It happened last November, when he green-lighted an onside kick with his Utes ahead by 43 points with two quarters left against Wyoming.

What rule was broken?

RULE NO. 123: Never call an onside kick when leading by a bunch of points (regardless of how much trash talking was involved beforehand).

Then again, it is an unwritten rule.

Unwritten rules are what makes sports unique.

Sports - and this is not new - is like life. And in life, there are unwritten rules, like you have to give up your seat on the train or bus for a pregnant woman.

"You can say it's common sense," Salt Lake Bees infielder Adam Pavkovich said. "You learn all those things as you progress."

So let The Tribune spell out some of the sports' greatest unwritten rules. And let us hear about some of your favorite (or important) unwritten rules at sportseditor@sltrib.com, since there are so many of them.

And, yes, we get the irony of printing unwritten rules. Whittingham probably wishes we wouldn't mention them.

In baseball:

* Never steal a base when leading by a lot.

* Never talk to the pitcher when he's throwing a no-hitter.

* Pitcher must retaliate when his teammate gets hit by a pitch.

* Run out a ground ball, no matter how upset you are at yourself; sometimes this is the hardest thing to do, since it seems to be pointless. But not only does it show teammates that you believe an out isn't an out until it is called an out, but it also tell fans - especially the younger ones - to always play your hardest (which is a general unwritten sports rule). You see way too often an athlete slumping his body into disappointment when the ball lightly rolls into the hands of a shortstop.

* Rookies must dress up in women's clothing on one road trip a year.

In basketball:

* Refrain from talking about your YouTube-worthy dunk after the game. Let your teammates do it for you. After making Andrei Kirilenko look like a junior high player with a thunderous dunk two postseasons ago, Baron Davis mostly kept quiet after the game, only publicly talking about it during media interviews. The Dunk, which happened in Oakland during the Jazz-Warriors playoff series, was the talk of the town for two days. But it was the only Golden State moment fans remembered from the series.

* You must pronounce the importance of defense after a win

* Big stars have the right to shoot to get hot and shoot to stay hot

* Offer encouragement after a teammate's missed missed free throw

In football:

* Never call for an onside kick when up by a bunch

* You must take a knee in the final seconds of a decided game

* Announce the importance of defense after a win

* Shower your coach with Gatorade after winning a championship at any level. Most of the time, coaches know it's coming but why not act surprised. The perfect time to drench your coach is not on the sidelines. It's while the coach is surrounded by cameras and flashing lights.

* Thank your offensive line after running for 100 yards or more.

In hockey:

* Fight if you want to, but don't injure your challenger: It's almost like boxing. You don't want to cause brain damage. You just want to hurt the guy enough to have him learn a lesson. And stick by the rules. Pick the fighter; look for the guy with missing teeth. No cheap shots, no using your skates to slice his body into some sort of body art. Straight jabs to the face, good enough for a black-eye or two. Then sit in the penalty box with a smile.

* Use the boards when clearing the zone.

Do what you can to get a teammate a hat trick when he has two goals * Don't celebrate an empty-net goal. Don't shoot at the net after the whistle blows

In golf:

* Never snap photos during Tiger Woods' swing: This could become an actual rule, considering how much he hates this. Never do it. Or you'll get some mean looks from his caddie and some unkind words from Tiger himself: Not during my swing, not during my swing! You wouldn't want somebody to snap photos of you while you're brushing your teeth, so why bother Tiger during one of his most important moments of the day? He is Tiger Woods, so give the man some respect and appreciate that we're all breathing his air.

* Never walk across a player's putting line.

Keep your cart off the greens * Don't try to hit rare birds in trees while shooting TV segments.

In preps sports:

* Say the opposing team's name in the final team cheer, though you lost.

* Always put in your bench-warmers in the final seconds of a blowout. There's no point in inflicting more pain onto an opponent when you're up by 40 points. Let the kid with no ball-handling skills take the ball across midcourt and laugh in delight when he bounces the thing off his foot. This is a gesture the kid will always remember, and he might become a national hero, such as the case of Jason McElwain. He was the New York high school kid with autism who for one night two years ago made enough three-pointers to transform the hoop into a hula hoop.

* No stomping on pheasants

* Announce the importance of defense after a win.

Other sports:

* Tennis players should give up the next point if the opponent receives a bad call.

* Gymnastics fans should always remember that this isn't football, so never bring out the boo-birds.

* Cheerleaders should never date the athletes . . . wait, that might be a written rule for some teams.

* Indy 500 winners should always drink the milk, even if it gives them stomach problems.

* Play your hardest: This is not done enough.

- Chhun Sun