The Dark Knight endures a dark night

Speaking of the scandalous side of sport, perhaps the NBA playoffs would be better off if Matt Harvey were playing basketball.

The New York Mets pitcher has long been a favourite of the city’s notorious tabloids, who never turn down a chance to pun on his ‘ Dark Knight’ nickname, a moniker coined when Harvey was saving New York while Harvey Dent was doing likewise to Gotham in the Batman franchise.

And this week, the baseballer provided those newspapers with plenty of fresh material, all initially sparked from a mysterious three- day suspension handed down by the team.

As is often the case with stories like these, the details slowly but steadily dripped out. First, it emerged that Harvey was issued the suspension after being absent from a game in which he was not pitching. Next, it emerged that Harvey had called in sick with a migraine, a story the Mets doubted. Then, the rest of the sordid details emerged.

According to the New York Post, Harvey’s migraine must have come from a late Saturday night on the town. And the reason he decided to have a blowout was all down to Adriana Lima.

The Brazilian supermodel had been linked with Harvey, after the pair were spotted smooching in Miami. But last week, Lima was photographed attending the prestigious Met Gala with New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, whom she used to date before turning her attention to the Dark Knight.

Then, to add insult to injury, Lima unfollowed Harvey on Instagram, leaving the pitcher so distraught that he went searching for help at the bottom of a bottle.

It’s all very salacious stuff and perfectly encapsulated the je nais se quoi so regularly offered by American sport. More importantly, it gave the New York Daily News a chance to splash Lima — walking down the runway — on their back page, alongside the headline ‘ CATWOMAN STRIKES’.