If Quentin Richardson was turned around, Manu Ginobili could fire the ball off his butt. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

"I am a huge fan of trick plays," writes Todd from Purdue, no doubt doodling some X's and O's on a dry erase board and reading from a Bob Stoops biography as he types. I was wondering if you could put together a list of some of the greatest trick plays in the history of sports."

What's this? Someone writing in and telling me, a professional blogger, how to do my job? As if I can't come up with ideas on my own?

Turns out I can't. And Todd's idea is a pretty damn good one. So off we go with our list of the best trick plays in sports.

10. The Fake to Third, Throw to First. When a pitcher does this, one of two things happens. If he's a visiting pitcher, everyone screams, "Balk!" (It's not. You can fake a throw to second or third if the base is occupied.) If he's pitching for the home team, everyone turns to the person next to him and says, "You know, I've never seen that play work." The idea is to catch the guy on first running on the pitcher's first move. I put it on the list only because, after watching baseball for most of the first 27 years of my life and never seeing the play pan out, I saw it work twice in a Dodgers-Padres game in 1998. Can't for the life of me remember the details, though.

9. The Throw-the-Ball-Off-an-Opponent's-Butt Trick. You'll see this every once in a while in a basketball game. Guy inbounding the ball under his own basket -- who's not being guarded -- then tosses it off an unsuspecting defender's backside, hops inbounds, grabs the ball and lays it in.

8. The Eephus Pitch. Essentially a slo-pitch softball toss, it was invented by Rip Sewell, who had been shot in the foot (it was either WWII or a hunting accident) and couldn't pivot on it properly. It was given its name by one of Sewell's Pirates teammates, Maurice Van Robays, who explained its meaning by saying, "Eephus ain't nothing." Tough to argue with Maurice on that one. Sewell embarrassed Ted Williams with the pitch in the 1946 All-Star Game. Teddy Ballgame challenged Sewell to throw it, then swung and missed. Sewell promptly announced he was throwing another one, and Williams hit it out of the yard. The lob was slightly less kind to the Sox in 1975, when Tony Perez hit a Bill Lee eephus --or a Leephus (HONK!), as it was called -- for a homer in Game 7 of the World Series.

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7. The Statue of Liberty. Not sure when the last time it was used in a pro or college game, but it's a backyard staple. QB drops back, cocks his arm (a la Lady Liberty) as if to throw, and a teammate comes by and snatches the ball out of his hand. It requires some confusion, so unless you're playing with at least eight to a side, it's kind of tough to fool anyone with this -- unless Butch Davis is the other team's coach.

6. The Stitch a Ball on the Jersey Trick. When I was a kid I had a book of strange sports stories. I seem to remember one about a college team back in the Jazz Age -- Harvard, maybe -- that stitched brown orbs on the front of its jerseys so the opposing team couldn't tell who was carrying the ball.

5. The Fumblerooski. Most famously used by Nebraska against Miami in the 1984 Orange Bowl. The QB -- in this case it was Turner Gill -- leaves the ball on the ground and a lineman -- for Nebraska it was Dean Steinkuhler -- sneaks over, picks it up and takes off. Brilliant for its audacity.

4. The Over the Head Sand Shot. I saw someone -- Phil Mickelson, I think -- demonstrate this once on TV. If you have a hanging lie in the back of a bunker, you stand with your back to the green, take a big swing and flip the ball back over your head. It's not easy. I tried it, once, on a municipal course in rural northern Alabama. I think my ball hit a cow.

3. The Hook-and-Ladder. Also known as the hook-and-lateral, which makes more sense, because a receiver runs a hook pattern, catches a pass and, in one motion, laterals it to a another guy streaking upfield. A good last-second play when the D is looking for a bomb. Like the Statue of Liberty, it's very popular in backyard games, especially when you're playing two completions for a first down and a staring at a fourth and two. It worked for the Dolphins against the Chargers in the 1981 AFC Championship Game at the end of the first half, when Don Strock hit Duriel Harris, who lateralled to Tony Nathan, who scored.

2. The Hidden Ball Trick. Very tough to pull off in a real game, because the whole concept revolves around convincing the runner that the pitcher has the ball, and the pitcher can't pretend to have it if he's on the mound. It works much better in backyard games, where there are no pesky balk rules to cramp your style. When I was a kid, we played with the same core group, but every once in a while we'd get an outsider in the game. And if he ever got to first, you'd immediately get in his ear. "You know, we're playing with lead-offs." Nothing. "Really, you know you can lead, right?" Nothing. "You can't steal, but you can definitely lead." Tumbleweeds. "Are you sure you aren't going to lead?" Nada. "You know, I play out here every day, and we always take nice healthy leads." Then he steps off the old glove that's serving as first base and you tag him out. Usually ended with someone getting punched.

1. The Barking Dog Trick. One time I was watching SportsCenter and they showed a highlight from what was either a high school or junior high basketball game. This kid was on the right baseline and suddenly he bolted for the door, ran through the lobby and came back into the gym through the door on the left baseline. Needless to say, he was wide open. His teammate threw him the ball, Stu Scott yelled "Holla!" and the kid buried a jumper. I thought it was the greatest thing ever until I saw the Barking Dog Trick. You remember the highlight: last second of a high school game, a kid drops down on all fours and starts barking like a dog. Opponents can't help but watch, and the dogboy's teammates take advantage of their disinterest to score the winning basket.

It's pure genius, but I always felt bad for the kid who had to bark. If your coach tells you to assume a canine position at a pivotal point in a game, that's pretty much an indication that he doesn't exactly consider you to be clutch. It reminds me of a great routine Bill Cosby used in his standup. He's talking about the complex plays his pals used to draw up when they played football in the street. The QB tells him, "Cosby, you go down to 3rd Street, catch the J Bus and have them open the doors at 19th Street. I'll fake it to you." Fabulous.

Speaking of comic geniuses, I've praised Noah Baumbach before, but I'll do it again. Read this piece he wrote for The New Yorker. Brilliant.

And speaking of The New Yorker, I meant to link to this last week. Interesting story about politics and baseball in D.C.

Idiot of the Week

This, if true, is quite simply the worst thing I've read in ages. Pretty tough to explain that away.

Thanks for stopping by, and stay classy.