Top 5 Biggest Busts of the Sports Year

You’ve got the grill on high power while succulent hamburger meat and thick steaks slowly sizzle.

You’ve got the beer on ice and a bottle opener in arm’s length. Your jersey is pressed with not a single wrinkle to be found. You, my friend, are ready for some sports.

But as millions of fans across the country, including myself, participate in these game rituals, many of us are left unsatisfied and even disgusted at what we see.

I’ve observed levels of “suck” I previously believed to be unreachable. So without further ado, I present this year's biggest sports busts.

5. St. Louis Cardinals Post-Season

Now I’m not sure if winning your division can really constitute as a bust, but I’m looking at the big picture here.

The Cardinals finished the regular season with a very respectable record of 91-71. They had the best baseball player on the planet in Albert Pujols and arguably the best starting pitching.

Their rotation was headlined by two Cy Young caliber pitchers, Adam Wainwright (19 W, 2.63 ERA) and Chris Carpenter (17 W, 2.24 ERA).

And their third option, Joel Pineiro (15 W, 3.49 ERA), had a better regular season than the championship Yankee’s third pitcher, Andy Pettitte.

St. Louis’ midseason acquisition of Matt Holliday proved to be well worth it. Holliday gave Pujols some much-needed protection and really lengthened the Cardinals lineup by rediscovering his power stroke.

Going into October, a lot of baseball people predicted that St. Louis would represent the National League in the World Series.

The Dodgers had something to say about that, dismantling the Cardinals in four games. To quote the great Billy Madison, “YOU BLEW IT!!”

Maybe next year, St. Louis.

4. New Jersey Nets

I love this team’s young nucleus. Point guard Devin Harris had a breakout year last season averaging 21 PTS, 6.9 AST and 1.7 STL. Harris’ speed and decision-making are great for transition offense, something that was rarely used during his time in Dallas.

Center Brook Lopez is following up a strong rookie season with very impressive performances so far. The guy has the ability to be a double-double player each night.

Courtney Lee is another young gun that proved he’s got a little game during his time with Orlando last year.

However, New Jersey is like your classic 35-year-old momma’s boy, living in the basement of their division by starting off the season 0-10.

Devin Harris has missed time due to injury and veteran PG Rafer Alston has been relatively ineffective as a backup. The load is too much for Lopez to handle on his own.

As a team, New Jersey is only averaging a paltry 84.5 points per game on a dismal 40 percent shooting from the field. The team could definitely use a healthy Devin Harris and another scorer.

Owner Jay-Z needs to spend a little less time in the recording booth and a little more time around basketball. A star may be born everyday HOV, but it seems as if they aren't born anywhere near New Jersey.

3. New York Giants

You know that cheesy tune that always plays after someone makes a terrible joke in old time television shows. C’mon you know it, that low pitched, “Wah Wah Wahhhhhhhhh.”

Well that tune is playing full force in all of New York City. After starting out 5-0, the Giants have found themselves in a downward spiral and show no signs of righting themselves.

The G-Men have lost four straight starting with their embarrassing defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Saints.

To the delight of fantasy owners everywhere, New Orleans' QB Drew Brees laid the blueprint for how to beat New York; attack their depleted secondary.

Aaron Ross, arguably New York’s top corner last season, hasn’t played in a single game this year due to injury. Kenny Phillips, New York’s top pick in the ’08 draft, was placed on Injured Reserve after just two games.

The defensive line isn’t getting as much pressure on opposing QBs as in years past either, Eli Manning continually shows us that he is only a good quarterback, not a great one.

Coach Tom Coughlin needs to make some serious adjustments on the defensive side soon or this team’s future is going to be very grim. One more loss and New York's playoff hopes could very well be over. 

2. Cleveland Indians

The Indians most definitely could have used a few Rick Vaughns for their bullpen and a couple of Willie Mays Hayes in their lineup.

A middle-aged Charlie Sheen and an incompetent Wesley Snipes could of definitely played better than the athletes that suited up in Cleveland uniforms this season.

Entering the season, I would have bet money on a lineup that included Grady Sizemore, Mark DeRosa, Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner, and Asdrubal Cabrera batting ninth with a starting rotation that was headed by the reigning A.L. Cy Young winner.

The team even went out got Kerry Wood to close games for them, their major weakness a season before.  But if sports have taught me anything in life it’s that the impossible is possible and the probable is uncertain.

Injuries, under achievement and bad managing drove this team into the ground. In April, Cleveland would have been on the majority of people’s list for A.L. playoff spots.

Come September, they finish the season with an awful 65-97 record. In their desperation the organization traded their best pitcher, Cliff Lee, the heart of their lineup and life-long Indian Victor Martinez and axed Eric Wedge as manager.

Sorry Cleveland, but LeBron’s MVP year wasn’t enough to make us forget about your miserable excuse for a season.

1. JaMarcus Russell

Oh wow has this guy been bad! I’m talking US economy bad, Dumb & Dumberer bad. He’s actually reached the “Elliot Spitzer-I-can’t-even-believe-how-bad-this-guy-is” level of bad.

Granted he is on a miserable team with scrubs for offensive linemen, but there are just so many flaws in Russell’s game that are undeniable.

He doesn’t understand how to read defenses and make adjustments on the line, his mechanics are inconsistent resulting in missed opportunities and his decision-making is atrocious when put under pressure from opposing defenses.

For a more tangible sense of his poor play, here is his 2009 stat sheet: 1000 yards, 48.4 completion percentage, 2 TD, 9 INT culminating in an absolute laughable QB rating of 48.3.

Can you believe those are stats by a professional Quarterback? At one point in the season his QB rating was only 2 points higher than a wide receiver that went 0-1 in pass attempts. Now that's just inexcusable!

Oakland’s QB constantly overthrows open receivers and makes terrible reads in regard to his receivers routes. He has single-handedly lost games for this franchise for three years straight.

His athleticism and strength will get him nowhere in the NFL if he doesn’t master the mental portion of the game.

Taken first overall in the 2007 draft, Russell is rapidly making a strong case for “Worst Pick Ever.”

Hello, Ryan Leaf…are you laughing yet?