A Swing And A Miss: The Most Wrong You've Ever Been Regarding Sports

[FiddySicks]

So, we've all had them. Those moments where you are absolutely convinced that a player/team/league/ect is going to end up a certain way, only to find out years later that you're about as wrong as it gets. I tend to make quite a few grandiose statements when it comes to sports, and I've had times where I've come off looking pretty convincingly right. BUT, I've also had more than one moment where, in retrospect, I've looked like a total fool, as well.

 

My favorite was the time when I thought Bruce Bochy was an amazingly stupid hire for the San Francisco Giants. 

 

 

 

 

Everybody point and laugh at Bucfan.

 

Now, who's brave enough to step up and talk about a time when they MONUMENTALLY stepped in it when it comes to sports? 

 

 

Also, let's not make this a thread where we call OTHERS out for their stupid opinions. Let's focus squarely on our own stupidity

 

 

 

[dfwabel]

In 2010, I was wrong about Arian Foster.

 

 

 

[Cujo]

I was a huge Matt Leinart fanboy during his USC days. I knew I'd dig up something dead fxcking wrong about him and what I thought would be his Hall of Fame NFL career.

 

But hang on! Lemme look like even more of a jackass...

 

On ‎3‎/‎9‎/‎2006 at 8:45 AM, Cujo said:

Why would the Saints spend huge bucks on Drew Brees when they are lined up to draft Matt Leinart in next month's draft?

 

[ninersdd]

4 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

In 2010, I was wrong about Arian Foster.

 

 

 

Yikes reading that thread I was super confident that the Niners were gonna pound a weak Seahawk team to kick off the year. Instead it was a 31-6 beat down which set the tone for an underachieving year where Singletary got canned.

[Sport]

Good topic. 

 

- I thought the Panthers would win big over Denver  in a very boring Super Bowl. 

- I also thought Cam Newton would be another Vince Young. 

 

- I thought the 2015 Royals would be like the 2009 Rays, 2008 Rockies, 2007 Tigers, 1999 Padres etc. A team goes on a somewhat surprise run to the World Series the year before, loses to the better team, and then struggles to replicate the magic the following year with a target on their backs. I don't think I had them even returning with a winning record. All credit to Kansas City for not only getting back, but winning it all and proving they were for real. 

 

- Brad Stevens - I thought it was a bad move for him to leave college and jump to the NBA. I thought the smarter thing to do was move from Butler to a bigger school where he could really recruit and then load up on national championships. Plus history is riddled with college coaches who couldn't hack it in the pros. Turns out Stevens is really good with the X's and O's and isn't just a recruiting monster like Calipari or Pitino. I should've known that because he took Butler to the NCG in back to back years, but I thought it was a bad move at the time. 

 

- I thought Derek Fisher would be a good NBA head coach. 

 

- The entirety of the 2011-2012 Columbus Blue Jackets.

I thought Jeff Carter was going to be the missing piece and they were going to rip off ten straight years of playoff appearances, Stanley Cups, and they'd put a Rick Nash statue outside Nationwide Arena. The same roster had been buyers at the previous year's trade deadline and had a shot at the playoffs so I figured by adding Carter they were instantly a top 8 team. Carter was the biggest baby I've ever seen wear a pro sports uniform, they finished last, Carter was traded to LA and won two cups for them, CBJ lose draft lottery. I'm usually pretty good about being realistic about my team's chances, but that was the most wrong I've ever been about a team I follow*. Also that same year I declared that Mark Dekanich was going to make us forget about Steve Mason. Dekanich suffered a high ankle sprain in preseason and never played a single game for the Columbus Blue Jackets and hasn't appeared in the NHL since. In fact I think he's only ever played 1 NHL game in his career. I don't know why I thought he was going to be so good. 

 

*the second most wrong I've been was this Blue Jackets season. They had 500 man games lost last year and still won 43 games. Add Brandon Saad to that lineup and I couldn't see how they could regress. They regressed.  

 

 

- A bunch of college bowl games have gone the exact opposite of how I thought they would. Ohio State - Alabama in 2015 is a good example. I'm an Ohio State fan and I didn't think OSU had that in them. 

 

[OnWis97]

Let's start with times I was right:

• Any time the Packers or Yankees in it all.  

 

 

OK, a small, tiny smapling of things about which I've been wrong:

 

• Baseball
  • I was OK with the Twins releasing David Ortiz.  I never thought he'd stay healthy enough to be consistent.
  • I disliked the expansion from two to four playoff teams per league.  I totally missed how much it would keep so many more fans enganged. I stand by my hate of the one-game wildcard match, though.
• Hockey
  • When the Wild started out hot this year, I thought they'd figured it out.  That was really my fault for believing that.
• Basketball
  • When Wisconsin hired Bo Ryan, I thought, sarcastically "way to go, hiring a Div III legend. That's not gonna be a flop."  I legitimately thought it was a bad, "small-time" hire (as if a "big-time guy would have wanted to go to Wisconsin).
  • I did not think Steph Curry would be a starter, much less a star, in the NBA.  When the Wolves drafted two point guards right before he was drafted, I was not unhappy they did not choose him (though was unhappy they drafted to PGs)
  • Pretty much every "gut feeling" I have in my NCAA brackets.  I pick final four teams to lose their first game.  I went pretty much all-in on MSU, this year and thought Villanova was going to flop.
• Football
  • I figured Jim Druckenmiller would be a stud...simply because he was a QB being drafted by the 49ers.

[sc49erfan15]

I thought Kevan Barlow was going to be the next great NFL running back.

I also thought Cam Newton was a stupid pick. "What are they DOING?!? The Panthers JUST drafted Jimmy Clausen LOL let him develop"

 

I thought Cade McNown was going to be the star of the 1999 NFL Draft.

 

I have a ton regarding the expansion-era Charlotte Bobcats:

 

I was totes excited when Jahidi White became one of the first Bobcats (has he literally been heard from at all since 2005?) I thought Emeka Okafor would turn out a million times better than Dwight Howard. I also thought Raymond Felton and Sean May were going to contribute to an amazing Charlotte Bobcats team. (I was right about Adam Morrison, though!)

[mcj882000]

The Phoenix Arizona Coyotes moving. I've been wrong about that for 6 years and counting...

[Gothamite]

I've had a lot of them, but since I'm on a soccer kick right now I thought for sure the Cosmos were going to be the 20th MLS team.  I mean, come on.  It's too obvious not to happen.  The new league finally grounds itself in the sport's history, while a new brand gets to promote itself on the highest stage in the country.  What could go wrong?

[tp49]

When the Yankees hired Joe Torre in November, 1995, to replace Buck Showalter I thought it was going to be a disaster and that George Steinbrenner would chew him up and spit him out in a year or two.  We all know how that ended up...

 

I also thought that when Charles Wang purchased the Islanders back in 2000, that it was going to be great for the franchise.  While he was more stable than other previous owners I think that with the end of his tenure coming soon he was a disaster as an owner between his inability to understand local politics to get an arena deal done to making the backup goalie the GM the low payrolls, lack of a competitive team for years, destroying his goodwill with the fan base and making the team a general laughing stock for years.  Well, let's just say I'm glad to see him go.

[Shumway]

6 hours ago, sc49erfan15 said:

I thought Kevan Barlow was going to be the next great NFL running back.

I didn't think he'd be that good, but I really liked him when he was at Pitt.

 

I made a bet with my friend that the Detroit Lions would win a Superbowl within a 5-year span (this past Superbowl marked the end of this period). The bet was for a single beer, so it's not a huge loss.

[Magnus]

Seahawks-Pats SB49.
Flyers-Hawks, Stanley Cup Finals (2010).
"We want the ball and we're gonna score."
2007 Ontario Hockey League Finals (Sudbury-Plymouth)
Raptors-Sixers, Game 7, East Semis (2001)
2006 Turin Olympic Men's Hockey Tournament
2009 Grey Cup (Green Riders vs Als)

I'm sure there are a few others I am forgetting.

[Sykotyk]

In '99, I thought the Browns would have a lot more success than they have had.

 

I was certain the 2000 St. Louis Rams were going to walk through the NFL, and even after making the playoffs as the 6-seed against New Orleans, was certain they'd still win it all.

 

Ohio State was going to destroy Florida (7-0 on the kickoff return by Ginn who then got injured during the celebration and it went all downhill from there without our most electrifying player).

 

'97 Indians were going to win the World Series over the 'lowly' Marlins. Wasn't a doubt in my mind. Especially with the fresh wound of the '95 loss to Atlanta.

 

 

[ICTknight]

By 2013 I had completely lost faith in Daniel Moore to ever build a winning team with the Royals. Midway through 2014 I was done with Ned Yost as well.

[Crabcake]

I can't think of any one huge event that's down in writing, but here's a few off the top of my head:

 

Prediciting Columbus would finish in the top 3 of the Metro division this season

Thinking that the O's would handle the Royals relatively comfortably in the 2014 ALCS

Picking MSU to go all the way this year

[FGM13]

The amount of times I've believed in the Oilers and Blue Jackets and been horribly disappointed is too many to count.

[Cujo]

 

I thought he was going to be such a scrubby pro coming out of Davidson. Mayyybe a decent bench 3-point specialist like his pops. On top of that, going to a nothing team like the Warriors.

 

Now dude's mentioned in the same sentence as MJ.

 

Foot. In. Mouth.

[kroywen]

I thought Jason Giambi was going to be the key to a new Yankees dynasty in the early 2000s.

 

I thought Mark Sanchez was going to keep improving after his rookie year, and become a high quality NFL quarterback.

 

I thought the Marlins had absolutely no chance in the 2003 World Series.

 

I thought Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes would be the anchors of the Yankees' rotation for years to come.

[kroywen]

8 hours ago, Gothamite said:

I've had a lot of them, but since I'm on a soccer kick right now I thought for sure the Cosmos were going to be the 20th MLS team.  I mean, come on.  It's too obvious not to happen.  The new league finally grounds itself in the sport's history, while a new brand gets to promote itself on the highest stage in the country.  What could go wrong?

And frankly, they probably would've been better off going with the Cosmos. A team with a recognizable and fondly-remembered identity, with a stadium deal in place.

 

I'm an NYCFC fan, but there's a definite perception that they're a minor league farm team for Man City amongst many New York soccer fans. That, and they're not any closer to a stadium deal now than when the team was announced.

[KittSmith_95]

2012 Stanley Cup Finals..... I kept saying to people the Devils were gonna take it in 7. I kept saying Marty was gonna go out with his 4th ring. I kept ssaying Kovalchuk was gonna lead that team for years to come.

 

 

INSTEAD, I was flat-out wrong.

 

That and the Raps winning both of their series in 6 the past 2 years.

 

Yet I've picked the last 4 SB winners and won cash on all of them.