EVER wondered who sport's sorest winners are? Mal Meninga's childhish outburst puts him right up there with some of the dumbest displays the world has seen.
As a rugby league star, Mal Meninga had plenty of attributes - speed, size, skill and agresssion. As a State of Origin coach, he has a remarkable record.
But amazing grace is one thing that the big fella this week proved he lacks by spraying NSW officials and faceless men in a bizarre rant.
You would have thought the Maroons lost ... but no, the Queenslanders celebrated a record sixth series win in a row.
So it begs the question, where does Mal's embarrassing display rank alongside some of the sporting world's most memorable cases of foot-in-mouth disease.
Here's our top five.
1: Mal Meninga's ludicrous rant about ``rats and filth'' in the wake of his side's sixth series win in a row. Meninga not only embarrassed himself, but also his state. And his rantings take the gloss off the Origin retirement of Darren Lockyer, one of the game's greats. Big Mal's blow-up assures league fans of one thing though - that the Queenslander cannot be considered when they start talking about the game's next Immortal.
2. The English cricket team's carry on when they won the Ashes last summer was very far from gracious, and shows how far the ECB has strayed from its blueblood roots in search of success. Instead of celebrating their victory with the graciousness and humility you'd expect of Englishmen, the Poms did their version of the Sprinkler - a ridiculous dance that shouldn't be seen in daylight hours. Only the macarena would have been worse.
3. We've got another Queenslander at number three: Allan Langer who in 1993 led his Brisbane Broncos and some 2000 fans in the song `St George Can't Play' . Instead of celebrating a wonderful premiership win, Langer and his teammates decided to poke fun at the Dragons, a team they'd beaten in the same match 12 months prior. ``We were having a bit of fun and it came out. It's something you have regrets about but you can't take it back,'' Langer said some years later.
4. Now we love Stephanie Rice, but when she tweeted "Suck on that f..gots" after the Wallabies beat the Springboks last year she was forced into a tearful apology and sponsors ran a mile. Surprise, surprise.
5. As gifted an athlete as Anthony Mundine is, he is perhaps equally lacking in the graciousness stakes. Whether it's fighting bums, mock slitting his throat or saying that the US brought the September 11 attacks upon themselves. There is no one most Australians love seeing beaten as much - it's not hard to work out why.
Got any other suggestions? Add them to comments below
And now, thanks to Alpha magazine, we'll have a look at a few equally embarrassing performances from around the world.
Diego Maradona
Maradona would have the world believe football heavyweights Argentina breezed through qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Fact is, they scraped in with a win in their last match against tough nuts Uruguay away. Maradona then gloated, "To those who did not believe in us - and, ladies, forgive me - they can suck it, and keep on sucking it." No thanks, Diego. "You lot take it up the a... - if the ladies will pardon the expression," he added.
US Ryder Cup Team
The 1999 version of golf's USA v Europe showdown was a corker. It all came down to the match between American Justin Leonard and Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal. When Leonard sank a monster putt on the 17th, the Americans celebrated wildly on the green, complete with fans and wives.
But the match wasn't over. The disgraceful, premature, in-your-face act, threw Olazabal, who duly missed his crucial putt.
Jim Richards
Richards was booed by the masses for winning the Bathurst 1000 in a Nissan in 1992, when the Great Race wasn't exclusively a Ford-Holden showdown. He should have drunk the champers and gotten off the podium. Instead, he called the crowd "a pack of a...holes", ensuring he would be remembered as one of their number.
