Athletes you were wrong on

[Guest Anglesault]

After being really, really, really wrong on a certain Yankee about ten years ago (Who I will not name, because it embarasses me to this day) I've built up a long streak of pikcing the winners and losers to come through the organization.

Brien Taylor???

No.

[the pinjockey 0]

Maas?

[Guest Anglesault]

Maas?

No, the other way around.

 

I hated a player for (looking back) no good reason that ended up being better than I thought.

[Der Kommissar 0]

Dude, I was nauseated once I heard about that trade on the radio, here we are finally getting a No.1 Defenseman and we trade him for a prospect.

 

Alas, 'twas the Pokemon Dudley way. Gotta catch 'em all. That whole move puzzled me because he got Aucoin in the Cloutier deal, yet it was a cost cutting move. It was sad since the $1.6 million or whatever Aucoin was being paid seemed more than reasonable for a defenseman.

 

Ah well. I guess it's a lot more palatable nowadays with the Lightning winning the Stanley Cup, Biron failing with the Panthers, while Dudley is off somewhere in Siberia desperately searching for the next big thing who no has ever heard of. I guess it all worked out in the end.

[Vern Gagne 0]

I've gotta be honest. I was very skeptical of Kevin Garnett.

[Precious Roy 0]

I thought Kevin Maas was the second coming of Mickey Mantle

 

I really thought Laetner and Bobby Hurley would be great pros, both were servicable (Hurley would have kept improving if it weren't for the car accident), but Laetner especially I thought would be a perenial all-star.

 

The star running back from Ohio State 4-5 years ago, can't remember his name, thought he'd be big but he flamed out in a couple years.

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

I second Todd Van Poppel.

[Vern Gagne 0]

You sure you're not taking about Ron Dayne of Wisconsin. The Heisman Winner in 1999.

[Precious Roy 0]

Maas?

No, the other way around.

 

I hated a player for (looking back) no good reason that ended up being better than I thought.

If you say Jeter, Pettite or Posada I will reach across the information super highway and smack you!

[Precious Roy 0]

You sure you're not taking about Ron Dayne of Wisconsin. The Heisman Winner in 1999.

No, but I just remembered who I was thinking of. Penn St., not Ohio, Kijana Carter

[Guest Anglesault]

Maas?

No, the other way around.

 

I hated a player for (looking back) no good reason that ended up being better than I thought.

If you say Jeter, Pettite or Posada I will reach across the information super highway and smack you!

Eh, I didn't see enough of Posada until 97 to care either way.

 

And thinking about it, hate is not the right word, I've only hated one baseball player in my life.

 

I'm just the the worrying type. And I was worried that our rookie shortstop was going to be another Andy Stankiewicz. Of course, I stopped worrying like two weeks in.

[alfdogg 0]

I expected big numbers from Scot Pollard this year, and got

 

11.1 mpg

1.7 ppg

2.7 rpg

Efficiency rating: 3.79

[Dangerous A 0]

I thought Tracy McGrady would flop in Orlando without his cousin to hold his hand.

I agree with this. Now Vince is known as Tracy's cousin first instead of the other way around.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I thought Andy Katzenmoyer was going to be really good in the NFL after a great college career.

 

I grew up watching IU basketball..talk about the perennial school for great college players that don't translate to the pros.

 

Calbert Cheaney, Damon Bailey, Steve Alford..

[nl5xsk1 0]

There aren't many players that I expect too much from, and thus get disapointed when they fail. It's kind of a cliche, but being from Boston you kind of learn to expect things to fall apart.

 

There are definitely players that surpassed my expectations, though: Samsonov, for at least that first year, Raycroft (who now has to prove that he can maintain being a #1 goalie), and, most of all, Boynton. When he refused to sign with the Caps and then went back into the draft, I thought that he was a waste of a pick and there was no way the, ahem, frugal B's would be able to sign him. Now he's literally one of my favorite Bruins, and a legitimate #2 or 3 d-man.

 

And, HarleyQuinn, how could you EVER think that "Coolio" Canty was a good choice?!?

[treble 0]

I was upset that the Leafs signed Ed Belfour when Byron Dafoe was available.

[NoCalMike 0]

Chalk me up as another Ryan Leaf believer, LOL. It's not that I thought he would be a superstar, but when him and Peyton came out at the same time, I figured they would both be good, yet guessed that the Manning hype would be his downfall, and Leaf would get the benefit of the quiet journey to become a solid QB.......Wow I was dead wrong. I don't know if I have learned my lesson yet though, cause I am not COMPLETELY sold on his brother just yet..

[Guest GreatOne]

I thought former Mariners minor league pitcher, 6'10" lefty Ryan Anderson a.k.a the "Little Unit" would dominate baseball for a long time. He was dominating in the minor leagues but some freak shoulder injuries hit him and I have no idea where he is now.

 

Still in the Mariners' organization. Various arm injuries have kept him out of action entirely since 2000. A report from USA Today says he could begin playing again any time now. No clue on whether or not he has anything left.

I honestly thought that Michael Garciaparra would replace John Olerud and become the 1B of the future...........

 

Yeah that worked!!!!!!!!!

[JHawk 0]

Akili Smith. As a Browns fan waiting for the team to come back, I was certain this guy was the QB of the future. Then he couldn't start for the shitty Bengals teams he was on.

 

I've never been so glad to be wrong in my life.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

I was a serious Shane Spencer believer when he lit up the league in '98, and also thought the Yankees made a good trade when they got Weaver.

[Gert T 0]

Akili Smith. As a Browns fan waiting for the team to come back, I was certain this guy was the QB of the future. Then he couldn't start for the shitty Bengals teams he was on.

 

I've never been so glad to be wrong in my life.

It's sad becuase as a Bengals fan, I couldn't even fake myself into thinking Akili was going to be a franchise QB.

 

BTW, what was your thinking back in 1999 on Tim Couch.

[Guest GreatOne]

I was a serious Shane Spencer believer when he lit up the league in '98, and also thought the Yankees made a good trade when they got Weaver.

Hey I thought the M's would do alright with Sterling Hitchcock and Russ Davis in the Tino Martinez trade....................yeah.

 

(Side note: Omar Olivares came three trades later--Hitchcock>Scott Sanders>Olivares/Felipe Lira--and didn't do anything with the M's. But he pitched pretty well for the A's in 99 or 00, yeah NICE....)

 

Interestingly enough, Griffey mentioned the M's flat out releasing Davis as "the last straw" in his forcing a trade. Six months later, the Giants cut his ass and he never played again.

[geniusMoment 0]

CJ Nitkowski, supposed Reds phenom who went bust.

Brandon Larson, the classic AAA triple crown winner but cannot hit .220 in the show.

Andruw Jones, thought he was the next Griffey, he never has hit like I thought.

Jeffrey Hammonds, so much potential so little results.

Bret Boone, I thought he was done after a season with Cincy in which he was hitting below .200 at the all star break.

Adam Dunn, while not a total loss yet, I thought he was the next great superstar, he hit like 60 combined HR's in 2001. But, now appears to be like a better Dave Kingman

[NoCalMike 0]

Michael Westbrook. Considering the first time he touched the ball as a rookie, he scored on a reverse screen. It was pretty much downhill from there......The worst was when he cost the Redskins a win and potential WildCard spot when against the Giants, he took off his helmet resulting in a 15yd penalty and taking the Skins out of field goal range....the game ended in a tie.