Paul is back for a fifth season of the Sport Shack. We kick off the year by looking back at some of the crazy excuses sportspeople and sporting teams have used over the years in regard to taking illegal substances or lack of performance. Paul is joined by Miss Olivia and some of what we will discuss in this episode include.
- a former professional cyclist who blamed a 'vanishing twin', however eventually confessed and informed the world of the wide-scale blood doping in the sport and the involvement of disgraced seven times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.
- a Spanish professional cyclist who blamed contaminated meat he ate.
- Shane Warne and the banned diuretic given to him by his mother.
- Chicago Cubs and the 'Billy Goat curse'.
- Clothing excuses e.g., Alex Ferguson, Italian Football team, US speed skating team.
- Ronnie O'Sullivan and the streaker
- Some crazy excuses from swimmers to their coaches.
- North Korean women's football team being struck down by mother nature.
- Vinny Testaverde and his apparent color blindness
- David James and his addiction to play station games.
- Jarell 'Big Baby' Miller and sex pills
- Iker Casillas and his gorgeous girlfriend
- Mervyn King blaming the air conditioning
- Ukraine Football team blaming noisy frogs outside in 2006.
- Lighton Ndefwaul and his many, many excuses e.g., tight jockstraps and farting.
- Mariano Puerta and his wife's wine glass.
- Richard Gasquet kissing a cocaine stripper.
- Dennis Mitchell and the bottles of beer and birthday sex with his wife.
Paul and Olivia will talk about their Christmas together and how they spent New Year celebrations. We have our Quiz, and the Who Am I? and Where Are they Now segments too.
Crazy excuses in sport sources
1. Bleacher report.com ‘the dumbest excuses athletes have ever given’, by nick dimengo, 5/5/2014.
2. Sportscroll.com ‘35 excuses that made sports fans roll their eyes’, by darren 9/11/2020.
3. Swimmingworldmagazine.com ‘hilarious excuses swimmers have tried to pass off on their coaches’, by chandler brandes, 4/12/2022.
4. Casino.org ‘top 10 worst (and funniest) doping excuses in history’, by aaron shields, 25/6/2020.
5. Pledgesports.org ‘the 10 greatest excuses for losing a football match’,
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Contador
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Gasquet
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano_Puerta
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyler_Hamilton
10. The guardian.com ‘lance armstrong’s doping denials-in quotes’, stephen mc millan, 19/1/2013.
11. webMd.com ‘what is chimerism?’, medically reviewed by poonam sachdev MD writtend by nicklya harris-ray 11/11/2022.
12. Bleacher report.com ‘the top 20 worst excuses in sports history’, by austin schindel, 3/6/2011.
13. Amazon.com ‘the secret race:inside the hidden world of the tour de france’, by tyler hamilton and daniel coyle, 7/5/2013.
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Landis
15. Lantern rogue.com ‘how clean is cycling: analysing the anti-doping fight’, by raul banqueri, 26/3/23.
16. Montana public radio. A new angle. ‘Tyler hamilton on life after pro-cycling’, by justin angle, 14/7/2022.
17. Adventure audio podcast. ‘Tyler hamilton-cyclist and coach’, 4/10/23.
Intro music- One Shot by Soundroll
Outro music- Can't Give it Up by All Good Folks from Upbeat.
