9 and 8

Don't make him angry, you wouldn't like him when he's angry. Tiger Woods once again proved yesterday why he is one of the best ever in the history of golf and sports in general. After absorbing criticism from his Match Play Championship opponent Stephen Ames, Tiger made short work of him, winning 9 of the 10 match play holes, leaving 8 holes on the table.

"Hey! Hold that cab, I'll be done here in a minute..."

Ames was asked about his chances Monday when he said "Anything can happen," then smiling and saying, "Especially where 'HE'S' hitting the ball." Woods apparently took his comments seriously and must have had a smile of his own when he climbed into a van behind the 10th green after halving the hole to win the match. When asked if he had seen what Ames said, Tiger responded, "Yes." When asked what his reaction was, Tiger said, "9 and 8." With the victory Tiger became the first player in the tournament to win the 1st 9 holes and take the match in the 10th. Ames was the #16 seed and Tiger was the #1 seed in the bracket, but most 16 vs. 1 matchups don't play out as much like Little Mac vs. Glass Joe:

The demolition by one of Golf's greats got your Uncle Buck thinking about great sports moments where one guy shot off his mouth and the result that followed. In the history of sports it really turns out one of three ways, followed by a few examples:

1. Said big mouth gets thumped by opponent.

2. Said big mouth thumps opponent like he said he would.

3. They both stink.

Scenario 1: Said big mouth gets thumped:

Nov. 22, 1965: Floyd Patterson vs. Muhammad Ali

Former heavyweight boxing champion Floyd Patterson publicly denounces Ali's new found Muslim faith by refusing to call him Ali, instead calling him Cassius Clay. Never short on words Ali returns the insult calling Patterson an "Uncle Tom".

The Result:

Ali dominates Patterson, but instead of scoring a quick KO (or a late KO or a KO when ever he wanted the way he was dominating the action), Ali mocked, humiliated and punished Patterson throughout before knocking him out in the 12th round. Throughout the fight Ali can be heard yelling, "What's my name!?"

April 15, 1985: Thomas Hearns vs. Marvin Hagler

You can take a look at UB's review of this fight from a few months ago here. As for the foot in the mouth moment, coming off a 2 round destruction of Roberto Duran, a fighter Hagler struggled with for 15 rounds, Hearns joked about his Middleweight title fight with Hagler saying his management set him up to fight a "midget." Hager said he would let his fighting do the talking.

The Result:

Hagler out battles Hearns in the greatest 1st round in the history of the sport and finishes him off in the 3rd to win by TKO.

June 8, 2002: Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis

"Baddest Man on the Planet" Mike Tyson told a reporter following a early KO that he wanted to take heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis's heart and "eat his children." The fact that Lewis didn't have any children apparently got back to Mike who proceeded to attack and bite Lennox during a press event to promote the fight.

The Result:

Lewis ate Tyson's heart with thudding left jabs and riveting right uppercuts before knocking him out with a right cross to the jaw at 2:25 of the eighth round.

After the fight Tyson said: "I might just fade into oblivion."

Feb. 6, 2005: Freddie Mitchell vs. Rodney Harrison

When asked by ESPN's Dan Patrick to name the members of the New England Patriots secondary, who Freddie and the Eagles are about to play in Super Bowl XXXIX, FredEx (never open on Sundays) rattles off some wrong jersey numbers before saying he knows Patriots Safety Rodney Harrison and has something for Rodney "when I meet ya, too!"

The Result:

Harrison has 2 picks in the Patriots Super Bowl win, including the game clincher in the 4th quarter. Freddie has ONE catch. The catch comes late in the 4th, when the Patriots move to a prevent defense to trade yardage for clock with Philadelphia. Yes, you read that right, Rodney had one more catch than Freddie.

Scenario 2: Said big mouth thumps opponent just like he said he would:

Jan. 12, 1969: Joe Namath vs. Baltimore Colts

Broadway Joe tells reporters he "guarantees" a win for his AFL New York Jets over the 18 point favorite NFL Colts.

The Result:

Namath has a solid game, backed up by his defense, and runs to tunnel with his #1 finger raised high...

The Longterm Result:

"I wanna kiss you!"

May 22, 1988: Larry Bird vs. Atlanta Hawks

Larry Legend has some strong words for the Atlanta Hawks after the Celtics Game 6 win in Atlanta to tie the series 3-3. Bird says the Hawks blew their opportunity to eliminate the Celtics and with Game 7 being it Boston it was going to be "a big win for the Celtics."

The Result:

In the final 12 minutes of the game Bird hits nine of 10 shots and scores 20 points. The Celtics win 118-116.

Scenario 3: Said big mouth and his opponent both suck:

Feb. 5th, 2006: Jerramy Stevens vs. Joey Porter

Leading up to Super Bowl XL, Seattle Seahawks TE Jerramy Stevens makes a comment that Pittsburgh Steelers RB Jerome Bettis will be leaving Detroit without a ring. LB Joey Porter of the Steelers makes Stevens target #1 for Super Bowl Sunday.

The Result:

Stevens has several key drops in a game Seattle could have won, out-gaining the Steelers in every category but points.

Porter doesn't exactly light it up either, with only 3 tackles, 0 sacks, and 0 big plays...although as part of the Steelers team he does get a ring...

Tiger moves on to his next prey...(Cue the sad walking away music...) Do, do, do do...do, do do do...