There is no way around it – 2016 defied physics, simultaneously sucking and blowing all at the same time.
From the early deaths of too many beloved people to the disappointment of the silver screen, there were more disappointments than happy times. There were, of course, many great moments, but this is not the place or time. We are here to wallow in those moments that were anti-sports, that were buzzkills, and were just all-around disappointments
Below are awards more fake than that news site your racist uncle keeps sending you. Still, these are stories that were noteworthy in 2016.
The Most Disappointing Sports Moments Of 2016:
Stereotype Award – Ryan Lochte
Lochte became the walking, talking frat joke and the ugly American tourist while in Brazil for the Summer Olympics.
Not only did he and his pals manage to tear up a gas station while drunk, they went and lied about it to the press and then fled the country.
Zero aspects of this story is feel good and none of it makes America look great on the global stage.
We Don’t Care About Phrasing? Award – Denver Nuggets
Adidas and the Denver Nuggets did a pretty normal thing. A thing that every team in the NBA and all of sport does annually. They released an alternative jersey. No big deal, right? In fact, most teams will do what the Nuggets did and call them ‘Pride Jerseys’.
So why is it a big deal when the Nuggets did it? Because they named theirs “White Pride” on their website.
That noise you hear is a million face palms.
There was enough outrage that some name changes were made, which is good because they are probably the nicest uniforms the Nuggets have.
Nice Try Award – Powers Autographs
Back in April, the Ebay user, Powers Autographs, put up five bags of “Air from Kobe’s last game” for sale. Bidding started at $1 and quickly became ridiculed for good reason.
Legit looking bids drove the price up to over $15,000 before the auction was taken down.
The sad and disappointing part is how idiotic some fans are willing to go to in the pursuit of… ummm… of… honestly, I have no idea what they are thinking. All of them sadden me.
Leaf/Tebow Award – Johnny Manziel
Okay, there wasn’t really anything overly disappointing about Johnny Manziel’s quick flameout in the NFL. Most people outside of the Cleveland Browns organization saw the train wreck from miles out. I’m only including it on the list because of my friend, Gavin.
Gav believed in Tebow, Drew Stanton and Johnny Manziel. He has Jameis Winston on his “next” list so sell accordingly. Consider yourself warned. Manziel was arguably the biggest bust since Ryan Leaf.
… And here
Choke Award (vs. Cleveland) – Golden State
The Warriors amassed arguably the greatest regular season in NBA history but will forever be remembered as the team that choked away an NBA Finals 3-1 lead after they lost in seven games to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
So disappointing to everyone who loves watching history.
Choke Award (as Cleveland) – Cleveland
It is easy to forget about the long suffering fanbase that is the Cleveland Indians. Their World Series drought was lost in the cacophony of the Chicago Cubs juggernaut march to their own drought busting win.
In a town that seems to care more about the perennial losing Browns, it was heartbreaking to watch the Cleveland faithful emotionally crash as their team squandered a 3 to 1 lead.
Congrats to the Cubs, but you weren’t the only ones with old men and women’s lifetime’s of waiting on the line.
Missed Opportunity – Cleveland Indians
Maybe those Indians deserved to lose when they didn’t let Wild Thing, Willie Mays Hayes, Pedro Cerrano, Lou Brown or anyone from the Major League movie Indians to throw out a pitch before a World Series game. Give the people what they want, Cleveland!
So disappointing.
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things Award – LA Football Fans
After a decade-long absence, the NFL finally came back to Los Angeles. One of the big reasons football left in the first place was a lack of family atmosphere that drove fans away from the stadium, causing a downward spiral of blacked out games on TV.
It was super disappointing that the first news coming out of the first exhibition game were reports of fights in the stands at The Coliseum. Fast forward to the end of the season, and TV ratings for Rams games are very low.
Way to mess it up, LA.
Lack of Standards Award – Chicago White Sox
The White Sox proved why they are second fiddle when they took money for the naming rights to their stadium. The logo is a downward arrow and screams “make fun of us”. You didn’t have to take the highest bidder, dummies.
Serves You Right Jerks – OKC Thunder
Kevin Durant left for the already stacked Golden State Warriors, proving the NBA is designed to be a “only five teams really have a shot at a time” league.
Being someone who stopped watching the NBA when Stern let OKC lie to the good folks of Seattle and leave town, I say, “suck it, Clay Bennett. I hope you lose a billion dollars with your talentless crappy team.”
But, I’m sure this is disappointing for folks who don’t have so much schadenfreude wrapped up in the failings of OKC basketball.
This Year Sucked Award – Muhammad Ali
In a year where serious political conversation revolved whether there should be a Muslim registry, the most famous Muslim American and one of the greatest athletes of all time passed away. It is a fool’s errands to list all of his accomplisments and impacts in such a small space. Instead, I will just leave us with the thought of what a 1960’s Ali would do in the 2017 world to come.
B. Redd Reddoch is a regular contributor for Crave Sports and an avid fan of everything Seattle.
Photo: Getty
