but are you really going to complain about watching all of these great moments of object-throwing anger? Robbie Ftorek shows up in the video below while Jim Playfair might win the hockey division altogether.
Lenny Randle blows foul ball, A-Rod’s “slap”
Perhaps it’s the 162-game schedule that makes baseball so dominant in the break-from-script storylines. Jesse Spector pointed out two faux paus moments:
First, Lenny Randle attempted to “blow” a fair ball into foul territory (which Jerry Hairston also apparently attempted) in a moment that belonged in “Major League.”
The second example was less slapstick and more mean slap: you may remember Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez slapping a baseball away from Bronson Arroyo during “The Bloody Sock Game.”
Jeff Van Gundy holds on for dear life
The New York Knicks-Miami Heat feud might have been the closest basketball ever came to hockey and the quality of play was about on “Dead Puck Era” levels. (Translation: not good.) On the bright side, all the ugliness had at least a moment of comic relief when Jeff Van Gundy tried to stand up to Alonzo Mourning (who was fighting Larry Johnson) and instead went on the ride of his life.
(H/T to Ben Carroll)
Clowe’s place
So where does Ryane Clowe’s odd interference weigh in? It came during a big moment, yet not in a huge one like many of those events, which frequently happened during the postseason. Still, if you want to judge for yourself, read up on the reactions here and take another look at the video below:
***
Anyway, those are some of the greatest break-the-fourth-wall moments that come to mind. The beauty of a comments section is to fill in the blanks with “How didn’t we think of that?” type entries, so fire away with some of your favorite omissions.