Alex Cherepanov

Drafted 1st Round, #17 Overall in 2007 in the NHL Entry Draft. He was projected to be much higher, but worries of his availability from Russia to the NHL (a problematic voyage in years past) caused him to drop on draftday.

At age 19 he had averaged more than 1 point p/ game in 20+ international junior competitions, as well as played 100+ Russian Super League games (very impressive considering the average age of these rosters)

He died mid-game in 2008 from undiagnosed problems with his heart. He was on pace to lead the team in goals (again, he was the youngest player on the team by 5+ years) and more-than-likely was set to make his North American debut in 2009-2010.

I'm not sure precisely HOW much talent was foregone by a freak medical catastrophe but his stock was rapidly on the rise.

did anyone say Sandy Koufax?

also, who was that one baseball player that got beaned in the eye and was never the same after? i wanna say it happened in the 50s or 60s but am not sure. anyone?

wow, thanks for sharing. read the article and youtubed him for a bit. what a sad story. he doesn't seem very smart, though

Just like Brook Berringer. Oh, wait.

Jeffrey Hammonds
Adonal Foyle
Any QB taken 1st pick-Tim Couch, David Carr, Matt Stafford?? (jk)
--
You can't put guys like Barry Sanders, Sandy Koufax, Jim Brown and Ted Williams into "biggest wastes" because at the time, they WERE the best, and are the top 10 at their positions in the history of baseball and football. Understand the angle you guys are takin, but you can't call them biggest wastes of talents. I guess my definition is major hype-huge bust

you may be thinking of tony conigliaro. he led the league in homers his 2nd season at 22 yrs old.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Conigliaro

wally szerbiak. end thread.

Oh yeah Kwame Brown

one of his kid's names is 'Maximus Jack'

'nothin says 'waste' like wally

GREG ODEN, he is such a little girl

Antoine "The Judge" Joubert

I agree with all three points. What happened to him (and a few others) is easily the most fascinating oddity of sports to me. People that just forget how to play. Anyone read any books about this?


Loved him on the NCAA games though. Back-to-back BCS titles.

gale sayers(not his fault)
charles rogers
kwame brown
bo jackson's pro football career

Tony Ayala Jr. :


I don't think I can properly explain how good this kid was. He was devestating and destined for GREATNESS.

Alot of the people in this list were destined to be good perhaps very good but this kid was it seemed to everyone destined to be an all-time great.



http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxin...pect-all-time/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb0gupeoOJg (He was 16 here)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4dm6ug_HfI
(9th pro fight)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYuLR86VSmA

(the white guy was 30-2)

On one occasion, he spit on his opponent after knocking him to the ground. He also admitted to using heroin before a fight on three occasions (his brother Mike also made allegations of using drugs before his world title fight against Danny Lopez).

On January 1, 1983, Ayala burglarized the home of his neighbour, a young schoolteacher, and brutally sexually assaulted her. Although he was only 19 years old, Ayala had already been convicted twice of assaults against women. He had been given probation for these offenses. Under a repeat offender's law, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. The prosecutor at trial argued the young boxer should serve the full term because he was a danger to the community.

Ayala was paroled from prison in 1999 and resumed his boxing career, winning six high profile fights, all by knockout. An eliminator against hard hitting ex-champ Yori Boy Campas brought an end to his unlikely comeback, a hand injury caused Ayala to quit on his stool after 8 rounds.

His troubles with the law continued. In 2000, he was shot in the shoulder by a young woman after breaking into her home. He received probation and a brief jail term for this offense. In 2003, Ayala was charged with having sex with a thirteen year old girl, but the charges were dismissed when the girl said she lied about it. Finally, in 2004 Ayala was sentenced to ten years in prison when found speeding, without a driving license and with heroin and pornography in his possession.

yes that's who i was thinking of, thank you. i knew it was an Italian name but all i could think of was Rocky Colavito.

What a waste. He was a mess outside of the ring. He must of been REAL f*cked up at an early age.

He was so young when he had his heart attack and stoke. Scary.

that's why the "as a pitcher" qualifier was thrown in there

AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER AS A PITCHER


ARGRHGIHEGIUDFHEI

thsi guy was probably the best soccer player i had ever played against, but he totally flamed out after not scoring well enough on the SATS to get into a real school, he woulda gone anywhere, was an all american at some real small school instead

video

Beat me to it.

Also Reggie Lewis, forward for the Boston Celtics. Surprised that he hasn't been mentioned yet.

the guy who had an allergic reaction to drugs while celebrating his draft day? im fairly sure he was brought up iirc

seriosuly tho, i hate boxing, but after 15 mins of research... this guy lost it all. especially after googling Muhammed Ali's trainer's words on the kid.

what a waste of sick ability

The guy who had an undiagnosed heart defect and died from a sudden cardiac attack during an off-season practice session.