Plan B Forum

CRICKET

Adam Gilchrist


In the 2003 World Cup final, Gilchrist was given not out by umpire Rudi Koertzen after edging the ball to Sri Lanka's wicketkeeper. The game was in the balance, but Gilchrist walked back to the pavilion. Australia went on to win the game and the Cup.

Mark Taylor

Australia's skipper was on 334 at the end of day two of the second Test against Pakistan in 1998, needing just one run to pass Donald Bradman's highest Test score. The next morning he told teammates he would declare to chase victory. The Test was drawn, but Taylor was widely praised.

GOLF

Jack Nicklaus

In the final match of the 1969 Ryder Cup, Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin faced putts for par. Nicklaus made his four-footer, picked his ball from the cup but then lifted Jacklin's marker lying two feet from the hole. To the amazement of the crowd, he extended his hand to the Englishman and said: ''I don't believe you would've missed that, but I'd never give you the opportunity under these circumstances.'' .

TENNIS

Pat Rafter

The nice guy of tennis earned a diploma of honour from the Committee for Fair Play after reversing a line call that largely cost him victory. At the Australian Hardcourt Championship in Adelaide in 1997, in a second set tie-breaker against Andrei Cherkasov, Rafter reversed the crucial point, and the Russian went on to win.

Andy Roddick

Roddick's act in the 2005 Rome Masters also cost him the match. With a triple match point in the final set, opponent Fernando Verdasco double-faulted and lost the match. But Roddick disputed the call and said the serve was in. Verdasco won the point and then the match.

FOOTBALL

Paolo Di Canio

The fiery Italian earned a standing ovation after refusing to tap in a sure goal in a Premier League match. Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard was injured in the penalty box,and the ball was crossed to West Ham's Di Canio in front of an open goal. Instead of scoring, the striker picked up the ball and gestured for medics to attend to the stricken Gerrard.

Robbie Fowler

''God'' was playing for Liverpool in a grudge match against Arsenal when he was awarded a penalty. The referee ruled Fowler had been brought down by Gunners keeper David Seaman, but Fowler admitted there had been no foul. The referee insisted the decision could not be reversed so Fowler took a weak spot kick directly at Seaman, but the ball rebounded into the path of Liverpool's Jason McAteer, who then blasted it into the net and helped his side to victory.

Leicester v Nottingham Forest

In the 2007 Carling Cup tie, Leicester trailed Nottingham Forest 1-0 at half-time when their defender Clive Clarke collapsed in the sheds. Amid fears for Clarke's life, the match was abandoned. The replay was three weeks later, and at the kick-off the Leicester side stood aside to allow Forest keeper Paul Smith to take the ball upfield and score, restoring the team's 1-0 lead from the first game. But Leicester ended up winning the game.

ATHLETICS

Lutz Long

Adolf Hitler claimed the world would see the dominance of the Aryan race at the 1936 Olympics, so it was extraordinary that Germany's Lutz Long helped black American Jesse Owens to defeat him in the long jump. Owens had fouled his first two attempts, and Lutz advised him to mark out his run-up again, even though the German was leading. Owens took the advice, qualified with his final jump and went on to win gold ahead of Lutz, who congratulated Owens and the pair walked arm-in-arm around the track to rapturous applause.

John Landy

During the 1500m final of the 1956 Australian Championships, Landy stopped racing to go back and check on fallen rival Ron Clarke. After Clarke was helped up he took off again, pursued by Landy, who reeled in a huge gap to win in the final few metres.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-league/gr ... z1TosVsCbX

Gob wrote:
Andy Roddick
Roddick's act in the 2005 Rome Masters also cost him the match. With a triple match point in the final set, opponent Fernando Verdasco double-faulted and lost the match. But Roddick disputed the call and said the serve was in. Verdasco won the point and then the match.

Doc Ellis' 1970 No Hitter

Original Author Unknown
Maintained and Updated by Erowid


You may have heard about "no-hitter" that Bob Milacki's of the Oakland A's pitched last week. No-hitters are pretty rare and this one made the news everywhere. One of the local TV stations refered to it as Milacki's "no-no," a term that originated with Dock Ellis's no-hitter back on June 12th, 1970 for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Dock pitched that game on acid. Reportedly he wrote about the experience in his authobiography (Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball) published in 1976. Here are some interesting excerpts from an account of the game in the August 1987 issue of High Times magazine and from a Lysergic World article from 1993.

"Dock woke up late. Why shouldn't he? As far as he knew, the team had an off day and he planned to take full advantage of it. Three hits of LSD were ready and waiting in the refrigerator."

"A few minutes later, his girlfriend returned with coffee, donuts, and the morning paper. At noon, they dropped acid. Dock put on a record, while his girlfriend read the paper."

"Dock, it says here you're pitching today!"

"Whaaaa...? said Dock groggily. He snatched the paper, scanned the box scores, and read:

PITTSBURGH AT PADRES
DOUBLEHEADER
(6 P.M.) - Ellis (4-4) vs.
Roberts (3-3)
(LW, 1993)

"That's when it was $9.50 to fly to San Diego. She got me to the airport at 3:30. I got there at 4:30, and the game started at 6:05pm. It was a twi-night doubleheader. (HT, 1987)


He makes it to the game and after having someone help him find his locker, he suits up and enters the game.


"Dave Roberts, the Padres' pitcher, had an easy first inning, ending with Roberto Clemente hitting one back to the box. Dock marched to the mound, wondering if he'd last the inning. (LW, 1993)

"His fingers tingled as he squeezed the ball. He squinted to see catcher Jerry May's hand signals. He nodded his head and went into his windup, falling slightly off balance in the process. The ball hit the ground about two feet in front of the plate and skipped into May's glove.

"May signaled for a fastball outside. Dock wound up and threw a hot one over the the corner of the plate - a swinging strike! In was no ordinary pitch: The ball burst from Dock's hand and left a blazing, cometlike tail that remained visible long after the ball was caught.

"Dock felt wobbly on the mound and his stomach was churning with acid cramps. His concentration, however, was superb. As long as he kept to his fastball, the comets kept burning across the plate. All he had to do was steer the ball down the multicolored path. Dock had a crazed look in his eyes and his lack of control was evident to the batters, many of whom were feeling increasingly vulnerable in the batter's box. Dock easily retired three batters in a row [in the second inning]. (HT, 1987)

I was zeroed in on the (catcher's) glove, but I didn't hit the glove too much. I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times. The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn't hit hard and never reached me." (LW, 1993)
The seventh inning:


"The Pirates were clinging to their 1-0 lead. Dock was staring at the scoreboard when he realized he'd pitched hitless ball for seven innings. He smacked Cash on the arm.

"Hey, look," said Dock, pointing at the scoreboard. "I've got a no-no going!"

Cash gave him a blank look. "A no-no?" asked Cash. He'd never heard the term before. But Cash wanted to keep the pitcher loose and happy, so he smiled and said nothing.


Doc Ellis went on to finished the game without a hit. The Pirates won the game, 2-0, despite Ellis walking eight batters. Dock had a pretty good year in 1970. He went 13-10, and helped the Pirates win their first of three divisional championships.

Ian Bell was handed a dramatic reprieve in an innings of 159 as England moved into a dominant position in the second Test against India.

Bell's innings - and fifties from Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior - helped the hosts pummel an extraordinary 417 runs on the third day, reaching 441-6 to lead by 374.

But the day is more likely to be remembered for the remarkable drama which unfolded in the moments leading up to the tea interval.

Believing that a Morgan shot had gone for four, Bell (on 137) abandoned his crease and was chatting to his batting partner when Abhinav Mukund took the bails off.

As the England pair headed for the pavilion, India appealed for a run out which was upheld by the umpires after TV replays.

With the crowd shouting their displeasure at the decision, the two teams held talks during the interval and India captain Mahendra Dhoni sportingly agreed to withdraw the appeal.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/14357873.stm