List of sports flops

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Contents

[edit] What Makes a Bust?

This is a list of athletes who were overhyped as the next big superstar but did not live to expectations. A flop can also be someone who is has a history of losing or poor performances in their career. Also a flop can be an athlete that has legal troubles or frequent run-ins with the law and poor performance. Others in this list are head coaches, race car drivers, and sports entertainment.

[edit] American Football

  • The Tampa Bay Buccaneers draft Bo Jackson in 1986 after he openly said he would not play for them the day before draft day which was a number of several mistakes the Buccaneers staff made that season.
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Drew Henson-simply a project that never developed, his time away from football hurt him and he started one game on Thanksgiving Day for the Dallas Cowboys before he was pulled in the second half in favor of Vinny Testaverde.

[edit] Baseball

[edit] Basketball

[edit] Soccer

[edit] Head Coaches

[edit] Ice hockey

[edit] Motor racing

[edit] CART/IRL/USAC

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[edit] 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.[citation needed]

19. Bruce Jacobi: One of several cases where, despite having a good car, he usually didn't drive fast enough.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

14. A group of drivers Miller nicknamed "The Interchangeable Italians", stating that while they had great racing names, the "Scuderia" never called.[citation needed]

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".[citation needed]

12. Ray Crawford: As with Marco Greco, this grocery chain owner only got on the grid because he could buy the ride.[citation needed]

11. Paul Jasper: Apparently, when he made his only four starts in Champ Car competition, he had very little experience.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

8. Randy Lewis: His incredible resume didn't save him from being nicknamed by faster drivers as "The Moving Chicane".[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

4. Lee Brayton: The father of the late Scott Brayton he was seen as a living example of the statement "Nice Guys finish Last".[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

Sources The information listed above can be found in the December 1999-January 2000 issue of Champ Car magazine.

[edit] Others

[edit] Formula One

See also: F1 Rejects

[edit] Team

  • Andrea Moda Formula team - An example of how not to run a racing team and how joining the wrong team can damage a driver's career. The team and how it was run was portrayed by one of the team's drivers, Perry McCarthy, in his book Flat Out, Flat Broke.
  • MasterCard Lola - Lola itself was not considered as a flop as they built good chassis that scored points for teams, but as a team was spectacularly unsuccessful due to interference by its sponsor, Mastercard, which led to the team pulling out after just the second round.
  • Lamborghini as an engine supplier and constructor
  • Jaguar Racing, touted as "the Ferrari team in British Racing Green". Despite two podium finishes the team with a large budget were more known for hype and publicity stunts than an ability to produce solid results. Owner Ford was bought out at the end of the 2004 season by Red Bull and the team was renamed Red Bull Racing.
  • ATS - the team was the result of the famous "Palace Revolution" at Ferrari by Carlo Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini, among others - intending for it to be a direct competitor to Ferrari both on the race track and on the street. Despite having started out being well funded and signing world champion Phil Hill the car was unable to live up to expectations. The team went on for another two seasons until they ran out of money and it ended Hill's career in F1.
  • Life (Racing Team), an Italian team emerged on the Formula One scene in 1990 to market their unconventional W12 3.5 L engine layout with an old First Racing chassis. The team with just one chassis and one engine suffered the embarrassment of few if any spare parts, no tests, no hope for success. The W-12 turned out to be the least powerful engine of the year: its output was about 450 hp while others did 600 to 700 hp. On the other hand, the ex-First L190 chassis was one of the heaviest cars in the field. Handling was bad, reliability was poor. As a result, the Life was as fast (or slow) as a Formula 3 car. Even in Formula 3000, it would have been outclassed, much less Formula 1. As a result, the team suffered the embarrassment of failing to pre qualify for every race it entered before dropping out before the final two Grands Prix, and were never heard from again. The engine layout would be revived eleven years later by Volkswagen for road use.

[edit] Drivers

  • Michael Andretti - not literally considered a flop as he scored podium finishes, but was by some purely as he was a McLaren driver (despite being second to Ayrton Senna within the team).
  • Jan Magnussen, Stewart Grand Prix founder Jackie Stewart once described him as the best prospect since Ayrton Senna, but rewarded the team with nothing but poor performances and just one point at the 1998 Canadian Grand Prix before being replaced by Jos Verstappen who was also dropped at the end of the season.
  • Alex Zanardi second attempt at F1 - having to put his F1 career behind for a success Stateside where he took two back to back CART titles, an impressed Frank Williams signed Zanardi up for a three-year contract for his team. But this was proved to be a disaster as despite earlier performance that was promising even pre season, his car being plagued throughout by numerous reliability issues, Zanardi also made a series of crucial errors, and was outpaced by teammate Ralf Schumacher. The season ended with Zanardi failing to score a single point only to be replaced by Jenson Button and Zanardi would briefly make a comeback at CART.

[edit] Cars/engine they wouldn't want you to remember

  • The 312T5 & F92A - Ferrari, as they are considered as one of the most successful teams, like others, have produced cars that are considered as turkeys by fans. The 312T5 of the 1980 season was a upgraded version of the championship winning 312T4, it was proved to be unreliable, slow and wasn't very effective against the competition. The F92A of 1992 season was another when the team was in a poor state after the sacking of Alain Prost at the last race of the season. Although being unable to keep up with the high tech Williams, Jean Alesi and newly signed Ivan Capelli were plaged with the same problems of 1980. Alesi put in some good performances, even though he retired ten times! Capelli looked poor, and was replaced for 1993. The 1973 Ferrari 312 B3 is considered as another example by fans, but to its wedge shape, making it unsuccessful with fans and its poor performance, which led to themselves skipping some races, notably the German GP which led to Jacky Ickx resign to compete there with McLaren but became successful again with the 1974 revamp.
  • Porsche's 3.5 litre V12 engine, which was abandoned in the middle of the 1991 season after proving to be unreliable, overweight and underpowered.
  • Four-wheel drive F1 cars - despite the likes of Ferguson Research Ltd. who built the front-engined P99 Formula One car that won a non-WC race in 1961. In 1969, Team Lotus raced cars in F1 including the 63. Matra also raced a similar MS84, while Team McLaren tested its design only. All these F1 cars were considered inferior to their RWD counterparts and the idea was discontinued, even though Lotus tried repeatedly. Four wheel drive would briefly make a comeback as March and Williams would mount four rear driven wheels which shown promises before the rules was changed to outlaw them for the 1983 season.
  • Lotus 76 - an attempt by Team Lotus to replace the aging 72 launched in 1974. The 76 featured an electronic clutch which could be operated by a gear lever button and a biplane rear wing. After the first test, the car was shown to be a disappointment and both new features were removed. After four races the team went back to use the 72 despite Ronnie Peterson finishing in fourth place.

[edit] Comebacks that went awry

  • Nigel Mansell attempt at McLaren, after losing his place with Williams and successfully engineered his exit after a miserly second year stint at CART, Mansell eventually ended up with McLaren in 1995, despite the reluctance of team principal Ron Dennis who was under enormous pressure by sponsor Marlboro. But, frustrated with his car's handling characteristics, he chose to retire after just two poor performances with them. He missed the start of the season as the car cockpit was not big enough for him to sit comfortably leading to jokes about his Indycar stint.

[edit] Races/circuits that are best forgotten

  • Dallas Grand Prix, in 1984, in a bid to demonstrate Dallas' status as a "world-class city", Fair Park was converted into a Formula One circuit for a weekend to host the Grand Prix. The event was proved to be chaotic as the July heat caused damage to the track, which was further damaged by the support races.
  • Phoenix street circuit, in 1989, the United States Grand Prix moved from Detroit to a new venue in Phoenix, Arizona, the race for three years but was ultimately dropped due to poor fan turnout as a local ostrich festival drew more crowds in 1991.
  • Nivelles-Baulers, hosted the Belgian Grand Prix as a safe alternative to the dangerous old Spa-Francorchamps circuit. First hosted in 1972 it was proved to be unpopular with both crowds and drivers and was run only one more year before being dropped altogether. The circuit has since been demolished and is now part of an industrial estate.

[edit] How to ruin a driver's career

  • Emerson Fittipaldi stint at Fittipaldi - despite the team was was entirely focused around Emerson Fittipaldi. Emerson was a double world champion when he joined the family team when he cancelled contract discussions with his then team McLaren at a very late stage. Although he remained capable of front-running performances, scoring numerous top 6 finishes a thirds and a second, he became an inconsistent performer. On several occasions he was berated his Jo Ramirez team manager when he indicated that that he had not been driving to his full potential. By 1980 Fittipaldi became demotivated and retired at the end of that year. Fittipaldi would find success in CART, earning the prize money he never imagined in F1.
  • Jacques Villeneuve’s stint with the BAR - Villeneuve would find himself to be a latter day version of Fittipaldi's F1 career, as he was be lured away from Williams who gave him his title a season before, to have a F1 team set up for him with BAT money for 1999, like Fittipaldi, Villeneuve took two podium finishes, but by 2003 after his friend and manager Craig Pollock was sacked a season before, replaced by David Richards, Villenuve by then, became increasingly uncomfortable with the team and he was outpaced by younger and less experienced Jensen Button and was fired one race short of the season which ended his front running Formula One career and would never regain form again. However, the case was the opposite for BAR and Button who was elevated to number one driver status as they regained form again and rewarded the team with a win (now under as Honda F1) at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

[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 his 107th start the Nextel Cup Series but not without controversy. Vickers was hailed as a great find by Rick Hendrick when he was hired to drive in the Busch Series. 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 83 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 license of drug usage which got him blackballed. After Hmiel got a huge sponsorship deal with Winfuel Energy Drink he was banned lifetime from NASCAR for failing his third drug test in 2006 and the first driver to be banned from NASCAR. Hmiel also flipped off Dale Jarrett on national TV after Hmiel wrecked him.
  • 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.
  • Steve Kinser (Winston Cup) - Kinser began the 1995 season as a full-time NASCAR Winston Cup driver for Kenny Bernstein, but he was released after only five starts.
  • 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-Since the 2002 championship run where Sterling Marlin led the points for 23 straight weeks it has been downhill. Marlin left the team and brought a stable of young drivers including Colombia native Juan Pablo Montoya which they desperately hope will become a success.
  • 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.
  • IMSA AAGT Datsun 280ZX - In 1981, Nissan commissioned long term campaigner Bob Sharp Racing to build a spaceframe AAGT (All American Grand Touring) specification racecar to compete in the IMSA Camel GT championships, however questions were raised about the car, though the spaceframe was built in the US, it was based on a Japanese car with a Y44E V8 unit from a Nissan President, a car only sold in Japan. Competing against the Porsche 935 and the newly introduced GTP prototypes in the GTX category and driven by the talented amateur racer Paul Newman, this car was proved to be unreliable, retiring from each race it entered and became obsolete at the end of the season.
  • Aston Martin AMR-1 - after buying out Aston Martin in 1988, Ford decided to make a return to Group C sportscar racing since 1982 for the 1989 WSPC, which they commissioned Proteus to build the car. Despite finishing forth at one round, team was fraught with problems as the car was not developed in time for round 1 in Suzuka when they were required to under the newly amended rules, as a result they were fined $250,000. Other problems was a lack of development which game the car adequate results. The car was unable to show any potential at the end of the year as the team became another victim of corporate politics when Ford took over Jaguar which fielded the highly successful TWR run team, as a result, Ford killed off the AM works team.

[edit] Motorcycle sport

  • The Honda NR500. After a twelve year of absence from Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Honda attempted a comeback in the 1979 Grand Prix season, using a four-stroke engine they preferred, when all other works teams were using two-stroke-engined motorcycles. Honda's founder, Soichiro Honda was adamant that Honda should race what they sell, which was four-strokes. Although innovative at the time, the bike was fraught with numerous problems and was replaced by the two stroke NS500 after the 1981 season. 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.

[edit] Rallying

  • Citroën BX 4TC, Citroën's entry at the Group B in the World Rally Championship was proved to be a failure as its best performance was 6th place in the 1986 Swedish Rally, and Citroën only participated in three Group B rallies before the category was banned in late 1986, following the death of Henri Toivonen. Citroën, who was embarrassed by its performance would scrap as many cars as they could of the 200 it was required to build, making it the rarest of them all.
  • Triumph TR8

[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 to make matters worse they ground the pavement for the fall race and made it worse and had many blown tires every 30-35 laps.
  • 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

[edit] 25 Biggest Sports Flops of the Past 25 Years

To celebrate their 25th birthday, ESPN listed off the top 25 in several sports categories. Their list of the biggest busts between 1979 and 2004 is listed below.

  1. Ryan Leaf
  2. XFL
  3. Tony Mandarich
  4. Todd Marinovich
  5. 2002 USA Men's Basketball team
  6. Brian Bosworth
  7. Lawrence Phillips
  8. Minnesota Vikings trade for Herschel Walker
  9. L.A. Clippers
  10. 2002 MLB All-Star Game
  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
  14. Rick Pitino with the Boston Celtics
  15. Gerry Faust at Notre Dame
  16. Chris Washburn in NBA
  17. Heath Shuler
  18. Anna Kournikova
  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 Bowls.
  25. Brien Taylor

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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