Evan Turner, and other disappointments that never lived up to expectations

[AWESOM-O]

I was watching the Pacers/Wizards game the other day and realized how far this guy has fallen off. Dude was the #2 overall pick in 2010, supposed to save the franchise. A few years later he got traded to the Pacers for the corpse of Danny Granger, where he averaged 7 points a game for the rest of the season. In the playoffs they can't even find a way to get this guy into the starting lineup. Even though he can play SG, he's getting fewer minutes than Lance fucking Stephenson, who was taken 40th overall in the same draft.

This got me thinking: who are some other disappointments that never lived up to early promise? You could mine the sports category for days. There's the obvious Kwame Brown, a #1 overall pick who couldn't catch the ball. Tons of good college QBs: Ryan Leaf, Joey Harrington, Alex Smith, etc.

But how about outside of sports? One that comes to mind immediately is The Stone Roses. They released an amazing debut album, then followed up with a pretty shit second album, and disbanded soon thereafter. A band only having one good album isn't a unique story by any means, but based on their first album they were expected to be one of the greatest bands of the 90s.

Another that comes to mind is Paul W.S. Anderson. He made the campy-but-fun Mortal Kombat, and followed that up with Event Horizon, for my money one of the best horror films ever. Pretty much everything he's done after that has been shit. The first Resident Evil film was serviceable, but the rest have been complete shit. Based on Event Horizon, I would have expected so much more out of him.

[Brehvolution]

Almost every Heisman winner in the NFL.

[king of the internet]

<---- 

[Brehvolution]

The pork szechuan style I had for lunch today.

[brob]

Music? Blu. Amazing debut; then lukewarm or boring shit since.

dang, I remember when I was a blue collar man working in a foundry with Below the Heavens and The Ugly Truth blasting on my mp3.

Much proletarian steez 

[Joe Molotov]

Almost every Heisman winner in the NFL.

Except Tim Tebow, because everyone expected him to be useless and he was.

[Phoenix Dark]

I told you Evan Turner would be a bust, Awesom-O.

Music? Blu. Amazing debut; then lukewarm or boring shit since.

dang, I remember when I was a blue collar man working in a foundry with Below the Heavens and The Ugly Truth blasting on my mp3.

Much proletarian steez 

I remember when I legit thought Blu would be one of the greatest recent rappers.

[benjipwns]

Except Tim Tebow, because everyone expected him to be useless and he was.

Untrue, he just needs to be put in the right system and he would dominate.

[Steve Contra]

Except Tim Tebow, because everyone expected him to be useless and he was.

Untrue, he just needs to be put in the right system and he would dominate.

He's the pure Marxist-Communism of Heisman winners is what you're saying.

[benjipwns]

He's the pure Marxist-Communism of Heisman winners is what you're saying.

His main fans do seem to be rich white people who have never done manual labor.

[Phoenix Dark]

NBA wise I thought Michael Beasley would be a perennial all star.

Music wise I already mentioned Blu. It can't be understated that Beneath The Heavens is one of the best rap albums of the aughts, and no doubt helped pave the way for a lot of the stuff we see today from Drake/Kendrick/Cole/etc. His next few projects weren't bad, in fact I really like the Johnson & Johnson record, HerFavColour was nice...but he pretty much fell off the face of earth after that.

Do drugs brehs

[nudemacusers]

my dad

[Brehvolution]

NBA wise I thought Michael Beasley would be a perennial all star.

All that ink in his arms added enough weight to throw his shot off.

[Himu]

The Weeknd. The fuck happened?

[Himu]

I haven't listened to Kiss Land yet, is it that bad?

It is that bad. Production is weak compared his EPs and it is lacking that sexual majesty of his trilogy. It is a boring snorefest. Most disappointing album of 2013. The worst thing about the album is the production. In past albums it is was separated Weeknd  from other contemporary rnb artists. The production in Kissland sucks.

Also Esch is wrong. Don't care about what his subject matter is. His songs were sexy and steamy with fantastic beats.

[Himu]

I'm seriously mad at Esch at calling Weeknd depressed Michael Jackson. I can't get over it, after reading it five minutes ago.

[Himu]

It is hardly an exaggeration and the majority of the fanbase agrees. Kissland is 5/10. House of Balloons is 9/10 and since when did "I don't care about lyrics" Hov stan make lyrics important? The production sucks in Kissland.

Clearly you don't like Weeknd. I like him a lot and Kissland was so unmemorable I've listened to it only twice. The album is and about every Weeknd fan I know agrees.

[Himu]

The production is a huge departure. Listen to House Balloons and then listen to Kissland. They sound night and day. Weeknd pissed off his producers who gave him his unique sound and Kiss land suffered for it. It sounds line a generic mainstream rnb pop record and not the unique sound that was featured in his trilogy. As for lyrics, when it comes to rnb, lyrics are the last thing on ones mind. You talk about his subject matter not being diverse in a genre where most of its legends made their careers off the back of love songs. John Legend being a classic example. That's all that nicca sing about. But no one gives a shit because he makes good music.

[Stoney Mason]

Arrested Development, the band. I thought they were going to be the new sly stone and the family after their initial amazing first album.

The Matrix. I like to pretend those last two matrix movies don't count as they depress me after a stellar first film.

Prison Break & Heroes would fit for TV after both had promising first seasons but ran out of steam quickly afterward

[Phoenix Dark]

Kiss Land was very bleh, I agree with Himu. It has nothing to do with lyrics or content - you know what you're getting when you listen to a Weeknd project, sort of like how you know what you're getting when you listen to a Mobb Deep album. I didn't like the production, which is quite a departure from his previous work. Weeknd is as big an asshole as his lyrics suggest, and he alienated the producers that gave him such a unique sound, hence their absence on the album. First he had a falling out with Jeremy Rose (Zodiac) during the House of Balloons sessions, and shortly after finishing the third mixtape he fell out with Illangelo; both of them produced all his staple songs.

I haven't listened to Kiss Land in awhile, but outside of the first track and Pharrell's remix of Wonderland I don't remember liking much of it. It's not "bad" it's just...completely forgettable. Reminds me of his early pop work before the "Weeknd" persona was born.

I can't call him a disappointment though. Dude gave us 3 amazing bodies of work, can't take that away from him.

[Human Snorenado]

A Song of Ice and Fire was really great for 3 books but then turned to shit.

Fortunately, the show is here to save us from the books.

[StealthFan]

Kiss Land is garb.

[Phoenix Dark]

If we include games I'd go with StarCraft 2. I've put hundreds of hours into playing and watching it be played on the professional level, it's not a "bad" game but it just didn't have the long term hook of BW for me. I played BW for a decade plus, and if a friend called me up right now for a match I'd dig out my old disk and boot it up. Whereas the design decisions of SC2 really made me fall out of interest in it.

Books...I'd have to think about that. Maybe Shadowmarch? I never finished it so it might be unfair to list it, but I remember being rather disappointed in it after really enjoying Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy.

More music:

Mos Def. I'd say the last few years of his career have been pretty damn disappointing. I actually like The Ecstatic but overall his post Black On Both Sides venture into scat singing has been a disappointment.

Damu The Fudgemunk. One of the few producers who understands how to do "vintage 90s boom bap" production that actually knocks, he hasn't done much of anything since 2007. Sure he released a nice instrumental album but overall his output has been very minor, and he has refused to connect to other artists. Dude is basically an anti-social monk. Sigh...

[Phoenix Dark]

House Of Balloons is definitely one of the best "albums" of the last decade. Thursday isn't nearly as good but is still very solid, and EoS is great.

As Himu knows I'm not really an r&b guy but really liked that shit.

[Shaka Khan]

I came into this thread expecting something completely different. Or maybe it is what I expected and we're playing right into this proxy war.

[Himu]

The trilogy range from good to amazing. HOB is one of the best rnb albums and albums of last decade. Especially if we include 00s rnb which was mostly Weeknd's trilogy output was much better than many of his contemporaries including Miguel andFrank Ocean (who is trash). I love rnb, it was the genre I grew up with, and Janelle, Weeknd, and Solange brought me back.

Never mind that Weeknd's stuff is just sexy. Jesus what a sexy voice. Get me hot every time.

As for Mos Def. Yeah, he's been disappointing but I find Talib Kweli more disappointing. I liked Mos' experimental stuff so I didn't mind it. He also put out a really good return to roots album too. Talib though? He's kinda sucked since Quality.

Rap wise my big disppapintments are The Game and Pappose.

[Phoenix Dark]

Sports

-Charles Rogers


He had all the physical traits to be a great receiver, one of the best ever in fact. His college career was stellar, he had the size, the speed, strength...but dude couldn't stop smoking pot and getting injured. Every Lions fan shakes their head wondering what could have been...

VINCE YOUNG

Dude wasn't even on my team yet I cheered for his success so much. I literally know 5 people who lost BIG money betting on USC in the title game and thus hate Young, and a lot of their salty bs mirrors the type of criticisms you'd hear from NFL personalities and talking heads at the time.

But they turned out to be right. Dude is a complete dumbass. I'm glad he got another shot this week with the Browns but he should have had a solid NFL career, man...

[Himu]

I'll probably be shat on for this but Tracy McGrady Rockets run.

[Himu]

Frank Ocean  has a more distinctive voice, and has better variety lyrically and sonically in his game

I didn't even like Channel Orange, but if you're hating on Nostalgia Ultra that's a joke.

Only heard Channel Orange. It was garbo.

[Phoenix Dark]

Meh I thought it was overrated. I prefer Weeknd's melodies by far.

[Himu]

Ditto. Pretty meh to me.

[Himu]

Sometimes I felt like people care more about that frank is gay than his actual boring ass music.

[Trent Dole]

That's definitely true of the press at any rate. I never even listened to his actual album but Nostalgia Ultra was really good. Aside from the Eagles song. Nothing can salvage those guys.

[Phoenix Dark]

http://www.thecoli.com/posts/8283057/

[Himu]

http://www.thecoli.com/posts/8283057/

[Phoenix Dark]

I like that Forest Gump song tho. Few other good ones on the album but not many

[Himu]

Forrest Grump sucks. Not the movie. The song. Frank doing that at the Grammies was it? Was one of the most swag less things I have ever seen in my life. I ate well that night, trolling Blank Ocean stans.

[StealthFan]

Frank Ocean is bisexual. The only people that say he's full-on gay are insecure black men that don't believe bisexuality exists.

Also Swim Good owns.

[Himu]

Oh, he's bi? All the reviews made it seem like he was gay.

[Phoenix Dark]

we gonna pretend like Frank Ocean didn't get them Grammys and major spotlight at the awards due to coming out the closet?

[Himu]

The agenda is real.

[Beezy]

Sometimes I felt like people care more about that frank is gay than his actual boring ass music.

Save this shit for the people who didn't listen to him until after Channel Orange dropped (cause he "came out" like a week before). Nostalgia Ultra is great.

[Boogie]

I came into this thread expecting something completely different. Or maybe it is what I expected and we're playing right into this proxy war.

 

Likewise.  Had no idea Evan Turner was the name of a basketball player. 

[Boogie]

oops, double post.

[Boogie]

How could this magnificent specimen be considered a disappointment?

[ToxicAdam]

I think the only disappointment with an entertainer I ever had was with Howard Stern. I idealized that guy in the early-mid 90's. His program was revolutionary and he blazed the same kinds of trails that Lenny Bruce and Carlin did in their eras. 

Then he devolved and became all the things he used to rail against. It was pretty gross to see it happen.