10 Recent Embarrassing Sports Letdowns
Sports, like other facets of life, can let us down from time to time.
It's no different than when you're a youngster hoping to receive a certain gift for Christmas, only to be disappointed when there is no Red Ryder BB Gun to be opened. Hyped sporting events that are advertised as being potential all-time great competitions sometimes end up being forgettable footnotes in history.
No reasonable fight fan should have expected or even hoped that Kimbo Slice and Dada 5000 were going to produce a five-star gem when they entered the cage at Bellator 149. Those who tuned in on the night of Friday, February 19 nevertheless hoped to see a better conclusion than what they were given.
A National League Championship Series that was seemingly over as quickly as it began. A FIFA World Cup match that was nothing short of an embarrassment for the host nation. The NBA trade deadline that was far more exciting in imagination than in reality. Each is an example of recent sports letdowns that left observers wondering what could have been.
None of these letdowns will, of course, keep us from continuing to hype sporting events every month of the year. Selection Sunday will again be a spectacle. There will be two weeks between Championship Sunday and the Super Bowl. Odds are that the "biggest Ultimate Fighting Championship match in history" will be booked at some point before the end of 2016.
The waiting may be the hardest part, but it can also be the best part of an event.
Ken Shamrock vs. Royce Gracie
1 of 10Just as with the other Bellator 149 fight mentioned in this piece, no viewer should have been expecting that Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie would produce a classic bout on February 19. Both great fighters were well past their physical primes, and the match was far more an attempt to draw television ratings than it was a meaningful sporting event.
Fans had waited decades to see the end of this trilogy, however, and the conclusion they were given was an embarrassment to mixed martial arts and to both Shamrock and Gracie.
The first couple of minutes were a feeling-out process for the two until they locked into a clinch. Both men attempted to land knee strikes, but it was Gracie who nailed Shamrock with a clear knee to the groin. Gracie connected with a knee to the head as Shamrock fell to the ground in pain, and Gracie then finished Shamrock off with hammer fists as the former UFC champion loudly protested while on his back.
Shamrock, per Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting, remained upset after the fight.
""I'm still numb," Shamrock told MMA Fighting days after the loss. "I just don't know how something like this could happen. I just don't get it.
"I'm disappointed, very disappointed. I really thought that we were going to have a good night, and I could really be comfortable with where I was at with my career and my life. And all of a sudden it turned upside-down."
After waiting over two decades for a chance to fight Gracie again, Shamrock now finds himself at the mercy of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). On Sunday, Shamrock and his team announced intentions to file an official appeal to the TDLR, which oversaw the bout in Houston, arguing that the result should be overturned into a 'no contest' because of the obvious foul that immediately preceded the finish.
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Neither Shamrock, 52 years old, nor the 49-year-old Gracie should probably be mixing it up for real at these stages of their lives. At least, if some promotion is going to feature this type of fight, do whatever possible to have a meaningful finish. The fight should be ruled a "no contest," which means we could see Shamrock versus Royce one more time.
Try to keep it clean, guys.
Alabama Dominates Michigan State
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College football fans from various regions of the country have different perceptions on the sport. Those of us who attended Big Ten schools and/or are fans of the conference often feel as if the Big Ten is disrespected by some, particularly by those who repeatedly claim that the SEC is the top conference in the land. Michigan State had a chance to silence doubters when the school carried the Big Ten banner into the Cotton Bowl for a College Football Playoff semifinal showdown with Alabama on December 31, 2015.
The Spartans did not enjoy a happy start to their new year.
Alabama dominated Michigan State in all facets of the game in the final three quarters, during which the Crimson Tide blanked the Spartans 38-0. MSU ended the contest with just 29 rushing yards and 239 total offensive yards. Alabama quarterback Jake Coker had no problems airing it out against Michigan State's defense, however, completing 25 of 30 attempts for 286 yards and a pair of touchdown passes.
It was, per ESPN, the largest shutout in the history of the Cotton Bowl.
Less than a year after Ohio State had won the first ever College Football Playoff, Michigan State was looking to show that there was a new top conference in college football. Alabama responded by putting the Big Ten back in its place.
For now.
Germany Destroys Brazil at 2014 World Cup
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A meaningful intercontinental showdown between two football powerhouses such as the one that occurred in July 2014 can only happen at a FIFA World Cup.
Brazil, hosts of 2014's edition of world football's biggest party, started superstars such as Oscar, Hulk, David Luiz and Julio Cesar. Germany answered with a lineup that included Toni Kroos, Miroslav Klose, Mesut Ozil and Manuel Neuer. It was a "FIFA Ultimate Team" contest playing out in real life and on a real pitch, a potential Game of the Decade candidate.
The match was essentially over in 30 minutes.
Germany steamrolled Brazil in what could go down as the most shocking result in all of world football this decade. The visitors on that steamy day struck for five tallies in the opening 29 minutes of the semifinal showdown. Thomas Muller opened the scoring in the 11th minute, Kroos notched a brace within three minutes of action and the Germans put seven goals on the board before Oscar scored in the closing minutes of the match.
You probably missed that goal, though, as you likely stopped watching the game well before the 90th minute.
Blowouts happen in every sport every year. Soccer is no different. A World Cup host nation being dismantled by the best team in the tournament would be understandable if that country was, for example, Canada. The 7-1 defeat to Germany two summers ago could go down as the worst loss Brazil has ever suffered.
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Chip Kelly with the Eagles
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One could not blame some Philadelphia Eagles fans for still wondering how things went from promising to disastrous so quickly.
Chip Kelly, the offensive guru who helped make the Oregon Ducks a college football powerhouse, became the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in the winter of 2013. The Eagles went 10-6 in Kelly's first season, and thus Kelly was given the benefit of the doubt when Philadelphia surprisingly released Pro Bowl wide receiver DeSean Jackson in March 2014. Kelly guided the Eagles to another 10-6 mark, and the club seemed to be on the cusp of something special.
Things began trending downward in January 2015 when Kelly was put in charge of football operations. Kelly made multiple interesting and baffling decisions, such as trading superstar running back LeSean McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonso. Kelly also traded quarterback Nick Foles to the St. Louis Rams for Sam Bradford.
The Kelly experiment quickly became a nightmare. Philadelphia lost five of seven games to fall to 6-9 near the end of the 2015 campaign when the shocking news broke: The Eagles had given up on Kelly.
Kelly, who has since been signed to coach the San Francisco 49ers, was not beloved by all of his former Philadelphia players. Evan Mathis, who played under Kelly in Philadelphia and who earned a Super Bowl championship with the Denver Broncos earlier this month, hit out at his former coach via an email sent to 9News out of Denver (via ESPN.com):
"There were many things that Chip had done that showed me he wasn't building a championship team. Two of the main issues that concerned me were: 1. A never-evolving, vanilla offense that forced our own defense to play higher than normal play counts. 2. His impatience with certain personality types even when they were blue-chip talents.
The Broncos team I was on would have eaten Chip alive. I don't think he could have handled the plethora of large personalities.
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McGregor Stuns Aldo
5 of 10The December 2015 bout featuring UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo and interim champion Conor McGregor, both considered to be among the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world at the time, had been built on a longstanding rivalry. McGregor, known for his trash talk, went so far as to "steal" Aldo's belt during a press event earlier in the year.
Aldo, per Steven Muehlhausen of the Sporting News, vowed before the fight that he would have his revenge.
"I’m going to go in focused with no hate towards anybody. I’m going to go in empty-minded and just do what I always do and that’s win. I really don’t care about him. There’s no like or dislike. He took advantage of taking my belt in Ireland. He promoted the fight but what he did there was unacceptable. I plan on making him pay for what he did that day.
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So much for that.
Both Aldo and McGregor launched punches about 10 seconds into the opening round. McGregor's landed first, Aldo was knocked out cold and the fight was stopped after a total of 13 seconds. Aldo apparently did not get the memo ahead of time about keeping an eye out for McGregor's devastating left hand.
The finish of the fight was memorable and, if you were cheering on McGregor, worth the money spent. Aldo being unable to survive 15 seconds and a single shot made all of the build-up seem like a waste of time. Here is hoping any future rematch lasts at least a minute.
Mets Sweep Cubs in 2015 NLCS
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It was an NLCS that was, in some ways, out of a movie script. The New York Mets, the little brothers of New York baseball and a side that did not look like a real playoff team up through the start of summer, defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL divisional series to set up a showdown with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs, as is well known, have not won a World Series since 1908.
Those hoping to see a legendary series were left disappointed after only 29 innings.
That the Mets held serve at home for Games 1 and 2 of the NLCS was not all that shocking. Citi Field was rocking like never before, and aces Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard quieted Chicago bats. In total, the Cubs crossed home plate three times in the opening 18 innings of the series.
Playing at Wrigley Field did not inject life into the Chicago lineup. The Cubs had few answers for Jacob deGrom, Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia, and Chicago was left off of the scoreboard for the final five innings of Game 3. The Mets then all but finished the sweep by scoring six runs in the first two innings of Game 4.
Playoff losses happen even to great teams. Failing to notch a victory even once in four postseason games, two of which are at home, has to sting just that much more. That may be even more true for a long-suffering fanbase that has not been able to celebrate a World Series championship in over a century.
Rafael Nadal Bounced Early at Australian Open
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The 2015 season was, as explained by Simon Briggs of The Telegraph, the worst that Rafael Nadal had experienced in a decade. Nadal failed to reach even the semifinal round of a single grand slam event, and his defensive skills that helped make him one of the best players of his generation seemed to be but a memory by the time he was beaten by Fabio Fognini at the 2015 U.S. Open.
Any hopes that Nadal, 29 years old, would experience a reboot to his career in early 2016 were quickly dashed when Nadal was bounced from the first round of the Australian Open by Fernando Verdasco.
That Nadal lost in five sets was hardly a badge of honor. Nadal was up two sets to one against a player who is a relative unknown to casual fans, and the all-time great had a 2-0 lead in the fifth set. He failed to close the door on Verdasco, however, before ultimately succumbing to maybe more than just his adversary on that day.
Nadal owned the clay in his prime. That may no longer be the case, as he lost on his signature surface to Pablo Cuevas in late February. Chris Chase of Fox Sports offered this astonishing statistic that points to Nadal's rapid decline: "In the past 671 days, Rafael Nadal has lost four clay-court matches to players ranked No. 20 or worse. That's the same amount of similar losses he had in the previous 3,849 days."
Chiefs Defeat Texans in 2016 NFL Playoffs
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Even fans of NFL teams that don't qualify for the postseason still look forward to the opening weekend of the playoffs. While we understand that not every one-and-done game can be an instant classic, we at least hope that every contest will be interesting through portions of the fourth quarter.
Not only was that not the case when the Kansas City Chiefs met with the Houston Texans in the 2016 Wild Card Round. The Texans embarrassed themselves in front of their home crowd, who left the stadium stunned following a crushing 30-0 result.
Houston quarterback Brian Hoyer had an afternoon to forget and an outing that could, depending on what choices are made by Houston head coach Bill O'Brien during the offseason, cost him his job. Hoyer was picked off on four occasions, he lost one of two fumbles that hit the turf and he finished the game with only 136 passing yards.
You weren't too far off if you thought this was one of the worst games in the history of the NFL playoffs. Per Chris Chase of USA Today:
"Starting with the Super Bowl era, only four postseason games have had bigger shutouts than Kansas City’s 30-0 destruction of Houston. The two biggest were that aforementioned Giants-Vikings game and a 2002 wild-card game between the Jets and Colts. In addition, only 26 playoff games have been decided by 30 points or more. This was only the 20th shutout and the first in a decade.
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2016 NBA Trade Deadline
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You have to give the NBA and sports media credit for hyping the NBA trade deadline every February. Super Bowl Sunday and the end of the NFL season kicks off what could otherwise be a boring sports month that comes before March Madness and well before the NBA and NHL playoffs. There is the NBA to save us, though, with a day that is, more often than not, more about imagined moves than actual transactions.
That tradition continued in 2016. Several NBA trade rumors heading into this year's deadline involved the Cleveland Cavaliers, in part because of the assumption that the Cavs would not be able to defeat the Golden State Warriors in a potential Finals series. Would Cleveland trade Kevin Love for another superstar who would join up with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving? Was Carmelo Anthony on his way from New York to Cleveland?
Nope.
Cleveland general manager David Griffin kept his word from January 26 when he stated, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN, that the Cavs would not be trading Love this winter. Anthony did not waive his no-trade clause. The Cavs improved, on paper, by acquiring Channing Frye in exchange for Anderson Varejao, Jared Cunningham and a draft pick, but the deadline came and went without a single blockbuster trade.
Why do we fall for trade deadline rumors in sports every year? Maybe it has something to do with fantasy sports, video games and/or websites like the ESPN NBA Trade Machine. Maybe we will have learned our lesson before the start of February 2017 rolls around.
Kimbo Slice vs. Dada 5000
10 of 10Casual fight fans who have never rolled around on a mat tune in to watch Kimbo Slice fight for one reason: We want to see a quick match that hopefully ends with a knockout. Those of you only familiar with Slice because of his brief stint in the UFC probably had to look up the name "Dada 5000" to learn about the guy before February 19.
We all learned a lot that Friday night, most notably that neither man should ever be allowed to compete in a sanctioned fight ever again.
It was clear, even before the end of the first round, that neither Slice nor Dada was physically prepared for the fight to last even five minutes let alone multiple rounds. Both men needed help to stand from their stools before the start of the third round, which probably should have served as a sign that the fight should have been called a draw right then and there.
The fight continued on, however, and the exhausted fighters leaned on each other and exchanged weakened punches for roughly 85 seconds until Dada collapsed to the ground from fatigue. What was, at first, an embarrassing and humorous joke of a fight quickly became no laughing matter after Dada was stretchered from the cage.
Dada, per Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting, "suffered cardiac arrest" after the fight. According to a TMZ report, Dada is expected to make a full recovery.
It seems that we will be able to joke about this fight for years to come. That would not have been the case, however, had true tragedy struck during or after the fight. Bellator and other promotions need to avoid these "freak show" fights in the future before the unthinkable occurs.
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