List of sports flops
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of sports athletes and events which were projected to be a great at the time of thought but failed to live up to the potential that was expected. A "flop" or "bust" also can be a great idea that never worked out to potential. Another definition can be a person that gets into legal troubles. ESPN had an episode of Who's Number One? of the top 25 Biggest Flops of 1979-2004 and the worst teams of the ESPN era.
Contents |
[edit] American Football
- Maurice Clarett - Led Ohio State to the National Championship in the 2002-2003 season but then a series of run-ins with the law ended his prospects for an NFL career.
- Freddie Mitchell
- Ryan Leaf - He was drafted 2nd overall in the 1998 NFL Draft but his time as a pro was short and marked by failure, which according to critics was largely due to his immaturity, arrogance, and poor work ethic. He is considered by many to be the biggest flop in professional football history, and sits at the number 1 spot of ESPN's top 25 flops in sports, just above the XFL.
- Akili Smith - Drafted 3rd overall in the 1999 NFL Draft, cut a couple of years later after poor numbers. According to a recent advertisement he "now watches the game from home".
- Tim Couch - Drafted 1st overall in the 1999 NFL Draft, left the league 5 years later with more interceptions than touchdowns.
- Stoney Case
- Brian Bosworth - One of the greatest college linebackers of all time, but most remembered in the NFL for being run over by Bo Jackson in a Monday Night Football game in 1987. Forced to retire due to shoulder injuries after three mediocre seasons.
- Todd Marinovich
- Tony Mandarich - Drafted 2nd overall in the 1989 NFL Draft, this offensive lineman was cut by the Green Bay Packers after the 1991 season with a year remaining on a four-year contract. He was out of football for five years before coming back with the Indianapolis Colts, with whom he had a more successful, but not noteworthy, three-year stint before retiring for good.
- Todd Blackledge
- Ki-Jana Carter - Drafted 1st overall in the 1995 NFL Draft, blew out his ACL in a preseason game that same year, and was never even a shadow of his former self.
- Courtney Brown (football)
- Blair Thomas
- Curtis Enis
- Lawrence Phillips - Drafted 6th overall in the 1996 NFL Draft, but better-known for his problems with law enforcement and coaches than for his on-field performance.
- Rashaan Salaam - Heisman Trophy winner in 1994, first-round draft pick in 1995, out of the NFL in 1999.
- Heath Shuler
- Andre Ware - The 1989 Heisman winner, drafted 7th overall in 1990, proved to be a product of the run-and-shoot system he ran at Houston. In four NFL seasons, he threw for barely over 1100 yards total and had a passer rating of 63.5.
- Joey Harrington - In the 2002 NFL Draft, he was the top Quarterback in the draft, and was drafted by the struggling Detroit Lions who had just released Charlie Batch and were looking for a new quarterback. He was heavily hyped as being what the Lions needed to be a winning team again (After Barry Sanders' retirement, the Lions would never again pull off a winning season), but ultimately didn't live up to that hype, due to lackluster footwork and overall lackluster performance. Steve Mariucci's reform the Lions to a West Coast offense was also blamed for Joey's and the Lions' poor performances. After three five win seasons, he was traded to the Miami Dolphins, where he no plays behind Daunte Culpepper.
- Trezelle Jenkins-picked 31st by the Kansas City Chiefs in 1995, he started only one out of three games. Considered a big man who became a big bust. He now owns a Harold's Chicken Shack in Michigan.
- Charles Rogers-the second overall pick by the Detroit Lions in 2003, failed a drug test in 2005, and poor work ethic. He was released by the Lions during the 2006 preseason. He was picked ahead of Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson.
- Peter Warrick
- Dan Wilkinson
[edit] Baseball
- Rick Ankiel
- Billy Beane - Drafted in the 1st round of the 1980 Major League Baseball amateur draft, had a woeful playing career but then became a successful general manager for the Oakland Athletics in the 2000s.
- Michael Jordan in baseball
- Kaz Matsui
- Ben McDonald
- Carl Pavano
- Brien Taylor
- Todd Van Poppel
- Drew Henson
[edit] Basketball
- Rafael Araújo
- William Bedford
- Jonathan Bender
- Len Bias - Died of cocaine overdose within 48 hours of being selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1986 NBA Draft
- Sam Bowie - famously selected in second position in the 1984 NBA Draft, ahead of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton, notably.
- Kwame Brown
- Mateen Cleaves
- Yinka Dare
- Marcus Fizer
- Reece Gaines
- Trajan Langdon - A flop in the NBA, but now a star for reigning Euroleague champions CSKA Moscow
- LaRue Martin - Widely considered to be the worst first overall draft pick in NBA history. [1].
- Harold Miner
- Ed O'Bannon
- Shawn Respert
- Stromile Swift
- Nikoloz Tskitishvili
- Neal Walk
- Chris Washburn - A drug related disappointment, was not all that more interested in the game than he was in going to class. He was banned in 1989 for failing a drug test.
- Frederic Weis - Taken by the New York Knicks in the lottery but never joined the team.
- Michael Olowokandi
[edit] Football (Soccer)
- Ade Akinbiyi
- Bosko Balaban
- Tomas Brolin
- Ali Dia - His was signed by Southampton as a part of a trick from a friend of his who telephoned managed Graeme Souness and let him believe that Dia was the cousin of George Weah. However, his standard was clearly amateur.
- Eric Djemba-Djemba
- Darren Fletcher
- Tore André Flo
- Mateja Kežman
- Kleberson
- Hélder Postiga - Dubbed as an up and coming player at Tottenham, yet never accomplished much. He did score a goal against England in the quarterfinals of Euro 2004.
- Jonathan Stead - Was rated as a future England international, however he went on a goalscoring drought for Blackburn Rovers in his second season with the club and was subsequently sold to Sunderland where his drought continued. He was then relegated to the lower divisions with Sunderland.
- Juan Sebastián Verón in the English Premiership
[edit] Head Coaches
- Gerry Faust with Notre Dame.
- Rick Pitino with the Boston Celtics.
- Dennis Erickson with the San Francisco 49ers.
- Steve Mariucci with the Detroit Lions.
- 1991 Prairie View A&M college football
- Steve Spurrier with the Washington Redskins.
[edit] Ice hockey
- After being hyped as the next Mario Lemieux, young Victoriaville Tigres star Alexandre Daigle was selected first overall by the Ottawa Senators in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Daigle recorded a few respectable seasons in Ottawa but never lived up to the hype, feuded with team star Alexei Yashin, and got on fans' bad side before being traded out of Ottawa and launched on an odyssey through the National Hockey League. After the 1999-2000 NHL season, Daigle retired to attempt an acting career, but this failed and he returned to the NHL for 2002-03 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Daigle has proven to be an effective journeyman player after his comeback, but he is still remembered as a great flop.
- From 1988 to 2000, the Edmonton Oilers had fifteen picks in the top twenty of the draft. Of these fifteen, only Jason Arnott and Ryan Smyth became solid players for the Oilers, and Arnott was run out of town amid accusations of laziness. Tyler Wright, Martin Rucinsky, Francois Leroux, Boyd Devereaux, and Steve Kelly made fringe contributions to other teams in the league, while Jason Soules, Scott Allison, Joe Hulbig, Nick Stajduhar, Jason Bonsignore, Mathieu Descoteaux, Michel Riesen, Michael Henrich, and Alexei Mikhnov have never become NHL regulars. Jani Rita was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2006 and may yet become a solid NHLer outside of Edmonton.
- 1980 first overall pick Doug Wickenheiser was expected to be a big star for the Montréal Canadiens, but never recorded better than 55 points in a season for Montréal in the beginning of the high-scoring 1980s. Wickenheiser went on to become a journeyman in the NHL, minor leagues, and one season in Italy. Most gratingly for Montréal fans, third overall pick and Quebec native Denis Savard went on to a Hall of Fame career.
[edit] Motor racing
[edit] CART/IRL
Robin Miller's list of the 20 Worst Champ Car Drivers
In the December 1999-January 2000 issue of Racer presents Champ Car Magazine (no longer in publication), racing journalist Gordon Kirby, SPEED News Sunday (now) analyst Robin Miller, and legendary racing media personality Chris Economaki compiled a list of the 20 best drivers in CART competition. Within the article, Miller listed the drivers he ranked as the 20 Worst, based on his own evidence. All the drivers listed are shown below in ascending order:
20. Greg Weld: While being a good dirt racer in the sprint car leagues, this driver couldn't adapt to paved tracks; he crashed three cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the space of one afternoon.
19. Bruce Jacobi: One of several cases where, despite having a good car, he usually didn't drive fast enough.
18. Marco Greco: A noted Brazilian ride-buyer (someone who buys a seat on a racing team), whom, Miller acknowledges, should probably be watching the races instead of racing in them.
17. Al Loquasto: A good-natured driver who used an optimistic attitude to help him live with the fact he didn't belong in the cockpit.
16. Jan Sneva: Despite having the touch for sprint cars, he probably wasn't all that great in the big leagues: He wrecked his car leaving the pits at Indy, and he reportedly told the driver of the ambulance to take him directly to the airport and not bother visiting the infield hospital.
15. Steve Saleen: Saleen, who is more well known for his prowess in sports car racing and his famed tuned Ford Mustangs was a Formula Atlantic champion who decided to try his hand in CART-with his own money and equipment. Needless to say, it didn't go well.
14. A group of drivers Miller nicknamed "The Interchangeable Italians", stating that while they had great racing names, the "Scuderia" never called.
13. Steve Barclay: It didn't take much for him to earn a spot on Miller's list. But odds are that things don't look too good for him when he filpped his car over during a Indy 500 rookie test. As Miller states, "'Nuff said".
12. Ray Crawford: As with Marco Greco, this grocey chain owner only got on the grid because he could buy the ride.
11. Paul Jasper: Apparently, when he made his only four starts in Champ Car competition, he had very little experience.
10. Jim Buick: Like Paul Jasper above him, he wasn't around in the sport very long, but long enough that he didn't have what it takes.
9. Ebb Rose: He was good friends with a few seasoned pros, who, Miller stated, didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't drive a race car.
8. Randy Lewis: His incredible resume didn't save him from being nicknamed by faster drivers as "The Moving Chicane".
7. Dennis Vitolo: Another good natured racer who didn't have what it takes to play on the top. Apparently, he would take himself out whenever it was possible.
6. Joel Thorne: According to Miller, Thorne was the first person to buy a seat on the Indy 500 grid, and often left team owners regretting their decision.
5. Patrick Bedard: Bedard flipped his car at the Indy 500 (while running at 145 MPH on only three cylinders) According to Miller, he announced his retirement form Champ Car racing as he was being placed in the ambulance.
4. Lee Brayton: The father of the late Scott Brayton he was seen as a living example of the statement "Nice Guys finish Last".
3. Salt Walther: This wealthy young man had some of the best cars available in the 1970s, but vainity and a horrid attitude kept him from ever reaching the podium.
2. Hiro Matsushita: Like Steve Saleen, Matsushita was an Atlantic champion who thought he could run in the big leagues. All he got from it was being nicknamed "King Hiro" by one of the greats, Emerson Fittipaldi, and, according to Miller, the dubious honor of being the CART record holder for being flipped off by other competitors.
1. Dr. Jack Miller: It would seem odd to any knowledgeable fan of American open-wheel racing as to why Miller placed an IRL driver on the list of CART's 20 worst drivers, let alone in its top spot. But the following horror stories were enough to earn Miller's contempt. At an IRL event in Phoenix, Dr. Miller pulled into the pits simply to allow the leading cars to get by, and, at the start of another race, he kept triggering his engine's kill switch, all the while he was complaining to his crew that there were electrical problems with the car.
Miller also includes one Honorable Mention: Johnny Rutherford, who, despite claiming 27 Champ Car wins, three Indy 500 wins, and legendary status as a sprint car driver, he had actually crashed several pace cars at IRL events.
Sources The information listed above can be found in the December 1999-January 2000 issue of Champ Car magazine.
[edit] Formula One
Points and podium scorers, pole starters and fastest lap scorers are not normally counted as a flop, but will be mentioned as an example of abuse of term, those currently competing will not be counted.
- Andrea Moda Formula team - An example of how not to run a racing team and how joining the wrong team can damage one's career. The team and how it was run was portrayed by one of its driver, Perry McCarthy's book Flat Out, Flat Broke
- Coloni
- Eifelland
- EuroBrun
- FIRST (constructor)
- Forti Corse
- Kauhsen
- Life (Racing Team)
- Onyx (racing team)
- Maki
- MasterCard Lola - Lola was not considered as a flop as they built chassis that scored points for teams, but is mentioned as a team on its own due to interference by its sponsorMastercard which led to the team pulling out after the second round.
- Merzario
- Pacific (racing team)
- Parnell
- Rial (racing team)
- Scarab (constructor)
- Simtek
- Token (Racing team)
- Trojan (Racing team)
- Veritas (constructor)
- Lamborghini as an engine supplier and constructor
- Michael Andretti - not literally considered a flop as he scored podium finishes, but how the term can become exaggerated.
- Takachiho Inoue
- Hideki Noda
- Gaston Mazzacane
- Porsche's 3.5 litre V12 engine, which was abandoned at the middle of the 1991 season after proving to be unreliable, overweight and underpowered.
[edit] NASCAR Racing Series
- Loy Allen Jr.-he won the pole for the 1994 Daytona 500 and it was downhill after that. He made some sporadic starts later in his career but failed badly.
- Scott Riggs - Good Busch Series career with BrewCo Motorsports, but has not had that much success with the number 10 Valvoline team, missed the 2006 Daytona 500.
- Brian Vickers (Nextel Cup) - 2003 Busch Series Champion, but has has only won one race the 2006 UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in the Nextel Cup Series. Vickers was hailed as a great find by Rick Hendrick. And his talent has not grown into early success. Most of his critics believe a few more years in the Busch Series could have served him better than rushing him up to Cup. Vickers will move to the Red Bull Racing Toyota in 2007, which may raise his stock.
- Steve Park - Picked by the late Dale Earnhardt to be the startup driver for his new team. Park suffered injuries in his rookie year and on his wasy to being a fixture in the top ten, injured his brain in a hard crash. His return in 2003 was marred by wrecks and a trade from his DEI team to Richard Childress Racing. Park landed on his feet and got a win in the Craftsman Truck Series 2005 at California Speedway.
- Rob Moroso - Not truly a flop; rather, a case of unfulfilled promise tragically cut short. Won the Busch Series title in 1989, making him the youngest driver at that time to win a NASCAR series championship. The next season, he was leading the Cup series in rookie points through September, but died late that month in a road accident while driving under the influence.
- Kenny Irwin - Looked at by many open-wheel enthusiasts as the next Jeff Gordon but he never lived up to the lofty expectations. Irwin died practicing for the New Hampshire 300 in 2000.
- Johnny Benson (Nextel Cup) - 1996 Busch Series Champion did not have the best career in the majors. It took him almost eight years to win his first race at the Pop Secret 400 at the now-defunct North Carolina Speedway in 2002. He now is a front-runner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and serves as an analyst for Speed Channel.
- Bobby Hillin-Alabama native that won a race at Talladega in the mid 1980's. His career never took off mostly because of accidents and the equipment he was in.
- Shane Hmiel (NASCAR Busch Series) - Career was marred by arrogance, and a liscense of drug usage which got him blackballed, Hmiel was banned from racing for life for failing his third drug test in 2006. Hmiel also flipped off Dale Jarrett on national TV.
- Brendan Gaughan(Nextel Cup) - former college basketball teammate of Allen Iverson at Georgetown. Spent only one season in Cup with Penske Racing with limited success and promptly returned to the Truck Series in 2005 and having decent success.
- Travis Kvapil (Nextel Cup) - Another Truck Series transplant. Drove the 77 Kodak Dodge in 2005 and did not have much success. Kvapil joined the #32 Tide Cheverolet in 2006 and is languishing below the top 35 in points.
- Ken Bouchard
- Dick Trickle - The oldest driver to receive NASCAR Rookie of the Year. By the time he entered the Cup Series, he was no longer the dominant force in his ARCA series days.
- Jason Leffler
- Brian Rose (Truck Series)
- Mike Wallace - Middle brother of Rusty Wallace. Has not scored any wins in the Nextel Cup Series with all the teams he has driven for, but Wallace did win the 2004 Winn Dixie 250 at Daytona in the Busch Series.
- Mike Skinner (Nextel Cup) - the 1995 and 1996 Truck Series Champion. Owner Richard Childress felt he could win in Cup as a teammate of Dale Earnhardt. Skinner did not win with Childress and was let go early in 2001. In 2002, he joined Morgan-McClure Racing for 2 years and left in 2005 to return to the Truck Series where he has had some success.
- Rick Wilson - Did not have much success, mostly marred by crashes (many not of his making) and the equipment he was in. Had only one successful period of years when he drove for the Stavola Brothers 8 car.
- Joe Milikan - Runner-up to Dale Earnhardt for Rookie of the Year. Had a good rookie season, but it was all downhill from there.
- Rick Mast
- J.D. McDuffie - Independent driver who ran over 600 events, never tasting a victory.
- Bobby Wawak - had a streak of top tens in 1983-87 but never won.
- Casey Atwood - Appeared to be a bright young talent in Busch cars and hailed as the next new star in Nextel Cup. Atwood was hired by Ray Evernham in 2001 as teammate of Bill Elliott on Evernham's new race team. Evernham became impatient with Atwood's performance and released him in 2002.
- Jimmy Hensley - Reliable back-up driver for several race teams in the early 1990s, but his career never took off.
- Scott Wimmer (Nextel Cup) - Was successful late in 2002 and 2003 the Busch Series with Bill Davis Racing. The team stuck with him on his promotion to Cup in 2004, but Dodge dumped Davis in 2004. Wimmer's career hasn't taken off. He left the Davis team in 2005 to join Morgan-McClure Motorsports 4 AERO Exhaust Chevrolet in 2006.
- Steve Grissom-1993 Busch Series Champion, but his success never translated to Cup. Was a reliable substitute for some race teams in the late 1990s. Mostly has to use his past champion's provisional to get into Busch Races.
- David Stremme-Had a good career in James Finch's number 1 car in Busch until he moved to Braun racing the next year and won Nascar Busch Series Rookie of The Year. It was all downhill from there as Stremme struggled with the Braun team. He never won a race in the Busch Series. He later would move to Nextel Cup for Gnassi racing but his career has not taken off.
- Chip Ganassi Racing in NASCAR Racing.
- Scott Pruett - A consistent winner in sports car and IndyCar racing, his debut season in 2000, with major sponsorship backing from Tide, produced only one top ten finish and 37th place in the final Winston Cup standing, while failing to qualify for six races. No longer a series regular, Pruett now experiences greater success as a Road Course Ringer, frequently recruited by teams for the races at Infineon and Watkins Glen.
- NASCAR returns to the Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas after a four year hiatus in 1979, only to boast a low 16,000 people in attendance(the lowest in NASCAR history) (Darrell Waltrip won the race).
- The Dale Earnhardt, Inc. crew chief swap to save the NAPA sponsorship, resulted in a bad season for the team and the departure of the underachieving Michael Waltrip.
- Robby Gordon starts his own race team, Robby Gordon Motorsports and due to the lackluster success of one-car operations in recent years, this should not have been a big surprise.
[edit] Sportscar racing
- The 3.5 liter Formula One engine formula in Group C sportscar racing. An ill-advised formula by the FIA to combat excessive high speeds at Le Mans' Mulsanne Straight, as a result due to high expense of the cars, it forced many factory teams to drop out and smaller budget teams unable to compete, a lack of entries meant the 1993 WEC was cancelled before the start of the first race.
- The GT-Live exhibition event at California Speedway in Fontana, in an attempt to cash in the worldwide popularity of JGTC, who was soon renamed Super GT, the organizer, hosted an exhibition event dubbed GT-Live a week before the Christmas Holiday of 2004. As the event is widely hyped in Import magazines, the crowd attendance was poor and was marred by controversy on track. The D1 Grand Prix exhibition event at the following day, fared better, the event was scheduled to run for the following year but was cancelled.
[edit] Motorcycle racing
- The Honda N5500, After several year of absence, in 1978, Honda's comeback attempt at Grand Prix motorcycle racing since the '60s, using the four-stroke they became accustomed to, when all other works teams were using two-stroke cycle. Although innovative at the time, the bike was fraught with numerous problems and was shortly replaced by the two stroke NS500. The four strokes would make a comeback in the reformatted MotoGP series in 2002.
- Anthony Gobert in 500cc Motorcycling GP. In 1997, Gobert was signed to ride for Lucky Strike Suzuki team. Although his performance was plagued by a series of engine seizures, his time at the series ended half way through the season by a drugs scandal which The Go-Show as he was known for his wild behaviour, was fired by team manager Garry Taylor.
- Fogarty Petronas Racing, FPR as it is known, run by the "bigmouth" of motorbike racing, Carl Fogarty, couldn't win a race or do better than Foggy when he was a racer, at the end of the season, most people in the paddock cried good riddance. Also suffered the humilation of the unachieving of all teams.
- Modenas KR
[edit] Others
- The Ontario Motor Speedway, built in 1970 in Ontario, California, for $25.5 million, closed after the 1980 racing season.
- Humpy Wheeler's decision to "levigate" the Lowe's Motor Speedway to improve the racing, the decision resulted in a record number of caution flags (the most in NASCAR history) and many blown tires every 30-35 laps.
- Gordon Murray's Rocket powered Indy car. Banned after one race.
- NATCC, (North American Touring Car Championship), a national series for class 2 touring cars. Despite its hype and promises of star drivers (Danny Sullivan who was pencilled in but dropped out at the last minute), the series only attracted one works team Dodge and races consisting of 8 cars which were ex-BTCC racers became the norm. The series folded at the end of the 1997 season.[2]
[edit] Ski Jumping
[edit] Tennis
[edit] Other
- The All-American Professional Basketball League of 2005 which failed before it started.
- The American Basketball League (1996-1998)
- The American Football Women's League
- The Chicago Cubs infamous "College of Coaches" (a coaching system meant to take ideas from several "coaches" instead of the usual manager, but failed resoundingly).
- The European Hockey League
- The World Hockey Association in both the 1970s and 2000s
- The United States Boxing Championship tournaments of the 1970s
- The United States Football League
- The World Football League
- The original World League of American Football, now NFL Europe
- The Women's Football Association
- The XFL
- The Baseball Network - A joint venture between Major League Baseball, ABC, and NBC that ran from 1994-1995.
- International Sports Daily
- The Triplecast - A pay-per-view service by NBC for the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona.
[edit] ESPN 25's list of Greatest Sports Flops
This was the episode of Who's Number One? that featured the 25 biggest flops of the last 25 years. It was hosted by Stuart Scott. Here is the order.
- 1. Ryan Leaf
- 2. XFL
- 3. Tony Mandarich
- 4. Todd Marinovich
- 5. 2002 USA Men's Basketball team-the dismal USA Men's basketball team that was drubbed at the 2002 World Championships due to lack of team play and poor morality.
- 6. Brian Bosworth
- 7. Lawrence Phillips
- 8. Vikings trade for Herschel Walker-Vikings trade for Herschel Walker for many draft picks which turn into Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, and Darren Woodson, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin.
- 9. L.A. Clippers-used to decsribe the Los Angeles Clippers chronic losses in recent years.
- 10. 2002 MLB All-Star Game-stopped when both sides ran out of pitchers.
- 11. Dennis Miller on Monday Night Football
- 12. Sam Bowie drafted over Michael Jordan
- 13. Atlanta Falcons trade Brett Favre to the Green Bay Packers for running back Kenny Smith who only lasted two seasons.
- 14. Rick Pitino with the Boston Celtics
- 15. Gerry Faust at Notre Dame
- 16. Chris Washburn in NBA
- 17. Heath Shuler
- 18. Anna Kournikova-due that she can never win a singles title.
- 19. AL Umpires resign 1999
- 20. Bo Schembechler fires Ernie Harwell
- 21. Michael Jordan becomes a baseball player.
- 22. Andre Ware
- 23. National Sports Daily
- 24. Buffalo Bills failing to win in 5 Super Bowl appearences.
- 25. Brien Taylor
[edit] See also
- List of things considered great blunders
- The List: Biggest Heisman flops
- ESPN25: The 25 Biggest Sports Flops