Biggest Sports Fall from Grace

[dan360]

The daily ridicule he must live with and how much the world of cycling changed due to his actions, direct and indirect, have me voting for Lance Armstrong.

 

He almost single handedly made cycling a household conversation in the US and killed it just as much.

 

For me it's less bout his doping and more about the lengths he went to undermine and damage other people's lives in order to prolong his lies.

 

There are special kinds of shitbags who murder, rape, kill, etc etc etc and then there are those sociopathic motherfuckers who will step on the lives and careers of MANY people who once trusted them for a dollar or few million and he's one of those....and that makes me want to punch him in the face with a Kenworth.

[Thrillhouse]

Tiger probably has the biggest fall from grace ever just in regards to on field performance decline.

 

But if you are pulling in public persona/opinion into the mix.... It's OJ in a landslide, with Joe Paterno second

 

I don't think Hernandez or carruth were ever really popular enough to be on the list

 

I remain more shocked by what Hernandez did than what we are all pretty sure OJ did. Don't get me wrong, both were heinous crimes, but OJ's was a crime of passion, while Hernandez was just running around putting these premeditated hits on people, or just (allegedly) arbitrarily murdering people for minor slights in the club. That is straight up so crazy! He was running around murdering people while a Florida Gator and a New England Patriot!

 

Also, and I say this as someone who read all the books about Armstrong, I think the position about him ruining people's lives is overstated. Sure he ran his mouth a lot and made a lot of threats, but other than kicking people out of the circle or threatening to out people he didn't really do much. I think people make a big deal out of him because he fell from this super clean image kind of place, like tiger did. That to me has less to do with what he actually did and more to do with people not liking it when public figures place themselves on the moral high ground and don't live up to the position (which I understand by the way).

 

really you might want to ask Greg LeMond about Armstrong ruining lives....

 

LeMond lost his contract with Trek due to his attempted outing of Armstrong, that's it. Was it great for him, no I guess not, but did it ruin his life? Nah.

 

Come on, that's not even the worst thing that can happen in business, not by a long shot. And the Trek stunt represents the extent of Armstrong's power!

 

This is exactly why I think the "Armstrong ruined lives" statement is overblown. He made threats and ruffled feathers, that's about it.

[2ball]

Tiger probably has the biggest fall from grace ever just in regards to on field performance decline.

 

But if you are pulling in public persona/opinion into the mix.... It's OJ in a landslide, with Joe Paterno second

 

I don't think Hernandez or carruth were ever really popular enough to be on the list

 

I remain more shocked by what Hernandez did than what we are all pretty sure OJ did. Don't get me wrong, both were heinous crimes, but OJ's was a crime of passion, while Hernandez was just running around putting these premeditated hits on people, or just (allegedly) arbitrarily murdering people for minor slights in the club. That is straight up so crazy! He was running around murdering people while a Florida Gator and a New England Patriot!

 

Also, and I say this as someone who read all the books about Armstrong, I think the position about him ruining people's lives is overstated. Sure he ran his mouth a lot and made a lot of threats, but other than kicking people out of the circle or threatening to out people he didn't really do much. I think people make a big deal out of him because he fell from this super clean image kind of place, like tiger did. That to me has less to do with what he actually did and more to do with people not liking it when public figures place themselves on the moral high ground and don't live up to the position (which I understand by the way).

 

really you might want to ask Greg LeMond about Armstrong ruining lives....

 

LeMond lost his contract with Trek due to his attempted outing of Armstrong, that's it. Was it great for him, no I guess not, but did it ruin his life? Nah.

 

Come on, that's not even the worst thing that can happen in business, not by a long shot. And the Trek stunt represents the extent of Armstrong's power!

 

This is exactly why I think the "Armstrong ruined lives" statement is overblown. He made threats and ruffled feathers, that's about it.

 

https://www.mensjournal.com/features/greg-lemond-vs-the-world-20130318/

 

But the Armstrong/Landis camp threatened LeMond saying they would tell the world his secret... about being sexually abused as a kid

 

Do your homework, they attempted to quiet him

[BillsPride12]

I'm very surprised Tyson hasn't gotten more attention in this thread. He has to be my number 1. It's been so long that maybe people have forgotten about when he was the "Baddest Man on the Planet", absolutely feared and already in the talks of greatest heavyweight of all-time to where he is now just a punchline and an athlete who is constantly joked and clowned about probably more than anybody else I can think of. I feel bad for him because I think once Cus D'amato passed away he lost the one true father figure he ever had in his life and that was the beginning of the end for him but regardless he still took a hard fall off the mountain top he was once on many years ago.

[Bob Cat]

Not the biggest but Tanya Harding has to be in the discussion. What a circus.

[Animal Chin]

I'm very surprised Tyson hasn't gotten more attention in this thread. He has to be my number 1. It's been so long that maybe people have forgotten about when he was the "Baddest Man on the Planet", absolutely feared and already in the talks of greatest heavyweight of all-time to where he is now just a punchline and an athlete who is constantly joked and clowned about probably more than anybody else I can think of. I feel bad for him because I think once Cus D'amato passed away he lost the one true father figure he ever had in his life and that was the beginning of the end for him but regardless he still took a hard fall off the mountain top he was once on many years ago.

 

Tyson is not in the greatest heavyweight of all time talks by anyone that knows anything about boxing.

[blaird]

I'm very surprised Tyson hasn't gotten more attention in this thread. He has to be my number 1. It's been so long that maybe people have forgotten about when he was the "Baddest Man on the Planet", absolutely feared and already in the talks of greatest heavyweight of all-time to where he is now just a punchline and an athlete who is constantly joked and clowned about probably more than anybody else I can think of. I feel bad for him because I think once Cus D'amato passed away he lost the one true father figure he ever had in his life and that was the beginning of the end for him but regardless he still took a hard fall off the mountain top he was once on many years ago.

 

Tyson is not in the greatest heavyweight of all time talks by anyone that knows anything about boxing.

 

I was younger when Tyson was coming up, but I would say he was in talks as being one of the all time greatest before the Buster Douglas fight. After that fight, the rape conviction, and the Holyfield fiasco, he fell from being a must see boxer because of skills/power to a must see circus attraction.

[Animal Chin]

He was certainly the greatest can opener ever.

 

 

[toddnt]

Being from SD... Cryin Ryan Leaf.. 1st round draft pick to convicted felon.

[thug the bunny]

Don't we have to add UVA to this list now?

[golfandfishing]

Being from SD... Cryin Ryan Leaf.. 1st round draft pick to convicted felon.

 

Just about everyone saw that coming though. Honestly - if he had stayed out of prison he would have beat the odds.

[scruffynick]

I'm in the Lance Armstrong voting I think...but still OJ, that's an impressive fall. Still remember watching the police chase on TV and even as a brit, it was plain nuts!

On our shores seeing what's happened to gazza is just heartbreaking. Makes you wonder what would have happened if he actually signed for United with Sir Alex. But still after all that booze and inner demons, still had a good career.

[Golfingfanatic]

Yeah gotta agree on gazza. Some of the pictures in recent years have been very sad to see.

[BillsPride12]

I'm very surprised Tyson hasn't gotten more attention in this thread. He has to be my number 1. It's been so long that maybe people have forgotten about when he was the "Baddest Man on the Planet", absolutely feared and already in the talks of greatest heavyweight of all-time to where he is now just a punchline and an athlete who is constantly joked and clowned about probably more than anybody else I can think of. I feel bad for him because I think once Cus D'amato passed away he lost the one true father figure he ever had in his life and that was the beginning of the end for him but regardless he still took a hard fall off the mountain top he was once on many years ago.

 

Tyson is not in the greatest heavyweight of all time talks by anyone that knows anything about boxing.

 

I was younger when Tyson was coming up, but I would say he was in talks as being one of the all time greatest before the Buster Douglas fight. After that fight, the rape conviction, and the Holyfield fiasco, he fell from being a must see boxer because of skills/power to a must see circus attraction.

 

Exactly. Before the Buster Douglas fight he was considered as some Monster who was going to be unstoppable. The fact that it's been so long now and some people don't seem to remember the Mike Tyson from those days perfectly illustrates why he might be the biggest sports fall from grace.

 

For the record I'm not saying I thought he was the greatest boxer of all-time or anything like that but he definitely had that aura around him back in the 80s, early 90s.

[bscinstnct]

I'm very surprised Tyson hasn't gotten more attention in this thread. He has to be my number 1. It's been so long that maybe people have forgotten about when he was the "Baddest Man on the Planet", absolutely feared and already in the talks of greatest heavyweight of all-time to where he is now just a punchline and an athlete who is constantly joked and clowned about probably more than anybody else I can think of. I feel bad for him because I think once Cus D'amato passed away he lost the one true father figure he ever had in his life and that was the beginning of the end for him but regardless he still took a hard fall off the mountain top he was once on many years ago.

 

Tyson is not in the greatest heavyweight of all time talks by anyone that knows anything about boxing.

 

I was younger when Tyson was coming up, but I would say he was in talks as being one of the all time greatest before the Buster Douglas fight. After that fight, the rape conviction, and the Holyfield fiasco, he fell from being a must see boxer because of skills/power to a must see circus attraction.

 

Exactly. Before the Buster Douglas fight he was considered as some Monster who was going to be unstoppable. The fact that it's been so long now and some people don't seem to remember the Mike Tyson from those days perfectly illustrates why he might be the biggest sports fall from grace.

 

For the record I'm not saying I thought he was the greatest boxer of all-time or anything like that but he definitely had that aura around him back in the 80s, early 90s.

 

Anybody who saw Tyson in his prime knows he could have taken anybodys head off at any time.

 

Impossible to predict who would beat who if they never fought and Tyson may have lost more than he won against some.

 

But he would have been a handful for anybody.

 

Ruddock was a legit 6'3 240 and Tyson floors him with this stright right. Tremendous power and leverage and as fast as anybody

 

[Animal Chin]

Ruddock was probably his best win.

 

A lot of the guys he was beating wouldn't even be considered journeymen. He even ducked Lewis. There were a lot of good fighters out there that he and his people made sure he stayed away from.