greatest underachievers of the last decade... ?

[The Wanderer]

NHL:

Eric Lindros - poor attitude and injuries have de-railed a career that was supposed to lead him to a parallel with Gretzky and Lemieux; played poorly in only Cup Finals appearance

Bryan Fogarty - was supposed to be the next Paul Coffey -- great puckhandler, playmaker, skater and powerplay pointman; set the record in junior hockey for the most points in a season ever by defensemen (150 pts); struggled with depression and substance abuse; disappeared from professional hockey altogether and passed away earlier this year with almost no media coverage whatsoever

MLB:

Darryl Strawberry/ Dwight Gooden - same story with both of these guys, became mega-stars at a very young age in the Big Apple and soon there were rumours of these guys showing up for games hungover or strung out from cocaine; Gooden had as good a first few years as any picture in baseball history... Strawberry was a 5-tool player and "can't miss" future Hall-of-Famer

NBA:

Derrick Coleman - as a NJ Nets fan, I witnessed this tragedy firsthand, he had absolutely no heart, could have been the best powerforward of his time; Chuck Daly once said of him, "he's as skilled a player as I have ever coached"

you could choose from any number of players to add to this list, including Juwan Howard, Danny Manning and Penny Hardaway

NFL:

Kordell Stewart - can take himself off this list with a big year next season, but has only had 2 good years out of how many now, 6? choked badly in the AFC Championship Game; but clearly has demonstrated that he has Pro-Bowl calibre skills, but never consistently

Dan Wilkinson - "Big Daddy" was supposed to be dominating the league, next great defensive stud, yeah right...

Ryan Leaf - maybe scouts just overestimated his talents? I'm not sure, is it that or is he just lazy and stupid? is he an underachiever or is he just a bust who was never really that good, like say... Rick Mirer?

ATP/ WTA:

Marcello Rios - the 1st Chilean to reach #1 in the rankings, has quite possibly the most caustic personality of any top athlete in major sports; am I wrong betty in saying he coulda/shoulda have won a handful of Slams?

Anna Kournikova - was she ever that good or was it all wishful thinking? I think there is/was definitely potential there, she was once ranked in the top 10, only 2 years ago, so I don't thinks it's acceptable for her fall out of the top 50; I hear she's making a legitimate effort to try and fulfill some of her promise, but how long will her new-found interest in tennis last?

PGA:

is it too early to be saying Sergio Garcia is an underachiever?

 

[bono_man]

Football:

Newcastle United

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"we're free to fly the crimson sky...the sun won't melt our wings tonight..."

 

[brettig]

Originally posted by The Wanderer:
ATP/ WTA:

Marcello Rios - the 1st Chilean to reach #1 in the rankings, has quite possibly the most caustic personality of any top athlete in major sports; am I wrong betty in saying he coulda/shoulda have won a handful of Slams?

Anna Kournikova - was she ever that good or was it all wishful thinking? I think there is/was definitely potential there, she was once ranked in the top 10, only 2 years ago, so I don't thinks it's acceptable for her fall out of the top 50; I hear she's making a legitimate effort to try and fulfill some of her promise, but how long will her new-found interest in tennis last?

PGA:

is it too early to be saying Sergio Garcia is an underachiever?

I agree about Rios, although i must admit ive never seen anything really impressive about his game so i never considered him a potential Slam winner. I think Phillipousis has fallen desperately short of his potential, and that was before the injuries.

As far as golf is concerned, there have been several major underachievers...Greg Norman of course, but a couple other guys havent won any majors and really shouldve won several.
Colin Montgomerie has been unlucky a few times, but hes arguably a better ballstriker than Faldo and hes won the European Tour Money list 7 years in a row during the 1990s, with stats like that its staggering that he hasnt won a major- contrast that with an Olazabal, or a Lee Janzen or a Mark O'Meara whove all won 2 and have never really dominated week in week out on any tour and u see why Monty's record is so hard to understand.
Phil Mickelson has won more tournaments in the 90s than anyone but Tiger Woods (20), is without question one of the most talented and creative golfers of all time and yet hes never really looked like winning a major, despite being in contention alotta times. That is very hard to understand, but perhaps he has paid for the fact that, like Norman, he is an aggressive golfer, often to the point of being reckless and trying the impossible shot instead of chipping out into the fairway and making his 5.
The 3rd guy who i think has underachieved is Ernie Els. Hes won 2 US Opens which is a good effort but i really think hes got the game to have won 5 or 6 by now, before Tiger Woods came along everyone was tipping Els to be the world's best golfer for the next 20 years. He hasnt won a major since 1997 and he really needs to get a move on if hes to still live up to his potential.

As for Sergio, I only think hes underachieved if you compare him to Tiger Woods, and that isnt really fair. Id like to have seen him win one major by now, i really thought he was gonna win the US Open last year but goosen got there when Garcia blew up in the 4th round.

 

[kobayashi]

NHL: alexander daigle. hailed as the next great player when he was brought on board by the senators he fell flat on his face. then bounced around a few different teams before retiring.

if alexei yashin can't muster the slightest playoff effort this year, i would also consider him to be a failure.

PGA: i don't agree with wanderer that garcia is approaching failure status. garcia is a developing player who just happens to be coming along at the same time tiger has. i'm looking forward to many great battles between the two in the future.
i think fans of phil mickelson may be restless as it has now been 10 years since he turned pro and he is now plauged with the 'greatest without a major' tag.

 

[zooropa16]

I think ya hit it on the head with your picks Wanderer. Goden and Straw still bug me to this day.

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Don't let the bastards grind you down.

Zooropa FTP

 

[bullet the blue sky]

Phil Mickleson is choketastic

 

[Zoomerang96]

wanderer, your former 4th line centerman, bobby carpenter was supposed to be an offensive machine.

pat falloon. wow did that guy ever bomb.

bill muckalt was a goal scorer. now he doesnt score anymore. ever.

rick mirer. rick who? was drafted second (i think second if not first overall) in the draft behind drew bledsoe.... something tells me some people drafted after him probably made a big dent than he did.

t.j rubley. worst f*cking quarterback the game has ever seen. ask any winnipeg blue bomber fan who the biggest disgrace to ever put on their uniform, and they'll say either rubley or kerwin bell. at least bell won once or twice...

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-deathbear

 

[Angela Harlem]

The Sydney Frigging Swans.

14 injuries this week!

14!!!

Blah.

Losers.

 

[BEAL]

Originally posted by Zoomerang96:


t.j rubley. worst f*cking quarterback the game has ever seen. ask any winnipeg blue bomber fan who the biggest disgrace to ever put on their uniform, and they'll say either rubley or kerwin bell. at least bell won once or twice...

He gave a talk at my middle school once. He grew up about an hour away from me. I agree, other than maybe one game in the NFL he was worthless. I didn't follow him after he left.

sorry you had to see what type of athletes Iowa produces.

 

[The Wanderer]

pat falloon, oh boy, San Jose did NJ a huge favour all those years ago and selected him 2nd overall after Lindros, leaving Scott Niedermayer for us

Bobby Carpenter once scored 50 goals for Boston or someone like that...

try the name Jimmy Carson on for size, 50 goals as a rookie, demanded to be traded from Edmonton, never was worth a shit in Detroit, Hartford or anywhere else after that

 

[Ody]

A couple more for you:

MLB/NFL:

Bo Jackson. This guy had it all, blew out his hip and was done. Far more successful at 2-sport fame than Deion Sanders.

You might also want to add Ken Griffey Jr. to your list if he doesn't shape up pretty soon. Injuries and adjusting to a new team have really hurt him, but come on, this guy was already named to the All-century team, and what is he doing now? Riding the pine- and hitting .250 when he is "healthy".

 

[The Wanderer]

how was Bo Jackson an underachiever? he was a 2 sport all-star, he never underachieved before his hip injury

but yeah, Griffey has been a huge disappointment since he left Seatle

Alex Rodriguez and his agent I think may have sabatoged his chance at being a legend, he was supposed to be a New York Met and rival Derek Jeter, bat in front of Mike Piazza.... hope you, Chan Ho Park, John Rocker, Carl Everett and Juan Gonzalez are having fun this year!

 

[foray]

Me.

furry

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so bounce, basketball, bounce

 

[Clark W. Griswold Jr]

Originally posted by kobayashi:

PGA: i don't agree with wanderer that garcia is approaching failure status. garcia is a developing player who just happens to be coming along at the same time tiger has. i'm looking forward to many great battles between the two in the future.
i think fans of phil mickelson may be restless as it has now been 10 years since he turned pro and he is now plauged with the 'greatest without a major' tag.

While I mostly agree with you about Garcia, I do find it curious that so many times he shoots a big number on Sunday while contending for a major. I believe he needs to tighten up his swing so that it is more easily repeatable when the heat is on. Let's face it, he's a likeable kid who is capable of shooting some low numbers. So he gets compared to Seve Ballesteros at much too early an age. Is he consistent enough to win? We'll see...

Ernie Els is a mystery. How he could be so dumb on the 13th hole at Augusta is inexcusable.

Mickelson? Like I said in another thread a few weeks ago, if the wind is right, you can smell Phil shitting himself on major Sunday. Beautiful swing, no desire to compete. I wonder what number he'd shoot if he were actually in the same pairing with Tiger. I can't recall those two ever playing together in the fourth round of anything important.

[This message has been edited by Clark W. Griswold, Jr (edited 04-20-2002).]

 

[brettig]

Originally posted by Clark W. Griswold, Jr:
I wonder what number he'd shoot if he were actually in the same pairing with Tiger. I can't recall those two ever playing together in the fourth round of anything important.

lol, he was paired with tiger in the final round of the masters last year! he shot 70 on a low scoring day (Tiger shot 68, Duval 67) and finished 3 shots back in 3rd after starting the round 1 behind.

[This message has been edited by brettig (edited 04-20-2002).]

 

[Clark W. Griswold Jr]

Originally posted by brettig:
lol, he was paired with tiger in the final round of the masters last year! he shot 70 on a low scoring day (Tiger shot 68, Duval 67) and finished 3 shots back in 3rd after starting the round 1 behind.

[This message has been edited by brettig (edited 04-20-2002).]

well, Brettig, once again I open my mouth only to have you help me insert my foot. I thought Tiger and Duval were together for that one, but I'll defer to your larger pool of knowledge. Either way, Phil is destined to be the next Tom Weiskopf.

 

[brettig]

hehehe not a problem! I do have a question for u tho- was Weizkopf a Lefty?

 

[Clark W. Griswold Jr]

Originally posted by brettig:
hehehe not a problem! I do have a question for u tho- was Weizkopf a Lefty?

Nah, he at least knew which side of the ball to stand on. Like Phil, he had a knack for finishing second in the majors. Especially at Augusta!

 

[brettig]

ahh, thanks...yeah i know about his record- they always compare him to Norman too

 

[Ody]

Originally posted by The Wanderer:
how was Bo Jackson an underachiever? he was a 2 sport all-star, he never underachieved before his hip injury

well, I guess you're right. I was just thinking of how much he could have done, had he not been injured. But it wasn't his fault so maybe that keeps him from being an underachiever.