Flopping is the sports equivalent of faking pleasure in the bedroom — just a bunch of people lying down and pretending to feel something. However, in 1989 Roberto Rojas took it entirely too far. Rojas was the goalkeeper for Chile in a decisive World Cup qualifying match against Brazil, and thanks to him, Brazil’s hopes of advancing almost literally went up in smoke.

As CNN recounted, Chile was down 1-0 with 20 minutes remaining in the game. After Brazil’s keeper punted the ball downfield, Rojas was spotted on the on the ground with his hands over his face as smoke envelops him. Lying nearby was a lit flare. Rojas’ crimson-shirted teammates carried him off the field as blood poured from his head. At that point the match effectively ended.

Not one TV camera caught the moment when the flare landed. However, it originated from the Brazil section of the stadium, implying that someone attacked Rojas on Brazil’s behalf. Without proof to the contrary, Chile would win by disqualification. Thankfully, a photographer had captured the flare’s progression. It never came close to touching Rojas. The goalkeeper had faked an attack on himself to get Brazil disqualified. (The blood came from self-inflicted razor wounds.) The dastardly plot got Chile barred from the 1994 World Cup.

Regardless of what the ump says, nothing in baseball is safe. The ball is a leathery white missile that can vaporize birds on impact, fans can get shot in the face by weirdly Freudian hot dog cannons, and someone’s bound to get a splinter from one of those wooden bats. Not even the earth itself was safe during the 1989 World Series.

On October, 17, 1989, ABC began airing what should have been Game 3 of the championship slugathon between the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. As the teams prepared to play ball at Candlestick Park, the Earth began violently hiccupping. According to Giants pitcher Mike Krukow, “it felt like a 600-pound gopher had rolled in from behind the right-field fence.” That morbidly obese gopher was actually a lethal 6.9-magnitude earthquake.

The quake hit just as the Giants were heading to the field for introductions. Television viewers were greeted with flickering screens and uncertainty as audibly concerned announcer Al Michaels declared, “I’ll tell you what … we’re having an earth …” before the transmission cut off entirely. The disaster lasted less than 20 seconds but caused over $6 billion in damage and claimed 63 lives. Candlestick Park withstood the tremor and served as one of the few sources of live news updates in the city.

Super Bowl XLVIII had the rare distinction of not involving Bill Belichick. To call it a competition would be a stretch. The Denver Broncos got trampled by the Seattle Seahawks, who won 43-8. The MVP of the game was Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith, who had nine tackles, a recovered fumble, and an interception returned for a touchdown. Though he probably hurt his hand spanking Broncos all night, Smith couldn’t believe he received the honor. Even less believable was what took place during his postgame interview.

As Smith was describing how he didn’t expect to be named MVP, a random dude jumped beside him, snatched the mic, and started to rant about America’s worst terrorist attack. Speaking with the intensity of an auctioneer on crack he uttered, “Investigate 9/11. 9/11 was perpetrated by people within our own government.” Once the strange man got removed, Smith, using a low-key WTF voice, asked if everyone was okay.

True Jersey identified the interview crasher as “independent journalist” Matthew Mills. Amazingly, Mills outsmarted security by wearing an old festival badge that he passed off as press credentials. All he had to do to gain access was board an employee bus and act like he belonged, which sounds even crazier than his rant.

The NBA has seen more than its fair share of off-the-wall characters. Among those odd ballers was Ron Artest, who now goes by Metta World Peace. A cursory glance at his basketball past will make you think his new name is a meta-joke. Back when he was an Indiana Pacer, the Artest formerly known as Ron was about as peaceful as the Thunderdome. The most striking example of his violence was the “Malice at the Palace.”

In 2004 the Palace of Auburn Hills became the site of a royal rumble between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers. As detailed by Click on Detroit, the Pacers had a commanding 15-point lead with 45 seconds left in the game. However, Pistons player Ben Wallace refused to go down without a fight. After getting fouled by Ron Artest, Wallace retaliated with a ferocious shove. Officials and players quickly stepped in to prevent a fistfight, but Pistons fan John Green reignited the fighting by chucking his beer at Artest.

An enraged Artest lunged at the crowd, and two of his teammates entered the fray. Foolhardy fans engaged the Pacers in battle as other spectators hurled trash through the air. The entire debacle aired on a nationwide ESPN broadcast, which was a huge black eye for the NBA. In response the league slapped Artest with an 86-game suspension.

The Super Bowl halftime show is the most entertaining pee break in all of sports. World-famous musicians give dazzlingly elaborate performances while TV viewers rush to empty their overloaded bladders. There have been plenty of memorable shows over the years, but few have garnered more attention than the 2004 duet by Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake.

Even if you didn’t already know, you can probably guess that the New England Patriots played in that Super Bowl and won. But the entire game was overshadowed by an impromptu anatomy lesson. During halftime Jackson and Timberlake did a rendition of “Rock Your Body,” which concludes with the line, “Gonna have you naked by the end of this song.” At the end of the song Timberlake removed the fabric from Jackson’s chest, thus fulfilling the musical prophecy.

Jackson’s lady lump was visible for less than a second, per USA Today, and both she and Timberlake insisted the whole thing was a “wardrobe malfunction.” Regardless, fuddy-duddies everywhere were furious. CBS, which broadcast the Super Bowl, got slapped with a $55,000 fine which was later overturned. A Tennessee woman filed a class-action lawsuit against the singers, CBS, and CBS’ parent company, claiming that she along with millions of viewers endured “outrage, anger, embarrassment and serious injury.” She eventually dropped her case.