Unnecessary Roughness: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''"Personal foul...Unnecessary Roughness... defense number 92! 15-yard penalty...[[American Football|automatic...First Down!]]"''}}

 

In many sports-related movies, in order to [[Kick the Dog|show how competitive and ruthless]] the [[Opposing Sports Team]] is, they will perform many aggressive actions (such as knocking opposing players down) that would never be performed in a real game because they would either [[Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat|result in a foul being called]] against the offending player or would [[Pyrrhic Villainy|serve no useful game purpose anyway]]. Of course, such a play that would [[Fiction Is Not Fair|normally]] call for the player's ejection will only result in a small infraction or no penalty at all, because the refs were paid off, partisan, or [[Easily-Distracted Referee|not paying attention]]. Sometimes, the players don't actually want to do it, but are [[Ordered to Cheat|ordered to do so]] by their ruthless coaches.

 

The [[Trope Namer]] for this trope is [[American Football]], the only sport where the refs outright use this term. Other sports either use a different term or split it up into separate offenses.

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* In ''[[Bamboo Blade]]'', during the first practice match between Muroe High and Machido High's kendo teams, Machido fighter Yuri Ando attempts to break Muroe [[Kendo Team Captain|team captain]] Kirino Chiba's concentration by tripping her, even after her coach (who also serves as the referee) warns her before the match to avoid using dirty tricks. Ando winds up losing the match anyway, as Kirino gets a second wind and finds a way to outsmart her.

* In ''[[Ask Dr. Rin]]'', one of the episodes had the soccer team competing against one of the other teams who made sure to showcase a lot of this, just in case you weren't convinced by a flashback earlier in the episode that showed them being jerks off the field.

 

== Comic Books ==

 

== Film ==

* ''[[The Blind Side]]'': The defensive lineman of the [[Opposing Sports Team|Lions]] deliberately kicks Michael when he's down and after the play has already ended, and the referee not only ignores the kick, but penalizes the Wingate Crusaders after [[Papa Wolf|Coach Cotton complains]].

* In the opening game of ''[[Kicking And Screaming]],'' a player on the opposing team sticks his arm out in order to knock a defender down as he rushes past him.

** Though in this and the following examples case, the games are exhibition games between guards and prisoners - they may very well have decided to allow roughness for the sake of it.

{{quote|Samson: I think I broke his fuckin' neck!

* In ''[[Million Dollar Baby]],'' Maggie's opponent for the final match repeatedly takes cheap shots and hits her after the bell rings, which should disqualify her, but she only gets points deducted.

* The rival baseball team in ''[[Three Ninjas|3 Ninjas: Kick Back]]''.

 

== Literature ==

*** In fact, the actual list of what constitutes a foul has been kept secret for years for fear of "giving the players ideas."

*** It's also mentioned that about 90% of the fouls can be prevented from ever happening by just not letting anyone use their wands while on the field.

 

* Most auto-racing depicted on TV features more contact between cars than a demolition derby. In reality even slight damage to a race car can result in such a huge performance loss that drivers usually avoid contact at all costs. Anyway, every major organized motorsports competition has strict rules against deliberate vehicle contact, and will disqualify, and even ban from competition, an offending driver who's being reckless.

* In ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'', the episode "The Gang Gives Back" has Dennis, Dee, and Mac forced to do community service by coaching two YMCA youth basketball teams. They all teach their players to use ''copious'' amounts of this, including sticking open safety pins in their wristbands to stab the other team with. Unsurprisingly, the [[Big Game]] at the end is an all-out ''brawl''.

* There were a few instances of the ''[[American Gladiators]]'' and the contestants mixing it up in the heat of competition. Once, Turbo actually punched a contestant during Sling Shot.

* ''[[Friday Night Lights]]'' is full of these; in one case Riggins is shown having bloody gashes on his neck stitched up midgame, the implication being that an opponent tried to claw his jugular open.

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* Where to begin? It's the business.

** "No DQ" matches are often used to let the "face" cut loose and [[Pay Evil Unto Evil]]. It used to be xclusively so, until bookers started using them to let the heel cheat openly and win.

* From [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock's own page]], there was his unprecedented 10 chair shots in a row to [[Mick Foley]].

* [[New Jack]] has literally made a career of this since moving from SMW to ECW in the early 90's. Prime examples include The Mass Transit incident, where he brutalised a 17 year old wrestler and left him requiring fifty stitches after slicing his forehead open with an Exacto knife; The Gypsy Joe incident, where he brutalised an old man with various weapons, including a baseball bat during a match; the 'stabbing' incident, where he pulled a piece of sharpened metal out of his pocket and used it to stab a local indy wrestler 17 times with during a match (He was later arrested for aggravated assault) and the Vic Grimes incident, in which he attempted, by his own admission, to kill a fellow wrestler at the conclusion of a scaffold match ("I wanted him to ''die''. I ain't got no love for Vic.")

 

== Video Games ==

** The Al-Bhed Psyches kidnap Yuna to attempt to blackmail the Besaid Aurochs into throwing their game and beat Wakka up so badly he collapses.

*** Which comes off as even more unnecessary, considering they're overpowered to hell and back.

* In ''[[Base Wars]]'', it's not sufficient to tag a runner out. Instead, the two robots fight to the death.

* In ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]: ACME All-Stars'', it's possible to run over other players baseketball and soccer games with a car.

 

== Web Original ==

* Parodied. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvltzwkUEEA This here's the Mantage! You're welcome!]

 

== Western Animation ==

* In the ''[[The Mighty Ducks (animation)|The Mighty Ducks]]'' cartoon, the titular characters go up against a hockey team called the Destroyers, who were banned from the NHL for this, in a practice game.

* An episode of ''[[ReBoot]]'' has Matrix and Bob<ref>actually Megabyte</ref> in a Pokemon-variant game. [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|Being Cheating Bastards]] they ignore the "mon vs mon" rule and go straight for the User handler, ending the game when Bob (as [[Rent-A-Zilla|Bobzilla]]) crushes him under his foot.

 

== Real Life ==

* In the NBA, Bruce Bowen was notorious for being the league's dirtiest player after the rules were cleaned up and more anti-defense following the Jordan Era

* [[wikipedia:Kermit Washington#Infamous punch|The Other Wiki]] details the Rudy Tomjanovich-Kermit Washington incident from December 1977:

* We seem to have found a replacement for Bowen in the 2009 NBA playoffs: Rajon Rondo. To the extent that for a while, his nickname was Rajon Wound-o.

** During the 2009 Bulls-Celtics playoffs during game five, Rajon Rondo fishhooked Brad Miller's face as Miller went for a layup. Rondo's hand was three feet away from the ball, and all Rondo got was a personal foul. He should have drawn a flagrant one at least. Official review upheld the decision. (Because to do otherwise would be like going on national television and saying, "Bulls, we may have cost you guys the game.") Can be seen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6JpEx_CqOc here].

* Claude Lemieux was one of the most loathed players in NHL History (no relation to Mario, one of the most loved), and with good reason. Most agree that he single-handedly started the Avalanche/Red Wings rivalry in 1997 for a pretty vicious cheap shot on Kris Draper.

** The invincible juggernaut Soviet team almost backed out of playing them on their U.S. tour in 1976 after an especially vicious hit.

* On the verge of losing the 1972 Summit Series to the Soviets, the Canadians, who were made up of professional NHL players, simply resorted to dirty play, such as deliberately injuring the Soviets' best player Valery Kharlamov, in order to win the series. This is partially averted because in North America, very few people will admit Canada's dirty play helped contribute to their victory.

* During the 1970 NFL season, the then-defending [[Super Bowl]] champion Kansas City Chiefs were playing [[The Rival|the Oakland Raiders]]. Late in that game with the Chiefs leading 17-14, quarterback Len Dawson scrambled for a first-down that would have enabled the Chiefs to run out the clock, gaining additional yardage after a cheap shot from Raider defensive end Ben Davidson. It didn't end there, however, as [[wikipedia:Otis Taylor (American football)#Ben Davidson incident|receiver Otis Taylor]] jumped in and retaliated, resulting in offsetting penalties. Kansas City had to punt, Oakland ultimately knocked a field-goal through to deadlock the game 17-all (no regular-season overtime until 1974). Taylor's antics came back to haunt the Chiefs, as with only four postseason slots in that time, that cost Kansas City a division title and left them as the odd team out in the AFC playoffs.

* While many soccer defenders are known for being aggressive, there's a case from the 1981 [[Copa Libertadores]] that deserves mention: In the second game of the finals, Mario Soto from Chilean side Cobreloa was able to make two Flamengo players leave the game bleeding (the rest of Cobreloa managed to injure two other players). In the third and last game, with four minutes left and victory already guaranteed to Flamengo, the team's coach Cláudio Coutinho decided to avenge the previous game and put benchwarmer Anselmo in the field, with the sole intention of hitting Soto (who promptly got punched in the head, leading to a fight that got both players expelled).

** Page image is Nigel de Jong of the Netherlands kicking Xabi Alonso of Spain during the 2010 [[FIFA World Cup]] Final. A highlight on a game that on [[Twitter]], inspired ''[[Shaolin Soccer]]'' and ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' to be Trending Topics.

* Although many British soccer teams in the late 1960s and early 1970s had at least one player with a reputation for violent tackling and otherwise dirty playing, [[The Damned United|Leeds United under Don Revie]] could fill an entire first eleven with such players, so when they met Chelsea, who had a number of similarly savage players in their first eleven, in the replay of the [[wikipedia:1970 FA Cup Final|1970 FA Cup final]], the inevitable result was one of the most violent matches in the history of the tournament (in 1997, referee David Elleray watched the match and said the two sides should have received a total of twenty yellow cards and ''six'' red cards):

** Leeds' Terry Cooper and Chelsea's Tommy Baldwin were already kicking each other as the match began, while Leeds' Norman Hunter and Chelsea's Ian Hutchinson (the only player to be booked for either side in the match) spent most of the match trading punches and Leeds' Johnny Giles and Chelsea's Eddie McCreadle made numerous lunging tackles on opposing players.

** Leeds opened the scoring after Mick Jones viciously bundled Chelsea goalkeeper Peter Bonetti into his own goalmouth and then rounded him seconds later while he was still regaining his bearings to score, while the winner was scored by Peter Osgood after Jack Charlton, who was assigned to mark Osgood, devoted his attention instead to exacting revenge on Ian Hutchinson for a dead leg.

* On a similar note, though Leeds United fans may remember the [[wikipedia:1975 European Cup Final|1975 European Cup final]] mostly for some questionable refereeing decisions which denied them possible penalties (indeed, many of the club's hardcore fans refer to the club as European champions to this day), Bayern Munich fans may remember it instead for the savagery of the Leeds players which brought a premature end to the careers of ''two'' of their players. Three minutes into the match, a particularly vicious tackle by Terry Yorath on Bjorn Andersson led to the latter having to be substituted and only playing a further handful of matches at senior level. Uli Hoeness, who described the tackle on Andersson as "the most brutal foul I think I have ever seen", was himself taken out of the match after a tackle by Frank Gray resulted in a serious knee injury from which he never fully recovered.

* 1982 World Cup semi-final, West Germany v France: Late in the game French player Patrick Battiston was advancing on goal when German keeper Harald Schumacher ran out and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqYEpVjpinI&feature=related smashed him in the face with his forearm]. Battiston was knocked cold and taken to hospital with broken teeth and a damaged vertebra. Schumacher was not even booked and saved two penalties in the resultant shoot-out. Justice was done in the final as West Germany lost to Italy, and Schumacher later offered to pay Battiston's dental bill.

* The 1956 Hungary-Soviet Olympic water polo match is a classic example of this trope. [[wikipedia:Blood In The Water match|The other wiki]] has details.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty]]

[[Category:Sports Story Tropes]]