Shoutouts: A pair of missives from the dark side of sports

Matt Hardy

Today’s Shoutouts are to a couple of pieces about the rough side of the sporting life.

Ed Wyman did some solid statistical research and used it to rank the dirtiest teams in the English Premier League, from the relatively prim Swansea to the downright dastardly …

Well, I don’t want to give it away.

OK: Bolton Wanderers. But you knew that, right, Premiership fans?

On a much more serious note, John Cobbcorn, who writes that that is a pen name, has written a message to wrestler Matt Hardy that Cobbcorn says is “from one addict to another.”

In the long piece, Cobbcorn writes, “I am an alcoholic and an addict,” and then offers advice to Hardy about the challenges of getting and staying clean, but also the rewards of succeeding. It’s a hard-hitting piece, as Cobbcorn goes into some detail about where he says he’s been, “far worse places than Matt Hardy ever has.”

Hardy, a WWE wrestler, checked himself into a WWE-sponsored rehab facility last week after a string of arrests and other incidents involving drugs or alcohol