:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 12

"WE TALKIN' 'BOUT PRACTICE, MAN"

Considering it's been 11 days and I haven't included this one yet, you just knew I was putting it at the top of the list. It's not angry like some, but it is still my all-time favourite for whatever reason.

Just an absolutely bona-fide classic.

Also, because this is the final day of the 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences, I've decided to leave you with a bonus montage of some other sports interviews, which tend to be more angry or tense than funny. Still, many of them could have been in my list (and some of them are).

Enjoy!

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 11

Jim/Chris Everett vs. Jim Rome

I have mixed feelings on this one because I particularly like Jim Rome a lot of the time – his broascast style and attitude drives me crazy – but this interview no doubt put a young Rome on the map, and made him famous. I guess that's the other reason I don't like it – it comes off, to me, as a staged career move on the part of Rome.

That said, anytime you can get an NFL quarterback to attack you, you gotta end up high on the list.

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 10

HAL McRAE THROWS A PHONE

This classic hissy fit thrown by former MLB manager Hal McRae turns up on nearly every list of classic sports rants, and for good reason. Guy trashes his own damn office, for Christ's sakes.

It's gold, Jerry. Gold.

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 9

"I'M A MAN! I'M 40!"

In a hilariously noble act, Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy defends – vigorously – one of his young players who he feels has been torn apart in one particular issue of a local newspaper. And don't worry if you're unsure which newspaper it is – Gundy brought it with him. This one of one of my all-time favourites.

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 8

LEE ELIA BASHES CUBS FANS

Well, considering the last two days have featured press conferences most of you have seen a million times, I've decided to throw one in that perhaps is a little less well-known (although it's quite infamous in baseball circles). No video of this one – audio only – but it's still worth it. Former Chicago Cubs manager Lee Elia just tears into Cubs fans... it's vicious. I had to work hard to find an unedited, unbeeped version of this beauty.

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 7

"THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!"

Another classic, courtesy of the National Football League. Former Arizona coach, lamenting the loss to the Chicago Bears. Turns out, he knows who they are.

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 6

"PLAYOFFS?"

This one's a classic, and you've all no doubt seen it before – including in beer commercials. But it's too famous, and too damn good, to leave out. That said, I give you Jim Mora, former coach of the Indianapolis Colts.

(Speaking of which, Mora's question is one many around Indy will soon be asking again if and when Peyton Manning leaves town, either through trade or retirement. Man, they suck.)

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 5

"YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!"

Well, Christmas is over, you've survived Boxing Day, and are likely headed back to work after a few days off with your family and friends. What better time to remind you of one simple axiom to live by: "You play to win the game!"

You know, just in case you thought you played it just to play it.

Classic.

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 4

TORTORELLA VS. NEW YORK

As many of you are likely already aware, New York Rangers coach John Tortorella is a freaking snapshow – has been ever since he coached the Tampa Bay Lightning. And he's got an especially adversarial relationship with New York sports writer Larry Brooks.

So, today, on Boxing Day, I give you not one, but two, John Tortorella clips where he appears to want to throw Larry Brooks in front of a moving subway car.

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 3

"WE'RE COMING FOR YOU, N----!"

Merry Christmas! As today is the big day, celebrating the birth of Santa Claus (or something like that), I give you the cheeriest thing I could find: A WWF interview where Booker T calls Hulk Hogan a N---- and then instantly, as you can tell, regrets it.

(By the way, Mean Gene Okerlund was awesome in his day.)

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

DAY 2

SHAQ RETIRES, MULLS KNICKS' GM OFFER

This one isn't an angry freakout yesterday's Avery Johnson flip-out, but it's just funny. Shaq is one of the funniest athletes in, I would guess, the history of sports. This video's a little long, but it's got a lot of funny moments.

Because it's only a few days until Christmas, and because I have some free time, I've decided to give this blog's few remaining readers a Christmas gift over the next 12 days. But rather than the 12 Days of Christmas, I've decided instead to run down a dozen of the best press conferences/meltdowns in the history of sports in a li'l segment I've dubbed....

:: 12 Days of Awesome Press Conferences::

Day 1

AVERY JOHNSON GETS WEIRD

NBA coach Avery Johnson, who I believe was coaching the Dallas Mavericks at the time, gets a little testy, and then downright weird, during an NBA Finals press conference.

Next up, Press Conference #11.