Sean Avery
Screening a goaltender in hockey is not new and the tactic has been used for a long time, though Sean Avery took it to the next level, forcing a rules change. He abandoned all attempts to play the game and just positioned himself right in front of Martin Brodeur, where he waved his stick and gloves in the air to block Brodeur’s view. Avery never actually faced the play nor did he know where the puck was, and just dedicated himself to be as annoying as possible. At the time, the tactic was legal but everyone agreed it was really unsportsmanlike. After the game finished, the league took action and ruled that a player who waves his arms or stick in a goaltender’s face will be considered engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct and will draw a two-minute penalty.
Sean Avery
Eddie Stanky
Similarly, it is now a rule in the MLB that waving your hands in the air in order to distract a batter is illegal. Eddie Stanky once played second base, so he was always in the line of sight of opposing batters. He thought of using this to his advantage and started doing jumping jacks and waving his arms in the air to distract the player who was at-bat, during every pitch. Since no official rule was against this, they allowed him to continue, but his antics perturbed an opposing player so much it caused a dugout-clearing brawl. The fracas was eventually broken up by the NYPD, and the league later banned the tactic people now call “The Stanky Maneuver.”
Eddie Stanky
