Sports' Biggest Losers and Disappointments from 2016 So Far
The thrill of victory is accompanied by the agony of defeat. It's a tradition as old as sports.
Lists of the biggest losers and disappointments of 2016 six months into the year vary per individual definitions of what makes a "loser" and a sports disappointment. Every sporting event features winners and losers. Not all of those losers are monumental failures.
Some losers are, however, more noteworthy than others.
Take the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors as an example. Golden State set a record for the most regular-season victories in NBA history, and the Warriors possessed a seemingly insurmountable 3-1 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals. Does the Warriors failing to close Cleveland out in three elimination games make Golden State the biggest sports flop of 2016?
The Cleveland Browns are currently the biggest losers of the city's three major sports franchises even though the start of the NFL season is months ahead of us. England's national football team suffered maybe the most embarrassing result of the 2016 European Championship. The collapse suffered by the Oklahoma City Thunder this past spring altered that franchise for the foreseeable future.
Just about every great athlete experiences disappointments. Michael Jordan didn't win every playoff series. Muhammad Ali lost fights. These and other legends not only survived disappointments. They silenced critics and doubters, and in doing so they turned setbacks into faded memories barely mentioned in passing when fans and analysts discuss their careers.
How will the athletes spotlighted in this piece respond to recent failures and setbacks?
Cleveland Browns: Losers
1 of 10
It's a fascinating time in Cleveland.
The Cleveland Cavaliers ended the title drought that haunted Cleveland for 52 years by winning the franchise's first-ever NBA title. Over at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario, the Cleveland Indians sit in first place in the American League Central and are even flirting with running away with that division championship.
The Cleveland Browns, meanwhile, are not even afterthoughts weeks before NFL training camps open. The Browns don't register a blip on the radar as of the first week of July.
This usually doesn't happen in a region where football is king. Normally at this stage of the summer, the attentions of fans in the area turn to the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Browns. Discussions about who will start at quarterback for the Browns often flood radio airwaves in early July as the Cavaliers and Indians fade off into the Lake Erie sunset.
Now, local radio hosts bring up the Browns to only mention that they didn't talk about the Browns throughout their shows.
The Browns make this list not only because the club is third among Cleveland's professional sports clubs. In all likelihood, the Browns will be downright lousy in 2016.
As Yahoo Sports writer Eric Edholm explained in a video posted on the Shutdown Corner portion of Yahoo Sports, the 2016 Browns are eyeing an "uphill battle." The Browns have a new head coach in Hue Jackson, no proven franchise QB on their roster and holes on offense and on defense.
While the Cavaliers and Indians share the spotlight, the Browns linger in the shadows and remain a team going in circles.
Make no mistake: The Browns are the biggest losers in the NFL this year, and they haven't even begun the 2016 campaign.
United States Soccer Team: Losers and Disappointments
2 of 10
Expectations remain high whenever the United States women's national soccer team enter a major competition. The U.S. women are, after all, the reigning World Cup champions.
Meanwhile, the American men not only trail the women in quality and achievements. The U.S. men aren't all that close.
The disappointments for the male branches of the U.S. soccer tree began this past March when the country's under-23s failed to qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. As Leander Schaerlaeckens of Yahoo Sports explained, the Americans were outclassed by Colombia in the second leg of the home-and-away playoff en route to losing 3-2 on aggregate.
Perhaps even more embarrassing was the performance produced by the United States against Argentina in the Copa America this past June. There was little drama during this contest, as Ezequiel Lavezzi opened the scoring for Argentina in the third minute of play. Lionel Messi added a second goal in the opening half via a marvelous free kick and Gonzalo Higuain notched a second-half brace to propel Argentina to an easy 4-0 victory.
Per Ronald Blum of the Associated Press, those tasked with leading U.S. Soccer could not deny what they witnessed.
"We got outplayed badly by a very good team," U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said. "Today is a good day to judge where we are in program overall. We're obviously a long way off."
Conor McGregor: Disappointment
3 of 10
Conor McGregor lost more than a fight to Nate Diaz this past March.
Financially speaking, McGregor is enjoying a banner year. Sherdog.com Staff reported earned $1 million in disclosed pay for his fight versus Diaz. That made McGregor the first UFC fighter to make seven figures "for a single disclosed fight purse." Add in money McGregor earned earlier in his fighting career and the payouts he should enjoy in the future, and the reigning UFC Featherweight Champion literally has millions of reasons to be happy.
The decision to move up in weight classes is, theoretically, about more than just money for McGregor. Remember that McGregor's original plan was to challenge Rafael dos Anjos for the UFC Lightweight Championship this past March before dos Anjos suffered an injury in training. The idea of such a fight is now barely a thought in the minds of fans as McGregor and Diaz prepare for a rematch scheduled in August.
Diaz didn't get lucky in submitting McGregor. The result of the match was no fluke. Diaz withstood McGregor's strikes for an entire round before overwhelming a visibly fatigued McGregor in Round 2 of the original encounter. In one night, McGregor went from being the fighter who knocked Jose Aldo out in 13 seconds to somebody unable to handle Diaz even though Diaz accepted the fight less than two weeks before UFC 196.
McGregor can still turn his 2016 around. A win over Diaz that includes McGregor not suffering any kind of injury could theoretically allow McGregor to fight once more before the end of the year. A second loss to Diaz, one that brings with it the added insult to injury of a medical suspension that sidelines McGregor for up to 90 days, may eliminate any aura of invincibility McGregor still possesses before this coming August.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Tampa Bay Lightning: Disappointments
4 of 10
The biggest disappointment about the Tampa Bay Lightning losing the 2016 Eastern Conference Final is that fans of the Lightning cannot help but wonder what could have been had fate been kinder to the club this time around.
Here is what we know about this particular series:
- The series went to seven games.
- Tampa Bay captain and All-Star Steven Stamkos couldn't play in the series until Game 7 because of injury.
- Stamkos was largely ineffective in Game 7, and the Penguins defeated the Lightning and then went on to win the Stanley Cup.
The Lightning announced via the team's official website in early April that Stamkos required surgery "to treat a type of Vascular Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (called Effort Thrombosis) near his right collarbone." Per the club, Stamkos' eyed a recovery time of 1-3 months as of April 2.
Stamkos is not merely a motivational leader on the ice and inside the dressing room. Per the official Tampa Bay team website, Stamkos led the Lightning in goals (36) during the regular season. Stamkos trailed only Nikita Kucherov in total points accumulated.
Physical setbacks happen. Injuries affect teams in every league in every season. Those realities don't erase the agony of Tampa Bay getting to within 60 minutes of a Stanley Cup Final without Stamkos healthy and available only to then fall short in the final game of the Eastern Conference Final.
The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered a similar disappointment when the team lost the 2015 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors. Cleveland forward Kevin Love missed that entire series due to a shoulder injury, while guard Kyrie Irving was lost for the series in its opening game. With both Love and Irving healthy and able to play, the Cavaliers defeated the Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
Will Tampa Bay follow in Cleveland's footsteps next spring?
Oklahoma City Thunder: Losers
5 of 10
The NBA dramatically changed following Game 4 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals.
The Oklahoma City Thunder not only defeated the Golden State Warriors in three of the first four games of that series. Oklahoma City, per Josh Levin of Slate.com, humiliated Golden State in Games 3 and 4. As Levin also mentioned in that piece, teams down 3-1 in a conference finals had an all-time record of 2-37 heading into Game 5 of the series involving Oklahoma City and Golden State.
Make that 3-37 after the Thunder collapsed.
It is bad enough that Oklahoma City failed to win one of three consecutive elimination games. As George Schroeder of USA Today Sports explained, the Thunder thoroughly squandered an opportunity to win Game 6 at home. Even taking an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter couldn't prevent the Thunder from falling apart with a berth in the NBA Finals on the line.
Kevin Durant became an offensive liability. Russell Westbrook committed costly turnovers. The Thunder failed to beat Golden State in the subsequent Game 7, and a season and ultimately an era ended.
Like Oklahoma City during the Western Conference Finals, Golden State wasted a 3-1 series lead and lost the NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ten games, in total, played at least some part in Durant choosing to leave the Thunder and complete the switch to the Warriors this summer. That transaction makes a roster responsible for setting a record for most regular-season wins that much better.
Does Durant remain with Oklahoma City for at least one more season if the Thunder defeat the Warriors this past spring? Would the Thunder have defeated the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals?
We'll never know the answers to such questions, nor will we know what could have been for all involved.
Matt Harvey: Disappointment
6 of 10
Can one night change the course of a career? Ask New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey about that.
With the Mets facing elimination at the hands of the Kansas City Royals in Game 5 of the 2015 World Series, Harvey pitched eight shutout innings and provided New York with an opportunity to take a 2-0 lead into the top of the ninth. Fans throughout Citi Field chanted Harvey's name as the Mets batted in the bottom of the eighth, and manager Terry Collins allowed Harvey to attempt to close the contest.
Harvey, as you likely know, did not accomplish that mission. Harvey surrendered a walk and a double before Collins turned to closer Jeurys Familia, and the rest is history. Kansas City tied the game in the ninth and then won the contest and the World Series in extra innings.
Harvey, to borrow a phrase once used by New York radio personality Mike Francesa (h/t NewYork.CBSLocal.com), has since pitched more like Cinderella than the Dark Knight.
Following an unimpressive outing versus the Miami Marlins on July 4, Harvey, per Baseball-Reference.com, posted 10 losses and three no decisions in his first 17 starts of the 2016 campaign. As of July 7, Harvey's last win of the season occurred on May 30 against the Chicago White Sox.
This New York team is built to win a championship now. The Mets, on paper, have a group of young starters capable of winning a playoff series against any opponent. That won't be the case, however, if Harvey continues to win roughly 25 percent of his starts up through October.
As Joe Giglio of NJ.com pointed out on July 6, rumors continue to circulate that the Mets may shop Harvey before the upcoming trade deadline. The start of the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series could seem like a lifetime ago for some fans of the Mets.
Super Bowl 50: Disappointment
7 of 10
It's a bummer when any Super Bowl game is lousy.
The Super Bowl is unlike any other event in North American pro sports. Roughly two fulls weeks of hype, anticipation and previews precede the contest that determines the champion of the NFL. Numerous exciting and historic Super Bowl games occurred in this past decade alone, and people from all around the world tuned in to watch those games.
There's no nice way to say it. Super Bowl 50 was lousy.
Sure, fans of the Denver Broncos probably delighted in watching the Denver defense stifle NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers offense. Casual fans and viewers watching the Super Bowl because of tradition witnessed one ugly football game.
Nate Scott of USA Today's For The Win provided his thoughts on the game.
"Dropped passes. Fumbles. Interceptions. Missed blocks and missed tackles. Bad calls from the officials. It was all there in a Super Bowl which had its most memorable moment before the opening kickoff, when Lady Gaga sang a particularly rousing version of the national anthem.
It was all downhill from there.
"
Scott continued:
"A bad field, tough defenses, buckets of turnovers and Panthers receivers dropping everything thrown at them was the perfect recipe for an ugly Super Bowl. Manning won the game, and will get to retire now a two-time champion, which is wonderful. But let’s not pretend this was a game for the ages.
"
Justin Peters of Slate called Super Bowl 50 a "grim, joyless, maddeningly ugly football game." Dan Schneier of Fox Sports wrote about Denver's "historically bad offensive performance" after Denver's victory. Dan Levy of The Comeback described Super Bowl 50 as "a bad game, and a boring one."
They can't all be gems.
Ronda Rousey: Disappointment
8 of 10
Former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is neither a loser nor a disappointment for 2016. The disappointment comes in the fact that we don't know, for sure, that Rousey will fight in the UFC this year.
The UFC is better when Rousey is an active fighter. She is a proven draw who generates buzz on social media websites and earns airtime on shows such as SportsCenter leading up to her matches. Rousey in an international superstar featured in movies and advertising campaigns.
Rousey is also a missing woman as it pertains to her fighting career.
She last fought in November 2015, when she was upset and knocked out by Holly Holm. There is currently no public timetable for Rousey's return to action. UFC President Dana White told The Michael Kay Show (via Damon Martin of Fox Sports) in May that he didn't know if Rousey would be ready to compete at UFC 205, which is scheduled for November.
As of early July, Rousey still has plenty of time to complete a meaningful fight camp and prepare for a battle versus someone such as Miesha Tate, Holm or maybe even Cristiane "Cris Cyborg" Justino. With every week that passes, however, it becomes more likely that Rousey will take at least an entire year off before returning to the cage.
Things change quickly in combat sports. Those of us who don't work for the UFC had no idea this past Memorial Day that Brock Lesnar would fight at UFC 200 on July 9. With that said, logic suggests that Rousey will fight only once, if at all, between UFC 200 and the end of 2016.
That's disappointing for Rousey fans, UFC followers and mixed martial arts—not that Rousey owes anything to any of us.
England National Team: Losers
9 of 10
England's failing to win the 2016 Euro, on its own, would not have been a massive disappointment. Germany has an abundance of talent. France possesses a home-nation advantage. England's losing to such an opponent would not have elicited reactions of anger, disappointment and shame.
England's losing to Iceland, however, proved to be a breaking point for some.
England's humiliation at the hands of Iceland stinks more and more as you peel the figurative onion. As Victor Mather of the New York Times pointed out, one of Iceland's managers serves as a part-time dentist when he isn't leading a national team onto the pitch. Iceland, per Mather, is the smallest country to ever qualify for a major competition such as the Euro. England boss Roy Hodgson resigned during his post-match press conference.
Daniel Taylor of the Guardian referred to the England loss to Iceland as "among the more infamous results in the history of the national team." He continued:
"How can it be thought of any differently when the suffering came against a country with a population roughly the size of his home town of Croydon and absolutely no history of tournament football? What heroes Iceland were: brave, organised, superb. They have established themselves as the greatest story of Euro 2016 and it feels almost like a trick of the imagination that it is only four years since they were ranked 133rd in the world.
"
England's embarrassment only grew after France dominated Iceland to the tune of 5-2 on July 3. France's relatively easy victory over Iceland provided further insight into how poorly England played against the underdogs, who became the darlings of the 2016 Euro.
Golden State Warriors: Losers
10 of 10
How you remember the 2016 NBA Finals may vary per your personal preferences regarding the teams that competed in that epic series. Fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers will likely talk about plays such as LeBron James' block late in Game 7 and Kyrie Irving's draining a three-pointer over NBA MVP Stephen Curry when discussing Cleveland's championship performance years down the road.
Others, however, will remark that the Golden State Warriors choked.
That's understandable. The Warriors entered the 2016 NBA playoffs after posting the greatest regular-season record in league history. Golden State rallied back from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder and win the Western Conference Finals, a victory that seemingly set the course for the Warriors to complete their historic season. The Warriors then won three of the first four games of the NBA Finals.
Golden State did not just lose three straight games to Cleveland. The defending NBA champions shrank in the closing minutes of a title game played on their home court. From Jason McIntyre of the Big Lead following Game 7:
"Adam Silver called it “one of the greatest games in NBA history,” but it certainly wasn’t for the Warriors, who went 0-for-9 in the final 4:39, including 0-7 on three-pointers. The greatest shooting team in NBA history, the defending champs, which reigned down 3-pointers all season long … couldn’t make a long one when it mattered.
Curry was 0-for-4 on three-pointers in the final 4:39.
After everyone is done celebrating the Cavs, LeBron, and the City of Cleveland … eventually, the knives will come out for the Warriors, who became the 1st team in NBA history to blow a 3-1 lead in the Finals.
"
History remembers teams not only for records they set but also for titles they won or lost. Those famous Chicago Bulls from the 1995-96 NBA season that won 72 regular-season games also won the last game of the playoffs and a championship. The 2015-16 Warriors can't make that claim.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
