KEY POINTS:
England Twenty20 cricket captain Paul Collingwood tarnished his own reputation and embarrassed his team by stopping for a midnight drink in a 'lap-dance' bar in Cape Town this week.
He's not the first - and, most assuredly, won't be the last - sportsman to be caught
out in an uncompromising situation.
While some sports heroes have seriously disgraced themselves with criminal actions (think football star OJ Simpson, for one), for others, the misdemeanour has been a minor one, often only penalised by a fine imposed within the team environment.
Late-night shenanigans have rarely been performance-enhancing. Indeed, Collingwood was dismissed for a duck when his team played the South Africans on the morning after his dalliance.
It raises, of course, the old chestnut about whether young people who have been given an extraordinary talent at a certain sport, and made a lot of money out of that talent, are also morally obliged to be 'role models'.
While you ponder that, here's a list of ten sportsmen whose well-publicised dodgy activities have landed them in hot water:
THE SPORTS HALL OF SHAME
Sonny Bill Williams: The Bulldogs rugby league player was sprung earlier this year by several witnesses when he was seen entering a toilet cubicle with high-profile athlete Candice Falzon after an all-day drinking session with teammates at Sydney's Clovelly Hotel last weekend.
A cellphone photo of the pair in a compromising position, taken by a witness reaching under the cubicle, was also posted an a news website.
Darryl Tuffey: In 2005 the former New Zealand cricketer was fined $1000 after he admitted he was filmed during a sexual act with a Christchurch woman a year earlier.
Michael Vick: The Atlanta Falcons quarterback pleaded guilty last month to helping run an interstate dog-fighting enterprise known as "Bad Newz Kennels".
Shane Warne: One of Australia's all-time top cricketers, Warne was accused by 45-year-old South African mother of three Helen Cohen Alon of making more than 40 unwanted phone and text messages of a sexually suggestive nature.
Three years ago Warne was accused of harassing 22-year-old English nurse Donna Wright, also by sending sexually explicit text messages.
Warne has also been suspended for taking a banned substance and fined heavily for having extended dealings with an Indian bookmaker.
Wayne Carey: The former AFL Kangaroos captain was strangely well-connected to Melbourne's underworld, giving character evidence at the trial of one high-profile (later slain) hitman, drug dealer and gangster.
He was also caught having an affair with a teammate's wife in 2002.
Matt Henjak: The former back-up Wallabies halfback was sent home from South Africa following a nightclub incident in 2005 after he threw the contents of his drink at a patron. Fellow Wallabies Lote Tuqiri and Wendell Sailor were also involved in the fracas, but escaped censure.
Pete Rose: A legend in American major league baseball, Rose holds the record for the greatest number of career hits by a batter (4,256). His certain place in baseball's hallowed Hall of Fame, however, went down the gurgler when in 1989, as manager of the Cincinnati Reds, he was caught gambling on baseball games involving his own team - a BIG no-no.
Trent Barrett: The St George Illawarra league skipper was fined $2,000 in 2005 for inappropriate behaviour at a hotel in Wollongong after he stripped to his underwear and performed press-ups on the hotel bar.
Ian Botham: The English cricketer was suspended for drug-taking and gained headlines for a supposed romp with Miss Barbados that resulted in a broken hotel bed.
Todd Carney: In May this year the Canberra Raiders league star was involved in a high speed car chase in which he was charged for failing to stop when directed by police, negligent driving, and driving while disqualified. He's not allowed to get behind a wheel again until 2012.
* Research and compilation by Stacey Hunt
