Ten Athletes That Lived Up to the Hype

Stephen Strasburg's debut grabbed the attention of the sports world. He has been hyped since the 2009 College Baseball season since it was clear he was going to be the top pick in that season's draft.

Strasburg's accomplishments in his first two starts were historical. Fourteen strikeouts without a walk in his first start, nine consecutive K's spanning the end of the first and the beginning of the second start and he had nineteen strikeouts before issuing a walk.

He has been named the National League Player of the Week and read the top ten list on David Letterman. Can he live up to the hype for the remainder of his career or will he flame out like other players that were superstars early?

Only time will tell. Here are ten other athletes that lived up their hype.

10. Serena Williams

When Venus Williams first rose to prominence on the Women's Tennis Association tour, Richard Williams surprised many by saying that her sister was a better talent.

Serena first rose to prominence on the WTA when she defeated world number seven Mary Pierce and World Number four Monica Seles at the Ameritech Cup in Chicago. She became the lowest ranked player to knock off two top ten players in the same tournament.

She had a bit of an unorthodox amateur career. Serena stopped playing in junior tournaments at age 10. Richard wanted his daughters to focus on school and also alleged racial tensions on the junior circuit. She became the first of the Williams sisters to win a Grand Slam when she won the 1999 US Open at age 17. Serena would go on to win 12 slams so far in her career.

Like most superstars of sports, she is not without controversy. She had sat out major parts of seasons with injuries and some have said she loses focus away from the slams. She has admitted to having outside interests from Tennis and has her own clothing label and design line.

Her biggest controversy came in the 2009 US Open semifinals. With opponent Kim Clijsters two points away from winning the match, the lines women called a foot fault on Williams, giving Clijsters match-point. When she told her that she would shove her Tennis racket down her throat. The chair umpire gave her a point penalty, giving Clijster the match.

The media seemed split on who was right. How well Serena recovered from this could determine the remainder of her career some thought.

Williams recovered and won the Australian Open about four months later. Her 12 titles ties her for sixth all-time with Billie Jean King.

The 2000's for American Tennis have been all about the Williams sisters and Andy Roddick. Without Serena, where would American tennis be? When she retires, most tennis fans will appreciate how great she truly was and how much she meant to American tennis.

9. Alex Rodriguez

A-Rod was the first pick in the 1993 Major League Baseball entry draft by the Seattle Mariners. His arrival in Seattle was eagerly anticipated by Mariner fans from the moment he was drafted.

He was called up in July of 1994 just three weeks before turning 19. His first season was cut short by the 1994 strike. He split the 1995 season between AAA Tacoma and Seattle. He would land in Seattle full time for the 1996 season and became of the youngest batting champions in history.

A-Rod's career has wound from Seattle to Texas and then New York. For all of his great individual accomplishments, he was still missing a ring. He finally achieved that when the Yankees won their first title in eight years in 2001. In addition to the batting title, he had led the league in home runs five times, and total bases and slugging four times.

The 2009 off-season was a difficult one for A-Rod. One of the biggest stars in baseball, if not necessarily its most popular, A-Rod first made the controversial decision to play for the Dominican Republic in the world baseball classic.

He eventually had to withdraw with a torn labrum and cyst in his right hip. There had been speculation and accusations throughout his career that Rodriguez had used steroids. After initially denying those rumors, he confirmed them in February of 2009 following a Sports Illustrated report.

His name was leaked by SI following a report that he was on a list of 104 players during the 2003 season that had tested positive. He has also had numerous other off the field problems. An alleged tryst with a Boston stripper led to his divorce. Since then, A-Rod has been regular tabloid fodder.

Alex Rodriguez has become of the the most polarizing figures in sports. Love him or hate him, on the field he has more than lived up to potential. Depending on how baseball writers see it, he should be a Hall of Famer.

8. Sidney Crosby

Crosby came to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League's two time player of the year. He finished his rookie season in the QMJHL with 135 points in 59 regular season games. He became the only player in the league to be recognized as the league's player of the year, top rookie and top scorer.

His stature in juniors had grown so great that the 2005 NHL Draft was referred to as the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes.

Crosby had a tremendous rookie season, eventually finishing runner-up to Alex Ovechkin in the rookie of the year voting. He set Pittsburgh rookie points and assists records and became the first player in NHL history with 100 points and penalty minutes as a rookie. He would lead the league with 120 points in his second season and in 2010 his 51 goals paced the NHL.

Any measure of greatness in Pittsburgh is going to be held to Mario Lemieux's standard. In his fourth season, Crosby led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals where they lost to Detroit. A season later, the Penguins captured the team's third Stanley Cup and first since 1992 by defeating the Red Wings.

To add to his legend, Crosby scored the game winning goal in the Olympic Gold Medal game against the United States. The heavily favored Canadians were expected to win in their home country. Zach Parise of the United States scored with 23 seconds left to send the game to OT. Had the Americans scored the OT goal, a nation of hockey crazed would have suffered a huge let down by losing on Canadian ice.

7. Peyton Manning

Two national Players of The Year awards in high school, Tennessee's all-time leading passer, the most wins in SEC history, numerous college football player of the year awards and Heisman trophy runner-up. After being selected first in the 1998 NFL Draft, high expectations surrounded Payton Manning entering the NFL.

As a rookie, Manning set five rookie passing records and was named to the All-Rookie team. He also threw 28 interceptions as the Colts finished 3-13. In his second season, Manning threw for over 4,000 yards as the Colts tied the record for the largest one season turnaround by going 13-3.

At the conclusion of the 2006 season, Manning led the Colts to their first Super Bowl title in Indianapolis. They again won the AFC in 2009, but lost to New Orleans in the Super Bowl.

Manning's is a lock for the Hall of Fame at the conclusion of his career. He is the top 10 in most of the major passing categories. In the modern age of Roger Goodell cracking down in NFL players behavior off the field, he is also one of its best citizens.

6. Derek Jeter

As an amateur, Jeter was named the national high school player of the year by Gatorade and USA Today. He was drafted sixth overall by the Yankees in that year's entry draft.

It took Jeter three years before advancing the Yankees. He struggled in 13 games before being sent back the minors. He spent the rest of that season in AAA Columbus and hit .317.

Torre named him the starting Shortstop the next spring. The New York Hype machine was in full bloom going into the regular season. Jeter was the first Yankee rookie shortstop since 1962.

Jeter was clutch from the start as he hit .362 in his first World Series. The Yankees won for the first time in 18 years. It began a run of four titles in five years. They won a fifth in 2009.

Jeter can't be measured by stats. He has led the league once in runs scored in 1998 and hits in 1999. He is a ten time All-Star and four time gold glove winner.

When Jeter is enshrined in Cooperstown five years after his retirement, it will be because of his leadership and the numerous championship teams he has played for. He has also became called a natural for the game because of his high baseball IQ and amazing instincts.

5. LeBron James

Three time national High School Player of The Year, numerous national television appearances while in high school, camera crews documenting his life and a $90 million contract with Nike before he ever played a game in the NBA. LeBron James might be considered Michael Jordan's heir apparent. He has at least 10 "youngest player" records and holds all the 1,000 barriers for the youngest player to reach those milestones up to 15,000.

The modern era of sports has the internet, websites devoted solely to high school sports and recruiting and television sports networks (including those devoted to college sports) that air national high school games of the week. With all of these modern technologies, LeBron was a well known name nationally before he was ever drafted.

He has averaged at least 27 points, six rebounds and six assists for the last six seasons. Oscar Robertson is the only other player in NBA history to reach those levels for at least four consecutive seasons.

The season before James was drafted by the Cavs, they finished 17-65. They won 35 games his rookie season and have not been below .500 after that.

A major knock on James has been that he hasn't been able to lead the Cavs to the ultimate success and win an NBA Championship. The last two seasons, the Cavs have been the number one seed in the Eastern Conference and have failed to reach the NBA Finals each of the last two seasons.

King James could begin a new chapter next season. His decision in free agency will alter the NBA Landscape for the foreseeable future. The reports have him leaning to returning to Cleveland or following in Michael Jordan's footsteps in Chicago. Other possibilities are New York and New Jersey. Wherever he decides to go, LeBron's legacy will be impacted.

4. Mario Lemieux

Lemieux's legend began when he dominated the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. In his final season in juniors in 1983-84 he broke the league single season scoring record. He would finish his career with 247 goals, 315 assists in three seasons.

His legend was already huge coming out of juniors. The expectation was that he was going save whatever franchise drafted him. After contentious negotiations with Pittsburgh, Lemieux would eventually sign with Pittsburgh. No player is more associated with their franchise in the NHL than Lemieux is. He played 17 seasons in the NHL and led the league in a category 19 times including points five times and goals three times.

It took until Lemieux's seventh season before they finally won the Stanley Cup. He left a lasting legacy in Pittsburgh.

After deferring $30 million in salaries throughout the 1990's, Lemieux assumed ownership of the Penguins by taking them out of bankruptcy. He became Chairman of the Board, CEO and President. He helped keep the team in Pittsburgh and bring them out of bankruptcy.

Ken Sawyer has since taken over as President and CEO, but Lemieux remains the principal owner and chairman. The team is now for sale, but Lemieux will only sell the team to a group dedicated to keeping them in Pittsburgh.

3. Earvin "Magic" Johnson

Together with Larry Bird, magic formed one of the greatest player rivalries in the history of college basketball. No college basketball game has ever captured the attention of the nation like the 1979 NCAA Championship. Michigan State ended Bird and Indiana State's dream of an undefeated, National Championship season.

One of only two players with a triple-double in the Final Four (Oscar Robertson who had the other did so in the 1959 third place game that has since been eliminated). In two years of college "Magic" averaged 17.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG and 7.4 APG.

After the Los Angeles Lakers won the coin flip and the rights for the number one pick, there were no doubts that Magic was their man. He lost out to Bird for Rookie of The Year, but led the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference.

After the Celtics finished with the best record in the East, everyone anticipated another Magic-Showdown for the Championship. Philadelphia upset the C's in the Eastern Conference finals to set up a 76ers-Lakers final match-up.

With the Lakers up 3-2, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had to sit out game six with a sprained ankle. Magic's legacy grew with a still unmatched performance in game six. Playing guard, forward and center, Johnson had 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals as the Lakers won 123-107 to clinch the series four games to two.

Magic's performance earned him the NBA Finals MVP, he is still the only rookie to earn that, and he became just the fourth player to win NCAA and NBA titles in back-to-back seasons.

Magic led the league in assists four times, steals twice and free throw percentage once. His smile and charisma transcended statistics. He and Bird brought the NBA to the forefront of the American Sports conscientious.

At the outset of the 1992 season, he shocked the world with the announcement that he was HIV positive. Many players initially refused to play against him.

Eventually he retired, had a couple of unsuccessful comebacks and became a very successful businessman. He is now part of the announcing team on ABC/ESPN's coverage of the NBA.

2. Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods legend began at age two when he appeared on the Mike Douglas talk show and ABC's "That's Incredible". He was a child prodigy winning golf tournaments against players much older than he was.

He was the US junior amateur champion at age 15 in 1991 and became the first multiple winner by repeating the following year. He was crowned the Amateur player of the year by three different organization in 1992. In 1993, In 1994, Woods became the youngest winner of the US Amateur championship. He would then win the US Amateur championship twice more, also becoming the first golfer to accomplish that.

Tiger turned pro in August of 1996 and instant became a multi-millionaire. He signed an endorsement deal with nike for $40 million and $20 million for Nike. He went out and won two tournaments as a rookie earning the PGA Tour's Rookie of The Year award and the Sports Illustrated's Man of the Year.

His 1997 season announced his greatness to the world. He won the masters with a record score of 18 under par by a record 12 strokes. He set 20 masters records in the process. He won three more events that spring and ascended to number one by June 15th of that year, just his 42nd week on the tour, also a record. By the end of the season, Woods became the first player to win the PGA Tour player of the year awards in his second season.

Woods has had ups and down in the subsequent years since with having to miss major parts of recent seasons with a knee injury and infidelity problems. Despite that, Woods has won 14 majors and sits just four behind Jack Nicklaus' record.

Many consider him the best ever. He is in rare company in sports of everyone knowing him by just his first name (or his nickname in this case). With his recent problems, Tiger is going to have to earn back the respect of the fans and peers.

Still, at only 34, Tiger seems destined to break the all-time major record.

1. Michael Jordan

1982 ACC Freshman of the Year, the national championship game winning shot, national champion, two time All-American, five college basketball player of the year, leading scorer of the Gold Medal winning 1984 US Olympic Basketball team and he had a shoe named after him. Those are the awards and accomplishments of Michael Jordan before he began his legendary career with the Chicago Bulls.

MJ brought basketball back to Chicago immediately. The Bulls had their best record in four seasons and qualified for the first playoffs since the 1980-81 season. In his 13 seasons in Chicago, Jordan had nine years with winning records. A six-time NBA Champion, Jordan's NBA accomplishments are too numerous to list.

The United Center, the Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks home is known as the house that Jordan built. They were built by three consecutive NBA Titles from 1991-93 and enhanced by a second three-peat from 96-98. There is a statue in front of the stadium in his honor.

His success transcends basketball and American sports. Few Athletes are on par with his fame, fortune and success. The only athletes in history that can be considered his peers are Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali and Pele.