Who Isn't Now
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by Kevinsecaur
I’m sure you know by now ESPN is running a feature titled Who’s Now. You can find it daily on “SportsCenter” or online and, according to espn.com, “viewers will help ESPN determine the ultimate sports star by considering both on-field success and off-field buzz.”
Here at Secaur on Sports, I’ve decided to attempt exactly the opposite and I’m calling it (quite creatively) Who Isn’t Now. I’m aiming to find the players, coaches or managers who should, by all means, be “now” but aren’t. Whether due to injuries, poor play, being over-hyped or just falling off the face of the sports globe in general, my goal is to determine the least relevant, least popular and least notorious figures in sports today.
The nominees are:
Darko Milicic – Selected second overall by Detroit in the 2003 NBA Draft, Darko has become the poster boy for draft busts in the new millennium, a modern day Sam Bowie if you will. Milicic has proved himself an integral part of any team’s success, so valuable in fact that he will play for his third team in four years in 2007. The fact that he was drafted ahead of Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and a whole host of others – not to mention career averages of 2.6 points and 1.2 rebounds per game – make Darko one of the “least now” athletes around.
Terrell Owens – There are about 25 million reasons for T.O. to be on this list. From the most feared, and probably the best, wide receiver in all of football to … well, I’m not quite sure to what. Owens has become something of a caricature of himself in recent years. His performance in the 2005 Super Bowl, coming back from injury several weeks early, was downright heroic. Yet T.O. has gone from that to coach killer, alleged attempted suicide that (supposedly) wasn’t attempted suicide, and pass dropper (a league-leading 17 in 2006). I’m not the first to say it, but the sentiment still rings true. It simply is a shame to see that much talent go to waste.
Kerry Wood/Mark Prior – The first and only dual entry on the Who Isn’t Now list comes from two players who will be forever linked in Chicago Cub and Major League Baseball lore. It is nothing short of amazing (to me, at least) that we are a decade removed from Wood’s rookie season – a season which featured that complete game, one-hit, 20-strike out game. Prior didn’t break into the majors until 2002 and finished third in the NL Cy Young voting in 2003. He still holds a fairly impressive 42-29 career record and a 3.51 career ERA. Wood, now age 30, is 71-56 in his career. Of course, you know the rest of the story for the players slated to be the co-aces in Chicago’s pitching rotation. Injury plagued careers have kept both Wood and Prior off the mound for the Cubs. Two guys who should have – and all evidence suggests, would have – been very “now” if not for some bad luck.
Andy Roddick – This one might stir up a little debate because it’s difficult to argue that someone ranked #4 in the world in his/her sport is not “now.” But I’m doing it anyway. As the saying goes, being the fourth ranked tennis player in the world is akin to being the fourth tallest dwarf in the world. (That’s the saying, right?)
America’s next great tennis star, the heir to the throne, the chosen one left to inherit and carry on the legacy of Sampras, Agassi, Courier and Chang before him, Roddick has been nothing short of a disastrous disappointment. He has won but one Grand Slam title, even that coming all the way back at the 2003 U.S. Open. Roddick has been overshadowed and outmatched by Roger Federer and, more recently Rafael Nadal. Though he seems to have the talent to keep up with tennis’s superstars, many question whether Roddick’s game between the ears is good enough to compete at the sport’s highest level. In my opinion, Andy Roddick is not now and I predict he will never win another Grand Slam singles title.
Scott Baio – Okay, this one’s a joke but come on. Is there a less interesting, less relevant “celebrity” on the planet today about whom you’d want to watch a reality television program? Seriously, has Scott Baio been famous – or even mildly popular – in the last 15 years? Also, how did vh1 get him to sign off on the show’s title? If I was 45 years old and still a single loser, I’d keep tidbits like that to myself rather than broadcasting them to millions of people. Finally, did you notice that Baio hangs out with the dude who played Kevin Arnold’s brother on “The Wonder Years”? I kept waiting for Frank Stallone and the fourth Baldwin brother to show up.
Side note: This does, however, beg the question of which is more pathetic. Baio for being a loser and doing this “celebreality” show crap, or me for bashing a show which I clearly watched in its entirety earlier today?
Sergio Garcia – Yes, he wins matches at the Ryder Cup and wins them big but so what? The Ryder Cup is a team event, and golf is an individual sport. And what has El Nino done on his own? Squat – that’s what. Yet another case where the talent is there, Sergio has “the game,” so to speak, to be one of golf’s elite. But Garcia has never been able to put all the pieces together at the right time. Hailed as the rival to Tiger Woods that golf fans and experts so desperately desire (especially after his performance in the 1999 PGA), Sergio – like Roddick – has been a disappointment. Though he has won six PGA Tour Events, Garcia remains without a major title, having missed the cut in both majors thus far in 2007.
Bobby Bowden – Remember back in the good old days when Florida State was a football powerhouse, a perennial contender on the national stage? When I say good old days, I mean all the way back in 2000. Since then, though, Bowden’s Seminoles have piled up 26 losses (an average of 4.5 per season). That’s not terrible for your average program but at Florida State, it’s borderline disgraceful. Seemingly gone are the days of the 400-yard passing games and 30-point drubbings of conference foes. FSU still seems to recruit and sign great athletes, especially on the defensive side of the ball. So one can’t help but wonder if the clock isn’t ticking on Bowden’s time as a successful Division I college football coach.
Landon Donovan – This might be another controversial choice for this list, but I’m fully prepared to argue that Landon Donovan is one of the “least now” athletes in the world of sports. Donovan is a clear case of a guy who should be “now” by now (if that makes any sense) but hasn’t made the leap. He was supposed to be the next great, or perhaps first great, American soccer player. Donovan was supposed to lift the United States to prominence and glory at an international level. Instead, he laid an egg in the 2006 World Cup as the point man for a U.S. offense that managed but one goal in three games (an own goal by the Italians, at that). Donovan should be starring overseas for a European club team and leading the U.S. into the knockout stage and beyond in the World Cup by now.
When I brought this up to my friend’s brother, he defended Landon by saying he’s made a name for himself as one of the finest players in MLS history. I countered by saying that’s like making a name for yourself as one of the best players in AA baseball history. And that, I say, is how you make the Who Isn’t Now list.
Danica Patrick – I feel like this is getting redundant as we have another case of the “next big thing” that has yet to pan out. Patrick was supposed to be the draw, the x-factor that put Indy car racing and Formula 1 back on the map. Instead, she’s just a cute girl driving a racecar for a living. Has Danica even ever won a race?
There are so many people who I considered and left out of this debate. There are probably even a few I overlooked entirely. The following is a list of those I thought about but did not include: JJ Redick, Isiah Thomas, Dusty Baker, Ricky Williams, Michelle Wie, Freddy Adu and others.
Anyone and everyone is welcome to add someone to this list and make a case for him/her below. I was thinking we might be able to get up to 16 athletes and sports figures and play them off on this site like ESPN is doing with its Who’s Now.
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