Top 10 Urban Legends in Sports

In 1965, the heavily-promoted heavyweight bout between Sonny Liston and all-time-great Muhammad Ali took place. However, like an old-school Mayweather vs. Pacquiao bout, the match was massively disappointing, as Ali knocked out Liston within minutes. Many people immediately began to cry foul, as A) a large percentage of those in attendance didn’t actually see Ali punch Liston, and B) those who did claim that the punch wasn’t powerful enough to knock out a professional boxer. This all led to a conspiracy theory that Liston threw the fight due to personal and/or mob-connected reasons, while the blow in question became dubbed “the Phantom Punch”.

The 2004 American League Championship Series has become legendary, and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling was a huge part of it. In game 6, Boston were down a game to the Yankees. But with Schilling’s dominating performance, the Sox won the game and clinched the World Series. To top off the drama, Schilling was pitching on an injured and bloody ankle. However, due to the popularity of the story, theories soon began which claimed that Schilling was putting either ketchup or paint on his sock to make his performance more dramatic. Schilling has vehemently denied this conspiracy, yet it still remains.

#8: Jimmy Hoffa Is Buried at Giants Stadium

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The story of Jimmy Hoffa, a union leader who disappeared in 1975, is deliciously enticing. He was declared legally dead in 1982, and his body has never been found. His disappearance coincided nicely with the construction of Giants Stadium, which broke ground in 1972 and officially opened in 1976, one year after his disappearance. Naturally, stories soon circulated that Hoffa’s body was buried somewhere underneath the stadium. However, this was nothing but a legend. The idea was busted on “Mythbusters,” and there was no evidence of human remains recovered when Giants Stadium was demolished in 2010.

As he himself claimed, Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis forgot he had a game to play, dropped acid, and then proceeded to pitch a no-hitter while tripping out. It makes a for a great story, but the truth is questionable. Many witnesses and associates claim he wasn't high, and Ellis' teammates didn't notice anything “off” about his behavior. Meanwhile, in his original 1976 biography, Dock claimed he'd been drinking vodka, not freaking out on LSD. But either way, Ellis is now “the guy who pitched a no-hitter on LSD,” regardless of whether it’s true.

Many blamed LeBron James' uncharacteristically poor performance for the Cleveland Cavaliers losing to the Boston Celtics during the 2010 NBA Playoffs. Not long after, an email began to circulate claiming that James had caught teammate West sleeping with his mother, which resulted in his poor playing. Reputable websites began publishing the story, and it soon became widespread internet gossip. The story was further fueled when James moved to Florida soon after to play for the Miami Heat, supposedly to get away from West and his mother. And that is the power of an Internet rumor, which is, of course, 100% unproven, despite West’s insinuations.

In 1997, the Florida Marlins defeated the Cleveland Indians to win the World Series, an outcome which was supposedly predicted eight years earlier in “Back to the Future Part II”. In the film, Marty travels to 2015, and sees a broadcast mentioning that an unnamed Miami team defeated the Indians in the 1997 World Series, despite there being no Miami team when the movie was released. Except, that's not what happens. In actuality, Marty hears about the Cubs beating Miami, but there is no mention of 1997 or the Cleveland Indians. But then, maybe the movie is different in the Biff timeline.

In September 1995, the Baltimore Orioles’ Cal Ripken Jr. broke the baseball record for consecutive games played by appearing in his 2,131st straight game, a streak which continued until 1998. However, according to the internet, this streak was almost ended one year early. Per the rumor, Ripken found actor Kevin Costner in bed with his wife, and after beating Costner up for the offense, decided not to play that night. And rather than see the streak end, the Orioles sabotaged the stadium lights to have the game postponed. This story has been proven false, but it’s still an Internet favorite nonetheless.

#3: The 1985 NBA Draft Was Rigged

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Throughout the mid '70s and early '80s, the once dominant New York Knicks were suffering, and audiences were beginning to lose interest, which meant a loss of revenue. Ah, but then the Knicks won the number one pick in the 1985 draft, and scored Patrick Ewing, who helped return the team to prominence. However, many believe that the draft was less fate and more fixed. Allegedly, NBA commissioner David Stern rigged the selection by either bending or freezing the Knicks envelope, allowing him to pick the correct envelope and guarantee the Knicks’ first-round pick. Either way, it certainly put New York back on the map. Now there’s a conspiracy theory.

Michael Jordan is arguably the most famous basketball player ever, and his first retirement, announced in October 1993, shocked the world. Fans were even more flabbergasted when he switched sports, and signed with the Chicago White Sox's double-A affiliate, before returning to basketball one year later. However, many people suspect that this wasn't a “retirement”, it was a punishment. Theorists believe that Jordan had gotten in trouble with the NBA for gambling, and he was suspended as a result. To save face and avoid public humiliation, the NBA allowed him to “retire” for a year and play baseball while he served his suspension. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few legend-ary honorable mentions (which, of course, aren’t necessarily true): Super Bowl III Was Fixed Bobby Riggs Purposely Lost the Battle of the Sexes Bud Selig Knew of Baseball’s Steroid Use Toni Braxton Ruined the Mavericks Babe Ruth Called His Shot

In his memoir “A View from Above”, basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain famously – or perhaps infamously – declared that as bachelor he had slept with up to 20,000 women throughout his lifetime. Chamberlain based the math off a 10 day period wherein he slept with 23 women, or 2.3 women per day. He then conservatively cut the number in two, and multiplied by how old he was, and subtracted 15 years. Mind you, not everyone was impressed . . . while others just had their doubts.