Welcome to Top10Archive!
In our prior installment of 10 perfectly timed photos, we focused mostly on snapshots that
people could be proud of… but we realized there is an entire market out there for perfectly
timed sports photos that are just plain awkward and humiliating.
So, we're back with 10 awkwardly timed sports photos!
10.
Bat to the Face There's no shame in being a power hitter - until
you accidentally break your bat and a photographer just so happens to capture the moment it cracks
you right in the face.
So long as you keep your composure, as this steel-willed New York Yankee seemed to do
for this millisecond of time, you should be okay.
Then again, there will be an image of you getting hit by your own bat circulating throughout
the internet.
9.
Head First Being a professional diver comes with its
own slew of dangerous hazards.
You can slip off the board, land incorrectly in the water, or do what this modern marvel
pulled off.
Thanks to the anonymous photographer of this spectacular specimen, we're able to see the
precise moment things went wrong - when the diver's head somehow made contact with the
diving board.
Maybe she was able to recover and pull off a pretty mean (and bloody) cannon ball, though.
8.
I've Made a Terrible Mistake!
At least that's what that face reads to us.
As if she made this incredible leap and, in mid-flight, remembered that she's deathly
afraid of any measure of height.
The alleged story behind this fairly hilarious shot is that the twisted look of pain is because
she actually pulled a muscle.
It definitely sucks that she's in any amount of pain while pulling off things most of us
can't even picture ourselves doing… but yeah, that doesn’t take away from the chuckle
we get at this eternal still.
7.
Face Full of Ball When timed right, a head butt in a soccer
match - sorry, "Football," for the non-Americans - can be one of the most bad ass maneuvers
to pull off.
If you're off even the slightest bit, though, it's bound to become quite the humiliating
moment - especially if it happens to be captured on camera and somehow make its way around
the internet, eventually landing on a list of awkward sports photographs.
6.
I Won?
This one needs a little context to make sense, though it's clear to boxing aficionados who
the referee is declaring the winner.
At the end of his bout with Kenyan boxer Peter Warui, Lu Bin was photographed celebrating
his own victory, but the real gem came when the Chinese boxer realized he didn't actually
win.
As the realization set in, we were treated to this golden snapshot, which allows us to
see the precise moment Lu Bin's excitement and joy was shattered to pieces.
5.
Get Your Dive Face On There are quite a few examples of this incredible
moment in sports photography, so it's tough to land on just one.
It's almost as if the same photographer goes from dive competition to dive competition
with the intent to collect a mass of these beautifully disturbing shots for some sort
of weird scrapbook.
Whatever the process is that keeps giving us these horrific gems, we really hope it
never stops.
They do make one wonder if there is a market for mid-air Ugly Face Competitions.
4.
One for the Guys We couldn't help but think that, for this
installment, we should pander to the desires of those that view our work - so here you
go, Gents.
It may not look too awkward to you, but one has to assume this athletic pole vaulter was
hoping her golden moment would be memorialized a little better.
You know, maybe with her face in view and her rear a little less predominant.
Possibly maybe even shift the angle and wait a little longer so we could see her successful,
triumphant landing rather than…
well…
her butt.
3.
One for the Ladies Don't worry, lasses.
We have you covered as well, though you'll have to use your imagination a little more
than our gentleman Archivists.
It's a little difficult to tell whether or not this picture was staged, especially considering
the perfect placement and alignment of, well, everything.
The Bears' #8 even seems to be enjoying himself a little too much.
Regardless of whether it was staged, we wonder if these two knew that it would be forever
imprinted on the internet and, now, the Archive!
Luckily for us, this photographer was ready to capture it forever.
2.
I've Almost Got It!
So, this is what goes on during soccer…
I mean, football games?
If that's the case, you can bet we'll be watching a lot more of it in the future!
Really, though, was the ball hidden so well that he thought it was jammed up there and,
in a panic, tried to save his rival?
Judging by the look on the bottom player's face, it's not the most pleasurable experience.
Could this be another staged scenario, played for a quick laugh without the foresight to
think a nearby photographer would be quick on the draw, immortalizing it forever?
1.
Hole in One Being gored by a bull cannot be an experience
you want to remember, especially if the bovine happens to catch you where the sun don't shine.
Now ya gotta know that every time this individual - who seems to be a part of a rodeo rather
than a matador - stumbles across this incredibly awkward picture, he instinctively goes to
sit on an ice pack.
Heck, we're just looking at the picture and we're starting to get a little sore!..
I, I need some ice.