ICTChris Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 Not literally of course. But sportspeople who were at the top of their game until they absolutely weren't. 1 - Dele Alli. Seems strange to think now but this lad was considered one of the best players in the English Premiership, was a starter for the England team. He scored in the World Cup quarter finals and,I think, started every game for England in that tournament. He was a keyplayer in the best Tottenham side in years but around 2018, 2019 his form started to falter and he faded. He signed for Everton but has been resolutely underwhelming and is currently not getting a game for Besiktas. 2 - Riddick Bowe. A sad one this - Bowe was a hugely talented fighter, strong, a world class jab and had all the tools to be an all time great. He had a three fight series with Evander Holyfield, becoming the first man to stop Holyfield and win the series 2-1. While Holyfield managed to revive his career with legedary wins over Mike Tyson, Bowe regressed dramatically and showed that despite his physical gifts, he was not able to match these with the mental strength needed. After beating Holyfield he was pretty much bullied by Andrew Golota, only for Golota to have a mental breakdown and DQ himself, twice. Bowe then decided to retire and join the Marines, which lasted about a week. He was then convicted of kidnapping his family, winning a reduced sentence by pleading that he had brain damage. He was last seen coming out of retirement to plod his way to wins against sub-journeyman fighters, his weight ballooned and his legacy tarnished. No idea where he is now, hope he's doing OK. 3 - Florence Griffith-Joyner. A little bit different to falling off a cliff - Flo Jo was probably the most recognisable athlete on earth in the late 1980s. In Seoul in 1988 she won gold in the 100m and 200m, she broke the world record for the 200m in the semi-final and then in the final, on the same day. She had already broken the 100m record in US Olympic trials. With her distinct style and amazing achievements she was a global superstar - and then she retired, completely out of the blue in 1989 saying she wanted to pursue business opportunities. How strange. In a completely unrelated development, that I mention here for no particular reason, out of competition dope testing was introduced by the IAAF in 1989. Flo Jo's world records in the 100m and 200m still stand. 4 - Ian Baker-Finch. Aussie golfer Baker-Finch was a solid tour player and was considered a bit of a surprise winner of the Open in 1991 but he followed that up with some good performances and was in the leading winners on the Tour in 1992. Then his career infamously collapsed - he went several years not making a cut and shot 92 in the 1997 Open. He retired from championship golf after this round. His issues were mental - golf is famously a game that depends on confidence and when that goes it all goes. Baker-Finch is now a TV analyst and hopefully can look back on his successes with pride, leaving aside what happpened afterwards. 5 - JaMarcus Russell. You could fill a thread with NFL draft busts but JaMarcus Russell is one of the most notorious. A standout performer for Louisiana State, he was taken number 1 overall by the Raiders in 2007. Alarm bells rang when he held out on his contract until well into training camp and his first two years in the league were marked by poor play that saw him the lowest ranked quarterback in the NFL in almost every measurable. His attitutde was also lacking - one of his coaches tells a story that he sent Russell home with a DVD to review, advising that this contained all the plays they were going to run for the game that weekend. The next day the coach asked russell what he thought of the plays, to which Russell responded that he loved them all, any of them were OK with him - the DVD was a dummy and was completely blank. the Raidres binned off Russell in 2009 and he's not been back in the league since, a damning indictment. He was arrested a few years back for possession of codeine cough syrup without a prescription. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottsdad Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 Mika Hakkinen. Won the F1 title in 1998 and 1999. Lost out to Schumacher in 2000 after a tremendous ding-dong battle. Then in 2001 he was well off the pace. The story doing the rounds at the time was that the birth of his kid affected him, making him a wee touch risk averse. He left the sport at the end of that season. His last ever win was, coincidentally, the last race Murray Walker commentated on. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen Archer (Raconteur) Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 Robin Friday's short career comes to mind. Robin Friday - Wikipedia 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jives Miguel Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 Robin Soderling in tennis. Was a journeyman pro on the ATP your until the 2009 French Open where famously absolutely battered Nadal at the French Open in 2009 becoming the first person to beat him there, on a run to the final. That completely transformed his career and he become a constant top 5 player reaching a further French Open final in 2010 and 4 other Grans Slam quarter-finals until he contracted glandular fever in the summer/autumn of 2011. Was never able to play an ATP match again. Mario Ancic was another tennis player whose career was ruined by glandular fever. Reached 3 QFs and a SF by 24yo, and pretty much never played again. Retired at 28. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacksgranda Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 1 hour ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said: Robin Friday's short career comes to mind. Robin Friday - Wikipedia Some boy. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottsdad Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 2 hours ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said: Robin Friday's short career comes to mind. Robin Friday - Wikipedia Quote Following a number of incidents, on and off the field—including kicking Mark Lawrenson in the face mid-game 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BFTD Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 2 hours ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said: Robin Friday's short career comes to mind. Robin Friday - Wikipedia Talk about burying the lead, Zen. This man is my new hero. Quote Friday was marked during the game by Mark Lawrenson, who so frustrated the Cardiff forward with his close attention that Friday waited for Lawrenson to attempt a slide tackle and then kicked him in the face. After receiving a red card, Friday left the ground with the game still going on; according to legend, before leaving he broke into the Brighton dressing room and defecated in Lawrenson's kit bag. Many's the time I've thought that Lawrenson looked and sounded like a man who'd found a toley in his kit bag. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Vojáček Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 The curious case of Danny Kent. Britain's first GP world champion since Barry Sheene. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/34358693 In 2015 he won Moto3, a championship at the time that included Fabio Quartararo, Pecco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Miguel Oliveira, Brad Binder and Jorge Martin. Plus a host of other guys who have gone on to do good things like Andrea Locatelli, Remy Gardner, Darryn Binder and our very own John McPhee. Granted he had the best bike at the time. And granted he had more experience than most of the guys I've mentioned. But that's a seriously impressive list of people to beat. He stepped up to Moto2 and had an absolutely fine rookie season, finishing just behind his teammate Oliveira. Then had a dreadful couple of years, culminating in being sacked by his team and dropping into British Superbikes. He lasted half a season on an uncompetitive MV in 2019, before being sacked for carrying a knife. He was back racing in 2020 in Superstock, before earning a ride with Suzuki for 2021 and 2022. Where, aside from a couple of flashes, he did next to nothing. He's still going this season, albeit running his own team because he couldn't get a ride for any of the big manufacturers. All whilst he guys he beat in 2015 are jetting all over the world as factory MotoGP riders. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawford Bridge Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 Mind the 8 months or so when Krzysztof Piatek was the best striker in Europe? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richey Edwards Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 Craig Beattie - scored in the Premier League for Celtic and scored for Scotland before disappearing without a trace. Reemerged years later at Edinburgh City but failed to re-ignite the magic that propelled him to stardom in the first place.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Have some faith in Magic Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 8 hours ago, Zen Archer (Raconteur) said: Robin Friday's short career comes to mind. Robin Friday - Wikipedia I don't give a f**k 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Have some faith in Magic Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 Anyway back on topic. Is golf not a really ripe pickings for this? David Duvall, guy that always wore sunglasses and wore black, was brilliant for a year or so and then became awful. John Daly? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boghead ranter Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 I hope she doesn't, but Emma Raducanu looks like she could be heading for this topic if she's not careful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Henry Posted March 16, 2023 Share Posted March 16, 2023 Any number of number 1 overall NFL picks. Ryan Leaf being the most profile. That Johnny Football halfwit as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Patterson Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Can we include Sharron Davies in this for being a terf? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djchapsticks Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Leigh Griffiths' fall was quick and spectacular. Should still be kicking a ball at a high level at only 32, instead he's playing in the Australian 3rd division. Anthony Stokes as well. Career done by 30 and now finds himself getting lifted on suspicion of dealing charlie back in Ireland. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pozbaird Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 Me. I won the Lilburn Rosebowl at Lochwinnoch Golf Club in 1984, have won fcuk-all since and disappeared up my own arsehole after my Lilburn triumph. Shed no tears, I still have my own teeth and hair. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cardinal Richelieu Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 In the 70s, Peter Knowles chucked in a successful career at Wolves to become a Jehovah's Witness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Knowles And for a bonus piece of useless knowledge, the song "Nice one Cyril" is written about his brother Cyril Knowles. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted March 17, 2023 Author Share Posted March 17, 2023 11 hours ago, Savage Henry said: Any number of number 1 overall NFL picks. Ryan Leaf being the most profile. That Johnny Football halfwit as well. I think following the NFL you realise that a lot of the draft is a crapshoot. I remember a few years ago there were five QBs picked in the first round. I think the consensus was that Sam Darnold was the safe, most pro-ready choice almost equal to Baker Mayfield. They went 1st and 3rd and are now on their fourth and third team since then, respecitvely, likely as backups. Meanwhile, the guy who almost slipped out of the first round, Lamar Jackson, has been voted MVP and is one of the best QBs in the league, likely to get seriously rich in the next few weeks. Some NFL executives said Jackson should try out as a wide receiver! The year before, da Bears traded up one spot to take Mitch Trubisky when DeShaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were on the board. I don't recall anyone at the time suggesting either of those guys should've gone high either. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Henry Posted March 17, 2023 Share Posted March 17, 2023 (edited) 7 minutes ago, ICTChris said: I think following the NFL you realise that a lot of the draft is a crapshoot. I remember a few years ago there were five QBs picked in the first round. I think the consensus was that Sam Darnold was the safe, most pro-ready choice almost equal to Baker Mayfield. They went 1st and 3rd and are now on their fourth and third team since then, respecitvely, likely as backups. Meanwhile, the guy who almost slipped out of the first round, Lamar Jackson, has been voted MVP and is one of the best QBs in the league, likely to get seriously rich in the next few weeks. Some NFL executives said Jackson should try out as a wide receiver! The year before, da Bears traded up one spot to take Mitch Trubisky when DeShaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes were on the board. I don't recall anyone at the time suggesting either of those guys should've gone high either. With Leaf, particularly, it was so public and dramatic. Johnny Football was attitude as much as anything. I think when these guys come from winning Heisman trophies to not even being in the league within months, it counts as falling off a cliff - if even because of the honour and pay that comes with being number one over all. Edit: you are right though, teams constantly go all in on high draft QBs. San Francisco looks like the latest in a long line of busts. Edited March 17, 2023 by Savage Henry 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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