History Main / UnnecessaryRoughness

* The Merseyside Derby, contested by Liverpool and Everton, used to be known as 'the friendly derby' up until the mid-eighties (it helped that fans of both teams are often drawn from the same families) and one of the few that doesn't enforce total fan segregation. This has since changed dramatically and is now a twice annual fixture that generally consists of nothing ''but'' this trope, to the point where it has racked up the most red cards in the Premier League era and has been referred to as "the most ill-disciplined and explosive fixture in the Premier League." This comment was made after a match in 2010 when both sides had a player sent off and both sides are expected to collect at least two yellow cards apiece.
* Subverted in Sheffield United's game against Liverpool a few years back, Steven Gerrard dived over a tackle from a United defender, and was given a penalty, the Referee, refusing to admit he was wrong, claimed it was given for "intent".

* In ''ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', the episode "The Gang Gives Back" has Dennis, Dee, and Mac forced to do community service by coaching two YMCA youth basketball teams. They all teach their players to use ''copious'' amounts of this, including sticking open safety pins in their wristbands to stab the other team with. Unsurprisingly, the BigGame at the end is an all-out ''brawl''.
* In ''DrQuinnMedicineWoman'' (episode "Travelling All Stars") we see a baseball match where the professional team's players deliberately injure members of the Colorado Springs team and receive no penalty. (Naturally, Colorado Springs wins anyway.)

* In AustralianRulesFootball, players can be reported for "Rough Conduct" (formerly "Unduly Rough Play"), which covers any incident that isn't a specific offence (such as striking)

* ''Literature/TanteiTeamKZJikenNote'' series: Onozuka, a leader of JapaneseDelinquents in ''The Valentine Knows'', was a member of [[AcademicAthlete KZ Soccer Team]] half a decade prior to PresentDay, was infamous for this. He was forced out of the team as a result.

* The page image is instead from [[TheBeautifulGame Association Football (Soccer)]]. Namely, Nigel de Jong of the Netherlands kicking Xabi Alonso of Spain during the 2010 [[TheWorldCup World Cup]] Final. A highlight on a game that on {{Twitter}}, inspired ''ShaolinSoccer'' and ''MortalKombat'' to be Trending Topics.

** Washington's career slowly petered out into early retirement afterwards, while Rudy T went on to coach the Houston Rockets to two NBA Championships in the mid-90s.

* Where to begin? Well...closed fists, hair pulling, eye poking, biting, chokes and contact with a wrestler in contact with, below or above the ropes are generally considered illegal. You could watch wrestling matches constantly for 50 years and not see single instance where any such action resulted in a disqualification. Groin strikes, foreign objects and outside interference generally do get the referee to call for a DQ though.

* The 1956 Hungary-Soviet Olympic water polo match is a classic example of this trope. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_In_The_Water_match The other wiki]] has details.

* Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} actually has a rule about it, called ''"castigo excesivo''", or "excessive punishment." At ''A World Of Comforting Illusions,'' the ''{{technico}}'' team Incoherence (Wrestling/{{Hallowicked}} and Wrestling/{{Frightmare}}) d. the ''rudo'' BDK team of Wrestling/SaraDelRey and Wrestling/DaizeeHaze by DQ for this reason after Sara gave Frightmare ''four'' consecutive piledrivers without going for a cover.

** Similar to American football, ice hockey has a catch-all penalty for dirty play, "roughing." This penalty can range from "callous disregard of safety when skating into your opponent" to "intentionally firing [[ExpospeakGag a solid piece of vulcanized rubber]][[note]]the puck[[/note]] at your opponent's face." There's also the similarly intentionally vague "game misconduct" penalty, which is basically the hockey term for being ejected from the game.

*** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTVhckB3juk The "clear out"/"spear tackle"]] (depending on whom you ask) by New Zealand captain Tana Umaga and hooker Keven Mealamu on Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll, during 2005 tour of New Zealand. O'Driscoll dislocated his shoulder because of it, ending his tour. The Lions subsequently lost the series 0-3 while Umaga and Mealamu received no sanctions. Even now, this incident is a FlameBait for rugby fans and everyone has different opinions on the degree to which it was intentional, what penalty (if any) it should have incurred and the effect it had on the whole tour.

* In the first round of the 2012 OlympicGames women's soccer tournament, the US was playing Colombia. Partway through the game, one of the US players, Abby Wambach, collapsed on the field, clutching her face and kicking her legs in apparent agony. Given [[MinorInjuryOverreaction the penchant for theatrics in the sport]], the commentators sounded somewhat skeptical - up until she removed her hands from her face and sat up, revealing that her right eye was rapidly swelling shut. As it turned out, she was running down the field ahead of a Colombian player, Lady Andrade. When Wambach slowed down, Andrade came up next to her and ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCMyvd12i3o sucker punched her in the eye]].'' Amazingly, the referee missed it completely - through Andrade did not get away with it. The US requested that FIFA review the footage after the game, and they have since banned Andrade from her next two matches - which amounts to an Olympic ban as Colombia failed to win any of their group games and did not advance to the next stage.

* The first instance of cheating in ''KidouTenshiAngelicLayer'' has Hikaru's opponent using illegal [[PsychoElectro electric]] [[WhipItGood whips]] that damage her. Misaki, being a {{Pollyanna}}, doesn't know this is illegal, and [[{{Determinator}} keeps on going anyway]]. A twist is that the battle is indeed BeingWatched, by a very important person in the competitive Angelic Layer world, but since it's not an official match and she's trying her hardest, he lets it go because getting through this will help her out in the long run.

* Subverted amusingly in the manga ''MyGirl'' when Masamune decides to run barefoot in the Fathers' Relay Race at his daughter's school athletics carnival. One of the other fathers deliberately treads on his foot just as the starters pistol goes off, causing him to trip- so [[PayEvilUntoEvil Masamune grabs the guy's heel and drags him down as he gets up to run.]]

* In ''AskDrRin'', one of the episodes had the soccer team competing against one of the other teams who made sure to showcase a lot of this, just in case you weren't convinced by a flashback earlier in the episode that showed them being jerks off the field.

* Invoked in ''Manga/GekkanShoujoNozakiKun'' by various sport coaches in Romance Academy by calling Seo, who has terrible and often aggressive sportsmanship, up to trainings so that the team members know how to deal with this trope in actual games.

* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu'', as Sousuke is instantly ejected from a [[RugbyIsSlaughter rugby match]] very early after shattering the jaw of the opposing team captain and knocking him out...and then PlayedForLaughs when the players, who had just went through TheSpartanWay with Sousuke acting as DrillSergeantNasty, use this as motivation, and [[HilarityEnsues all hell breaks loose]]. This example is also interesting in that it's the type of team described at the top of the page that's getting smashed.
* This is one of the most common complaints about ''{{Eyeshield 21}}''- that players eventually start outright brawling and even ''maiming'' each other on the field (one player ended every game by breaking the arms of ''every'' quarterback he faced) and it's regarded as just "part of the game". Which it isn't.

* In ''BambooBlade'', during the first practice match between Muroe High and Machido High's kendo teams, Machido fighter Yuri Ando attempts to break Muroe [[KendoTeamCaptain team captain]] Kirino Chiba's concentration by tripping her, even after her coach (who also serves as the referee) warns her before the match to avoid using dirty tricks. Ando winds up losing the match anyway, as Kirino gets a second wind and finds a way to outsmart her.

* The ''LooneyTunes'' short "Gone Batty" has the entire lineup of the Sweetwater Shnooks knocked out by comically over-the-top violence on behalf of the opposing team, one of whom ''breaks a bat'' over the ''head'' of a Shnook baserunner ''in front of'' the umpire, who's only action is to call the runner most definitely "out". In "Baseball Bugs" the Gas House Gorilla's catcher ''punches out'' the umpire for calling a pitch a ball, the ump has just enough time to apologize and change the call to "strike" before he falls unconscious.

For people who use a sporting motif ''to'' beat people up, see IKnowMaddenKombat. See also RugbyIsSlaughter. If this takes place in a tournament, including unnecessary roughness within the context of a fighting tournament, see FlexibleTourneyRules.

* The climax of ''{{Asterix}} in Britain'' features a [[RugbyIsSlaughter rugby match]] between Camulodenum and Durovernum. The first big tackle of the game results in one burly Durovernum player jumping up and down on the head of a skinny Camulodenum player. The druid umpire blows his horn and calls for a penalty for reasons of "unnecessary roughness" (this in [[TheFilmOfTheBook the animated film]]; in the comic, it's "this is a British sport, not a [[BloodSport Roman circus]]!"). The Camulodenum player later takes magic potion and exacts his revenge, by this point the chaos on pitch renders the druid umpire ineffective.

* Probably one of the worst offenders is ''Film/LittleGiants'', where the assistant coach of the OpposingSportsTeam tells his son to injure the quarterback by any means necessary. He does so ''well'' after the whistle. In real life, not only would he be ejected, but he'd likely never be able to play in Pop Warner again (these are 12 year olds, by the way). In the movie? Just 15 yards, and the assistant coach getting dressed down by the head coach. Also, the impetus for the [[YouGoGirl star girl football player]] to come from [[TenMinuteRetirement cheering her team on]] to getting back on the field and kicking some butt. For their own part, the Giants commit so many fouls of their own (Not even a false start for Zoltec turning around and farting?) that it makes you wonder what the refs were evem doing.

* Probably one of the worst offenders is ''Film/LittleGiants'', where the assistant coach of the OpposingSportsTeam tells his son to injure the quarterback by any means necessary. He does so ''well'' after the whistle. In real life, not only would he be ejected, but he'd likely never be able to play in Pop Warner again (these are 12 year olds, by the way). In the movie? Just 15 yards, and the assistant coach getting dressed down by the head coach. Also, the impetus for the [[YouGoGirl star girl football player]] to come from [[TenMinuteRetirement cheering her team on]] to getting back on the field and kicking some butt.

* Behold, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIcdbxzrtbI Cannucks versus Flames, January 18, 2014]]. The second the puck hits the ice, instead of going for the puck, the Flames ''tackle'' the Cannucks, who respond in kind with fists. Notably, ''The Flames were planning this'' and [[ProperlyParanoid The Cannucks saw it coming]] as the Flames started the game with their Fourth line, leading to the Cannucks to respond in kind, expecting dirty play. Similar events happen enough for there to be a term for it, "line brawl".

* On the verge of losing the 1972 Summit Series to the Soviets, the Canadians, who were made up of professional NHL players, simply resorted to dirty play, such as deliberately injuring the Soviets' best player Valeri Kharlamov, in order to win the series. This is partially averted because in North America, very few people will admit Canada's dirty play helped contribute to their victory.