Sports Illustrated came out today with a listing of 24 Sports Turkeys of the Year.
I’d say it is pretty tight race between Favre, Woods, and Leborn. I’ll give the award to Favre since he combines the text messaging with the annual retirement drama.
Ben Roethlisberger has to be in the mix.
Rapistberger.
Tiger Woods. He was above the athletes with a sterling reputation. He blew that up and maybe his game too.
My first thought was Labron James, but the article listed so many others that I could get behind too. As a life-long Steelers fan I am having a difficult time rooting this year because I am no longer a Ben Roethlisberger fan. I don’t watch baseball, but dad was a Pirates fan and this quote made me smile:
If he were still alive I would be busting his stones hard right now.
I’d probably vote for Tiger.
If I was writing the SI article, I’d have come up with at least one from the World Cup. Probably the ref who inexplicably disallowed the U.S.'s game-winning goal against Slovenia, or maybe the coach of the French team. Or maybe the entire French team. Or maybe Thierry Henry for his blatant, deliberate handball that he got away with to put France into the tournament at Ireland’s expense.
When did Thanksgiving change from a day to list things we’re thankful for to a day to list the worst things of the year?
Being thankful you’re not on the list? 
Tiger Woods definitely fell the farthest this year.
It’s an American publication but, still, I cannot believe SI missed the French national soccer team. Few national sports teams have ever so disgraced themselves in terms of performance, sportsmanship, and lack of grace and class, on such an enormous stage. I’m half surprised they weren’t exiled from the country.
Tiger lost his game. He lost his edge of being better than other players. He lost his wife. He lost his kids. he lost a half a billion dollars. He even lost most of his girlfriends.He lost his commercials. He lost his swing coach. He also lost his fans.
I’d like to nominate Wayne Rooney. PFA player of the year for his performances in the 2009/2010 season. Terrible world cup, and hasn’t scored a goal in open play since March.
It’s the “turkey” connection. But to answer the question…a while. I remember my local classic rock station devoting the day to Worst Songs Ever, 30 years ago.
Man, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Roethlisberger without his helmet on. What an ugly motherfucker!
To be fair, his face is 37% plastic and 12% buick scrapings.
Aw, what the heck. I need to post here more, anyway. Rundown:
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Tiger Woods - Well, this needs no explanation, and gonzomax already said it better than I could, so just an addendum: His biggest sin was not getting it over sooner. Monogamy not working for you? Even though everyone you knew swore up and down that it was the way to go? Face the truth and renounce monogamy as the one true way. TO THE WORLD. Look, you’re hosed. Your going to get soaked by your ex-wife, hung out to dry by your hypocritical sponsors, and subject to high-'n-mighty preaching by nattering busybodies who have no idea what marriage is like. The ONLY way to salvage anything is to make a stand against the reprehensible mindset that trapped you and provide a voice for millions of young people who are about to make the same mistake. If you can’t be honorable and faithful and virtuous, you can still be good. Instead, we get a sobbing apology that half of us didn’t even know what the hell it was for. Pathetic.
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Brett Favre - As Obi-Wan Kenobi said, “Who is the real fool, the fool, or the fool who follows him?” I’m as disgusted by this endless circus as anyone, but it’s the sports media that put up the tents. He should have more dignity, but I can’t entirely blame him for milking every last drop out of this farce.
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Ben Roethlisberger - Can’t comment on this because I don’t have the facts of this case. I will say that I find it baffling that any highly-paid athlete would ever risk sex with even the appearance of coercion. You guys ever hear of call girls?
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Francisco Rodriguez - Just plain dumb. Even if he deserves to get knocked on his butt, you don’t do it yourself. Any NHL player understands this.
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LeBron James - I’ve commented on this before. See note on Favre. And this was one effin’ day. Move on.
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Wade Phillips - Meh. Arrogant boasting, underachieving, termination. All dime a dozen.
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Bud Selig - I’ve watched him on and off over the years, and I’m convinced that he just doesn’t give a diseased rat’s butt about baseball. He really looks like an entrenched bureaucrat who knows he will never be held accountable for anything and thus makes whatever decision he wants without a moment’s thought as to whether it’s good for the sport or its fans. He’s not so much a sports turkey as a symbol of what’s wrong with corporate America.
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Randy Moss - Eh. Better a has-been than a never-was. What the hell has Terrell Owens ever done except disappoint and shoot his mouth off?
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Ilya Kovalchuk - More rich man’s games, yuh-awn.
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Gilbert Arenas - This should’ve been higher. What was he thinking? Terrorists are going to storm the locker room or something?
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Delonte West - Dude…you have two hands. TWO. Never mind conduct issues, can you count??
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John Terry - Having never been married myself, I’m in no position to condemn another man’s infidelity. But for the love of Marv Albert, can you at least wait until AFTER the biggest sporting event of your entire damn life to get naughty? Sheesh, no sense of priorities these days…
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Colin Campbell - The real turkey here is NHL electronic security. Yeah, never e-mail anything you wouldn’t say to your mom, blah blah blah. Doesn’t make this right.
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Reggie Bush - Everyone knows that the Heisman is a complete joke. Everyone knows the NCAA’s stance on college football amateurism is nothing but rank hypocricy. Anyone can see that this year’s Trojans having to pay for Bush’s actions (which don’t look the slightest bit unethical to me) is a ridiculous decision made from the need to punish somebody, for which Bush is as about as much as fault as the scoreboard operator. Why does this sport persist in these ridiculous delusions? (Don’t even get me started on the BCS.)
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Boston Bruins - BFD. That’s why they play to seven. Don’t forget, too, that there are always two sides to this (the Flyers came back from a 1-3 deficit). Who the hell cares about the second round of the playoffs, anyway?
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Pittsburgh Pirates - Dunno about this. I mean, yeah, it’s no fun, but baseball has always had its haves and have-nots. Anyway, none of those seasons (to the best of my knowledge) were disasters. Think the Lions wouldn’t appreciate a run of 7-9 seasons?
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James Harrison - Whatever. I’m used to football players babbling idiocy by now. (Look up the “Anne Frank” thread on this board for an example.)
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Shahid Afridi - Meh.
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Daytona 500 - I haven’t heard stories about other venues this season, so I have to assume that NASCAR was simply handed a lemon here. Gotta wonder how the hell something like this could happen even once, though.
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Terrapin fans - See Harrison. Terrible, but it’s happened too many times by now to get much of a reaction from me.
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Knicks/Nets - Well, at least there was offense in this one.
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Belmont Stakes - We’ve been clamoring for a Triple Crown winner for ages now, and at some point we’re just going to have to accept the fact that there are just too many things that can prevent it, many of them pure dumb luck. Much like a calendar Grand Slam or a perfect game in baseball. Eventually, you need to appreciate this for what it is, the premiere long-distance horse race of the year.
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Mark Renshaw - Okay, I gotta ask this. If you’re gonna hit someone, why use the most vulnerable part of your body? I mean, breaking a bone in your hand is no fun, but at least you got two of 'em! Or better yet, just grab him! You can do a lot of damage with a good, strong hold without risking banging up an appendage you’ll need later.
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Commonwealth Games - I read about these all the time, and the simple truth is that it’s just really, really hard to run an event of this magnitude without a hitch. Just learn what you can and get on with your life.
So Tiger Woods, unsurprisingly, is the undisputed champ this year.
However, I feel compelled to give an honorable mention to Asashoryu. Who? The Mongolian yokozuna who took the sport by storm and became all but unbeatable. He once won all six tournaments in a calendar year, something not even Takanohana did. He had 25 championships, just 7 short of the record held by Taiho, and was in the very prime of his career with no challenger within a Mount Fuji of him.
And then he had one stupid, stupid fight in a bar. If this were the NFL, this would probably warrant a modest suspension. As the top dog of Japan’s national sport, this was an unforgivable sin. He saw the writing on the wall and announced his retirement.
One thing any budding phenom should know, must know, regardless of the sport, is that he has ONE chance to be a superstar. Once he’s no longer strong enough, agile enough, tough enough, it’s over. Forever. You want to make a name for yourself, you’d better come out of the gate flying and never, ever let up. Don’t do anything that will slow you down. No stupid suspensions, no time off for ridiculous personal issues, no self-doubt and second guessing and emotional breakdowns. You don’t have a year, a month, a day to waste. Work hard, stay totally focused, and make your mark on history, and you can spend the whole damn rest of your life brawling in bars and carrying concealed weapons into nightclubs and cheating on your wife and spreading vicious rumors about your teammates and wrecking your car. Jeez.
You think being caught with a prostitute would be an improvement?
I do.
Um, been possibly a top 5, definitely top 10 WR of all time? Dude’s a douchebag but on the field he’s undeniably good. And he always tries, unlike Moss.