Biggest Sportsperson Disappointment...

[Woody Long]

I don't know if it was like this everywhere, but in New Jersey in 1989 if you snagged a Gregg Jefferies Donruss rookie card you felt like the king of the world.

As a kid who was nine that year and lived in New Jersey, I can confirm this. I was well-invested in the 1989 card sets, but as a kid who religiously watched the Mets on WOR, I really thought those Gregggggg Jeffries rookies were going to be worth something. I still have them somewhere.

 

[Tighthead]

For hockey, Bryan Fogarty was a truly sad case. He really only showed flashes, he was battling the bottle in junior. @Huggy likely knows more than I do.

I remember when he was with the Habs, and his his career was already in shambles. Still, there would occasionally be a moment where you could see the greatness, but it was long past his grasp at that point.

 

[Huggy]

For hockey, Bryan Fogarty was a truly sad case. He really only showed flashes, he was battling the bottle in junior. @Huggy likely knows more than I do.

I remember when he was with the Habs, and his his career was already in shambles. Still, there would occasionally be a moment where you could see the greatness, but it was long past his grasp at that point.

One of the great "what if?" stories in hockey. Pretty sure it was Mats Sundin who played with Fogarty in Quebec and said, after he passed, that he was a "better player drunk than any of us were sober". I never saw Fogarty in the OHL but know people who did who said he was incredible. But you're right, he'd been abusing the bottle since his OHL days and the hype as the "next Bobby Orr" probably didn't help. (It also got Jim McKenny who was tagged with that as a teenager and though he played many years in the NHL ended up an alcoholic who eventually sobered up and went on to a lengthy career as a sports guy on City-TV in Toronto.)

 

[Woody Long]

One of the great "what if?" stories in hockey. Pretty sure it was Mats Sundin who played with Fogarty in Quebec and said, after he passed, that he was a "better player drunk than any of us were sober". I never saw Fogarty in the OHL but know people who did who said he was incredible. But you're right, he'd been abusing the bottle since his OHL days and the hype as the "next Bobby Orr" probably didn't help. (It also got Jim McKenny who was tagged with that as a teenager and though he played many years in the NHL ended up an alcoholic who eventually sobered up and went on to a lengthy career as a sports guy on City-TV in Toronto.)

The story on Fogarty in ESPN Magazine was really well done.

ESPNMAG.com - Wasted

 

[Huggy]

The story on Fogarty in ESPN Magazine was really well done.

ESPNMAG.com - Wasted

Thanks! I remember reading a story on him somewhere but couldn't remember where I'd seen it.

 

[Woody Long]

Thanks! I remember reading a story on him somewhere but couldn't remember where I'd seen it.

I remember reading it my senior year of college, and it stuck with me because I deal with a lot of the same social anxiety that Fogarty did. I've never been into hard drugs, but I do drink a little more than I should to take the anxiety down a notch sometimes. Of course, like a typical American man, I recognized the problem and have done almost nothing to change anything...

 

[Tighthead]

I remember reading it my senior year of college, and it stuck with me because I deal with a lot of the same social anxiety that Fogarty did. I've never been into hard drugs, but I do drink a little more than I should to take the anxiety down a notch sometimes. Of course, like a typical American man, I recognized the problem and have done almost nothing to change anything...

I realized a few years ago I occasionally drank as a social crutch. I had moved, and in most social situations I was not only the new guy, but the only one in attendance who wasn't married. Once I went to a Christmas party and it was 21 couples and me. In these situations I hit it a little hard, it was different than just hanging out with old friends, relaxed and putting them down.

After that realization I went off drinking for a full year. Then COVID hit, not more social gatherings, and I'm not really part of that gang anymore.

 

[playthrough]

I don't know if it was like this everywhere, but in New Jersey in 1989 if you snagged a Gregg Jefferies Donruss rookie card you felt like the king of the world.

Remember it well. Vince Coleman rookies and Gregg Jefferies rookies probably bookended my peak baseball card interest years, and those cards were going to be my meal ticket.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Speaking of the Saints: Ricky Williams, bust or nah?

He was the definition of mediocre with the exception of the year he won the rushing title.

No. Just because he didn't become the next George Rogers or Dalton Hilliard in New Orleans didn't make him a bust.

IMO, the only reason "bust" gets within an area code of a mention is because Mike Ditka was overzealous/stupid enough to trade an entire draft's worth of picks for him.

But if Ricky's a bust, that opens the floodgates for a lot of hot takes not fractionally as ridiculous as this.

 

[kickoff-time]

To me this is easy. At least here in the U.S.

Most disappointing/biggest fraud: Lance Armstrong given his denials and the whole Livestrong movement.

Biggest villain: O.J. Most famous sports figure to have committed murder. Yes, I thought he was guilty from the start.

Biggest surprise: Tiger's many affairs and that he still dominated while having them.

Biggest shocker in sport you wouldn't expect: Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan Skategate.

Biggest team/program shocker: Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno resignation and Penn State football.

I might be talked out of the last one (probably not) but the other four not so much. You could ask nearly any person in the U.S. (above 21) and they would know O.J., Tiger, Lance and Tonya Harding.

 

[DanOregon]

Good list.

Brien Taylor and 11 Can't-Miss MLB Prospects Who Missed

 

[Twirling Time]

Michelle Wie, Ron Powlus, Matt Leinart AND Reggie Bush.

Easy answer for Michelle: She discovered boys. Saw it too many times to count in girls' sports.