The past six months have given us three of the biggest implosions by professional athletes in recent memory.  With this being movie award season and all here in L.A., we at Sports Climax thought it would be nice to give out our own award, of sorts.  Excellence in ruining your image MUST be rewarded!

In the category of “Best PR Implosion By An Athlete,” the nominees are:

• LeBron James, “The Decision”
• Brett Favre: “The Indecsion III” and “Sexting.”
• Jay Cutler: “Knee-Gate”

All three are deserving nominees and here’s a brief synopsis of how they all made it to the red carpet.

James was the most sought-after free agent in NBA history last July when his contract with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers expired.  Where would he go?  Everyone thought he’d end up in media capital of the world, New York.  Other suitors emerged – the Bulls, Heat, Clippers (OK, maybe not), Nets and Cavs.  A “tour” of sorts ensued.  As if that weren’t enough, his “team” decided to green-light an ESPN special to announce which team he would be signing with, called “The Decision,” hosted by the parasitic Jim Gray – who was even paid for his services by Team LeBron.  James chose the Heat, the “show” was a PR disaster, and public opinion turned south.

After coming so close to taking his Minnesota Vikings to a Super Bowl, Favre did his usual off-season retire/un-retire dance.  He strung along the Vikings some more, caused then-head coach Brad Childress to come visit him, and then finally returned to the team with just a few weeks left in training camp.  Once the season started and things weren’t going Favre’s way, he started to publicly throw Childress under the proverbial bus (no, not Jerome Bettis).  Then, came the news that Favre once “sexted” a picture of his, um… to former Jets “in-house sideline reporter Jenn Sterger.  Childress later got fired, Favre got hurt yet again, and then two former massage therapists hired by the Jets accused him of sexual harassment.  By the end of the season, people just wanted Favre to retire.  For real, this time.

Finally, Cutler – a notoriously surly and non well-liked quarterback in both Denver and now Chicago – had his sudden plunge in public opinion as a result of last month’s NFC Championship Game.  During a loss to the Green Bay Packers, Cutler suffered a knee injury and only played one series in the third quarter.  This wouldn’t normally have been a big deal, except for the fact that he gave the appearance of not being seriously hurt, tried to ride an exercise bike on the sidelines and later stood on the sideline for the rest of the game.  The media quickly came down on him (including various current and former NFL players via Twitter).  After an MRI the next day revealed that Cutler did indeed have a tear of his MCL.  But Cutler quickly eliminated any sense of public sympathy last week, when he was spotted strolling through Beverly Hills with his reality TV “star” girlfriend, Kristin Cavallari.

This one’s tough to predict, sports fans.  The envelope, please.  (Insert drum roll).  And the winner is…LeBron James!  What a close vote – he just edged out Favre in the voting.

While Cutler clearly has zero grasp on his image, in his defense, it was revealed on Thursday that he did receive a painkiller shot during halftime, so at least he gave it the old college try.  As for Favre, we pretty much expect his annual diva act, and the sexual-related allegations should really surprise no one.  Let’s just say that Favre’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.

But James actually had a good, positive public image before “The Decision,” and he wiped it all away with that one hour train-wreck on ESPN.

Had he simply held a press conference to announce that he was leaving for Miami, people would have gotten over their initial anger (well, maybe not in Cleveland).  No one begrudges an athlete leaving for more money in the 21^st Century.  But his WWE-style orchestrated charade simply rubbed people the wrong way.  That, as well as the mere fact that Gray asked such tough questions as, “Where is the powder?” and “Are you still a nail biter?”  Nothing like insulting people’s intelligence, LeBron.  And kudos for increasing the Lakers’ and Celtics’ fan bases overnight.

Congratulations to the winner and the nominees, and we look forward to seeing you back here next year.  Yes, there WILL be plenty of athletes to choose from in 2011, I’m sure.

Used with permission of the author.

Chris Lardieri runs the “West Coast View” column for Sports Climax. A veteran to the keyboard, Chris covered the Los Angeles Dodgers for Examiner.com and has written about Major League Baseball for Inside Edge, a scouting company that provides content to ESPN Insider and Yahoo Sports. Follow Chris on Twitter for more sports observations.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The sexual harassment lawsuit filed against the Jets and Brett Favre isn’t so much about the bad behavior of Brett as it is the retaliation of the Jets organization against the recipients of the untoward behavior.

Massage therapists Christina Scavo and Shannon O’Toole claim that they were summarily left off the list of private contractors retained by the Jets to perform massage therapy services once Scavo’s husband had an unpleasant phone conversation with Brett Favre.

The other prime figure in this is Lisa Ripi, a Jets employee who was responsible for retaining professionals of this type and is the second person named in the complaint.

Here’s how the scenario is said to have played out.

A few years ago while playing for the New York Jets, after a massage session, Brett allegedly contacted O’Toole and invited her and her friend to stop by:

“Brett here you and crissy want to get together im all alone”

That message was said to be followed by this one:

“Kinda lonely tonight I guess I have bad intentions.”

Mr. Scavo took exception to his wife being asked over for the visit and is said to have phoned the quarterback voicing his displeasure.

Subsequently, after all this took place, the ladies weren’t called again to work for the Jets, although there were no complaints about their work performance and they had been part of the regular rotation of therapists used by the team for a long period of time.

Although the therapists did not notify Ripi at the time of these incidents there is speculation that someone did and the phone never rang again for O’Toole and Scavo. They were contacted two years later after the Jenn Sterger allegations were made public and a general report of others being harassed by Favre came to light.

Ripi initiated contact with the ladies, apparently realizing that they were the ones referenced in the media reports.  She castigated them for not coming to her to report the behavior, said that Scavo’s husband was a jerk and that O’Toole and Scavo should have known that she would have taken care of the situation without any public hoopla.

Then comes the part that Favre has just got to love. Ripi called him a “pervert”, said his invitations were wrong but reiterated her statement that had it been called to her attention two years prior, all would have been smoothed over.

The complaint contains text from Ripi that tells the ladies they’ll never work for the Jets again. It’s a bit odd since they had already been off the preferred contractor list for two years.

So what we have are allegations of bad behavior by a powerful figure in the Jets directed to low level private contractors for the team, and admissions of the bad behavior by the Jets employee in charge of hiring along with the stated reason for the retaliation against them. Sounds like a credible lawsuit to me.

According to the lawsuit, Scavo and O’Toole would have refrained from suing if they had seen the NFL take “meaningful” action against the Jets and Favre for the Sterger situation. Ok, that’s their story and they are sticking to it.

What are we to make of this?

Well, Brett Favre in his own special way is a gentleman when he invites women to his place and didn’t like having to speak with one of their husbands. We also learned that the Jets’ Ripi said she would have handled it on a quieter note if she were notified when it occurred.

Nothing tremendously new here except that Favre struck out with the massage therapists as well as Jenn Sterger. Here we thought a super star QB in the NFL could get whatever he wanted. I guess not. The next stage of the suit will be a filing by the team and if Favre and Ripi are told to hire their own lawyers, filings by them. They’ll probably deny the allegations and ask for a dismissal of the lawsuit.

To be continued…

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

The NFL has finished its investigation into the Brett Favre scandal involving sexting ex-Playboy model Jenn Sterger while she was working the sidelines for the New York Jets in 2008. While some expected Favre to get slapped with a several game suspension, others thought the 41-year-old slinger would walk away free and clear.

Final verdict. . . . a $50,000 fine in what equates to  three minutes of pay for standing on the sideline nursing his injuries. (Favre is working under a $16 million contract this season meaning he earns $1 million a game or about 50K every three minutes).

Why a fine and not a suspension?

According to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the league “could not conclude” that Favre violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy from the evidence he had available. The league was also said to be dealing with Favre refusing to cooperate and answer questions so they had to go on the limited amount of info, some of it two years old, like the origin of the alleged sext messages and penis photos that were said to be sent several years ago.

So why was Favre fined at all if there was no violation of conduct?

According to the league, it’s because Goodell determined Favre was “not candid in several respects during the investigation resulting in a longer review and additional negative public attention for Favre, Sterger and the NFL.”

The league also said it centered its investigation on determining if Favre violated the “workplace conduct policy” and did not judge on the “appropriateness of personal relationships.”

“Personal relationships?” That may be the biggest factor weighing on the league’s decision. While the media has been saturated with information surrounding the sext messages and naked photos that Favre allegedly sent to Sterger, did she respond to them and if so, how?

With this slap on the wrist verdict coming down from the NFL and not involving a suspension or apology, it appears one of two things is happening. Either the league is protecting one of its marquee players or there may be another side to the story the media seems to be focused on.

Regardless, Sterger’s attorney thinks Favre walked on this one and is fired up accusing the NFL of being a “good ole boys league.”

Although Favre has created a circus in the past, saying he was retiring only to un-retire again; with 11 touchdown passes, 19 interceptions and a passer rating of 69.9 that is third from the bottom of the league, this should be his final curtain call. In addition to his lack of performance this season, Favre has been slammed with a series of injuries to body parts that include his chin, ribs, ankle, head, back and shoulder. That shoulder injury ended the ironman’s consecutive start streak at 297 on Dec. 13.

Regardless how this plays out or if Sterger’s camp tries to start a lawsuit, Favre will be taking snaps or standing on the sidelines for what should certainly be his last NFL game this weekend in Detroit.

But remember three minutes of his time sitting on the bench at Ford Field drinking Gatorade will need to be sent to the league to cover his fine.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC