Hero to zero woes...

What is it about sport that brings out the best and worst in people?

I pose this question after reading about the latest controversy involving the complex life of Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds who has been left out of the team to tour South Africa soon.

Symonds, it has been reported, has been ignored by Cricket Australia as a result of getting drunk and then going on radio to describe Kiwi cricketer Brendon McCallum as a lump of s***.

He is also a man who has been constantly in trouble, missing team practices because of fishing expeditions and then getting involved in a racist row with Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh last year.

All this got me thinking about the bad boys of sport and how, when you cast your mind back over many sports, they are littered with talented players who often made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Without any research I came up with a host of names and incidents which have caused the players concerned much embarrassment.

At the same time, there is little doubt that, besides these indiscretions, these are players who bring life, colour and that extra zing to the game. Some of them are quite amusing, some offensive and in many cases their lives have become embroiled in a kind of soap opera with some tragic endings.

So how about a quick run-through of famous bad boys (and one famous woman) who have made headlines over the years.

If you mention Symonds, you have to put Herschelle Gibbs up there as well. Gibbs has also had a stint at rehab, is currently facing a court case for alleged drunken driving and been involved in a messy divorce.

Straight away two other local sportsmen come to mind.

Mark Fish is currently involved in an ugly divorce with allegations of abuse, the same as happened to Springbok hero James "Bullet" Dalton.

In soccer look no further than former Kaizer Chiefs bad boy Jabu Pule for his trouble-making, while on the international soccer scene, the list could stretch the length of 10 football pitches.

Paul Gascoine, once the darling of the England side and feted by everyone, has his skids in recent years and is in and out of rehab centres with even his family admitting they cannot help him.

Infamous

Diego Maradona was perhaps one of the greatest ever but blighted his career with the infamous "hand of God" goal for Argentina and then had a spectacular fall from grace after retiring, becoming a cocaine addict and putting on so much weight that he had staples inserted into his abdomen to help him lose the weight.

And English footballer Lee Bowyer failed a drugs test and in 2000 was charged with grievous bodily harm after an incident with Jonathan Woodgate and an Asian student.

He was also involved in a pitch brawl with a team-mate in 2005.

Golf is considered the ultimate gentlemen's game, but John Daly turned that perception upside down with his antics which included trashing a room at a Swaziland hotel back in the 1980s during our Sunshine Circuit.

He has also struck someone in a car park after a round, walked off the course hacked off with his game, and had an on-going battle with booze and junk food, which has seen his weight balloon.

Throw in about three divorces and you get the picture.

What about Mike Tyson? Rape charges, biting an opponent's ear and generally acting like a jerk.

And with all that talent.

Then there is Marion Jones, the epitome of everything a women athlete should be. But after winning her golds, it was discovered months later she had been taking an illegal substance.

No more medals, from hero to zero, just like Ben Johnson found out 20 years previously.

Yes, it's quite a list and we have not even mentioned the Tour de Farce (sorry, France) where drug taking is an annual ritual.

In fact, after writing all this, Andrew Symonds's behaviour seems to be quite normal and in line with hundreds of sports stars who have fallen from grace during their careers.