Crazy Sports Stories You May Not Have Heard Recently

There have been many crazy sports stories that have not gotten as much media attention due to the fact that other events have taken place when these events occurred. Here are some examples.

DeAndre Jordan's Contract Negotiations

It is well known how during last NBA offseason DeAndre Jordan was planning on leaving the Clippers for the Mavericks but shocked the world by changing his mind at the last second and staying with the Clippers, but it is not known how much of a debacle that it really turned out to be. As of the night of July 3 Jordan agreed to a verbal deal with Mark Cuban owner of the Dallas Mavericks to sign with them, to celebrate Mark Cuban offered to fly Jordan and his family to Dallas but instead Jordan wanted to fly to his home in Houston. On July 7, Jordan called his teammate Blake Griffin saying he was unsure of his decision, and Griffin decided to fly to Houston to help Jordan. By this time word had spread in the media that Jordan was unsure of his decision, and Clippers coach Doc Rivers called Jordan, and he too decided to go to Jordan's house in Houston to redo their pitch to sign him. The next day Clippers forward Paul Pierce and their owner Steve Ballmer flew from Los Angeles to Jordan's house in Houston. Clippers guard JJ Redick drove from Austin to Houston, and Clippers star point guard Chris Paul ended his Caribbean vacation with LeBron, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony short to go to Houston. Mavericks forward Chandler Parsons who was helping Cuban with Jordan's recruiting tweeted an emoji of a plane to make it seem like he was going to fly to Houston to try and persuade Jordan to go to the Mavericks, then JJ Redick tweeted a picture of a car, Blake Griffin tweeted a picture of Hawaii to make it seem like he was there and not Houston, Chris Paul tweeted a picture of a banana boat, and Paul Pierce tweeted a picture of a rocket. At Jordan's families house, the Clippers discussed their differences, and were able to solve the issues that lead Jordan to almost leaving in the first place. By mid afternoon Jordan had agreed to a contract, but all new contracts couldn't be official until 11:01 pm local time so they waited at the house, and played games. The media thought the situation was very tense and drama filled and Blake Griffin decided to tweet a fake picture of a chair blocking the door to make it seem like a hostage situation. The problem is that Jordan had not told the Mavericks of his changed decision, that weekend before Cuban and Jordan were texting about other free agents that could be good for Dallas, and Jordan and Parsons texted about homes to buy. On Tuesday though Cuban told Parsons he thought Jordan was having cold feet. Parsons decided to fly to LA, while Cuban flew to Houston. Cuban drove by his house and Jordan said he was on a date, when it reality he was with Griffin. By Tuesday Jordan told Parsons that he was still communicating with Rivers, and he never communicated with Cuban anything.

Aroldis Chapman and the Pastries

Back in 2013 when Aroldis Chapman was pitching with the Cincinnati Reds in a game against the Phillies, he was pitching and leading in the bottom of the 9th inning, when suddenly he allowed two homeruns and lost the game. This was surprising as Chapman is one of the most lockdown closers in the game, his fastball regularly 100+ miles an hour. A reason that he blew the save was revealed a few days later. Chapman is Cuban, and Phillies Spanish language broadcaster Rickie Ricardo said in an interview that Cuban ballplayers usually ask him to pick up pastries at a nearby Cuban bakery. The pastries that these players like are filled with cream cheese and guava, but as Ricardo said "If you eat more than two you are clogging your arteries." Usually these Cuban players like Livan Hernandez ask for 10 or 15, Chapman asked for 100, when Ricardo saw him on Sunday before the game he had eaten 18 and looked like he couldn't breathe, and that could have caused him to blow the save.

The Pope's Soccer Team

The Pope is a big soccer fan as he is from Argentina where soccer is a very popular sport. So in 2014, he decided to create his own team to promote non-violence, their motto is "No hooligans, no violence, and no insults." However, they got not one but two red cards, which isn't exactly the best start for non violence.

Trivia Question

The USGA has not given any special exemptions to the US open since 2010, who were the 2 players to receive exemptions?