Stephen Strasburg was
supposed to keep Washington from being this decade's version of the
Pirates. After undergoing Tommy John surgery, Strasburg will be
sidelined at least a year, and maybe longer.
It's a damn shame baseball fans only got to see 12 starts from
Strasburg during his rookie campaign. And there's a high
possibility that when he comes back, he won't be the same
dominating pitcher we witnessed flashes of in 2010. What a waste of
talent that would be.
That scenario got us thinking here in the Covers newsroom about
athletes that ended up wasting most of their God-given talent.
Below are 10 players sure to make any list.
John Daly - Pro golfer
Alcohol, Marlboro Lights and gambling hindered this golfing phenom
from reaching his maximum potential.
Daly turned pro at 21 years of age and won his first professional
tournament three years later. He made headlines in 1991 when he
captured the PGA Championship as the ninth and final alternate.
Daly didn’t even get a practice round in before the tournament
started; further solidifying the notion Long John had talent oozing
out of his ears.
Three wives and almost 20 years later, Daly has a grand total of
five PGA Tour victories. Heralded swing coach Butch Harmon quit on
Daly in 2008 saying, “the most important thing in his life is
getting drunk.”
These days a much slimmer Daly dabbles around in reality TV shows
and country music. He still plays golf, but continues to
underachieve.
Mike Tyson - Heavyweight boxer
The best thing to ever come out of Michael Gerard Tyson’s birth was
an 8-bit Nintendo game called Punch-Out!!
Kid Dynamite burst onto the boxing scene as an 18-year old in 1986.
Only two of his first 28 professional fights ended with a decision
and he knocked out his opponent in the first round of 16 of those
bouts. A year later, Tyson became the first heavyweight boxer to
hold all three major belts at the same time.
Tyson’s rapid fall from grace began in 1991 when he was accused of
raping Miss Black Rhode Island. He spent three years in prison
before making a return to the ring. Another sexual assault charge,
drugs and alcohol eventually led Iron Mike to admit that his,
“whole life has been a waste.”
Last we heard; Tyson was recovering from bankruptcy while
attempting to start a reality TV series about homing pigeons.
Ricky Williams
- NFL running back
Ricky never wanted to be in the limelight. Ricky liked football,
but didn’t love it. Ricky thought his talents would best be
utilized trying to mimic his heroes—Cheech and Chong.
After a decorated senior season at Texas, Williams won the Heisman
Trophy and was subsequently selected as the No. 5 overall pick by
New Orleans in the 1999 NFL Draft. A long and prosperous football
career looked to be in the cards for Williams.
But a natural beauty named Mary Jane prevented Williams from
maximizing his talent. Multiple failed drug tests in 2004 led
“Sticky Icky Ricky” to retirement. From there, he went on to study
ancient Indian holistic medicine at some hippie college in Northern
California.
Williams still earns an NFL paycheck with the Miami Dolphins. He
said that Yoga allowed him to escape the addiction of marijuana but
it’s easy to assume that’s just a smokescreen until the retirement
sack gets nice and fat.
Dwight “Doc” Gooden - MLB
pitcher
All the talent that Gooden had went straight to his head, or more
aptly, up his nose.
Before his unending chase of the white lady, Gooden debuted for the
Mets at the ripe age of 19. He won the NL Rookie of the Year award
that year and set a major league record for strikeouts per nine
innings. The next season, Gooden led the league with 24 wins, 268
strikeouts and a 1.53 ERA, becoming the youngest pitcher ever to
win a Cy Young. The ceiling was sky-high for Dr. K.
The good times continued on the mound but Gooden’s personal
downward spiral began with an arrest in 1986 and then testing
positive for cocaine during spring training. There’s no telling how
good he could have been without the drugs and alcohol but one
thing’s for sure, Doc gave a whole new meaning to a pitcher on the
bump.
JaMarcus Russell - NFL
quarterback
You know you are a fat, out-of-shape P.O.S. when a rumor about
lethargy addiction is easily mistaken as fact. A Bay Area NBC
sports anchor thought an attempt at humor by a columnist was real
and the
rumor went
viral.
But JaFattus really does deserve to be at the brunt of many jokes.
He came out of LSU as the first overall pick by the Oakland Raiders
in 2007 only to go down as one of the biggest busts in NFL
history.
In the spring of 2010, Russell showed up at Raider minicamp a
svelte 290 pounds. He was released by the team in early May.
Currently, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL own his football
playing rights.
Russell is probably chillin’ out in his Mobile, Alabama mansion
right now, living off the $31.5 million he stole from the Raiders,
sippin’ on some siz-erp.
Mark Prior - MLB
pitcher
Finally we reach a player that didn’t throw his career away because
of personal decisions. The shortcomings of Prior were a direct
result of his personal health.
Prior was handed a $10.5 million contract by the Cubs in 2001 as
the No. 2 overall draft pick after being labeled a can’t-miss
prospect out of USC. The righty put together an 18-6 record two
years later but many onlookers became concerned with the high pitch
counts Dusty Baker was allowing.
Myriad stints on the disabled list plagued Prior throughout his
career. He missed nearly three full seasons during his MLB tenure
and hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2006. Prior is currently
hurling for the Orange County Flyers of the independent Golden
Baseball League.
Oh yea, the team that passed on Prior as the top draft pick,
Minnesota, selected some guy named Joe Mauer.
Derrick Coleman - NBA power
forward
Coming out of Syracuse as the first overall pick in the 1990 NBA
Draft, Coleman was being talked about in the same elite class of
players like Charles Barkley and Karl Malone. While he posted
decent numbers during his 15-year career, Coleman never lived up to
expectations.
Coleman’s laziness was first brought to the forefront by former
Nets coach Butch Beard. The story goes that Beard once informed his
team that they would all adhere to a strict dress code or pay a
fine. Coleman infuriated the coach by handing him a blank check.
Another time after teammate Kenny Anderson missed a practice,
Coleman simply replied, “Whoop-de-damn-do.”
Coleman probably would like to have some of that fine money back
after recently filing for bankruptcy. He made $87 million during
his mediocre career but a handful of poor business investments has
him $5 million in the hole.
Alexandre Daigle - NHL
center
Heralded as the next Great One, Daigle never lived up to that
status or came anywhere close.
Daigle was selected No. 1 overall by the Senators in the 1993
Draft. He told the media that day that he was happy he got taken
first “because no one remembers number two". Well Alex, everyone
remembers you for all the wrong reasons and No. 2 was a soon-to-be
Hall of Famer named Chris Pronger.
After five less-than-average NHL seasons, Daigle admitted that the
motivation to play hockey just wasn’t there. He said in a TV
interview that the only reason he stuck with it was because of the
talent he was blessed with. Two years later, likely because of
money problems, Daigle was back on the ice.
Daigle is currently slapping his stick overseas for the SCL Tigers
of the Swiss National League.
Brien Taylor - MLB
prospect
The rags-to-riches kid from Beaufort, North Carolina is just one of
two players selected No. 1 in the MLB Draft that failed to reach
The Show.
Taylor dazzled in his first minor league stint, posting a 2.57 ERA
with 187 strikeouts in 161.0 innings behind a 99-MPH fastball. He
was expected to make his Yankees debut in 1995 until he got caught
up in some family matters.
Defending his brother in a fight, Taylor missed on a punch which
caused him to fall and dislocate his shoulder and tear his labrum.
The shoulder surgery cost Taylor 8 MPH on his fastball and he was
never able to regain control of his curveball.
The last report of Taylor from 2006 was that he was making $1000 a
month as a bricklayer back in his home town. He lives with his
parents at the end of street named after him.
Maurice Clarett - College running
back
As a freshman at Ohio State in 2002, Clarett rushed for 1,237 yards
and 18 touchdowns, leading the Buckeyes to a National Championship
title. The university dismissed Clarett less than a year later,
however, citing multiple legal and academic infractions.
Clarett participated in the NFL Combine but was unimpressive after
coming to it out of shape and overweight. Surprisingly, the Broncos
took a shot in the fifth round and he had a cup of coffee with the
team before being released after training camp.
Clarett spent the next four years in jail because of multiple armed
robberies and attempts. The last time he got busted, the young gun
was carrying a katana, a loaded AK-47 and was wearing a Kevlar
bulletproof vest. Clarett was released in April of 2010 and
recently signed a contract with the Omaha Nighthawks of the
UFL.
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Bingo is also a brand of snacks. What a perfect snack to eat
during your bingo game! There is one use of the word ‘bingo’ that
women are not very fond of --bingo wings. Bingo wings refer
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something that most of us try to hide and definitely don’t want to
be refered to as Bingo wings! Lol
